Cristy Li

Saint Isidore of Seville
Image Courtesy: Catholic Online

(Franciscan Media) Isidore born in Spain Cartagena, three of his siblings — two brothers Leander and Fulgentius that became Bishops, together with his sister Florentina who became a Nun were later Canonized as Saints along with him.

As the Archbishop of Seville, Leander became an important influence on his younger brother Isidore, helping him to develop a commitment to study, prayer and intense work for the good of the Church. Isidore in turn, joined his brother’s mission to convert the generally heretical Visigoth’s had invaded the land a century and a half earlier and shortly before Isidore’s birth and followers of the Arian Heresy splitting Spain in two.

Isidore reunited Spain, making it a center of culture and learning–the country served as a teacher and guide for other European countries whose culture was also threatened by barbarian invaders.

When Isidore’s brother Leander died around 600, Isidore succeeded him as Archbishop of Seville, inheriting his brother’s responsibility for Church affairs in an intense period of change.

For the good of the Church and civilization, Isidore was determined to preserve the wisdom and knowledge of the past, maintaining the fruitful synthesis of classical Roman culture and Christian faith, while intent on preventing false teachings from shattering the unity of the Church in Spain.

Responsible above all for the good of the Church, Isidore sought the common good by encouraging study and development in areas such as Law, Medicine, Foreign Languages and Philosophy.

Sometimes called ‘The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages’ because of the encyclopedia that he wrote written from a Catholic perspective that was used as a textbook for nine centuries.

Under Isidore’s leadership, he required seminaries to be constructed in every diocese, wrote a Rule for Religious Orders and founded schools that taught every branch of learning–never neglecting the service of those in need.

“Indeed just as we must love God in contemplation, so we must love our neighbor with action,” Isidore declared. “It is therefore impossible to live without the presence of both the one and the other form of life, nor can we love without experiencing both the one and the other.”

In the last month’s of Isidore’s life, he offered a moving testament to these words, intensifying his charitable outreach to the poor. Crowds of people in need flocked to his residence from afar, as Bishop Isidore offered his final works of mercy on earth.

Isidore died on this date in 636 and later named a Doctor of the Church, In 1598 he was Canonized by Pope Clement VIII and was named the Patron Saint of Schoolchildren and students–more recently, its been proposed that he also be named a Patron Saint of ‘Internet Users’ because of his determination to use the world’s accumulated knowledge for the service of God’s glory.

Saint Benedict the African
Image: Fr. Michaelraj Selvam

(Franciscan Media) Benedict was born to parents that were slaves and were brought from African to Italy Messina and then freed.

At the age of eighteen, Benedict worked on a farm and soon saved enough money to purchase a pair of oxen and was very proud of those animals. Later, Benedict would sell what little he had and gave it to the poor and he would subsequently join a group of Hermits around Palermo, eventually he was recognized as their leader–because these Hermits followed the Rule of St. Francis Pope Pius IV Ordered them to join the First Order. Benedict held important posts in the Franciscan Order and gracefully adjusted to other work when his terms of office were up.

Benedict served as Novice Master and then Guardian of the Friars in Palermo, positions rarely held in those day by a Brother, in-fact, Benedict was forced to accept his election as Guardian, when he corrected the Friars, he did so with humility and charity–When his term ended, he happily returned to his duties in the Friary kitchen.

Once Benedict corrected a Novice and assigned him a penance, only later to learn the Novice was not guilty–Benedict immediately knelt down before the Novice and asked his pardon.

In his life, Benedict was never possessive of the few things he used, he never referred to them as ‘mine’ but always called them ‘ours’ — Benedict’s gifts of prayer and guidance, earned him throughout Sicily a reputation of holiness.

Following the example of St. Francis, Benedict kept seven 40 day fasts throughout the year, he also spent much time in prayer only sleeping a few hours each night.

After Benedict died in 1589 King Phillip III of Spain paid for a special tomb for this simple holy Friar, he was subsequently Beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in 1743 and Canonized by Pope Pius VIII in 1807 and is honored as the Patron Saint of African-Americans and African Missions.

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St. Francis of Paola
Image: Holy Card Heaven

(CNA) Francis was born in the Southern Italian region of Calabria in 1416 his parents maintained a strong devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi naming their son after him. Francis’ parents had little in the way of wealth to pass onto their son except for a rich spiritual heritage with the hope that he may emulate his namesake.

Young Francis showed signs of a remarkable spiritual life following his parents lead in accepting poverty as a path to holiness. When his father placed him in the care of the Franciscans to be educated at the age of 13, Francis made a decision to live strictly according to the rules of the religious order.

After a year with the Franciscan Friars, Francis rejoined his parents as they made a pilgrimage to Rome Assisi and the historic Franciscan Church known as the Portiuncula–When Francis and his family returned home, he asked his parents their permission to live in religious seclusion and prayer, in the same manner as Saint Antony of Egypt (251-356) patriarch of Monks.

Francis’ pursuit of solitary communion with God attracted the attention of important figures, including several European Kings and other Nobility along with Pope’s and Bishops. Some of these men regarded Francis as a spiritual leader in a corrupt age, while others may have been more interested in his gifts of prophecy and miraculous healing. Francis subsequently traveled to France at the request of Pope Sixtus IV, taking along his nephew Nicholas. There the notoriously power-hungry King Louis XI was approaching the time of his death and hoped that Francis may perform a miracle and restore his good health.

When Francis met with King Louis XI he told him bluntly that he shouldn’t fear the end of his life but instead the loss of eternal life–From that time on, Francis became a close spiritual advisor to the King, discussing the reality of death and eternity with him, urging that he surrender his heart and soul to God before it was too late.

King Louis XI son and successor to the throne ‘Charles VIII’ maintained the Monk Francis as a close advisor in spiritual and even political affairs. Nonetheless, Francis persisted in following the Monastic Rule he had developed while living is seclusion and prayer outside of Paola, continuing as Superior General of the Minim Order, founding new monasteries in France.

Francis sensed his own death was approaching at the age of 91 and returned to living in complete seclusion and prayer for three months to prepare himself. When he finally emerged, Francis gathered a group of Minim Brothers and gave them final instructions for the Order–He received Holy Communion for the final time on this date (which was Good Friday) in the year of 1507

Pope Leo X, Canonized Francis just 12 years following his death. While the Minim Order lost many of its monasteries since the French Revolution, it continues to exist with 19 convents, mainly in Italy.

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(EWTN) Born in France Chateauneuf, Hugh from the cradle appeared to be a child of Benediction–Hugh went through his studies with great applause and his religious devotion, always kept pace with his advancement in education.

Having chosen to serve God in ecclesiastical state, he was ordained and became a Canon in the Cathedral of Valence. In this station, the sanctity of Hugh’s life and his extraordinary talents earned him praise of the Church, his gentleness and affability won him the affection of his colleagues.

Hugh then the Bishop of Die but soon thereafter became the Archbishop of France Lyons for 52 years according to Franciscan Media and Cardinal Legate of the Holy See, he was reasonably effective in his role of a reformer. Hugh  fearlessly supported the Papacy and was an eloquent minister.

At the age of 80 Hugh Became a Carthusian Monk and lived 18 yrs in great humility and authority under Saint Bruno and his successors in the Great Chartreuse where he passed away in the year 1132 at the age of 100 and was Canonized by Pope Innocent II just two years later.