Cristy Li

Saint Nicholas (Pick) Pieck
Image: Tinh Than

(New Advent) Born in Holland Gorkum in 1534 Nicholas Pieck (sometimes written Pick) attended college at Bois-le-Dus according to SQPN and as soon as he had completed his classical studies, he received the habit of the ‘Friars Minor’ at the local Convent and was sent to Louvain to study for the Priesthood and was Ordained in 1558 subsequently he devoted himself to the Apostolic Ministry.

Fr. Pieck evangelized the principle communities in Holland and Belgium, combating heresy everywhere. In 1568 the ‘Benelux Countries’ (also called ‘Low Countries’) revolted against Spain, in the Northern Part (now the Netherlands) the revolt was also directed against Catholicism.

Fr. Pieck and his Companions (11 Franciscans and 8 Diocesan Priests) were arrested by Calvinist Soldiers taken to Brielle, they were encouraged strongly to renounce their faith on Jesus Christ presence in the Eucharist and the authority of the Pope, when they refused, they were hung from crossbeams.

Their executions were clumsily handled, taking 2 hours for some of them to strangle to death.

Fr. Pieck and his Companions were Beatified by Pope Clement X in 1675 and Canonized by Pope Pius in 1867

More here from Catholic Online

Saint Maria Goretti (1890-1902)
Image: Catholic Online

(EWTN) Born in Italy Corinaldo, Maria was the daughter of a sharecropper, had no opportunity to attend school according to Franciscan Media and never learned to read or write.

On a hot July afternoon, Maria was setting on top of the stairs at her home mending a skirt — she was not yet quite 12 yrs old, a cart stopped outside and 20 yr old neighbor Alessandro Serenelli ran up the stairs, abducted her and pulled Maria into a bedroom, she struggled to get away and tried calling for help, “No, God does not wish it,” Maria cried out. “Its a sin, you would go to hell for it,” Maria told her attacker but to no avail as Alessandro began striking her with a long knife.

Following this brutal attack and attempted rape, Maria was found and taken to a hospital, her final hours were marked by the usual compassion of the good and concern where her mother may rest, forgiveness of her assailant (Maria in fear of him did not say anything so not to cause trouble for his family) as Maria welcomed the Eucharist and last Holy Communion–she died the next day at the age 0f 11 year old.

Maria’s assailant was found, subsequently convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. For a long time, Alessandro was unrepentant and bad tempered, One night he had a vision of Maria according to SQPN she was in a garden dressed in white and was gathering Lilies, Maria smiled and came near him, encouraging him to accept the armful of Lilies–As Alessandro took them,  each Lily transformed into a still white flame. Maria then disappeared. This vision of Maria, changed his life and led to Alessandro’s conversion — he would later testify at her cause for Beatification.

When Alessandro was released from prison his first act was to go to Maria’s Mother and beg for forgiveness.

Devotion to Maria grew, “the sweet little martyr of purity…she did not break God’s Commandments in spite of being threatened with death,” said Pope Saint John Paul II in 2002 at the 100th Anniversary of Saint Maria Goretti’s murder.

“What a shining example for young people. The noncommittal mindset of much of our society and culture today sometimes has a struggle to understand the beauty and value of chastity. A high and noble perception of dignity, her and that of others emerges from the behavior of this young Saint, was mirrored in her daily choices, given them the fullness of human meaning. Is not there a very timeless lesson in this? In a culture that idolizes the physical aspect of the relations between a Man and a Woman,  the Church continues to defend and to champion the value of sexuality as a factor that involves every aspect of the person and must therefore be lived with an interior attitude of freedom and reciprocal respect, in the light of God’s original plan. With this outlook, a person discovers he or she is being given a gift and is called, in turn, to be a gift to the other.”

Maria Goretti was Beatified in 1947 where her mother (then 82 yrs old) two sisters and a brother appeared with Pope Pius XII at the Balcony of St. Peter’s — Three years later at Maria’s Canonization, Alessandro (now 66 yrs old) knelt and wept among the 250,000 people at St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Related: For Today’s Holy Scripture Readings for the Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Visit: -USCCB

The Fifteenth Crimson Lily –Maria Goretti.org

• Saint Maria Goretti — Pray For Us

St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271-1336)
Image: Pinterest

(Franciscan Media) Born in Spain Aragon, Elizabeth was named after her Great Aunt ‘Elizabeth of Hungary’ but is known in the Portuguese history by the Spanish form of that name ‘Isabel’ according to EWTN — the daughter of Pedro III, the King of Aragon and Constantia, Grandchild of Emperor Frederick II, Elizabeth was educated in a devout religious environment of strict regularity and self-disciplined throughout her childhood.

Given these healthy influences upon her character development, Elizabeth acquired a taste for spirituality and by the age of 12, was emotionally prepared to meet the challenges of marriage to King Diniz of Portugal.

Now Queen Elizabeth of Portugal, she was able to establish for herself a pattern of life conducive to continued growth in God’s love, not merely through exercises of religious devotion and daily Mass but also through her commitment to charity, by which she was able to befriend and help transients, strangers, the sick, poor–all those whose needs came to her attention, all the while remaining devoted to her husband, whose infidelity towards her was a scandal within the kingdom.

King Diniz was the object of many of Elizabeth’s peace endeavors–she long sought peace for her husband with God and was finally rewarded when he gave up his life of sin.

Elizabeth likewise sought and effected peace between her husband King Diniz and their rebellious son Alfonso, who had believed that he was passed over to favor King Diniz’s illegitimate children. — Elizabeth acted as a peacemaker in the struggle between King Ferdinand of Aragon and his cousin James who claimed the thrown.

In 1325 King Diniz passed away and he was succeeded by his son Alfonso IV — Elizabeth subsequently retired to a Convent of ‘Poor Clares’ which she founded at Coimbra, subsequently taking the Franciscan Tertiary habit, wishing to devote the rest of her life to the poor and the sick in obscurity but in 1336, she was called back once more to act as a peacemaker when Alfonso IV marched his troops against the King of Castile, to whom he had married his daughter Maria off to after she she was neglected and poorly treated.

Elizabeth’s efforts were successful in stopping the fighting armies and caused terms of peace to be arranged but her tireless efforts took its toll and just as soon as her mission was fulfilled, Elizabeth passed away on this date in 1336 full of heavenly joy and exhorting her son to the love of holiness, reconciliation and peace in her family.

Queen Elizabeth of Portugal was buried at Coimbra, many miracles were reported following her death at her tomb — In 1625 she was Canonized by Pope Urban VIII

St. Oliver Plunkett (1629-1681)
Image: Liturgia Diaria

(Franciscan Media) Oliver was born in Ireland at Meath Loughenew County into a Noble family which supported King Charles I according to SQPN and the fight for national freedom. — Oliver was educated by the Jesuits at the newly established Irish College in Rome where he studied for the Priesthood and was Ordained in 1654

After teaching Theology from 1654 to 1669 and serving the poor of Rome, Fr. Oliver Plunkett was appointed Archbishop of Ireland Armagh.

Four years later in 1673 a new wave of anti-Catholic persecution began, forcing Archbishop Plunkett to perform his pastoral duties in hiding while in secrecy and disguise. Meanwhile, many of the dioceses Parish Priests were sent into exile, school were closed, Mass was celebrated in secret, Convents and Seminaries were suppressed. — As Archbishop of Ireland Armagh, he was viewed by the government figures of his day, as ultimately responsible for any rebellion or political activity among the Parishioners of his diocese.

Six years later in 1679 Archbishop Plunkett was arrested on trumped up allegations that he had conspired against the state. Imprisoned in ‘Dublin Castle’ his trial was moved to London as Lord Shaftesbury knew that the Archbishop could never be convicted in Ireland. — At his first trial even though he was not convicted, Archbishop Plunkett remained imprisoned and put on trial a second time where he was promptly convicted of ‘high treason’ for promoting Catholicism and condemned to a gruesome death.

Archbishop Plunkett was hanged, drawn and quartered in July 1681 in England Tyburn, in the County of Middlesex — In 1920 he was Beatified by Pope Benedict XV and Canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI 

More here from Pope Paul VI

First Martyrs of the Church of Rome Image: The Unpaved Path

(CNA) The early Christian protomartyrs of Rome were the first to be persecuted and executed en masse by the Emperor Nero in the year 64 and 65 before the martyrdom of St’s Peter and Paul (Feast Day: 29 June)

Nero was widely believed to have caused the fire that burned down much of Rome in 64 AD (rumor had it according to Franciscan Media that he wanted to enlarge his palace) which he blamed on the Christians and put them to death–many by crucifixion, others being fed to wild animals in the circus or being tied to posts and burned to death.

These first Christian Martyrs were called the ‘Disciples of the Apostles’ and their steadfastness in the face of their gruesome deaths were a powerful testimony that led to many conversions in the early Church.

• “May we have the same courage to witness (for) Jesus Christ and to change our society by the force of our love and example.”
  Archbishop Jose Gomez, Los Angeles

Related: For Today’s Holy Scripture Readings for the Memorial of the First Holy Martyrs, Visit: USCCB