Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Daily Archive
Saint Gianna Molla (1922-1962)
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 28 Apr 2009 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
Give her the reward of her deeds;
they will proclaim her as she enters the gates, alleluia.
A saint of and for our time.
The following is the biography published by the Vatican on the occasion of St. Gianna’s canonization, which took place on May 16, 2004:
Gianna Beretta was born in Magenta (Milan) October 4, 1922. Already as a youth she willingly accepted the gift of faith and the clearly Christian education that she received from her excellent parents. As a result, she experienced life as a marvellous gift from God, had a strong faith in Providence and was convinced of the necessity and effectiveness of prayer.
She diligently dedicated herself to studies during the years of her secondary and university education, while, at the same time, applying her faith through generous apostolic service among the youth of Catholic Action and charitable work among the elderly and needy as a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. After earning degrees in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Pavia in 1949, she opened a medical clinic in Mesero (near Magenta) in 1950. She specialized in Pediatrics at the University of Milan in 1952 and there after gave special attention to mothers, babies, the elderly and poor.
Saint Louis de Montfort (1673-1716)
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 28 Apr 2009 | Tagged as: Dominican Saints, Liturgical Feasts
To Jesus through Mary!
Today the Church remembers St. Louis de Montfort, a French missionary priest and Dominican tertiary charged with preaching the Rosary and renewing Marian devotion in early eighteenth-century France.
From Catholic Online:
St. Louis de Montfort
Confessor, Marian devotee, and founder of the Sisters of Divine Wisdom He was born Louis Marie Grignon in Montfort, France, in 1673. Educated at Rennes, he was ordained there in 1700, becoming a chaplain in a hospital in Poitiers. His congregation, also called the Daughters of Divine Wisdom, started there. As his missions and sermons raised complaints, Louis went to Rome, where Pope Clement XI appointed him as a missionary apostolic. Louis is famous for fostering devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary. In 1715, he also founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary. His True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin remains popular. Louis died at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre. He was canonized in 1947.
As is mentioned above, St. Louis’s True Devotion to Mary and The Secret of the Rosary remain must-read spiritual classics.
Click here and here for more on the life of St. Louis de Montfort.
Lord God,
you gave Saint Louis de Montfort
the spirit of truth and love
to shepherd your people.
May we who honor them on this feast
learn from their example
and be helped by their prayers.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.