Do not let any occasion of gaining merit
pass without taking care to draw some spiritual profit from it; as,
for example, from a sharp word which someone may say to you;
from an act of obedience imposed against your will;
from an opportunity which may occur to humble yourself,
or to practice charity, sweetness, and patience.
All of these occasions are gain for you, and you should seek to procure them; and
at the close of that day, when the greatest number of them have come to you,
you should go to rest most cheerful and pleased …
St. Ignatius Loyola
Inigo
de Loyola was born in 1491 in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa in
northern Spain. Of the noble family of Loyola, as a boy he was sent as a
page to serve the treasurer of the kingdom. There, he had access to
court and developed a taste for all its ways, including the ladies.
Shedding
his fineries and donning a poor habit, he ultimately came to the cave
of Manresa by a river where he stayed for ten months. Here, he had a
powerful revelation, an experience of God as He really is so that he now
looked at all of creation in a new light – an experience that allowed
Ignatius to find God in all things – one of the central characteristics
of Jesuit spirituality. It was in the seclusion of Manresa that ideas
for his famous Spiritual Exercises began to take shape.
Peter
Chrysologus was born in Imola, Italy in 406 and died there in 450. He
was baptized, educated and ordained a deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of
Imola, and was consecrated Bishop of Ravenna in 433. He shared the
confidence of Pope Leo the Great and enjoyed the patronage of Empress
Galla Placidia.
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy, save us.
Theobald
was the son of Bouchard of Montmorency, one of the most illustrious
families of Europe. They were constables of France, marshals, admirals,
cardinals, grand officers of the crown and grand masters of various
knightly orders.
According
to tradition, Our Lady’s parents were Joachim and Anne to whom, after
years of childlessness, and much prayer, an angel appeared and announced
they would bear a child. Much like Hannah who dedicated her son Samuel
to the service of God (1 Kings), Anne also dedicated Mary to God as a
child. Hence, we find the abundant iconography representing the child
Mary being presented in the Temple.
James
the Greater was the son of Zebedee and Salome, one of the women at the
tomb on Easter morning, (Matt.27:56, Mark 15:40, 16:1) and the brother
of John – probably the elder of the two. He is called “the greater” to
distinguish him from James the Lesser, who was probably shorter in
stature.
the
banks of the River Ebro to encourage him in his difficult mission. She
was accompanied by a multitude of angels who bore with them a marble
pillar on top of which was a small statue of her holding the Child
Jesus. She bid James build a shrine where the pillar was to be placed,
which he did, the first shrine dedicated to the Mother of God on earth.
Today, the sacred pillar, still in the same spot, is enshrined in the
great Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza.
Brother
Charbel immediately began his studies for the priesthood under the
instruction of Father Nimattullah Kassab, who was also later declared a
saint by the Church. Charbel was ordained on July 23, 1859, following
which he returned to the Monastery of St. Maron where he lived a life of
great austerity. In 1875, he was granted permission by his superiors to
live a solitary life in the Hermitage of Sts. Peter and Paul, which was
under the jurisdiction of the monastery; and there he resided for the
remaining twenty-three years of his life until his death on Christmas
Eve, 1898.
Bridget
was nobly born, her father was Birger, the governor of Upland in
Sweden, and her mother, Ingeborg, was the daughter of the governor of
East Gothland.
At
the house of Simon the Pharisee, the repentant Magdalene poured costly
ointments on Jesus’ feet and then dried them with her hair (John 7:38).
On her action being censured by the host, Our Lord said in her defense:
“Many sins are forgiven her because she has loved much” (John 7:47).
Born
in Brindisi in Italy and christened Julius Caesar, the future saint’s
father was Guglielmo Rossi, and his mother Elisabetta Massella, both
excellent Christians.
Apollinaris was possibly born in Antioch, in the Roman province of Syria.
Macrina
was born in Caesaerea, Capadoccia, her parents being Basil the Elder
and Emmelia. Her grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder and her three
brothers were eminent figures in the Church: Basil the Great, St.
Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste.
Camillus
was born on May 25, 1550 in the region of Abruzzo in the Kingdom of
Naples. His father was a mercenary soldier and seldom at home. His
mother, Camilla, though good was also timid and had trouble controlling
her morose, hot-tempered son.
Hearing
of St. Philip Neri and his great gift with souls in need, Camillus
sought his spiritual direction and was taken in by the saint.
O
Holy Mother and Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as parents, you
guided and nurtured Mary and, under your protection and love, watched
her grow in holiness.
At
the invitation of the Bulgarian ruler, Boris, who had accepted
Christianity in 865, Clement and his other companions including St.
Nahum, St. Sabas and St. Angelarius, helped evangelize Bulgaria. Sts.
Cyril and Methodius are also counted as two of the seven apostles of
Bulgaria because though their official jurisdiction was over Moravia and
Pannonia, they also kept an eye on the Bulgars, most of whom were
heathens until formal evangelization began with the acceptance of
Christianity by Boris.
The
title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel can be traced back to the hermits
living on Mount Carmel in Israel during the Old Testament. This ancient
community prayed for the advent of the Virgin-Mother through whom
salvation was promised to mankind. In Hebrew, “Carmel” means “garden”.
In ancient times this mountain was celebrated for its lush, verdant, and
flowery beauty.
We can find Mount Carmel on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, overlooking the modern-day city of Haifa. 
The
title of Our Lady of Carmel can be traced back to the hermits who used
to live in the renowned and blessed mountain at the time of the Old
Testament.
Elias
led a hermetic life on Mt. Carmel with special veneration for the Most
Holy Virgin. His disciple Eliseus, who received his mantle, and other
followers, known as Sons of the Prophet as Holy Scriptures described
them, participated in his solitude and became filled with his strength
and spirit. In a holy hereditary succession, they passed on his spirit
and strength to others.
These
first monks who retired to Mount Carmel in 1150 made their center a
chapel consecrated to our Lady and from the time of Saint Brocard,
successor to St. Berthold and the first Prior General, the nascent
Carmelites were to be known as Brothers of our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Thus devotion to Our Lady formed a distinctive part of their character
and spirituality. "Despite its historical inexactitudes L'Institution DesPpremiers Moines
shows that the Order is dominated by the two great figures which
represent, on different levels, its ideal: Elias and our Lady."[
Any
account on the story of Our Lady of Mount Carmel could not fail to
mention the role that St. Simon Stock played especially in relation to
the brown scapular. We could trace Simon Stock’s origin to the County of
Kent in England where he was born around 1165. Being of English
descent, he was also known as Simon Anglus.
The
scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, also known as the Brown scapular,
is one of the most popular and celebrated of Roman Catholic devotions.
The sacramental as the lay faithful commonly use it is a miniature
derivative of the actual brown scapular used by the Carmelites -the
sleeveless outer garment falling from the shoulders which is worn as a
sign of their vocation and devotion.
Feast Day
just
brought together some men to serve what he called Lady Poverty. The
third, Friar Angel, had come from Mount Carmel in Palestine, and was
called to Rome because he was a great preacher.
It
was on the celebrated Mount Carmel, on the coast of Palestine, that
Saint Elias, the “Prophet of Fire,” saw the little cloud that, in a
period of great drought, was a forerunning sign that a redeeming rain
would fall upon the parched earth.
Our
Lady then manifested to Saint Simon her wish that he join some monks
who were to come to England from Mount Carmel in Palestine, “especially
because those religious had been consecrated to the Mother of God in a
special way.” Simon thus left his solitude and, obeying another order
from Heaven, studied theology and received Holy Orders.
In
any case, if we are faithful in observing the words of the Blessed
Mother, she will be much more faithful in observing her own, as shown in
the following example:
Both
the Scapular (from the Latin scapulae, shoulders), and the monastic
habit and liturgical vestments developed from lay clothing.