Winchester, VA - Born around 675 in Damascus in the time of the Umayyad Caliphate, John was a polymath, or a Renaissance man of sorts, whose specialties included law, theology, philosophy and music. He is believed to have been bilingual, and had enough familiarity with the Koran to deliver a harsh criticism of it. He was purported to have been Chief Administrator to the Muslim caliph of Damascus before his ordination […]
Winchester, VA - According to tradition, St. Andrew was born in Bethsaida, on the Sea of Galilee, around 6 B.C.,the brother of Simon Peter, and the son of Jonah. The Gospel of John states that Andrew was led to follow Jesus due to the testimony of John the Baptist, whose disciple he was. Andrew recognized Jesus at the Messiah and introduced him to Simon Peter. Andrew was a fisherman, along with […]
Winchester, VA - Giovanniello Fasani was born on August 6, 1891 in Foggia, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. He studied under the Conventual Franciscans and later joined the order, taking the names of Francis and Anthony at his profession at a mere 15 years of age. He would study theology in Agnone and at the General Study Centre in Assisi. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1705. Father […]
Winchester, VA - Born around 700 in Ireland, Vergilius came from a noble family and was named the Abbot of Aghaboe. He was referred to as the Geometer because of his extensive knowledge of geography. While en route to the Holy Land around 745, Vergilius settled in France and ended up being an advisor to Pippin the Younger, Mayor of the Palace under Childeric the III of Franconia. Vergilius spent two […]
Winchester, VA - Born in 1842 in Roszkowa Wola, Poland, Franciszka was the oldest child of Polish nobles Adolf Adam Siedliska and his wife Cecilia Marianna Morawska. Her early religious formation was lacking, but she came under the tutelage of a zealous Franciscan Capuchin named Leander Lendzian, who prepared her to receive her First Communion at 13. At her first communion, Franciszka offered herself to God, and in 1860, at 18, […]
Winchester, VA - Michaelina Hordashevska was born in 1869 in current-day Ukraine, a member of the Ukrainian Catholic Rite. At 18, she began to consider a vocation to the contemplative religious life. Under spiritual direction of a Basilian monk, she took a private vow of chastity for three years. Her spiritual director, Father Jeremiah Lomnytsky, suggested to her that there was a need for an active order of religious sisters to meet […]
Winchester, VA - Born in 1256 in Germany, Gertrude was enrolled in the Cistercian monastery school of Helfta in Saxony at the tender age of four. She was taken care of by the younger sister of the abbess, who had great influence on her, and went on to join the Benedictine order at Helfta. At 25, Gertrude began to experience visions which would continue for 20 years until her death, making […]
Winchester, VA - Theodore the Tyro was a Roman soldier who served under the emperor Maximian between the third and fourth centuries. Born in Pontus, he concealed his faith, for at that time Christianity could very well mean a death sentence and Theodore did not yet feel God calling him to this holy end. As the story goes, Theodore became aware of a certain dragon which was terrorizing the locals and […]
Winchester, VA - Today is the Feast of the Holy Relics. On this day we venerate and give thanks to God for the gift of these sacramentals which bring us comfort and motivation. The power of a relic comes not from the actual flesh and blood or DNA material it contains, but from the spirit which enlivened the saintly soul who was at one time attached to it. The Council of […]
Sermons culled from traditional Catholic priests according to the season.
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