Winchester, VA - Today is All Soul's Day. On this day we commemorate those who have died in the grace of God, thereby avoiding Hell, but have not yet reached the perfection of soul that entry into Heaven requires. Unlike those in Heaven, whom we call the Church Triumphant, and those on earth, whom we call the Church Militant, we refer to the souls in Purgatory as the Church Suffering, suffering […]
Winchester, VA - Isaac Jogues was born in January 1607 in Orleans, France, into a middle class family, the fifth of nine children. From the age of 10 he attended Jesuit schools, and at 17 entered the Jesuit novitiate. His Jesuit community had a strong missionary spirit and were working hard at evangelizing New France. He was inspired by the stories of hardship, treacheries and tortures of the other priests who […]
Winchester, VA - Born in Genoa in 1881 to a middle class family in Genoa, Maria Giovanna Fasce received confirmation of her call to religious life after attending the canonization of St. Rita of Cascia by Pope Leo XIII. Maria's family was not so receptive to her religious vocation. She was accepted into the Order of Saint Augustine on Christmas Day 1906 and took the name Maria Teresa at her profession […]
Winchester, VA - Saint Denis was a bishop of Paris in the third century who was martyred with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius. There are different accounts his story. According to one account by the poet Venantius Fortunatus, he was sent from Italy to Gaul to evangelize the peoples and settled on the Ile de la Cite on the Seine River. These three missionaries were so effective at converting the Gauls, […]
Winchester, VA - Wenceslaus was born around the year 907 in Prague, the son of Duke Vratislaus I. When Wenceslaus became of age, he assumed control of the government from his mother, who was regent, and placed the duchy of Bohemia under the protection of Germany. He reintroduced the Latin rite of Christianity to the area, and divided the country between himself and his brother Boleslav to prevent future disputes between […]
Winchester, VA - Born in 1581 in Gascony, France, to peasant farmers, Vincent was a smart child, but he was required to work as the herder of his family's livestock. His father would go on to sell his oxen to finance Vincent's seminary education at 15. Vincent's goal in becoming a priest was to become successful, obtain a benefice, retire early and support his family with his money. Vincent went on, […]
Winchester, VA - We hear their names every time the first Eucharistic Prayer is said during Mass... Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian... Just who are “Cosmas and Damian”? Cosmas and Damian were born in Arabia in the third century. They were twins, both physicians, who worked in Syria. They reportedly would accept no payment for their professional services and were called “the silverless.” As with so many of […]
Winchester, VA - Sergius was actually born Bartholomew, of high noble status in the early 14th century to Kiril and Maria. He struggled with his education, especially in learning to read. According to his biography, a spiritual elder gave him a piece of holy bread to eat, and from that moment on he was miraculously able to read. After his parents' death, Bartholomew and his brother Stefan moved into the forest […]
Winchester, VA - Saint Matthew was a Jew, the son of Alphaeus, probably from Galilee. He worked in the city of Capernaum as a tax collector for Rome, an occupation whose practitioners were regarded as “public sinners.” Matthew responded immediately to Jesus' call to follow him, leaving behind everything. After Jesus' death, he wrote the first gospel around 40-50 AD, for the purpose of convincing the Jews that their prophesied Messiah […]
Sermons culled from traditional Catholic priests according to the season.
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