Saint Michael Center

SEPTEMBER SAINTS CALENDAR
3	Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
8	The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
9	Peter Claver, S.J., Priest
13	John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
14	The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
15	Our Lady of Sorrows
21	Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
26	Cosmas and Damian, Doctors of Medicine
27	Vincent de Paul, Priest
29	The Archangel Michael and All Angels
30	Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

The public veneration of the Holy Cross dates back to the fourth century. Today the Church commemorates the rescue of the true Cross of Christ by Emperor Heraclius in victory over the Persians. Our Mother the Church sings of the triumph of the Holy Cross, the instrument of our salvation. In order to follow Christ, a Christian must take up his cross and become obedient with Christ, who was obedient until death, even death on the Cross. We are identified with Christ on the Cross. We become co-redeemers, sharing Christ’s Cross.

We should find glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is our salvation, our life and our resurrection; through Him we are saved and made free.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross(629). The Holy Cross on which Our Lord was crucified was first discovered by Saint Helena in the year 326. A Roman emperor, Hadrian, about two hundred years before, in order to stop Christians from venerating the mount of Calvary where Jesus was crucified, had raised a large mound of earth over it and dedicated a temple there to the goddess Venus. When St. Helena arrived in Jerusalem, with the help of Saint Macarius, Bishop of that city, she had the Temple and Venus destroyed. She hired two hundred workmen and one hundred soldiers to dig into the ground, and they found the Holy Cross on which Our Lord was crucified. It was identified miraculously by the instantaneous cure of a little boy with a crippled arm and of a woman who was dying.

A large part of the Cross was placed in a church in Jerusalem. It was stolen in 615 by Chosroes, a king of the Persians. After many prayers and fasts, and a battle to recover it, the Emperor Heraclius defeated Chosroes and brought back the Holy Cross to Jerusalem, fourteen years after it was stolen. This was in the year 629. Part of the Cross was kept in Jerusalem, but a great part of it was brought to the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome, one of the seven great churches of the Holy City.

Along with the finding of the True Cross, Saint Helena also found the nails which were in Jesus’ hands and in His feet when he died and the inscription placed above the head of Jesus on the Cross, which proclaimed Him in Hebrew, in Greek and in Latin:"Jesus of Nasareth, the King of the Jews." The nails are kept in churches in Europe. One of them is in the Iron Crown of Lombardy. The inscription over Our Lord’s sacred head is kept in the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome.

The feast of today was extended to the whole Church in 1817 by Pope Pius to try to make atonement to the Blessed Mother of God for the horrors inflicted on all those she loved by the Masons and the Jews of the French Revolution. It was also raised to a solemn feast by Pope Saint Pius X in 1908 when he saw the outrages that were coming to the world with the approach of the First World War.

No heart ever burned with love of God or was united with Him more intimately in grief that was the heart of Mary. Simeon in prophecy told Our Lady when she presented Jesus in the Temple how complete and absolute her grief would be. He said to her,"Thine own soul a sword shall pierce." The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, as we commemorate them in loving and mystical remembrance, are:(1) the prophecy of Simeon,(2) the flight into Egypt, (3) the losing of Jesus in the Temple when he was twelve years old, (4) Mary’s meeting with Jesus on the way to Calvary -- the Fourth Station of the Cross, (5) the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus--the Twelve Station of the Cross,(6) the taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross and the placing of it in Mary’s arms--the Thirteenth Station of the Cross,(7) the burial of Jesus in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea on the afternoon of the first Good Friday--the Fourteenth and last Station of the Cross.

Eight days after the birth of the Blessed Virgin, her holy parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, inspired by God, gave her the name of Mary. The name Mary means "Lady", and also "Star of the Sea". Just to say her holy name is a prayer. It gives everyone who does so favor with God and power over the devil. Blessed Pope Innocent XI set up the feast of the Holy Name of Mary in 1683 to thank her for the victory which the Catholic army under John Sobieski, King of Poland, gained over the Turks (Mohammedans), who were trying to sack Vienna and move in and conquer all the Catholics of the West. Mary's name occurs in the first part and in the second part of the "Hail Mary". In the middle of the "Hail Mary", one speaks the Holy Name of Jesus. Great apostles of the Holy Name of Mary have been: Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux says, "O most holy Virgin Mary, your name is so sweet and admirable that one cannot say it without becoming inflamed with love toward God and toward you."

Saint Maurice was the commander of a legion in the Roman Army, called the Theban Legion because it had been recruited in the Thebaid in upper Egypt. This Legion was composed of 6,666 men, every one of whom was a Catholic. They were noble, holy and devout soldiers. They were ordered by the Roman Emperor Maximian to sacrifice to pagan gods. They all refused. The Emperor first killed every tenth man. But still the Legion would not give in. Again, he killed every tenth man. But the valiant regiment held out. Finally, when asked once more to sacrifice to the gods, Maurice in the name of his soldiers, replied, "O Caesar, we are your soldiers. But we are also the soldiers of Jesus Christ. From you, we receive our pay. But from Him, we receive eternal life. To you, we owe service. But to Him, we owe obedience. We are ready to follow you against the barbarians, but we are also ready to suffer death rather than renounce our Faith." They were all slaughtered. Saint Maurice Knelt down and was beheaded.

This feast commemorates the founding of a wonderful Order dedicated to the Immaculate Mother of God in the year 1218, and fully established in the year 1223. Its founders were a saint named Peter Nolasco, a saint named Raymond of Pennafort (a General of the Dominican Order), and a king named James of Aragon. Its purpose was to rescue Catholics from captivity, from the Moors, by the help and protection and intercession of the powerful Mother of God. Prayers are especially said on this day in the Catholic Church to rescue England from the hands of the heretics who are still keeping the lovely people of that country from the true Faith and from the love of the Mother of God. England was once known as "Our Lady's Dowry."

There are seven special angels who stand before the throne of God. We know the names of three of them. They are Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael. The greatest and most powerful of all God's angels in Saint Michael. His name means "Who is like God?". This was the challenge he issued to Lucifer when Lucifer offended God and was hurled by Saint Michael out of Heaven and into hell. It was Saint Michael who appeared to Abraham to forbid him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Saint Michael brought the plagues to Egypt. Saint Michael led the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land and fought with Lucifer for the body of Moses. Saint Michael led Josue into the Promised Land. Saint Michael delivered the three young men from the fiery furnace. Saint Michael sent Habacuc to feed Daniel in the lions den. Saint Michael escorted the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven on the day of her Assumption. Saint Michael is the Guardian Angel of the Pope. He is the special protector of the Church. He is the special angel of the Blessed Sacrament. He leads the souls of the Just into Heaven when they die. He invoked in the lovely prayer: "Holy Archangel Michael, defend us in the battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil..." Saint Gregory the Great was the Pope specially devoted to Saint Michael. Saint Michael appeared to Saint Joan of Arc and helped her in her battle against the English. He also appeared in France, in Normandy, in 709. A beautiful shrine was built to him on a hill there, the still famous Mont Saint-Michel. The Name Gabriel means "Strength of God". Saint Gabriel is the special angel of the Annunciation. He is the Guardian Angel of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was he who brought the news of the Annunciation to her. He came in the guise of a man, though he was always an angel, because his was the message of the Incarnation, to let it be known that God was ready to become man. It was Saint Gabriel who gave us the first greeting of the Hail Mary, "Hail (Mary), full of grace, the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou among women." The name Raphael means "Healer of God" or "Medicine of God". He is said to have been the angel who came to console Our Lord in His bitter agony in the Garden of Olives, when Jesus sweat blood. Saint Raphael's name is mentioned in Catholic prayers, including the Litany of the Saints. He is one of our special helpers in times of sickness and the hardships that go with it. His story in the Old Testament makes up nearly all of the Book of Tobias.

Saint Jerome- who is called in Latin, "Hieronymus", which means "holy name"- was born in Damatia. He was baptized a Catholic when he was eighteen years old. After living as a hermit in Palestine, Saint Jerome came to Rome. Juch against his will, because of his great humility, he was ordained a priest. He was the great friend and ally of Saint Damasus, the thirty-ninth Pope. saint Damasus commissioned him to translate the whole Bible into Latin. It took Saint Jerome fourteen years to make his first version in Latin of the Holy Scriptures, in what is known as the Vulgate. A few more years were required to make emendations, and then in the beginning of the fifth century, the lovely Latin- the language of the Church- was, in Jerome's style, the perpetual prayer of Catholics. Saint Jerome had a great devotion and love for the Blessed Virgin Mary. He went to Bethlehem, and lived near the crib where Our Lord was born. He had two wonderful disciples there, Saint Paula, and her daughter, Saint Eustochium. Saint Jerome had a great devotion to the Guardian Angels. He is the Doctor of the Church who assures us- and the Church has completely confirmed this- that each one of us has a Guardian Angel for himself. It was also Saint Jerome who beautifully let us know that Saint Cleophas was the brother of Saint Joseph. This explains why Saint James, Saint Simon and Saint Jude, thiesons of Saint Cleophas, and Saint James the Greater and Saint John, his grandsons, are referred to as the "the brethren of Our Lord". Saint Jerome died in Bethlehem, with his head in the manger where Our Lord was born. His body is now kept in the Church of Saint Mary Major in Rome, where Our Lord's crib is also kept. Saint Jerome wrote the lives of two wonderful saints- Saint Paul the Hermit whose feast day is January 15 and Saint Paula, whose feast day is January 26. Saint Jerome is one of the thirty-two Doctors of the Universal Church. He is one of the eight Doctors who were priests. Two of the Doctors of the Church were Popes, three were cardinals, five were patriarchs, ten were bishops, one was an abbot and one was a deacon. We now have two women Doctors, Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Catherine of Siena.

SEPTEMBER SAINTS