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The Lives of the Saints According to the Liturgical Calendar Text Victor Hoagland, C.P. Illustrations George Angelini an imprint of Catholic Book Publishing Corp. CONTENTS FOREWORD xiv JANUARY 1 Mary, the Mother of God 3 2 St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen 6 4 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 9 5 St. John Nepomucene Neumann 13 7 St. Raymond of Peñafort 16 13 St. Hilary 18 17 St. Anthony 19 20 St. Fabian and St. Sebastian 21 21 St. Agnes 22 22 St. Vincent 23 24 St. Francis de Sales 24 25 The Conversion of St. Paul 26 26 St. Timothy and St. Titus 28 27 St. Angela Merici 29 28 St. Thomas Aquinas 31 31 St. John Bosco 34 FEBRUARY 2 Presentation of Jesus 40 3 St. Blaise 41 St. Ansgar 42 5 St. Agatha 43 6 St. Paul Miki and Companions 44 v CONTENTS vi 8 St. Jerome Emiliani 46 10 St. Scholastica 47 11 Our Lady of Lourdes 48 14 St. Cyril and St. Methodius 49 17 Seven Founders of the Order of Servites 51 21 St. Peter Damian 51 22 Chair of St. Peter 53 23 St. Polycarp 53 MARCH 4 St. Casimir 56 7 St. Perpetua and St. Felicity 57 8 St. John of God 59 9 St. Frances of Rome 60 17 St. Patrick 62 18 St. Cyril of Jerusalem 65 19 St. Joseph 66 23 St. Turibius of Mongrovejo 68 25 The Annunciation 69 APRIL 2 St. Francis of Paola 74 4 St. Isidore 75 5 St. Vincent Ferrer 76 7 St. John Baptist de la Salle 77 11 St. Stanislaus 80 13 St. Martin I 81 16 St. Marie Bernadette Soubirous 82 21 St. Anselm 83 vii CONTENTS 23 St. George 84 24 St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen 85 25 St. Mark 86 28 St. Peter Chanel 87 29 St. Catherine of Siena 89 30 St. Pius V 92 MAY 1 St. Joseph the Worker 96 2 St. Athanasius 97 3 St. Philip and St. James 99 12 St. Nereus and St. Archilleus 100 12 St. Pancras 101 14 St. Matthias 102 15 St. Isidore the Farmer 102 18 St. John I 103 20 St. Bernardine of Siena 104 25 Venerable Bede 106 25 St. Gregory VII 107 25 St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi 109 26 St. Philip Neri 110 27 St. Augustine of Canterbury 112 31 The Visitation of Mary 113 JUNE 1 St. Justin 116 2 St. Marcellinus and St. Peter 118 3 St. Charles Lwanga and Companions 118 5 St. Boniface 121 CONTENTS viii 6 St. Norbert 123 9 St. Ephrem 124 11 St. Barnabas 125 13 St. Anthony of Padua 127 19 St. Romuald 128 21 St. Aloysius Gonzaga 129 22 St. Paulinus of Nola 131 22 St. John Fisher 132 22 St. Thomas More 134 24 The Birth of John the Baptist 136 27 St. Cyril of Alexandria 138 28 St. Irenaeus 139 29 St. Peter and St. Paul 140 30 First Martyrs of the Church of Rome 144 JULY 3 St. Thomas 146 4 St. Elizabeth of Portugal 147 5 St. Anthony Zaccaria 148 6 St. Maria Goretti 149 11 St. Benedict 150 13 St. Henry II 152 15 St. Bonaventure 153 16 Our Lady of Mount Carmel 155 18 St. Camillus de Lellis 156 21 St. Lawrence of Brindisi 157 22 St. Mary Magdalene 159 23 St. Bridget of Sweden 161 25 St. James 163 26 Sts. Joachim and Ann 164 ix CONTENTS 29 St. Martha 165 30 St. Peter Chrysologus 166 31 St. Ignatius Loyola 167 AUGUST 1 St. Alphonsus Liguori 172 2 St. Eusebius of Vercelli 174 4 St. John Vianney 175 5 Dedication of St. Mary Major 177 6 The Transfiguration of Jesus 177 7 St. Sixtus II and Companions 178 7 St. Cajetan 179 8 St. Dominic 180 10 St. Lawrence 182 11 St. Clare 183 13 St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus 185 15 The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary 186 16 St. Stephen of Hungary 187 19 St. John Eudes 189 20 St. Bernard 190 21 St. Pius X 192 22 The Queenship of Mary 193 23 St. Rose of Lima 194 24 St. Bartholomew 195 25 St. Louis of France 196 25 St. Joseph Calasanz 197 27 St. Monica 198 28 St. Augustine 201 29 The Beheading of St. John the Baptist 203 CONTENTS x SEPTEMBER 3 St. Gregory the Great 206 8 The Birth of Mary 209 9 St. Peter Claver 210 13 St. John Chrysostom 211 14 The Triumph of the Holy Cross 213 15 Our Lady of Sorrows 213 16 St. Cornelius St. Cyprian 214 17 St. Robert Bellarmine 216 19 St. Januarius 217 21 St. Matthew 218 26 St. Cosmas and St. Damian 219 27 St. Vincent de Paul 220 28 St. Wenceslaus 222 29 Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael 224 30 St. Jerome 224 OCTOBER 1 St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus 228 2 Guardian Angels 231 4 St. Francis of Assisi 231 6 St. Bruno 235 7 Our Lady of the Rosary 236 9 St. Denis and Companions 237 9 St. John Leonardi 237 14 St. Callistus I 239 15 St. Teresa of Avila 240 16 St. Hedwig 242 16 St. Margaret Mary Alacoque 243 xi CONTENTS 17 St. Ignatius of Antioch 245 18 St. Luke 246 19 St. Isaac Jogues and St. John de Brébeuf and Companions 248 19 St. Paul of the Cross 250 23 St. John of Capistrano 252 24 St. Anthony Claret 253 28 St. Simon and St. Jude 255 NOVEMBER 1 All Saints 258 2 All Souls 259 3 St. Martin de Porres 260 4 St. Charles Borromeo 261 9 Dedication of the Church of St. John Lateran 263 10 St. Leo the Great 264 11 St. Martin of Tours 265 12 St. Josaphat 267 13 St. Frances Xavier Cabrini 268 15 St. Albert the Great 270 16 St. Margaret of Scotland 271 16 St. Gertrude 272 17 St. Elizabeth of Hungary 273 18 Dedication of the Churches of Sts. Peter and Paul 276 21 Presentation of Mary 277 22 St. Cecilia 278 23 St. Clement I 279 23 St. Columban 280 30 St. Andrew 281 CONTENTS xii DECEMBER 3 St. Francis Xavier 284 4 St. John Damascene 287 6 St. Nicholas 288 7 St. Ambrose 290 8 The Immaculate Conception of Mary 293 11 St. Damasus I 294 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe 296 13 St. Lucy 297 13 St. Odilia 298 14 St. John of the Cross 299 21 St. Peter Canisius 301 23 St. John of Kanti 303 26 St. Stephen 304 27 St. John the Apostle 307 28 Holy Innocents 308 29 St. Thomas Becket 310 31 St. Sylvester I 311 INDEX 313 9 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton JAN. 4 (1774-1821) ST. ELIZABETH January 4 ANN SETON BORN IN New York City on August 28, 1774, of a prominent Episcopalian family, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton lived during the early years of the American republic and became a foundress of the young, American Catholic Church. Her father, Richard Bailey, was a distinguished New York physician. From the time of her mother’s death when she was three years old, she experi- enced an uneasy childhood, as shortly afterwards her father remarried and Elizabeth felt neglected by her stepmother. On January 25, 1794, at the age of nineteen, she married William Seton, a successful New York busi- nessman. Their life together was lively and happy. Five children, two boys and three girls, were born of their union. Elizabeth, friendly and widely pop- ular, enjoyed a busy social life. She was also a fer- vent member of Trinity Church in New York City, devoting herself to the church’s religious and social activities, especially to the care of the poor. Upon losing his fortune, her husband’s health began to fail towards the winter of 1803. Elizabeth sailed with him and her young daughter, Anna, for the warmer climate of Italy to stay with the Filic- chi family, with whom they had become friendly through their business affairs. Her husband’s con- dition worsened during the voyage. Unfortunately, when they docked at the port of Leghorn, Italy, JAN. 4 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 10 they were immediately quarantined in damp, iso- lated quarters because of a threat of plague. On De- cember 27, 1803, William Seton died there. The young widow and her daughter were released and found a home with the devotedly Catholic Filic- chis. “The patience of these dear Filicchis,” Eliz- abeth wrote in her journal. “You would think it was our Savior himself they received in his poor and sick strangers.” As she experienced the faith of this family and the Catholic faith and practices of the people, es- pecially their devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Elizabeth was drawn to the Catholic Church. Eliz- abeth returned to New York in May of 1804. On March 14, 1805, she became a Catholic after endur- ing much struggle within herself and opposition from family and friends. As a new convert, she enthusiastically embraced her new faith and became a zealous member of a church which then had few members and little so- cial prestige. With the encouragement of other pioneer Catholic leaders, like Archbishop Carroll of Baltimore, she opened the first American Catho- lic school in Baltimore in 1808 and established a religious community of women, the Sisters of Char- ity, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1809. Her small community grew and opened schools and orphan- ages in New York and Philadelphia. Mother Seton has been called the foundress of the Catholic school system in the United States.