Jubilee Year of Mercy: JANUARY Mercy: of Year Jubilee THE SAINTS IN MERCY BLESSED LAURA VICUÑA DATES: 4/5/1891 – 1/22/1904 FEAST DAY: JANUARY 22 A EUCHARISTIC FIRE; A MERCIFUL DAUGHTER In his 1988 homily at the beatification Mass for little Laura Vicuna, Pope (St.) John Paul began his reflections on her heroic life by referencing the words found enscribed on her tombstone. “Laura Vicuña: Eucharitic Fire of the Andes. Her life was a poem of purity, of sacrifice and of daughterly love.” Born in Santiago, Chile to loving parents Laura’s young life was to take a dramatic turn when her father was killed in military service. Her young, widowed mother, desperate to provide for her children, surrendered to the wonton advances of a wealthy rancher. His reputation earned him the monicker: “el gaucho malo” – the bad cowboy. He enslaved mistresses like cattle and once branded a woman with the branding iron of his ranch, so that she would never be able to leave him. He similarly took Laura’s mother into his ‘stable’ of mistresses in exchange for paying for her daughters’ private schooling. Far away from the ranch and its scandals, Laura knew little about the life to which her mother had succumbed. Under the tutelage of the Salesian Sisters, little Laura grew to extraordinary – even mystical – depths of spiritual life. On a first return visit to the ranch, a now older Laura began to see and understand her mother’s life. She witnessed how violent el gaucho malo was. Her mother’s faith had been beaten out of her and she was left with only shame. Returning to boarding school and preparing for her First Holy Communion, Laura recalled the words of Scripture: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” From that moment on, and graced with the fire of Eucharistic Communion as a part of her life now, Laura resolved to offer her life to God in ransom for her mother’s. The self-offering for her mother’s conversion became her prayer at every Mass and with every reception of Holy Communion. Time had begun to shape little Laura into a young lady, and with what would be her last visit to the ranch, el gaucho malo took notice and made advances on Laura to destroy her purity and her faith. Laura rejected him and in turn was severely beaten for it, along with her mother. With complications from the beating, Laura began to die. Her mother remained by her side. On January 22 she received the final Sacraments of the Church. She turned to her mother and said: “Mother, I am dying. I asked Jesus for this…I offered my life for you and for your conversion so that you might return to God. Will you give me the joy of seeing you repent before I die?” With profound tears and feeling the floodgate of mercy poured upon her, her mother replied: “I swear to you I will.” With a pure smile upon her face Laura said: “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Mary! Now I can die happy.” And with that, the 12 year old died. In the days that followed many called her: “Laura – a virgin and a martyr.” And her mother would reply, “Yes, a martyr for me.” Jubilee Year of Mercy: Mercy: of Year Jubilee THE SAINTS IN MERCY ST. JEROME EMILIANI DATES: 1481 – 2/6/1537 FEAST DAY: FEBRUARY 8TH PATRON OF THE ORPHANED FEBRUARY AND THE ABANDONED “Jerome Emiliani lay chained in the dark dirty dungeon. Only a short time before he had been a military commander for Venice in charge of a fortress. He didn't care much about God because he didn't need him -- he had his own strength and the strength of his soldiers and weapons. When Venice's enemies, the League of Cambrai, captured the fortress, he was dragged off and imprisoned. There in the dungeon, Jerome decided to get rid of the chains that bound him. He let go of his worldly attachments and embraced God. When he finally was able to escape, he hung his metal chains in the nearby church of Treviso -- in gratitude not only for being freed from physical prison but from his spiritual dungeon as well. After a short time as mayor of Treviso he returned to his home in Venice where he studied for the priesthood. The war may have been over but it was followed by the famine and plague war's devastation often brought. Thousands suffered in his beloved city. Jerome devoted himself to service again -- this time, not to the military but the poor and suffering around him. He felt a special call to help the orphans who had no one to care for them. All the loved ones who would have protected them and comforted them had been taken by sickness or starvation. He would become their parent, their family. Using his own money, he rented a house for the orphans, fed them, clothed them, and educated them. Part of his education was to give them the first known catechetical teaching by question and answer. But his constant devotion to the suffering put him in danger too and he fell ill from the plague himself. When he recovered, he had the ideal excuse to back away, but instead his illness seemed to take the last links of the chain from his soul. Once again he interpreted his suffering to be a sign of how little the ambitions of the world mattered. He committed his whole life and all he owned to helping others. He founded orphanages in other cities, a hospital, and a shelter for prostitutes. This grew into a congregation of priests and brothers that was named after the place where they had a house: the Clerks Regular of Somascha. Although they spent time educating other young people, their primary work was always Jerome's first love -- helping orphans. His final chains fell away when he again fell ill while taking care of the sick. He died in 1537 at the age of 56.” Excerpted from Catholicn Online at: www.catholic.org/saints Jubilee THE SAINTS IN MERCY ST. KATHERINE DREXEL MARCH Mercy: of Year DATES: 11/26/1858 – 3/3/1955 FEAST DAY: MARCH 3 MERCY AT THE MARGINS Katherine Mary Drexel was born into great wealth and privilege. Her’s was one of the wealthiest families in Philadelphia – and beyond. Even so, at an early age, Katherine read a book about the plight of the American Indians and the horrifying injustices they suffered at the hands of her fellow countrymen. It was at that early age that young Katherine resolved to place her life at the service of addressing these injustices. She began with personal visits to Reservations across the American West, so as to meet as many of her Indian brothers and sisters as she could and hear from them their needs and hopes. Soon after she began a tour of the Southern United States and there discovered the miserable living conditions of the vast majority of African- Americans there. Katherine began to set her vast wealth to work with the building of schools on reservations and in city ghettos. But she knew it was not enough. With her connections, Katherine traveled to Rome for a meeting with Pope Leo XIII, who himself had keen interests in the plight of the American Indian. Katherine took the occasion to plead with the Pope that he send missionaries to the reservations of Wyoming. Intently listening to Katherine he replied to her when she finished: “Very good. But what are you going to do? Why don’t you become the missionary?” And so she did. With 13 others, they formed a new religious community: “The Blessed Sacrament Sisters for Indians and Colored People.” As part of their vows they promised never to “undertake any work which would lead to the neglect or abandonment of the Indian or Colored races.” In their work on the margins of society, defending the dignity of those whom society deemed of lesser value, the sisters suffered unending indignities and hostilities. In spite of it, Mother Katherine and her sisters were tireless witnesses that God makes no distinction between his children and that mercy is to be extended to all in need regardless of race, color or culture. In 60 years of service, Mother Katherine dispensed roughly $20 million dollars toward the foundation of 145 Catholic missions, 12 schools for Native Americans, 50 schools for African-Americans and 49 convents for 500 hunderd sisters who were completely devoted to their education. Mother Katherine established the first institution of higher learning in the United States for African-Americans when she opened Xavier University. APRIL Mercy: of Year Jubilee THE SAINTS IN MERCY ST. JOSEPH BENEDICT COTTOLENGO DATES: 5/3/1786 – 4/30/1742 FEAST DAY: APRIL 29 BUILDER OF MERCY’S HOUSE Joseph Benedict was born to a middle class family in northern Italy. Later, he studied at the seminary in Turin, Italy and was ordained for that diocese in 1811. For a while he served as a parish priest in Bra and Corneliano d’Alba. Later, he decided to joined the Order of the Corpus Christi in Turin. For several years, Joseph treated his priesthood more as a career than a vocation. Then one night he was called to the bed of a poor, sick woman in labour. The woman badly needed medical help, but had been turned away everywhere for lack of money. Joseph stayed with her throughout the travail, and was there to hear her confession, give her absolution, Communion, and last rites.