July Saints

Saint Anthony Maria Zaccaria (1502-1539)

Co-founder of the Barnabites (the regular Order of St Paul), Anthony was born in Cremona, Italy, in 1502. He trained as a medical doctor, but in 1528 he was ordained a priest and co-founded the Barnabites, the religious congregation so called because it was headquartered in St Barnabas Monastery in Milan. The Barnabites occupied the monastery in 1538, having been approved in 1533.

Saint Anthony popularised the Forty Hours devotion, promoted the use of altar sacraments and introduced the ringing of church bells on Friday. The groups he founded helped reform the morals of the faithful, encouraged laymen to work together with the apostolate, and promoted frequent reception of Holy Communion. While on a peace mission, Anthony became ill and died at his mother’s house; tradition says that in his last moments he had a vision of Saint Paul the Apostle.

Saint Anthony, obtain for us a great devotion to the Blessed Eucharist.

(Encyclopedia of the Saints, Matthew, Margaret & Stephen Bunson.1998 Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, Indiana)

Saint Charbel Makhlouf (1828-1898)

Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born in 1828, in Bekaa Kafra (North Lebanon). He had a true Christian upbringing, which had given him a passion for prayer. Following his two hermit uncles into the hermitage of the St Antonious Kozhaya monastery, he was converted to monastic and hermetical life.

In 1851, he left his family village, spent his first monastic year at Our Lady of Maifouk monastery, and then entered the Maronite Order, taking the name Charbel. On November 1st  1853, he made his ceremonial vows in St Maron’s monastery, Annaya.

On completion of his theological studies, he was ordained a priest in 1859. After 16 years there, he entered, in 1875, the hermitage belonging to the monastery. He spent his time praying and worshipping, rarely leaving the hermitage for 23 years. On December 16th, 1898, he was struck with an illness while offering Holy Mass. He died on Christmas Eve, 1898, and was buried St Maron’s.

Saint Charbel, teach us the value of spending time in silence with God.

(Source: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=112)

Saint Alphonsa of India  (1910-1946)

Anna Muttathupadatha was born in Kudamaloor, India, in August 1910. The fourth child of the family, she lost her mother when only three months old and was raised by a maternal aunt. At age three, she contracted an infected eczema from which she suffered for more than a year. She was brought up as a beautiful young lady destined to be married off to a well-to-do family. But Anna had her heart set on following in the footsteps of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and jumped into a pit of burning chaff in the hope of deforming her body so no suitor would like to marry her. This left her permanently somewhat disabled.

At age 18, she entered the Poor Clare convent at Bharananganam, taking the name of Alphonsa.  She taught primary school, and the children loved her for her gentleness and cheery way, but health problems often kept her from the classroom. In December 1936, the year she made her vows, she was miraculously cured of her ailments through the intercession of Saint Thérèse. However, in June 1939, she was struck by a severe attack of pneumonia which weakened her overall. She considered her whole life as a slow-burning holocaust to the Lord. Every suffering she offered as a beautiful flower in the wounds of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

On 18 October 1940, a thief stumbled into her room in the middle of the night. The shock of this event caused her to lose her memory and increased her general weakness. Her condition continued to deteriorate for months, and she was given the last rites on 29 September 1941. The next day, however, she regained her memory, though not complete health. She enjoyed some improvement over the next few years, but in July 1945 she developed a stomach problem that eventually led to her death on 28 July 1946.

Alphonsa was noted for her suffering, and suffering in silence. Incidents of her intervention began almost immediately upon her death, and often involved the children in the convent school. Hundreds of miraculous cures are attributed to her, most notably many involving the straightening of clubbed feet, possibly because of her having lived with deformed feet herself. Her burial place has become an important place of pilgrimage in India.

Saint Alphonsa, help us to suffer in the spirit of Jesus.

(Source: Internet – various)