We  just celebrated her 100th birthday last August 26.  On September 5, we will honor her 13th death anniversary.  And then, on October 19, the 7th year since she was beatified by John Paul II. 

For my generation, Mother Teresa (along with John Paul II) was the face of Catholicism, the very model of what it is to serve and to suffer for Jesus Christ.  I’ve heard many of her quotes and stories told about her; and, I have a friend who has a sister in the Missionaries of Charity.  I have such high esteem for that vocation, of their selfless giving to everyone, most especially the impoverished and dying.

We have a special biography page on Mother Teresa where you can find every book we have written by her or on her, a couple of DVDs (documentaries and adaptations), and some other gifts.  Check it out here: Mother Teresa Books and Gifts.

I’d say this is the leading biopic on St. John Bosco.  It is the most recently produced and has the best actors by far. 

The only drawback is that it was filmed in Italian–so you’ll just have to bear the awkward English overdub or the subtitles.   As is the norm for biographical movies, events have been dramatized, others omitted (like his dreams and encounters with the devil), though the key elements of this great Saint’s life are all there.  And, perhaps it runs a little long.

I can’t say that Flavio Insinna resembles St. John Bosco, either, but this very capable actor has convincingly portrayed the zeal, the self-sacrificial love, and the humility possessed by the Apostle of Youth–which is the important point of this movie. 

St. John Bosco’s relics are making their way to the United States next month.  I will most definitely make a pilgrimage to see them.  I had a very influential teacher when I was in the sixth grade who was a Salesian Cooperator, so I’ve been out camping with the Salesians and on retreat.  And, this teacher of mine possessed for herself a first-class relic, which she passed around to us one day.  So I guess you can say I’ve met St. John Bosco already.

Blessed Br. Andre Bessette will be canonized this Fall. 

Br. Andre was a Holy Cross Brother from Quebec, Canada.  Because of his poor education and frail health, he was assigned as a doorman, which along with other menial tasks, he performed dutifully for forty years.  A devotee of St. Joseph, Br. Andre would share this devotion with those he encountered who were in need.  He would annoint the sick with oil from the lamp before the altar of St. Joseph; they would then experience miraculous healing. 

Over the years, thousands claimed to have been  cured due to his help and the intercession of St. Joseph.  His popularity grew across the nation, and, the world.  Br. Andre refused to take any credit for these miracles and directed them entirely to the workings of his patron.  He campained to have a chapel built in honor of St. Joseph, which  came to fruition in 1924.

Br. Andre died in 1937.  His remains are buried under that basilica, named St. Joseph Oratory, in Montreal, Canada.  He was beatified by John Paul II in 1982, and Benedict XVI announced in February his approval for Br. Andre’s canonization as a Saint, to be held October 17, 2010.

We have the DVD on the life story of Br. Andre (pictured above) and a commemorative Rosary with an encased relic touched to his tomb in Montreal (inset).

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. John Vianney, the Patron Saint of Priests. 

He has an interesting story in that he was poorly educated.  Not the sharpest tool in the shed, he struggled with his studies towards the priesthood.  Supposedly he was sent to the small, rural community of Ars because of his ineptitude.

But, St. John Vianney made such a dramatic difference in the people of Ars, turning them back to the Church from drunkeness and debauchery through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  He would spend entire days hearing Confessions–up to sixteen hours!  In his sermons and counsels he would demonstrate great wisdom and wit that was beyond his education.

Gradually, his fame spread that many made pilgrimmages to Ars for him to hear their Confessions or to seek spiritual advice.  Miracles such as supernatural knowledge and healing were attributed to him during his life and after his death in 1859.  Pope Pius XI canonized him in 1925 and named him Patron Saint of Priests in 1929.  

In honor of his 150th anniversary, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the “Year for Priests” from June 16 of 2009 to 2010.  If you see your priest tomorrow, wish him a happy Feast Day, and thank him for what he has done for you and for all the faithful.

The Wondrous Childhood of the Most Holy Mother of God by St. John Eudes

St. John Eudes lived in France in the 17th Century.  He was a missionary who founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, the Society of the Heart of the Mother Most Admirable, and, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge.

The Sisters were dedicated to providing a safe place for prostitutes who wished to convert from their ways and do penance, which shows St. John Eudes’ affinity for the salvation of young women.  His book, The Wondrous Childhood of the Most Holy Mother of God, examines the early life of Mary, from her Immaculate Conception, to her upbringing by Sts. Joachim and Anne (whose combined feast was celebrated yesterday), to when she accepted her role in God’s plan for the salvation of the world. 

St. John Eudes intended to use the book as a means of educating the girls and young women of his time on how to live a life of true womanly virtue in the ultimate example of the Virgin Mary.  With modesty and purity heading out the window nowadays, led astray by immoral role models in the media, it is time for the original Madonna to make a comeback.

Tomorrow, July 14, is the Feast Day of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.  Along with St. Francis, she is a patron of the environment.  She is the first Native American to be beatified by the Catholic Church.  Her cause for canonization is still underway.

Kateri was a Mohawk-Algonquian.  Her mother was a converted Catholic who died when Kateri was a little girl.  Raised by her uncle who discouraged her interest in Catholicism, Kateri nevertheless pursued conversion, and at 20, was baptized by Jesuit missionaries. 

This caused her to be chastised by her own kin.  She developed and maintained a great zeal for her faith despite threats against her life. She ran away to a more accepting community where she continued her devotion and service to the needy, taking a vow of chastity and practicing physical mortification as a means of attaining holiness.  She died at the young age of 24.

Pope John Paul II beautified her in 1980.  In addition to her environmental patronage, she is held as an intercessor for Native American causes and for those with facial disfigurations (as smallpox left Kateri with scars–it is said that at her death, these scars disappeared, revealing her beautiful face; many have claimed that their own facial blemishes were miraculously removed when they called upon her in prayer).