Memorial of Saints (April 10)

St. Michael de Sanctis wanted to be a monk at six years of age. But his parents made him work first as an apprentice of a merchant. In 1603 A.D., he entered the Trinitarian Monastery in Barcelona. After studies in Seville and Salamanca, he was ordained. He became superior of the monastic house in Villadolid. Because of his great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, his companions already considered him a saint (died ca. 1625 A.D.).

St. Magdalen of Canossa joined the Carmelites but lived with them only shortly. She liked better the apostolate of serving Christ in the poor. Eventually, she was able to organize a school, recruited teachers, and created a form of religious life for them. She received papal approval for her congregation in 1824 A.D. - receiving the name Canossian Sisters of Charity. After a time, she was also able to organize a congregation for priests and brothers (died ca. 1835 A.D.).

St. Bademus founded a monastery near his birthplace in Bethlapat, Persia. But during the persecution of Christians under King Sapor II of Persia, he and seven companions were imprisoned and tortured. A Christian by the name of Nerson, was promised his freedom by the Persian authorities, if he would prove his denial of his Christian faith by killing St. Bademus. This is how St. Bademus died as a martyr for the faith (died ca. 376 A.D.).

St. Macaire of Ghent became bishop of Jerusalem in 314 A.D. He fought the Arian heresy and took part in the Council of Nicaea. Tradition says that he was with St. Helena (mother of Emperor Constantine) when she found the three crosses - one of which belonged to Jesus. When they let one of the crosses touch a seriously ill woman, and she got well, that Cross was proclaimed as the Cross of Christ. St. Macaire was then commissioned by Constantine to build a church over Christ's sepulcher (died ca. 335 A.D.).

St. Fulbert studied at Rheims under Gerbert. He became chancellor of Chartres and head of its cathedral school. When he was then elected to the see of Chartres, as bishop of his diocese, St. Fulbert rebuilt the cathedral, influenced the secular leaders of his time, and fought against simony - a sacrilege that consists in buying and selling what is spiritual in return for material things. St. Fulbert was a very accomplished bishop, producing many sermons, hymns, letters and treatises (died ca. 1029 A.D.).

St. Paternus of Abdinghof was the first to become a monk at Abdinghof monastery, under St. Meinwerk. Paternus decided to become a hermit in a cell adjoining the monastery. When a devastating fire in 1058 A.D. destroyed Abdinghof (an event foretold and predicted by St. Paternus), Paternus was burned to death because he refused to leave his cell and break his vow of enclosure (died ca. 1058 A.D.).

Easter Sunday (A)

(Edited) Sunday reflections: (From) Years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)

April 20, 2014
Liturgical readings
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Psalm 118
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-9

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good."

The versicle mentioned above is from the Responsorial Psalm of Easter vigil. It is all of the faithful's joyful response to God's gift of new life in Christ's resurrection. What Jesus always foretold before His apostles about His rising from the dead, is now made real in the power of the Spirit. What the Apostles did not understand before, is now revealed in the glory of His risen Body. As the days unfolded before the Apostles through the empty tomb, and then many resurrection appearances thereafter, the followers of Jesus continually rejoice and give thanks to the Lord upon seeing Him risen from the dead.

In one of his writings, St. Augustine of Hippo says that we have already received this new life in Christ through the sacrament of baptism. This new life we receive, will be brought to completion only in the resurrection of the dead. So, as we journey on to our eternal destiny in Christ, we renew our fidelity to Christian life candle-lit in the Easter Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. This solemn symbol reminds us of the great gift of new life we receive in Christ. By this renewal of baptismal vows with lit candles, we are encouraged by the Church to seek more the things above: to set our hearts beyond just the concerns of the flesh, the world, and to reject all that is not of God in our lives.

Scripture quotes for reflection:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, 'His mercy endures forever'. (Psalm 118)

St. Isidore of Seville, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. Isidore of Seville, Bishop and Doctor of the Church: ca. 560-636 A.D.

Feast day, April 4

Birth and family background

St. Isidore, bishop of Seville, was born at Cartagena, Spain, in 560 A.D., to a pious and noble family of Hispanic-Roman origin. Two of his brothers, Leander (26 years older than Isidore and a Benedictine monk) and Fulgentius, like Isidore, became bishops and saints. One of his sisters, Florentina, was an abbess of many convents and later declared a saint. It was his elder brother Leander (from whom Isidore received his education as a boy after their parents' death), who gave Isidore a very strict but firm educational grounding. After Isidore worked as an assistant to Leander (who had become bishop of Seville), he succeeded Leander as bishop when Leander died in ca. 600 A.D.

Continuing Leander's work and presiding over Councils

As bishop, St. Isidore continued and completed the work he and Leander began in converting the Visigoths. Isidore also continued Leander's practice of settling the Church's disciplinary matters, and promoted theological and ecclesiastical unity in the Spanish Church through the regional Councils. St. Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville in 619 A.D., and then the Fourth Council of Toledo in 633 A.D. He was given preference over the archbishop of Toledo at the time to preside over the Council, because Isidore's accomplishments proved his worth as a great teacher in Spain.

A voluminous and prolific writer

St. Isidore's writings form the earliest chapter of Spanish literature. He wrote Etymologies, an early encyclopedia that attempted to compile all the knowledge and the sciences of his age. Although outdated today, this work was one of the most widely used texts of the Middle Ages and was continually used for nine centuries. This encyclopedia earned Isidore the title, "Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages". One of Isidore's contemporaries also called him "the man who saved Spain from barbarism".


St. Isidore's other works included: a Dictionary of Synonyms; a treatise on astronomy and physical geography; a history of the principal events of the world from creation to the year 615 A.D.; a manual of Christian doctrine; a biography of illustrious men; a book of Old and New Testament personalities; and The History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi, (a very good resource book on the early history of Spain).


Isidore also wrote a code of rules for monks which bore his name, and was generally followed throughout Spain. He wrote extensive theological and ecclesiastical works. He also completed the Mozarabic missal and breviary which his brother Leander had begun to adapt for the use of the Goths (a liturgy that is still in use in Toledo, Spain).

Recognized and admired for his holiness

St. Isidore lived an austere life throughout his years, taking very little for himself and giving away what he did have. When he was near death, Isidore invited other bishops to visit him. At his request, they clothed him in sackcloth and ashes, the clothing of penitents, and he prayed for the forgiveness of his sins. After receiving the last sacraments, he asked those present for their prayers, forgave his debtors, and distributed all his possessions to the poor. St. Isidore then returned to his house where he died peacefully shortly thereafter in 636 A.D. at about the age of seventy-six.

Sainthood and the title Doctor of the Church

St. Isidore died peacefully in the Lord on April 4, was canonized in 1598 A.D. by Pope Clement VIII. He was declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1722 A.D. He is the first of three Spaniards to be declared Doctor of the Church - the other two being St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross (who lived a millenium after St. Isidore).


St. Isidore writes:


Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, praying is better than reading. If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us. (from the "Book of Maxims", by St. Isidore of Seville)

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney


• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom


• The Doctors of the Church vol 1, by John F. Fink


• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.