Bernard was born in 1090 in Dijon, France. He and his six brothers and sisters received an excellent education. When he was just seventeen, his mother died. He might have let sadness get the best of him had it not been for his lively sister Humbeline, who helped to cheer him up. Soon Bernard became very popular. He was good looking and intelligent, full of fun and good humor. People enjoyed being with him.

Yet one day, Bernard greatly surprised his friends by telling them he was going to join the very strict Cistercian Order. They did all they could to make him give up the idea. But in the end, it was Bernard who convinced his brothers, an uncle, and twenty-six friends to join him. As Bernard and his brothers left their home, they said to their little brother Nivard, who was playing with other children: “Goodbye, little Nivard. You will now have all the lands and property for yourself.” But the boy answered: “What! Will you take heaven and leave me the earth? Do you call that fair?” And not too long after, Nivard, too, joined his brothers in the monastery.

St. Bernard became a very good monk. After three years, he was sent to start a new Cistercian monastery and to be its abbot. The new monastery was in the Valley of Light and became known by that name. In French, the Valley of Light is “Clairvaux.” Bernard was the abbot there for the rest of his life.

Although he would have liked to stay working and praying in his monastery, he was called out sometimes for special assignments. He preached, made peace between rulers, and advised popes. He also wrote beautiful spiritual books. He became the most influential man of his time. Yet Bernard’s great desire was to be close to God, to be a monk. He had no desire to become famous. This saint had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother. He often greeted her with a “Hail Mary” when he passed her statue. It is said that one day, the Blessed Mother returned his greeting: “Hail, Bernard!” In this way, Our Lady showed how much his love and devotion pleased her.

St. Bernard died in 1153. People were saddened because they would miss his wonderful influence. He was proclaimed a saint in 1174 by Pope Alexander III. He was also named a Doctor of the Church in 1830 by Pope Pius VIII.

Visiting Mary’s Final Earthly Home in Turkey

Raymond Kolbe was born in Poland in 1894. He joined the Franciscan Order in 1907 and took the name: Maximilian.
Maximilian loved his vocation very much, and he especially loved the Blessed Mother. He added the name “Mary” when he pronounced solemn vows in 1914. Father Maximilian Mary was convinced that the world of the twentieth century needed their Heavenly Mother to guide and protect them. He used the printing press to make Mary more widely known. He and his fellow Franciscans published two monthly newsletters that soon went to readers around the world.

He built a large center in Poland. This center was called “City of the Immaculate.” By 1938, 800 Franciscans lived there and labored to make the love of Mary known. Father Kolbe also started another City of the Immaculate in Nagasaki, Japan. Still another was begun in India. In 1939, the Nazis invaded the Polish City of the Immaculate. They stopped the wonderful work going on there. In 1941, the Nazis arrested Father Kolbe. They sentenced him to hard manual labor at Auschwitz.

He was at Auschwitz three months when a prisoner successfully escaped. The Nazis made the rest of the prisoners pay for the escape. They chose ten prisoners at random to die in the starvation bunker. All the prisoners stood at attention, while ten men were pulled out of line. One chosen prisoner, a married man with a family, begged and pleaded to be spared for the sake of his children. Father Kolbe, who had not been picked, listened and felt deeply moved to help that suffering prisoner. He stepped forward and asked the commander if he could take the man’s place. The commander accepted his offer.

Father Kolbe and the other prisoners were marched into the starvation bunker. They remained alive without food or water for several days. One by one, as they died, Father Kolbe helped and comforted them. He was the last to die. An injection of carbolic acid hastened his death on August 14, 1941. Pope John Paul II proclaimed him a saint and a martyr in 1982.

St. Clare was born around 1193 in Assisi, Italy. St. Francis of Assisi lived in the same town. Clare used to listen to Francis preach. Her heart burned with a great desire to imitate him. Like him, she wanted to live a poor, humble life for Jesus. But her parents would never agree to such a plan. So on the night of Palm Sunday, 1212, when she was eighteen years old, she left her comfortable home and her family whom she loved. In a little chapel outside Assisi, she gave herself to God. St. Francis cut off her hair and offered her a rough brown habit to wear. She stayed with the Benedictine nuns until more nuns would join her. Her parents tried in every way to make her return home, but Clare would not. Soon her fifteen-year-old sister Agnes joined her.

Other young women wanted to be “poor ladies” of Jesus, too. Before long there was a small religious community. They lived in a house at the church of San Damiano, which St. Francis himself had repaired. St. Clare and her nuns wore no shoes. They never ate meat. They lived in a poor house in an atmosphere of silent prayer. Yet they were very happy because they were living a life of poverty as Jesus had done. Once an army of rough soldiers came to attack the city of Assisi. Although very sick, St. Clare asked to be carried to the window. She had the Blessed Sacrament placed right where the soldiers could see it. Then she knelt and begged God to save the nuns and the city. “O Lord, protect these sisters whom I cannot protect now,” she prayed. And a voice within her seemed to say: “I will keep them always in my care.” At the same time, a sudden fright struck the attackers. They fled as fast as they could.

St. Clare was abbess of her convent for forty years. Twenty-nine of those years she was sick. But she said that she was joyful anyway because she was serving the Lord. Some people worried that the nuns were suffering because they were so poor. St. Clare spent most of her life defending what she called the “privilege of poverty.” The pope tried to soften her Rule’s requirement of poverty, but Clare convinced him that she and her nuns were called to live with no possessions, trusting completely in God. St. Clare died on August 11, 1253. Just two years later she was proclaimed a saint by Pope Alexander IV.

Sometimes we forget to give time to the Lord. We might be so concerned about certain things that we allow them to drown out the voice of Jesus. That’s when we can ask St. Clare to show us how to keep Jesus as the center of our lives and hearts.

This famous martyr of Rome lived in the third century. He was one of seven deacons who were in charge of giving help to the poor and the needy. When a persecution broke out, Pope St. Sixtus II was condemned to death. As he was led to execution, Lawrence followed him weeping. “Father, where are you going without your deacon?” “I am not leaving you, my son,” answered the pope. “In three days you will follow me.” Full of joy, Lawrence gave to the poor the rest of the money he had on hand. He even sold some of the Church’s possessions to have more to give away.

The prefect of Rome, a greedy man, thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. He ordered Lawrence to bring the Church’s treasure to him. The saint said he would, in three days. Then he went through the city and gathered together all the poor and sick people who were being supported by the Church. He showed them to the prefect and said: “This is the Church’s treasure.” The prefect was furious. In his anger he condemned Lawrence to a slow, cruel death. The saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted him. God gave him so much strength and joy that Lawrence is said to have instructed his executioner, “Turn me over. I am broiled enough on this side.” Before he died, he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus. He prayed that the Catholic faith would spread all over the world.

Lawrence died on August 10, 258. Devotion to him spread throughout Italy and northern Africa. Emperor Constantine built a beautiful basilica in Lawrence’s honor. St. Lawrence is among the saints mentioned in the First Eucharistic Prayer at Mass.

When we’re inclined to complain about something that bothers us, we can ask St. Lawrence to help us be patient. The martyrs had the grace to be faithful to Christ in terrible circumstances because they had been faithful to him in the little everyday situations that we all face.

St. Dominic was born in Castile, Spain, in 1170. He was a member of the Guzman family and his mother is Blessed Joan of Aza. When Dominic was seven, he began to go to school. His uncle, a priest, directed his education. After years of study, he became a priest too. Dominic lived a quiet life of prayer and obedience with other virtuous priests. But God had a special plan for Dominic. He would begin a new religious Order. It would be called the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans.

The Dominicans preached the faith. They helped correct false teachings called heresies. It all began when Dominic was on a trip through southern France. He realized that the heresy of Albigensianism, a false teaching, was doing great harm. St. Dominic felt such pity for the people who were being misled by it. He wanted to help them. The Dominicans helped to spread the truth with preaching and prayer, especially the Holy Rosary. Dominic also encouraged the people to be humble and to make sacrifices. Once someone asked St. Dominic what book he used to prepare his wonderful sermons. “The only book I use is the book of love,” he said. He always prayed to be filled with true love of neighbor. He urged the Dominicans to be devoted to the study of the Bible and to prayer. No one did more than St. Dominic and his preachers to spread the beautiful practice of saying the Rosary.

St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi were close friends. Their two Orders of Dominicans and Fran-ciscans helped Christians become holier. Dominic’s friars opened centers in Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; and Rome and Bologna, Italy. He lived to see his Order spread to Poland, Scandinavia, and Palestine. The friars also went to Canterbury, London, and Oxford, all in England. Dominic died in Bologna on August 6, 1221. His great friend, Cardinal Ugolino of Venice became Pope Gregory IX. He proclaimed Dominic a saint in 1234.

We can ask St. Dominic to help us grow in our love for our Catholic faith. We can also ask him to teach us to be as devoted to the Rosary as he was.

Today we remember fourteen martyrs who were martyred at Lancaster on the hill above the Cathedral including St. Edmund Arrowsmith S.J., St. Ambrose Barlow OSB & Blessed James Bell, & John Finch, layman, Richard Hayhurst, Robert Nutter O.P., & Edward Thwing, Thurstan Hunt & Robert Middleton S.J., John Thules & Roger Wrenno, layman, plus Edward Bamber, John Woodcock O.F.M., & Thomas Whitaker (these last three being the last group of Lancaster martyrs on this day, 7th August 1646).
We pray that our witness to Christ may be strong and faithful and pray for vocations to the priesthood in the footsteps of our martyrs.

A Catechism on prayer, by St John Mary Vianney

Consider, children, a Christian’s treasure is not on earth, it is in heaven. Well then, our thoughts should turn to where our treasure is.
    Man has a noble task: that of prayer and love. To pray and to love, that is the happiness of man on earth.
    Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When the heart is pure and united with God it is consoled and filled with sweetness; it is dazzled by a marvellous light. In this intimate union God and the soul are like two pieces of wax moulded into one; they cannot any more be separated. It is a very wonderful thing, this union of God with his insignificant creature, a happiness passing all understanding.
    We had deserved to be left incapable of praying; but God in his goodness has permitted us to speak to him. Our prayer is an incense that is delightful to God.
    My children, your hearts are small, but prayer enlarges them and renders them capable of loving God. Prayer is a foretaste of heaven, an overflowing of heaven. It never leaves us without sweetness; it is like honey, it descends into the soul and sweetens everything. In a prayer well made, troubles vanish like snow under the rays of the sun.
    Prayer makes time seem to pass quickly, and so pleasantly that one fails to notice how long it is. When I was parish priest of Bresse, once almost all my colleagues were ill, and as I made long journeys I used to pray to God, and, I assure you, the time did not seem long to me. There are those who lose themselves in prayer, like a fish in water, because they are absorbed in God. There is no division in their hearts. How I love those noble souls! Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Colette saw our Lord and spoke to him as we speak to one another.
    As for ourselves, how often do we come to church without thinking what we are going to do or for what we are going to ask. And yet, when we go to call upon someone, we have no difficulty in remembering why it was we came. Some appear as if they were about to say to God: ‘I am just going to say a couple of words, so I can get away quickly.’ I often think that when we come to adore our Lord we should get all we ask if we asked for it with a lively faith and a pure heart.

Let us pray.
Almighty and merciful God,
    by your grace Saint John Mary Vianney
    was remarkable for his zeal as priest and pastor.
Help us by his example and prayers
    to win our brethren for Christ by love,
    and to share with them in eternal glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
    who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
    one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

St. John Mary Vianney was born near Lyons, France, in 1786. As a child he took care of his father’s sheep. He loved to pray and when he was eighteen, he asked his father’s permission to become a priest. His father was worried about losing his help on the family farm. After two years, however, Mr. Vianney agreed. At twenty, John studied under Father Balley. The priest was very patient but Latin soon became a major problem for John. He became discouraged. It was then that he decided to walk sixty miles to the shrine of St. John Francis Regis, a popular saint in France. John prayed for help. After that pilgrimage, he still had as much trouble as ever with his studies. But he never again grew discouraged.

John was finally able to enter the seminary. Studies were hard. No matter how much he tried, he never did very well. When the final examinations came, they were spoken, not written. John had to face a board of teachers and answer their questions. He was so upset that he broke down in the middle of the test. Father Balley spoke up for John. He pointed out that John was a good and holy man, he was full of common sense, and he understood what the Church taught about the faith. It was agreed that these qualities made up for what John was lacking in learning. John was ordained.

At first, he was appointed as Father Balley’s curate, assisting him until his death in 1817. Then Father Vianney was sent to a little parish called Ars, where he would spend the rest of his life. When he first arrived, the people of Ars did not care much about their faith. They drank too much, worked all day Sunday, and never went to church. Many used terrible language. Father Vianney fasted and did penance for his people. He tried to stop them from sinning. Eventually, one tavern after another closed down because business became so slow. People began to worship regularly on Sundays and attended weekday Mass. The swearing was not so frequent. What had happened in Ars? “Our priest is a saint,” the people would say, “and we must obey him.”

God gave John the power to see into people’s minds and to know the future. Because of this gift, he converted many sinners and helped people make the right decisions. Hundreds of pilgrims began to come to Ars each day. St. John Vianney often spent sixteen hours daily hearing confessions. Even though he felt he would be happier and more at peace in a monastery, he remained at Ars for forty-two years and died there in 1859 at the age of seventy-three. St. John Vianney was proclaimed a saint in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

St. John Vianney devoted an enormous amount of time to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this sacrament, our sins are forgiven and we receive the graces we need to live our life according to the teachings of Jesus. Let’s make it a point to take advantage of this sacrament by going to confession more frequently.