ALL POSTS TAGGED: BLEST ARE WE

Imagine seeing our Blessed Mother not just once, but eighteen times! That is the blessing Bernadette Soubirous was given for five months in 1858.

Mariana Navarro de Guevara Romero of Jesus was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1565. She was the oldest of six children and the only girl. After her mother died, it became Mariana’s responsibility to care for her brothers. She loved them all very much and tried her best to be like a second mother to them.

The man we now call the “St. Francis of the Americas” began life in 1626, growing up a poor shepherd in the Canary Islands. He often lived in a cave. As he cared for the sheep, he spent his time growing closer to God in prayer. He longed to travel to Guatemala City, where he hoped he could earn a better living.

Anselm’s desire to become a monk led him from his childhood home in Italy to a famous Benedictine monastery in France.
 

Mark was an Evangelist—one of the four men who wrote the Gospels found in the New Testament. Mark’s Gospel was written first, and it is the shortest description of Jesus’ life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Mark’s writings helped both Matthew and Luke to write their Gospels.

Catherine’s parents lived in Siena, Italy, and had 25 children. Catherine, who was born in 1347, was number 23. From an early age she loved to pray, and at the age of seven she already knew she wished to remain chaste and unmarried to devote her life to God. By the time of her death in 1380—when she was only 33—she had touched the lives of many people.

It isn’t always easy to be different from others, but Dominic, who was born in 1842, was different. Even as a young boy, he had great faith. His parents taught him how important it was for him to put Jesus first in his life.

Damien was born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, in 1840. When he was only 13 he had to quit school to work on the family farm. At age 19, he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. As a member of this religious community, he took the name Damien. He chose this name after a fourth-century physician and martyr.

In the 14th century, a number of English men and women withdrew from the world. They lived alone as hermits or anchorites. Their hermitage, or cell, was a small room attached to a local church. Each room had two windows. One pierced the church wall. Through this window, the anchorite received communion. Through the second window, the anchorite received food brought to him or her by village people.

The other farmhands thought Isidore was lazy and caused them extra work. Like them, Isidore was a day laborer on a wealthy estate in Madrid, Spain, about a thousand years ago. Because Isidore took time to go to Mass before coming to work, the other farmers thought they were doing some of his share of the work. They didn’t like that. Little did they know that Isidore did have some extra help, but it wasn’t them!