St. Paula Montal is the foundress of the Piarist Sisters. Paula Montal Fornés de San José de Calasanz was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1799. She was the oldest of five daughters. Her father died when she was only 10, and Paula had to go to work to help her mother support the family. She also helped her mother raise her younger sisters. Paula was disappointed that she could not attend school. She promised God that she would devote her life to the Christian education of girls and young women. Paula and her best friend, Inés Busquets, moved to a city near the border of Spain and France in 1829 to open their first school. It offered special training for girls and also educated them in the Catholic faith. After the third school was built, Paula was given permission from the pope in 1847 to form an order of nuns who were committed to her work. The name Paula chose was the Daughters of Mary Religious of the Pious Schools. The community was devoted to our Blessed Mother and to the education of young women. When the community gathered to elect a Mother Superior, Sister Paula was not chosen. This was unusual because she had founded the order, but Paula was not upset. She saw it as a sign that God wanted her to continue to work closely with the girls in the Pious Schools. Paula personally founded eight more schools. She was also responsible for the formation of the young women who wanted to become Daughters of Mary nuns. The young nuns and the students she taught were inspired by her holiness. Mother Paula Montal died on February 26, 1889, at one of the schools she founded, Olesa de Montserrat. She was canonized in 2001, at which time there were more than 800 Sisters of the Pious Schools in 19 countries.

March 1st is St. Davids Day, the national day of Wales and has been celebrated as such since the 12th Century. Today the celebrations usually involve the singing of traditional songs followed by a tea with bara brith (famous welsh fruited bread) and teisen bach (welsh cake). Actually not too much is known about St David except from a biography written around 1090 by Rhygyfarch, son of the Bishop of St. Davids. David was reputedly born on a cliff top near Capel Non (Non’s chapel) on the South-West Wales coast during a fierce storm. Both his parents were descended from Welsh royalty. He was the son of Sandde, Prince of Powys, and Non, daughter of a chieftain of Menevia (now the little cathedral town of St David’s). The site of Davids birth is marked by the ruins of a tiny ancient chapel close to a holy well and the more recent 18th century chapel dedicated to his mother Non can still be seen near St. David’s Cathedral. In medieval times it was believed that St David was the nephew of King Arthur. Legend has it that the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick – also said to have been born near the present day city of St. Davids – foresaw the birth of David in approximately AD520. The young David grew up to be a priest, being educated at the monastery of Hen Fynyw under the tutorage of St. Paulinus. According to legend David performed several miracles during his life including restoring Paulinus’ sight. It is also said that during a battle against the Saxons, David advised his soldiers to wear leeks in their hats so that they could easily be distinguished from their enemies, which is why the leek is one of the emblems of Wales. A vegetarian who ate only bread, herbs and vegetables and who drank only water, David became known as Aquaticus or Dewi Ddyfrwr (the water drinker) in Welsh. Sometimes, as a self-imposed penance, he would stand up to his neck in a lake of cold water, reciting Scripture! It is also said that milestones during his life were marked by the appearance of springs of water. Becoming a missionary David travelled throughout Wales and Britain and even made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he was consecrated bishop. He founded 12 monasteries including Glastonbury and one at Minevia (St. Davids) which he made his bishops seat. He was named Archbishop of Wales at the Synod of Brevi (Llandewi Brefi), Cardiganshire in 550. Monastery life was very strict, the brothers having to work very hard, cultivating the land and pulling the plough. Many crafts were followed – beekeeping, in particular, was very important. The monks had to keep themselves fed as well as provide food and lodging for travellers. They also looked after the poor. St David died on March 1, 589, at Minevia, allegedly over 100 years old. His remains were buried in a shrine in the 6th century cathedral which was ransacked in the 11th century by Viking invaders, who plundered the site and murdered two Welsh bishops. After his death, his influence spread far and wide, first through Britain and then by sea to Cornwall and Brittany. In 1120, Pope Callactus II canonised David as a Saint. Following this he was declared Patron Saint of Wales. Such was Davids influence that many pilgrimages were made to St. David’s, and the Pope decreed that two pilgrimages made to St. Davids equalled one to Rome while three were worth one to Jerusalem. Fifty churches in South Wales alone bear his name. It is not certain how much of the history of St. David is fact and how much is mere speculation. However in 1996 bones were found in St. David’s Cathedral which, it is claimed, could be those of Dewi himself. Perhaps these bones can tell us more about St David: priest, bishop and patron saint of Wales.

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter - February 22 On the one hand, there is a physical chair which is an ancient, ornamented chair and is located in the apse of St. Peter's Basilica. On the other hand, there is the spiritual authority that this chair represents. Early martyrologies indicate that two liturgical feasts were celebrated in Rome, in honor of earlier chairs associated with Saint Peter, his Roman chair was kept in the baptismal chapel of St. Peter's Basilica, while the Antioch chair was housed in the catacomb of Priscilla. The dates of these celebrations were January 18 and February 22 respectively.. According to recent scientific studies, the object-now known as the Cathedra Petri (Latin for "Chair of Peter”) dates back to the sixth century and-is located in the apse of St. Peter's Basilica. It is enthroned in the back of the chamber, behind the famous altar, on the far, back wall, below the the well-known, stained glass image depicting the Holy Spirit as a dove This display contains an ancient chair that has been repaired and ornamented over time. The wooden throne was a gift from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald to Pope John VIII in 875. The seat is about one foot ten inches above the ground, and two feet eleven and seven-eighths inches wide; the sides are two feet one and one-half inches deep; the height of the back up to the tympanum is three feet five and one-third inches; the entire height of the chair is four feet seven and one-eighth inches. The oldest portion is a perfectly plain oaken arm-chair with four legs connected by cross-bars. The wood is much worm-eaten, and pieces have been cut from various spots at different times, evidently for relics. To the right and left of the seat are four strong iron rings, intended for carrying-poles, which are set into the legs. Over time, various modifications have been made to the chair, to repair and ornament it. Most notably, the famous Italian artist/architect Bernini (1598-1680) created the current display. During the Middle Ages it was customary to exhibit the chair yearly to the faithful, and the newly-elected pope was also solemnly enthroned on this venerable chair. In order to preserve this precious relic for posterity, Pope Alexander VII (1655-67) enclosed, after the designs of Bernini, the Cathedra Petri above the apsidal altar of St. Peter's in a gigantic casing of bronze, supported by four Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Augustine, Athanasius, and St. John Chrysostom). The Chair of St Peter, represented in the apse of the Vatican Basilica is a monumental sculpture, a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his Successors to tend Christ’s flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity The Chair of St. Peter is a very ancient tradition, proven to have existed in Rome since the fourth century. On it, we give thanks to God for the mission He entrusted to the Apostle Peter and his Successors. "Cathedra" literally means the established seat of the Bishop, placed in the mother church of a diocese which for this reason is known as a "cathedral"; it is the symbol of the Bishop's authority and in particular, of his "magisterium", that is, the evangelical teaching which, as a successor of the Apostles, he is called to safeguard and to transmit to the Christian Community. The See of Rome, after St Peter's travels, thus came to be recognized as the See of the Successor of Peter, and its Bishop's "cathedra" represented the mission entrusted to him by Christ to tend his entire flock. Celebrating the "Chair" of Peter, therefore, as we are doing today, means attributing a strong spiritual significance to it and recognizing it as a privileged sign of the love of God, the eternal Good Shepherd, who wanted to gather his whole Church and lead her on the path of salvation. By the way, the pope does not have to sit in the physical Chair of Peter to be infallible? Although the pope's infallible pronouncements are called ex cathedra (Latin, "from the chair") statements, he does not have to be sitting in the physical chair (which is rather high off the ground in any case). In fact, he doesn't have to be seated at all. He simply has to use the fullness of his authority as the successor of Peter to definitively teaching a particular matter pertaining to faith or morals. This use of the full extent of his teaching authority is referred to figuratively, as him speaking "from the chair" of St. Peter. It's a figurative expression, not a reference to the physical object.  

Today, February 15, is the Piarist Feast of Venerable Glicerio Landriani (1588-1618), a cleric and professor of the Piarist Order and a companion of Saint Joseph Calasanz. He moved to the Pious Schools on May 6, 1611, along with five priests. He taught catechism in the schools. He was a titular abbot and as such was assigned to buy the house next to the Piarist Church of San Pantaleo, to be used as a school. He entered the Piarist novitiate in 1618 but became very sick, and it was clear that he would soon die. The Piarist Cardinal Protector received Landriani's simple profession on February 15, 1618, and Landriani passed away a few hours later.

He was the youngest of eight children, was educated by the Piarists, and studied engineering in Valencia, Spain. He was married to Isabel Rodes Reig, the main witness to his life and martyrdom, and who died in 1993. He spread a Christian outlook and morality among his peers and was known for his charity to the poor. He worked as an industrial engineer in the family ceramics firm, and he held several important municipal posts in which he put the Church‘s social teaching into practice. He was always involved in parish activities and Catholic youth groups, and he was firmly against the anti-religious sentiment of 1930’s Spain, where he worked to save persecuted priests and religious. As he was taken away to his martyrdom on February 14, 1937, for supporting his faith, his wife said, “See you tomorrow!”, and he answered, “Until tomorrow or in heaven!”. Those who’ve studied his case believe he had a cause for canonization based solely on his life, not just his martyrdom. He was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II on October 1, 1995.

There are multiple legends of Saint Valentine, and different reliquaries in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Scotland, England and France all claim to have bones attributed to a Saint Valentine. While Catholics believe that Feb. 14 commemorates the martyrdom of Saint Valentine, who was a Roman priest beheaded in the third century, no one can agree on exactly what he did or why he was executed. Some legends say Valentine was a bishop in Terni, Italy, who healed the sick, including the blind daughter of a prison guard whom he met while in jail for practicing Christianity in a pagan world. Some say he was sentenced to death because he tried to convert Emperor Claudius to Christianity. Others say the sentence came because he was caught secretly performing weddings, defying a ban on marriage that had been imposed by the Emperor as a solution to a military recruitment crunch. The feast day’s earliest associations with love and fertility may have been inherited from the pagan festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated by the ancient Romans between Feb. 13 and Feb. 15. A matchmaking lottery would pair men and women up for the duration of the festival, and the men would slap women with the hides of goats and dogs they had sacrificed, which was thought to make the women fertile, historian Noel Lenski has told NPR. It’s thought that Pope Gelasius I established the feast of Saint Valentine in the fifth century to “Christianize” the festival.But Saint Valentine’s feast day didn’t use to be a big to-do — which should please those who think too much is being made of it now.“Valentine was not one of the more important saints venerated by medieval people — nor was his feast one of the 40 to 50 festa ferianda, or celebratory festivals, which required people to abstain from work in order to fast and attend mass,” Sarah Peverley, a professor of English at the University of Liverpool, explained in a piece for The Conversation. Plus, the holiday fell right in the middle of a run of much bigger holidays, such as Candlemas on Feb. 2, as well as the carnivals leading up to the Shrove Tuesday and the beginning of the Lenten fast season, which often fall around the same time. (Valentine’s Day in 2018, for example, is the same day as Ash Wednesday.) That began to change in the Middle Ages. It’s believed to be around that time, as notions of courtly love gained influence in Europe, that some celebrants found a more cheerful way of explaining why Saint Valentine’s feast day should be a time to think about romance. Poets, most famously Geoffrey Chaucer in his 14th-century “Parliament of Fowls,” were the ones who put it together that the day fell right around the time of year when birds would sing their mating songs to get ready for the spring. He wrote, per one translation, “For this was on Saint Valentine’s day / When every bird cometh there to chose his mate.” A February 1477 letter in which Margery Brews of Norfolk, England, called her fiancé John Paston “my right well-beloved valentine” is considered the oldest known Valentine written in English (and is now housed at the British Library).

St. Agatha, also known as Agatha of Sicily, is one of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of the Catholic Church. It is believed that she was born around 231 in either Catania or Palermo, Sicily to a rich and noble family. From her very early years, the notably beautiful Agatha dedicated her life to God. She became a consecrated virgin, a state in life where young women choose to remain celibate and give themselves wholly to Jesus and the Church in a life of prayer and service. That did not stop men from desiring her and making unwanted advances toward her. However, one of the men who desired Agatha, whose name was Quintianus, because he was of a high diplomatic ranking, thought he could force her to turn away from her vow and force her to marry. His persistent proposals were consistently spurned by Agatha, so Quintianus, knowing she was a Christian during the persecution of Decius, had her arrested and brought before the judge. He was the Judge. He expected her to give in to his demands when she was faced with torture and possible death, but she simply reaffirmed her belief in God by praying: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil." With tears falling from her eyes, she prayed for courage. To force her to change her mind, Quintianus had her imprisoned - in a brothel. Agatha never lost her confidence in God, even though she suffered a month of assaults and efforts to get her to abandon her vow to God and go against her virtue. Quintianus heard of her calm strength and ordered that she be brought before him once again. During her interrogation, she told him that to be a servant of Jesus Christ was her true freedom. Enraged, Quintianus sent her off to prison instead of back to the brothel -- a move intended to make her even more afraid, but it was probably a great relief to her. Agatha continued to proclaim Jesus as her Savior, Lord, Life, and Hope. Quintianus ordered her to be tortured. He had her stretched on a rack to be torn with iron hooks, burned with torches, and whipped. Noticing Agatha was enduring all the torture with a sense of cheer, he commanded she be subjected to a worse form of torture ? this evil man ordered that her breasts be cut off. He then sent her back to prison with an order of no food or medical attention. But the Lord gave her all the care she needed. He was her Sacred Physician and protector. Agatha had a vision of the apostle, St. Peter, who comforted her and healed her wounds through his prayers. After four days, Quintianus ignored the miraculous cure of her wounds. He had her stripped naked and rolled over naked over hot coals which were mixed with sharp shards. When she was returned to prison, Agatha prayed, "Lord, my Creator, you have ever protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world, and given me patience to suffer: receive now my soul." Agatha is believed to have passed into Heaven around the year 251. She is commonly featured in religious art with shears, tongs, or breasts on a plate. St. Agatha is the patron saint of Sicily, bellfounders, breast cancer patients, Palermo, rape victims, and wet nurses. She is also considered to be a powerful intercessor when people suffer from fires. Her feast day is celebrated on February 5.

We have just learned of the passing of JOHN McCLAFFERTY, eighth-grade teacher Mrs. Kathleen Schaefer's father, after a long illness. He is survived by Mrs. Schaefer and her husband Bobby and son Robert, as well as by her sister Doreen and her daughter Meagan. Both daughters and both grandchildren are St. Helena alumni. Please keep him in your prayers. The wake will be held on Thursday, January 11, from 3-5 & 7-9PM at Castle Hill Funeral Home, and the Funeral Mass will be held at 9:45AM at St. Theresa's Church.

Three St. Helena Horsemen were the only varsity players on either team to hit in double digits during Tuesday’s away game at St. Theresa, on their way to an easy 58-40 win. The JV had a 14-10 lead in the first half and Horsemen shooters sank the only threes during the JV game, but poor free throw and twos shooting contributed to the final 30-40 St. Theresa win. The Horsemen galloped out to a comfortable 30-7 lead in the first quarter of the varsity game. Francisco Mattei had a game-high 18 points, scoring 14 of therm in the first quarter. Omari Ward hit for 16 points, sinking one of the team’s 3 threes. Christian Colter was the only player on either team to score in all four quarters, hitting for 10 points. Willam Manning sank a 2 in both the first and second quarters and a free throw in the final quarter for 5 points. Khalil Black sank a three in the first and 2 free throws in the fourth, while Jose Velez hit the final three in the second quarter and a free throw in the fourth to round out the Horsemen scoring. The Horsemen were 11 for 16 from the line. Jeff Padilla had a team-high 9 points, including one of the 2 threes for St. Theresa. The JV Horsemen started strong, taking an early 10-6 lead in the first quarter. Jahli Ward had a team-high 8 points, including a two, a three and 3 free throws for the JV Horsemen. Peter Lugo had the other team three in the first and a two in the second for five points, while Kyle Austin scored all five of his points in the first quarter. Joseph Fernandez had the only team two in the fourth quarter. The Horsemen were 4 for 10 from the line. Edwin Betances and Antonio Bruno each scored game-high ten points for St. Theresa. St. Theresa was 6 for 8 from the line. The Horsemen will take a break for Christmas and will play again January 8 at home against Our Lady of the Assumption.

Sabas was born at Mutalaska, Cappadocia, near Caesarea. He was the son of an army officer there who when assigned to Alexandria, left him in the care of an uncle. Mistreated by his uncle's wife, Sabas ran away to another uncle, though he was only eight. When the two uncles became involved in a lawsuit over his estate, he again ran away, this time to a monastery near Mutalaska. In time the uncles were reconciled and wanted him to marry, but he remained in the monastery. In 456, he went to Jerusalem and there entered a monastery under St. Theoctistus. When he was thirty, he became a hermit under the guidance of St. Euthymius, and after Euthymius' death, spent four years alone in the desert near Jericho. Despite his desire for solitude, he attracted disciples, organized them into a laura in 483, and when his one hundred fifty monks asked for a priest and despite his opposition to monks being ordained, he was obliged to accept ordination by Patriarch Sallust of Jerusalem in 491. He attracted disciples from Egypt and Armenia, allowed them a liturgy in their own tongue, and built several hospitals and another monastery near Jericho. He was appointed archimandrite of all hermits in Palestine who lived in separate cells, but his custom of going off by himself during Lent caused dissension in the monastery, and sixty of his monks left to revive a ruined monastery at Thecuna. He bore them no ill will and aided them with food and supplies. In 511, he was one of a delegation of abbots sent to Emperor Anastasius I, a supporter of Eutychianism, which Sabas opposed, to plead with the Emperor to mitigate his persecution of orthodox bishops and religious. They were unsuccessful. Sabas supported Elias of Jerusalem when the Emperor exiled him, was a strong supporter of theological orthodoxy, and persuaded many to return to orthodoxy. He was a vigorous opponent of Origenism and monophysitism. In 531, when he was ninety-one, he again went to Constantinople, this time to plead with Emperor Justinian to suppress a Samaritan revolt and protect the people of Jerusalem from further harassment by the Samaritans. He fell ill soon after his return to his laura from this trip and died on December 5 at Laura Mar Saba, after naming his successor. Sabas is one of the most notable figures of early monasticism and is considered one of the founders of Eastern monasticism. The laura he founded in the desolate, wild country between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, named Mar Saba after him, was often called the Great Laura for its preeminence and produced many great saints. It is still inhabited by monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is one of the three or four oldest monasteries in the world. His feast day is December 5th.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a canonized saint in the Catholic Church who, per Christian tradition, was martyred around 305 in Alexandria, Egypt. Of course, the Church of the first Millennium was undivided. She is also recognized as the Great Martyr and Saint by the Orthodox Church. There are no surviving primary sources attesting to her existence, but the fact that her memory, and the stories about her, have been kept alive - and handed down in the tradition - certainly confirm her existence and her life of heroic virtue and holiness. The young saint was born around 287 in Alexandria, Egypt. At that time, Alexandria was one of the finest cities in the world, and a center of learning and culture as well as faith. Christian tradition states she was of noble birth, possibly a princess. As a member of the nobility, she was also educated and was an avid scholar. Around the age of fourteen, she experienced a moving vision of Mary and the infant Jesus, and she decided to become a Christian. Although she was a teenager, she was very intelligent and gifted. When Emperor Maxentius began persecuting Christians, Catherine visited him to denounce his cruelty. Rather than order her execution, Maxentius summoned fifty orators and philosophers to debate her. However, Catherine was moved by the power of the Holy Spirit and spoke eloquently in defense of her faith. Her words were so moving that several of the pagans converted to Christianity and were immediately executed. Unable to defeat her rhetorically or to intimidate her into giving up her belief, the emperor ordered her to be tortured and imprisoned. Catherine was arrested and scourged. Despite the torture, she did not abandon her faith. Word of her arrest and the power of her faith quickly spread and over 200 people visited her. Following her imprisonment, Maxentius made a final attempt to persuade the beautiful Catherine to abandon her faith by proposing marriage to her. This would have made her a powerful empress. Catherine refused, saying she was married to Jesus Christ and that her virginity was dedicated to him. The emperor angrily ordered her to be executed on a breaking wheel. The breaking wheel is an ancient form of torture where a person's limbs are threaded among the spokes and their bones are shattered by an executioner with a heavy rod. It is a brutal punishment that results in a slow and painful death, normally reserved for the worst criminals.When Catherine was presented before the wheel, she touched it and a miracle occurred that caused the wheel to shatter. Unable to torture her to death, the emperor simply ordered her beheaded. One account claimed that angels took her body to Mt. Sinai. In the sixth century, the Emperor Justinian ordered a monastery established in her name. The monastery, Saint Catherine's, remains to this day and is one of the oldest in the world. Around the year 800, a legend spread that her body has been found with her hair still growing and a constant stream of oil coming from her body. However, nothing exists to this day of her remains. During the medieval period, St. Catherine was one of the most famous saints of the Church. She was a popular subject in renaissance art and many paintings from the period are dedicated to her. Catherine is still a very popular Catholic name. The spiked wheel is a popular symbol often associated with St. Catherine. Her feast day is Nov. 25, and she is the patron of a great many professions and causes. Her patronage includes students, unmarried girls, apologists and many more as well as many places around the world.

Several groups of martyrs were slain for the faith in Vietnam from 1798 until 1861. Between 1798 and 1853, sixty-four were martyred, receiving beatification in 1900. Those who died in a second group, between 1859 and 1861, were beatified in 1909. There were twenty-eight courageous men and women who died for the faith during a long period of persecution. A Portuguese missionary arrived in Vietnam, once called Annam, Indo-China, Cochin-China, and Tonkin, in 1533. An imperial edict in Vietnam forbade Christianity, and it was not until 1615 that the Jesuits were able to establish a permanent mission there, in the central region of the country. In 1627, a Jesuit went north to establish another mission. By the time this missionary, Father Alexander de Rhodes, was expelled from the land in 1630, he had baptized 6,700 Vietnamese. In that same year, the first Christian martyr was beheaded, and more were executed in 1644 and 1645. Father Rhodes returned to Vietnam but was banished again in 1645. He then went to Paris, France, where the Paris Seminary for Foreign Missions was founded. Priests arrived in Vietnam, and the faith grew. Between 1798 and 1853, a period of intense political rivalry and civil wars, sixty-four known Christians were executed. These were beatified in 1900. In 1833, all Christians were ordered to renounce the faith and to trample crucifixes underfoot. That edict started a persecution of great intensity that was to last for half a century. Some twenty-eight martyrs from this era were beatified in 1909. The bishop, priests, and Europeans were given “a hundred wounds,” disemboweled, beaten, and slain in many other grisly fashions. For a brief period in 1841, the persecution abated as France threatened to intervene with warships. However, in 1848, prices were placed on the heads of the missionaries by a new emperor. Two priests, Father Augustin Schoffier and Father Bonnard, were beheaded as a re­sult. In 1855, the persecution raged, and the following year wholesale massacres began. Thousands of Vietnamese Christians were martyred, as well as four bishops and twenty-eight Dominicans. It is estimated that between 1857 and 1862, 115 native priests, 100 Vietnamese nuns, and more than 5,000 of the faithful were martyred. Convents, churches, and schools were razed, and as many as 40,000 Catholics were dispossessed of their lands and exiled from their own regions to starve in wilderness areas. The martyrdoms ended with the Peace of 1862, brought about by the surrendering of Saigon and other regions to France and the payment of indemnities to France and Spain. It is now reported that the “Great Massacre,” the name given to the persecution of the Church in Vietnam, resulted in the following estimated deaths: Eastern Vietnam – fifteen priests, 60 catechists, 250 nuns, 24,000 Catholic lay men and women. Southern Vietnam – ten priests, 8,585 Catholic men and women. Southern Tonkin region – eight French missionaries, one native priest, 63 catechists, and 400 more Christians slain – in all, an estimated 4,799 were martyred and 1,181 died of starvation. Some 10,000 Catholics were forced to flee the area. Pope John Paul II canonized 117 Martyrs of Vietnam on June 19, 1988.

This Christmas Season, you can help bring smiles to the faces of children. TWO groups will be conducting a Toy Drive. The Mother Theresa Group is collecting toys to be given to children in area HOSPITALS. Your donation can be brought to the rectory and labeled for Hospital Children. You can also assist children living in HOMELESS SHELTERS throughout New York City. Through December 23, you may bring to the rectory your gently used clothing, especially children and adult winter coats. Hope For Us, which is managed by Vera Acquah, will distribute them to children and people of all ages living in homeless shelters. At the same time, Hope for Us will also have its annual GIVING TREE at the back of the church, which will contain ornaments with all of the information necessary for you to buy toys for specific children living in NYC homeless shelters. Your gifts can be placed under the tree.

Radio Maria: To listen to Radio Maria in English on Radio 620AM, type www.radiomaria.us . Then, click on "Live Stream" on the bottom left where it says "24/7 Live Listening. Listen Live"

Archbishop of Canterbury England, who battled for discipline and justice, also called Edmund of Abingdon. Born in Abingdon, on November 30, 1180. he studied at Oxford, England, and in Paris, France. He taught art and mathematics at Oxford and was ordained. He spent eight years teaching theology and became Canon and treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral. An eloquent speaker, Edmund preached a crusade for Pope Gregory IX and was named archbishop of Canterbury. He became an advisor to King Henry III and presided in 1237 at Henry's ratification of the Great Charter. When Cardinal Olt became a papal legate with the patronage of King Henry, Edmund protested. A long-lasting feud between Edmund, the king, and his legate led him to resign his see in 1240. He went to Pontigny, France, where he became a Cistercian. He died at Soissons, on November 16. Edmund was canonized in 1246 or 1247. A hall in Oxford bears his name.

Born in Grenoble, France, of a family that was among the new rich, Rose learned political skills from her father and a love of the poor from her mother. The dominant feature of her temperament was a strong and dauntless will, which became the material—and the battlefield—of her holiness. She entered the Visitation of Mary convent at 19, and remained despite family opposition. As the French Revolution broke, the convent was closed, and she began taking care of the poor and sick, opened a school for homeless children, and risked her life helping priests in the underground. When the situation cooled, Rose personally rented the former convent, now a shambles, and tried to revive its religious life. The spirit was gone, however, and soon there were only four nuns left. They joined the infant Society of the Sacred Heart, whose young superior, Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat, would be her lifelong friend. In a short time Rose was a superior and supervisor of the novitiate and a school. But since hearing tales of missionary work in Louisiana as a little girl, her ambition was to go to America and work among the Indians. At 49, she thought this would be her work. With four nuns, she spent 11 weeks at sea en route to New Orleans, and seven weeks more on the Mississippi to St. Louis. She then met one of the many disappointments of her life. The bishop had no place for them to live and work among Native Americans. Instead, he sent her to what she sadly called “the remotest village in the U.S.,” St. Charles, Missouri. With characteristic drive and courage, she founded the first free school for girls west of the Mississippi. It was a mistake. Though Rose was as hardy as any of the pioneer women in the wagons rolling west, cold and hunger drove them out—to Florissant, Missouri, where she founded the first Catholic Indian school, adding others in the territory. “In her first decade in America, Mother Duchesne suffered practically every hardship the frontier had to offer, except the threat of Indian massacre—poor lodging, shortages of food, drinking water, fuel and money, forest fires and blazing chimneys, the vagaries of the Missouri climate, cramped living quarters and the privation of all privacy, and the crude manners of children reared in rough surroundings and with only the slightest training in courtesy” (Louise Callan, R.S.C.J., Philippine Duchesne). Finally at age 72, retired and in poor health, Rose got her lifelong wish. A mission was founded at Sugar Creek, Kansas, among the Potawatomi and she was taken along. Though she could not learn their language, they soon named her “Woman-Who-Prays-Always.” While others taught, she prayed. Legend has it that Native American children sneaked behind her as she knelt and sprinkled bits of paper on her habit, and came back hours later to find them undisturbed. Rose Philippine died November 18, 1852, at the age of 83, and was canonized in 1988.

Vevette Samuels was born in New York City. She was the middle child of Amzieh Samuels and Ethel Edwards. She went to school in the New York City school system and worked at Harlem Hospital for thirty years as a bookkeeper. She liked to travel and loved baseball and enjoyed the Yankees. She was a devoted and regular member of St. Helena Church for many years. She is remembered as being kind and generous. She retired in the late 1990’s and enjoyed working in her garden. She will be greatly missed.

Young, Married Catholic Couples: The Archdiocese of New York is looking for young, married, Catholic couples to be part of a new and evolving multimedia Pre-Cana day Marriage Prep program. We need your help to engage the social media generation. We are currently recruiting for two roles: Facilitator Couples, who will orchestrate the day’s program and Host Couples, who will serve as the first point of contact for couples attending the Pre-Cana day. A stipend is provided to both couples. For more information, visit: www.NYFamilyLife.org/About/WorkingWithUs.

The announcement that the Trump Administration is rescinding the Obama-era Executive Order known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is cause for great concern and anxiety for nearly 800,000 beneficiaries of the program, including an estimated 42,000 of our fellow New Yorkers. While the federal government has the right and duty to protect and secure our borders, the individuals who benefitted from DACA have done nothing wrong. The Dreamers were brought to this country as children by their parents. For many, they have known no other home. Although the President has signaled that he would like Congress to act to address the matter legislatively, there are no guarantees that this will happen. And, in the meantime, men, women and children who want nothing other than to do their part to make America great are instead being forced back into the shadows, fearful of being deported to a foreign land. The Catholic Church in New York State stands with the Dreamers. Please take a moment to urge your Congressional representatives to take the lead in delivering a bill to President Trump's desk, so that he can fulfill an earlier promise to deal with this issue with "great heart."

Join with thousands of others to work for justice in our society and to promote the values important to our faith. Stay informed and strengthen the Catholic voice. Go to: www.nyscatholic.org and click the CAN icon in the upper right corner to sign up, then go to the Take Action section to view our latest alerts. Never has advocacy been so simple.