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Saint Lorenzo Ruiz was born around the year 1600 in Binondo, Manila in the Philippines. He was the son of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother. Both were Christians and took care to raise Lorenzo as a Catholic. He served happily in his parish church as an altar boy and calligrapher. As a young man, Lorenzo joined the Dominican Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. Later, he married a woman named Rosario. The happy couple had three children, two sons and one daughter. By all accounts, the family was ordinary and happy. In 1636, Lorenzo was accused of murder. Allegedly he killed a Spaniard. However, to protect his safety at the time, he fled home and found refuge on board a ship with three Dominican priests and a leper. There are no details of this alleged crime other than a journal entry by two Dominican priests, that he joined their group to escape possible arrest. The ship departed the Philippines on June 10, 1636, bound for Okinawa. A shock awaited the holy passengers when they arrived in Japan. At the time of their arrival, the rulers of Japan, the Tokugawa Shogunate, were persecuting Christians. Prior to this persecution, the Christian population of Japan was thought to number 50,000 souls. Now Lorenzo was arrested by Japanese officials for the crime of being a Christian and ordered to recant his faith. When he refused he was imprisoned for two years. On September 27, 1637, Lorenzo and his companions were taken to Nagasaki to be tortured and killed if they would not recant their faith. Lorenzo and his companions were tortured by water, which was forced into their mouths and down their throats and out their noses and ears. Despite the painful torture, the men refused to do so. Following this, Lorenzo was hanged upside down, with a rope around his ankles. This method of torture was known as tsurushi, or "gallows and pit." The torture forces a person to be hanged upside down with a gash cut in their forehead to prevent too much blood from gathering in the head. The gash also causes the victim to bleed to death over an extended period of time. Those who have survived the torture have said it is unbearable. One hand is left free so the victim can offer an agreed symbol that will represent their desire to recant their faith. Those few who recant are spared and allowed to live. But few people ever recanted, choosing instead to die for their faith. Lorenzo refused to recant. According to the record of his death, his last words were, "I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God. Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him I shall offer. Do with me as you please." His traveling companions were all killed, steadfast until the end. Lorenzo was beatified by Pope John Paul II on February 18, 1981. The beatification ceremony was held in the Philippines making it the first beatification ceremony ever held outside the Vatican. A miracle attributed to his intercession occurred in 1983. A two-year-old girl, Alegria Policarpio, suffering from hydrocephaly, a condition she had since birth, was miraculously cured. His canonization took place at the Vatican on October 18, 1987. Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is the patron saint of Filipino youth, the Philippines, people working overseas, and altar servers. His feast day is September 28.

St. Vincent de Paul was born to a poor peasant family in the French village of Pouy on April 24, 1581. His first formal education was provided by the Franciscans. He did so well, he was hired to tutor the children of a nearby wealthy family. He used the monies he earned teaching to continue his formal studies at the University of Toulose where he studied theology. He was ordained in 1600 and remained in Toulouse for a time. In 1605, while on a ship traveling from Marseilles to Narbonne, he was captured, brought to Tunis and sold as a slave. Two years later he and his master managed to escape and both returned to France. St. Vincent went to Avignon and later to Rome to continue his studies. While there he became a chaplain to the Count of Goigny and was placed in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. He became pastor of a small parish in Clichy for a short period of time, while also serving as a tutor and spiritual director. From that point forward he spent his life preaching missions to and providing relief to the poor. He even established hospitals for them. This work became his passion. He later extended his concern and ministry to convicts. The need to evangelize and assist these souls was so great and the demands beyond his own ability to meet that he founded the Ladies of Charity, a lay institute of woman, to help, as well as a religious institute of priests - the Congregation of Priests of the Mission, commonly referred to now as the Vincentians. This was at a time when there were not many priests in France and what priests there were, were neither well-formed nor faithful to their way of life. Vincent helped reform the clergy and the manner in which they were instructed and prepared for the priesthood. He did this first through the presentation of retreats and later by helping develop a precursor to our modern-day seminaries. At one point his community was directing 53 upper-level seminaries. His retreats, open to priests and laymen, were so well attended that it is said he infused a "Christian spirit among more than 20,000 persons in his last 23 years." The Vincentians remain with us today with nearly 4,000 members in 86 countries. In addition to his order of Vincentian priests, St. Vincent cofounded the Daughters of Charity along with St. Louise de Marillac. There are more than 18,000 Daughters today serving the needs of the poor in 94 countries. He was eighty years old when he died in Paris on September 27, 1660.He had "become the symbol of the successful reform of the French Church". St. Vincent is sometimes referred to as "The Apostle of Charity" and "The Father of the Poor". His incorrupt heart can be found in the Convent of the Sisters of Charity and his bones have been embedded in a wax effigy of the Saint located at the Church of the Lazarist Mission. Both sites are located in Paris, France. Two miracles have been attributed to St Vincent - a nun cured of ulcers and a laywoman cured of paralysis. As a result of the first, Pope Benedict XIII beatified him on August 13, 1729. Less than 8 years later (on June 16, 1737) he was canonized by Pope Clement XIII. The Bull of Canonization recognized Vincent for his charity and reform of the clergy, as well as for his early role in opposing Jansenism. It has been reported that St. Vincent wrote more than 30,000 letters in his lifetime and that nearly 7,000 had been collected in the 18th century. There are at least five collections of his letters in existence today. The feast day for St. Vincent, the patron of all charitable societies, is September 27.

September 25 is the Feast of St. Finbar who lived in the sixth century in Ireland. He was a native of Connaught, and instituted a monastery or school at Lough Eirc, to which such numbers of disciples flocked, that it changed a desert into a large city. This was the origin of the city of Cork, which was built chiefly upon stakes, in marshy little islands formed by the river Lea. His baptismal name was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was given to him after. He was Bishop of Cork seventeen years and died in the midst of his friends at Cloyne, fifteen miles from Cork. His body was buried in his own cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were put in a silver shrine, and kept there, this great church bearing his name to this day. St. Finbarr's cave or hermitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have been begun by our Saint, and stood to the west of Cork.

The birthday of St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist, who suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia while engaged in preaching. The Gospel written by him in Hebrew was found by his own revelation during the time of Emperor Zeno, together with the relics of the blessed apostle Barnabas. (From the Roman Martyrology) Caravaggio’s masterpiece depicts the calling of St. Matthew, who was once a tax-collector but became both an apostle and evangelist. The calling of Matthew is most clearly described in Matthew 9:9ff. However, it is interesting to note that both Luke and Mark seem to describe the same scene, only they give a different name for the publican, calling him Levi. Thus, we are led to consider why it was that Luke and Mark called Matthew “Levi”, and why Matthew called himself by his own proper name. Moreover, we must consider the meaning of these two names, and what mystery is hidden behind the conversion of the son of Alpheus (not of the Alpheus, called Cleopas, father of James and Jude; but the son of a different Alpheus). Levi is Matthew and Matthew is Levi While it is true that both Mark and Luke name the publican “Levi”, and Matthew gives his own more common name “Matthew”, we ought to maintain that all refer to the same event and to one single person. Luke 5:27ff and Mark 2:14ff both give a story so similar to that found in Matthew 9:9ff that it would be quite difficult to think that Matthew and Levi are two different people. The Savior comes and sees the publican, sitting at his table. The Lord calls him and says, Come, Follow me! The publican rises and follows the Lord. The publican shares a feast with Christ and also with others who are public sinners. This meal excites the criticism of certain of the Pharisees. The only substantial difference in the stories is that Luke and Mark name the publican “Levi”, while Matthew names him “Matthew” – also, Matthew does not explicitly mention at whose house the Lord dines, while Luke and Mark specify that it is Levi’s home. Why the diversity of naming? It was not uncommon for individuals in ancient Israel to have two names. “Saul” is called “Paul” and “Thomas” is “Didymus”, for example. Likewise, it was also possible for the same person to have two Hebrew names: “Simon” called “Cephas” and “Joseph - Caiaphas”. So too, Matthew was called both “Levi” and “Matthew”. It is out of respect for the Apostle and Evangelist that Luke and Mark do not use his more common name when speaking of his past life and conversion from sin. Matthew, however, was not ashamed to admit to his previous sins, and so did not conceal his identity. St. Jerome says, “The other Evangelists from respect to Matthew have not called him by his common name, but say here, Levi, for he had both names. Matthew himself, according to what Solomon says, The righteous man accuses himself, calls himself both Matthew and Publican, to show the readers that none need despair of salvation who turn to better things, seeing he from a Publican became an Apostle.” The meaning of Levi and of Matthew “Matthew” comes from the Hebrew, mattija – meaning, “the gift of the Lord”. “Levi”, on the other hand, is related to the Hebrew word meaning “to take”. Bl. Rabanus Maurus recognizes a mystical signification to these two names: “Matthew signifies the man intent on temporal gain; Jesus sees him, when He looks on him with the eyes of mercy. For Matthew is interpreted ‘given,’ Levi ‘taken,’ the penitent is taken out of the mass of the perishing, and by God’s grace given to the Church. And Jesus said to him, Follow Me, either by preaching, or by the admonition of Scripture, or by internal illumination.”

St. Januarius was born in Italy and was bishop of Benevento during the Emperor Diocletion persecution. Bishop Januarius went to visit two deacons and two laymen in prison. He was then also imprisoned along with his deacon and lector. They were thrown to the wild beasts, but when the animals did not attack them, they were beheaded. What is believed to be Januarius' blood is kept in Naples, as a relic. It liquifies and bubbles when exposed in the cathedral. Scientists have not been able to explain this miracle to date. St. Januarius lived and died around 305 A.D. and his feast day is September 19th.

This feast dates back to the 12th century. It was especially promoted by the Cistercians and the Servites, so much so that in the 14th and 15th centuries it was widely celebrated throughout the Catholic Church. In 1482 the feast was added to the Missal under the title of "Our Lady of Compassion." Pope Benedict XIII added it to the Roman Calendar in 1727 on the Friday before Palm Sunday. In 1817, Pope Pius VII extended the feast to the Universal Church, and in 1913, Pope Pius X fixed the date on September 15. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. "The Seven Dolors," the title by which it was celebrated in the 17th century, referred to the seven swords that pierced the Heart of Mary. The feast is like an octave for the birthday of Our Lady on September 8th. This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of the whole world. As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary: The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35) The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15) Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50) Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17) Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30) The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37) The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47) Her symbols include: heart pierced with a sword; heart pierced by seven swords; winged heart pierced with a sword; flowers: red rose, Iris (meaning: "sword-lily"), cyclamen. She is the Patron of people named Dolores, Dolais, Deloris, Dolorita, Maria Dolorosa, Pia, and Pieta.

Despite the ridicule and jokes of the secular, atheistic press, more than 30,000 people gathered in the Cova for the September apparition. Whether drawn by devotion or curiosity, they prayed the rosary while awaiting the arrival of the visionaries and their vision. When at least the time came they could hear Lucia say, "What do you want of me?" Continue the Rosary, my children. Say it every day that the war may end. In October Our Lord will come, as well as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Saint Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus to bless the world. God is pleased with your sacrifices, but He does not want you to wear the cords to bed. Keep them on during the day. (The children were wearing ropes around their waists as a sacrifice for sinners.) "They have requested me to ask you for many things. Will you assist a little girl who is deaf and dumb?" She will improve within the year. "And the conversions that some have asked to have brought about? I have the petitions of many for your help. The cures of the sick ones?" Some I will cure, and some I will not. In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe. With these last words still ringing in their ears, the Lady rose and disappeared in the heavens, as Lucia called to the crowd, "If you wish to see her --- look! Look!” The crowd estimated at 30,000 observed atmospheric phenomena similar to those of the previous apparitions: the sudden cooling of the air, a dimming of the sun to the point where the stars could be seen, and a rain resembling iridescent petals or snowflakes that disappeared before touching the ground. This time, a luminous globe was noticed which moved slowly and majestically through the sky from east to west and, at the end of the apparition, in the opposite direction. The seers saw a light, and, immediately following this, they saw Our Lady over the holm oak.  And rising, she disappeared in the same manner as before.  

In accordance with Jewish custom, our Lady's parents named her eight days after her birth and were inspired to call her Mary. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary, therefore, follows that of her Birthday, as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus follows Christmas. The Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a day on which the inexpressible love of the Mother of God for her Holy Child is recalled, and the eyes of the faithful are directed to the figure of the Mother of the Redeemer, for them to invoke with devotion. The feast originated in Cuenca, Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513; Innocent XI extended its observance to the whole Church in 1683 in thanksgiving to Our Lady for the victory on September 12, 1683, by John Sobieski, king of Poland, over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West. This day was commemorated in Vienna by creating a new kind of pastry and shaping it in the form of the Turkish half-moon. It was eaten along with coffee which was part of the booty from the Turks.Maryam or Mariam is the Aramaic form of the biblical name Miriam (the name of the prophetess Miriam, the sister of Moses). It is notably the name of Mary the mother of Jesus. The spelling in the Semitic abjads is mrym (Hebrew מרים, Aramaic ܡܪܝܡ, Arabic مريم), which may be transliterated in a number of ways (Miryam, Miriyam, Mirijam, Maryam, Mariyam, Marijam, Meryem, Merjeme, etc.) Via its use in the New Testament the name has been adopted worldwide, especially in Roman Catholicism, but also in Eastern Christianity, in Protestantism, and in Islam. In Latin Christianity, the Greek form Mariam was adopted as latinate Maria (whence French Marie and English Mary). The name may have originated from the Egyptian language; in a suggestion going back to 1897, it is possibly derivative of the root mr "love; beloved.” Many propose a possible derivation from Hebrew, either from marah "to be rebellious", or (more likely) from mara "well nourished". The name has a long tradition of scholarly etymologisation; some seventy suggestions are treated by Otto Bardenhewer in monographic form in his Der Name Maria (1895). It was early etymologized as containing the Hebrew root mr "bitter" (cf. myrrh), or mry "rebellious". St. Jerome (writing c. 390), following Eusebius of Caesarea, translates the name as "drop of the sea" (stilla maris in Latin), from Hebrew מר mar "drop" (cf. Isaias 40:15) and ים yam "sea". This translation was subsequently rendered stella maris ("star of the sea") due to scribal error, whence the Virgin Mary's title Star of the Sea. Rashi, an 11th-century Jewish commentator on the Bible, wrote that the name was given to the sister of Moses because of the Egyptians' harsh treatment of Jews in Egypt. Rashi wrote that the Israelites lived in Egypt for two hundred ten years, including eighty-six years of cruel enslavement that began at the time Moses' elder sister was born. Therefore, the girl was called Miriam, because the Egyptians made life bitter (מַר, mar) for her people.

Seventy kilometers from the city of Loja in the mountains of southern Ecuador is the town of El Cisne, the site of a much venerated Marian shrine. The basilica of El Cisne was built in 1742 and modeled after a similar basilica in Harlungenberg, Germany. In 1594, the inhabitants of the El Cisne region had desired their own religious relic, similar to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Representatives of the local people traveled to the capital city Quito, where they requested the sculptor Don Diego de Robles to create the Virgin de El Cisne statue, which he did out of the wood of a cedar tree. Upon arriving in El Cisne, the Virgin performed her first miracle which was a much-needed rainstorm after a prolonged drought. Since then, the statue has been a focal point of devotion for the deeply religious inhabitants of the area. On August 17th of each year, many thousands of pilgrims gather in El Cisne to begin a three-day religious procession to the city Loja. The six-foot tall statue of Mary is carried to the cathedral of Loja where it is the focus of a great festival on September 8. It remains in the cathedral of Loja until November 3 and is then returned to El Cisne.

Blessed Dina Belanger was born and baptized on 30 April 1897 in St-Roch, Québec, the daughter of Olivier Octave Belanger & Séraphia Matte. Her parents lived at 168 Notre Dame des Anges in the Parish of Jacques Cartier, Portneuf County. Dina was baptized at St. Roch, Québec. She studied music and planned to become a concert pianist. While studying in New York, Dina lived with the Religious of Jesus-Mary. She returned home and decided to enter the religious life in the Congregation of Jesus-Marie at Sillery, where the nuns had their mother house. On March 25, 1908, which was Holy Thursday that year, Dina heard the 'voice' of Jesus for the first time. She says, 'During my act of thanksgiving after Communion, Our Lord spoke to my soul by means of a new light. This was the first time I heard His voice so well; interiorly, of course, a soft melodious voice which overwhelmed me with happiness.' She entered the convent at the age of 24, in August 1921. She entered the order of Jesus-Marie in February 1922 and received the name Sister Marie Sainte-Cécile of Rome and took her final vows on 25 August 1923. As a nun, Dina Belanger taught music. Yet she wondered-and indeed she asked this question to Our Lord-'What can be the object of my musical studies?' He answered, 'Your music will protect your vocation, but you will do good particularly by your writings.' She was surprised at this! Jesus continued, 'Yes, in the convent, you will devote yourself to literary work.' She was mystified by this; but it was fulfilled in the writing and publication of her ‘Autobiography' which documented her mystical experiences. On two occasions the sisters sent her to teach at Saint-Michel of Bellechasse but both times, illness brought her back to Sillery where she stayed (teaching music) until her death. She could have taught in many areas as she had excelled in all her studies but due to her having shown such great talent in music at a young age and her continued education at the Conservatory of New York from 1916 to 1918, her superiors judged her best qualified to teach music. Dina had a brother who died at the age of 3 months. Dina's father was an auditor and her grandfather operated a grocery store in the St Malo district of Québec. Her ancestors (Pierre, Joseph-Marie and Nicolas) all came from Charlesbourg. Dina died on 4 Sept in the Couvent de Jésus-Marie, Sillery and was buried on 7 Sept 1929 at the age of 32, in St-Colomb de Sillery, Québec.

Today is the feast day of Bl. Mary Stella and Her Ten Companions (Martyrs of Nowogrodek), a group of Holy Family of Nazareth sisters. This feast is an Obligatory Memorial in Poland except in provinces or convents of CSFN, for whom this is a Patronal Feast. it is celebrated as a Feast. In the winter of 1943, the Germans made repeated roundups of Poles, including several of priests. When the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth learned that the Germans planned to execute dozens of Poles they offered themselves as sacrifices, saying "My God, if sacrifice of life is needed, accept it from us and spare those who have families. We are even praying for this intention." The Germans decided then to enslave the Polish prisoners but still kill the nuns. They drove the nuns to an isolated spot in the woods and then murdered eleven, burying the bodies in a shallow grave. Sr. Stella and her 10 companions were beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 5, 2000.