Christian Today

31st January - Saint John Bosco - Independent Catholic News : Founder of the Salesian Order. St John was born on 16 August 1815 in Piedmont, the youngest son of a peasant farmer who died when he was only two. His mother brought him up in extreme poverty. When he entered the seminary in 1831, his clothes and shoes were provided by charity. John was ordained in 1841. Originally he dreamed of becoming a foreign missionary,

30th January 
 - Saint Bathildis - Independent Catholic News : Queen, wife, mother and nun. This saint was a English woman whose life went from rags to riches. As a young girl, she was captured by pirates and sold as a slave to Erchinoald, who was in charge of the palace of the Frankish King, Clovis II. Bathildis was so beautiful and intelligent she attracted the attention of the king. They married and had three sons, each of whom in turn eventually became king.

28th January - Saint Thomas Aquinas - Independent Catholic News : Dominican friar and theologian. St Thomas was born to a noble family at Rocca Secca near Aquino. He was educated from the age of five to thirteen at St Benedict's monastery at Monte Cassino. He then studied at the University of Naples for five years, where he met the Dominicans and decided to join their order. His family were so upset by this they imprisoned him for fifteen months in an effort to make him change his mind. They failed.

27 January - Saint Angela Merici - Independent Catholic News : Founder of the Ursuline nuns. St Angela was born in 1474, at Desenzano on the shores of Lake Garda near Verona in Italy. Her parents died when she was very young. She became a Franciscan tertiary with several friends, and they devoted themselves to teaching poor children. In 1535 they dedicated themselves to this work under the patronage of St Ursula, although they took no vows and wore lay clothes.

Shocking UK prison suicide numbers demand government action - Independent Catholic News : Bishop Richard Moth has called on government to redouble its efforts on prison reform following today's report from the Ministry of Justice stating that suicides in prisons across England and Wales reached their highest ever number last year. Describing the 119 self-inflicted deaths, 37,784 self-harm incidents and 25,049 assault incidents as shocking and unacceptable, Bishop Moth said staff shortages and overcrowding were major contributing factors. Last year thousands of staff walked out in protest over health and safety concerns and a number of jails underwent serious disturbances.

Young Polish lay missionary murdered in Bolivia - Independent Catholic News : A young Polish missionary has been murdered during an attack on a childcare centre run by Polish nuns in Cochabamba, central Bolivia. Helena Kmie�, 25, who was working with the Salvator Missionary Volunteers, was reportedly stabbed on Tuesday, and died of her wounds. According to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bolivian police have detained a number of suspects. Director Fr Adam Ziolkowski, said it appears robbers broke into the centre during the night and found Helena awake, 'she tried to defend herself and she was stabbed repeatedly' on her hands, arms and chest.

26th January - 

Saint Paula - Independent Catholic News : Widow. This early Christian saint came from the noblest of Roman families, the Scipios and Gracchis. She was happily married and had five children: four daughters, Blaesilla, Paulina, Eustochium, and Rufina and a son, Toxotius. Tragedy struck when she was only 32, when her husband and her daughter Rufina both died. After going through a long period of mourning, Paula found new purpose in life, when she met St Jerome. She became a Christian and devoted the rest of her life to caring for the poor and sick.

25th January - Conversion of Saint Paul - Independent Catholic News : Apostle of the Gentiles. This is one of the feast days celebrating the life of St Paul. Originally named Saul he was born a Jew in Tarsus. He grew to hate Christians because he believed they were perverting the truth of his his own faith. Saul was present at the stoning of the first martyr, St Stephen. After the body was removed Saul ravaged the church and went from house to house dragging out Christians and taking them to

Bl. William Ireland - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. William Ireland, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and English Martyr. He was executed at Tyburn for supposed complicity in the Popish Plot.

24th January - 

Saint Francis of Sales - Independent Catholic News : Bishop of Geneva. Patron saint of writers and journalists. St Francis was born in Savoy in 1567. A delicate child, he was educated at home first and then studied rhetoric, philosophy and theology at the University of Paris. In 1591 he became a Doctor of Law at Padua. Although he could have had a brilliant career in the world, he refused many opportunities because he wanted more than anything else to become a priest - much to his father's disappointment.

23rd January - Venerable 

Mary Ward - Independent Catholic News : Today marks the anniversary of the birth of of Mary Ward, whose cause for Beatification is underway at the Vatican. She was born in 1585, into a family of Yorkshire recusants, outlaw Catholics refusing to conform to the state religion. Condemned to death in London for her work among underground Catholics, she fled to the continent with a group of companions in 1609, believing herself called to start a religious order for women

Bl. William Patenson - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. William Patenson, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on January 21, 1642. Feastday January 22

St. Alban Bartholomew Roe - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Alban Bartholomew Roe, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. For seventeen years he remained in prison and was then tried and condemned. Alban was sentenced with Thomas Reynolds, another English martyr. They were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on January 21, 1642.

Bl. Edward Stransham - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Edward Stransham, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on January 21, 1642. Feastday January 21

Pope Francis: Luther's intention was to renew not divide the Church - Independent Catholic News : The intention of Martin Luther five hundred years ago 'was to renew the Church, not divide her', Pope Francis said on Thursday, when he met an Ecumenical Delegation from Finland, in the Vatican to take part in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Pope recalled his visit to Sweden last October and said that the 'gathering there gave us the courage and strength, in our Lord Jesus Christ, to look ahead to the ecumenical journey that we are called to walk together.' The Pope ended his speech with off-the-cuff remarks thanking the bishop leading the delegation for having brought his

21st January - 

Saint Agnes - Independent Catholic News : Virgin, martyr of Rome. St Agnes is one of the most famous of early Christian saints. Her death in 305 was recorded in the Deposito Martyrum just forty years later. Around that time a basilica was built over her grave in the Via Nomentana. Many early writers, including Ambrose, Jerome, Damasus and Prudentias praised her.

20th January

 - Saint Sebastian - Independent Catholic News : Martyr. Patron of soldiers, archers, in time of plague. St Sebastian died during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. He was buried on the Appian Way close to the basilica which was named after him. Little is known about him, but according to legend, he was a soldier from Gaul who enlisted in the Roman army in 283. He was soon made a captain in the Pretorian guard and visited the Christian martyrs Mark and Marcellian in prison.

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Time for an Ap... : During the Week or really the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18 to 25) The Church of England is evidently going to apolog...

19th January - Saint Wulfstan - Independent Catholic News : Benedictine monk and bishop of Worcester. St Wulfstan was born of Anglo Saxon parents in 1008 at Itchington in Warwickshire. Educated at the abbeys of Evesham and Peterborough, he excelled in piety and sport. After he was ordained priest he was offered a richly endowed church but refused it. Instead he became a Benedictine monk at Worcester cathedral priory. He soon became master of the boys, cantor and sacristan.

18 January - Saint Prisca - Independent Catholic News : Martyr. Not a great deal is known about this early Roman saint, but a 4th century church on the Aventine hill is named after her. Legends sometimes identify her as the same Priscilla named in the Acts of the Apostles as the wife of Aquila. She is sometimes represented by two lions, who are said to have refused to attack her at the Coliseum in Rome.

Pope Francis: Don't be a 'parked' Christian - be courageous - Independent Catholic News : The life of a Christian ought to be courageous, Pope Francis said during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday. The day's reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, speaks about zeal, the courage to go forward, which should be our approach toward life, like the attitude of those who train for victory in the arena. But the Letter also speaks of the laziness that is the opposite of courage. 'Living in the fridge,' the Pope summarised, 'so that everything stays the same.'

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: The Final Session of the Council of Trent Opens : The third and final session of the Council of Trent opened on January 18, 1562, convened by Pope Pius IV, a good Medici. This session deci...

When one Bible isn't enough, use two! Trump to take oath with TWO Holy Bibles - U.s. - News - Catholic Online

Will the Church of England apologize for Reformation-era violence? :: EWTN News

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Pre-Order Now and Read an Excerpt : Bloomsbury has sent out a notice about the imminent release of Eamon Duffy's contribution to the Reformation's 500th anniversa...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: The Reconciliation of England with the Catholic Ch... : On November 30, 1554, Reginald Cardinal Pole, the Papal Legate, soon to be Archbishop of Canterbury, received the submission of the English ...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Mary's Eulogizer, Bishop John White, RIP : John White, the deprived Bishop of Winchester, died on January 12, 1560. He was in and out of prison during the Tudor era, according t...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Publisher of Catholic Books: Blessed William Carte... : Today's English Catholic martyr's story reveals some of the debates and conflicts between Catholics during the Elizabethan era. Th...

9th January 

- Saint Philip of Moscow - Independent Catholic News : Bishop, monk and martyr. Born in Moscow in 1507, Theodore Kolyshov was a wealthy nobleman, who probably saw active military service in his youth. At the age of 30 he joined the monastery of Solovetsk on the White Sea, and took the name of Philip. He became abbot there in 1547. Saint Philip became a distinguished religious superior. He was also a fine engineer and devised a new system of drainage and irrigation for the monastic lands.

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Sir Geoffrey Pole, in the Tower : According to the Tudor Society Blog, on October 26 in 1538, "Geoffrey Pole, brother of Cardinal Reginald Pole and son of Margaret P...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: "England's Forgotten Muslim History" : Jerry Brotton, a professor of Renaissance studies at Queen Mary University of London, has written a book that gets the usual UK/USA treatm...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Blessed Edward Waterson: From Turkey to Newcastle ... : Today's martyr was a world traveler before he finally returned to England was a missionary priest and then suffered imprisonment and m...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Remembering Katherine of Aragon at Peterborough Ca... : Katherine of Aragon died on January 7, 1536. Peterborough Cathedral hosts its annual Katherine of Aragon Festival at the end of January. ...

Bl. Edward Waterson - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Edward Waterson, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, he was hanged, drawn and quartered, Feastday January 7

7 January - St Raymond of Penafort; St Kentigerna - Independent Catholic News : Dominican friar and teacher. Patron of church lawyers. Raymond was born to an aristocratic family in 1175 in Catalona, Spain. He was educated at the cathedral school in Barcelona and became a priest. After completing his law degree in Bologna, Italy, he joined the Dominican order in 1218 and worked among the Moslems and Albigensians until he was called to Rome by Pope Gregory IX.

Pope Francis: Choose to be guided by the star of Jesus - Independent Catholic News : Choose to be guided by the star of Jesus, Pope Francis told thousands of pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square for the Angelus of the Epiphany today. 'Even if there are several stars in our life, it's up to us to choose which to follow... There are flashing lights that come and go, like the small pleasures of life: although good, they are not enough... 'the Holy Father said. The Magi invite us to follow the true light that is Lord - said Pope Francis - 'a light that does not dazzle, but it accompanies and gives a unique joy.

6 January - Saint Andre Bessette - Independent Catholic News : Canadian laybrother. Alfred Bessette was born on August 9, 1845, near Montreal in Canada, the eighth of twelve children. When Alfred was nine, his father, a wood cutter, died in a work accident. Three years later, his mother died of TB. The children were split up and placed in different homes. Alfred went to live with an aunt and uncle.

St. Peter of Canterbury - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Peter of Canterbury, Roman Catholic Monk, from Rome’s Benedictine abbey of Saint Andrew who accompanied Saint Augustine of Canterbury on his missionary journey to England in 597. Feastday January 6

Daily Reading for Thursday, January 5th, 2017 - Daily Readings - Bible - Catholic Online

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: A Martyr of the Northern Rebellion : Blessed Thomas Plumtree, formerly of Corpus Christi College at Oxford, served as chaplain to the Northern Rising of Thomas Percy, Earl of ...

Bl. Thomas Plumtree - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Thomas Plumtree, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was offered his freedom if he abjured the faith and he refused. He was hanged in Durham Castle. Feastday January 4

3rd January 

- Saint Genevieve - Independent Catholic News : Virgin and patron of Paris. Born at Nanterre in around 420, St Genevieve is said to have met St Germanus of Auxerre on his way to England, when she was about seven years old. She told him then that she wanted to live only for God. He encouraged her to pray, and when she was 15, she took the veil. After her parents' death she moved to Paris and stayed with her godmother,

Bl. Marie-Anne Vaillot - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Marie-Anne Vaillot, Roman Catholic Nun and French Martyr, during the French Revolution. Feastday Jan.2

Bl. Jean-Baptiste Lego - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Jean-Baptiste Lego, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr in Angers, France. Martyred during the French Revolution along with his brother Blessed René Lego. Feastday Jan.1

1st January: The Solemnity of Our Lady - Independent Catholic News : Today the Church celebrates the oldest feast dedicated to Our Lady - Theotokos, Mother of God. This title was given to Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431AD The Second Vatican Council stated: 'Clearly from earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honoured under the title of Mother of God.' and at an early stage the Church in Rome celebrated on 1 January a feast that it called the anniversary (Natale) of the Mother of God.

.: Conversion of England : A BRIEF COMPENDIUM  OF   THE  CONVERSION OF ENGLAND What do the the Lincolnshire Martyrs  have  to do with the  Conversion of ...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: The Old Pretender Dies : James Francis Edward Stuart--James III to Jacobite supporters--died on January 1, 1766 in Rome at the Palazzo Muti. Popes Clement XI and I... https://barberi.wordpress.com/prayers-for-england/