Christian Today

Six "modern Beatitudes" were proposed by Pope Francis during his visit to Malmö, Sweden on All Saints Day 2016:[28][29] Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart. Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness. Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover Him. Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home. Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others. Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.  

SAINTS JANUARY 01  Image Santa Susana Roma 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 MOST HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF GOD. The Council of Ephesus in 431 confirmed a truth very dear to the Christian people: Mary is the true Mother of God, insofar as she is mother of Jesus, true God and true man: two natures in one Divine person, without confusion, without change, without division.  Jan 1 ST. VINCENT MARIA STRAMBI, A native of Civitavecchia (1745-1824), he became a Passionist priest, over the objection of his father. A great preacher, he became bishop of Macerata. He cared for seminarians’s formation and helped the poor. After refusing to swear loyalty to Napoleon, the Pope called him as his advisor in Rome.  Jan   

  Speaking the language of love https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54027

  Seventeen missionaries and pastoral workers killed in 2025 https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54026

  St Sylvester https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/367

  Dec 31 The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas Gospel and Thought for the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html  Gospel in Art: Optional commemoration of Saint Silvester I, Pope https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54028 Reading of the day A reading from the first letter of John 2:18-21 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. Gospel of the day From the Gospel according to John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word...

  Gospel in Art: Optional commemoration of Saint Silvester I, Pope https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54028

  St. Sylvester I, Pope - Information on the Saint of the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/31/st--sylvester-i--pope.html

  Gospel and Thought for the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

 Dec 30 The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas Gospel and Thought for the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html  Gospel in Art: There was a prophetess, Anna https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54022  Reading of the day A reading from the First Letter of John 2:12-17 I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the Evil One. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the Evil One. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pre...

SAINTS DECEMBER 31 STS. DONATA, PAULINA AND HILARY, MARTYRS ON THE VIA SALARIA NUOVA Dec. 31   St. Sylvester, Roman Catholic Priest and was Pope for twenty-four years and eleven months.The Council of Nicea was assembled during his reign, in the year 325, during the period in which the Roman Emperor, Constantine, built the first Roman basilicas, and the Council of Nicea clarified central Christological teachings. Pope St. Sylvester died on 31  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/31/st--sylvester-i--pope.html  ST. MELANY, ROMAN MATRON, or St. Melania, The life of St. Melania reminds us of the fleeting character of earthly wealth. We should strive to emulate her use of wealth as well as talents to further the cause of Christ. Dec.31  

  Pope Leo: Gambling ruins families https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54020

  St Egwin https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/366

  Gospel in Art: There was a prophetess, Anna https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54022

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

  Gospel and Thought for the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

 SAINTS DECEMBER 30 St. Anysia, Roman Catholic Martyr of Greece. She was a wealthy woman of Salonika, in Thessaly, who used her personal funds to aid the poor. A soldier accosted her in the street and tried to drag her to a pagan sacrifice. Anysia resisted and was killed when the soldier attacked her with his sword. Dec. 30 The Martyr Saints of China, or Augustine Zhao Rong and his 119 companions, are saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western missionaries, from the mid-17th century to 1930, were martyred because of their ministry and, in some cases, for their refusal to apostatize. Many died in the Boxer Rebellion, in which xenophobic peasants slaughtered 30,000 Chinese converts to Christianity along with missionaries and other foreigners. Dec. 30 Bl. John Alcober, Roman Catholic Dominican Priest and Martyr in China. He was held in prison until strangled to death. He died with Blessed Peter Sanz and other Dominicans. Dec. 30 St. Egwin, 717 A.D. An...

  St Thomas Becket https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/365

  Gospel in Art: Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop, Martyr https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54016

  St. Thomas Becket, Bishop of Canterbury, Martyr - Information on the Saint of the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/29/st--thomas--becket--bishop-of--canterbury--martyr.html

  SAINTS DECEMBER 29 St. Thomas Becket, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. Soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III.  From statesman to martyr: Thomas à Becket was Chancellor to his friend, the English King Henry II, who willed that he become Archbishop of Canterbury, opposed his friend the king to defend the rights and liberties of the Church. He was killed in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170.   https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/29/st--thomas--becket--bishop-of--canterbury--martyr.html Bl. William Howard, 1680 A.D. Martyr of England. He was born the son of Thomas, earl of Arundel, in 1616 and raised a Catholic. ...

 Dec 28 Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Gospel and Thought for the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html  Gospel in Art: Feast of the Holy Family https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54009  Reading of the day A reading from the Book of Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard. Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother. My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of ...

  Feast of the Holy Innocents https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/372

  Gospel in Art: Feast of the Holy Family https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54009

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

  Gospel and Thought for the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

 SAINTS DECEMBER 28 Holy Innocents, martyrs -The Holy Innocents are the children of Bethlehem, put to death by order of King Herod, as part of his efforts to  eliminate the child Jesus, whom prophecies announced as the Messiah and new King of Israel. They have been honored as martyrs since the early centuries.   Sts. Eutychius & Domitian, Roman Catholic Martyrs of Ancyra, in Galatia. Eutychius was a priest and Domitian a deacon, and they died for defending the faith. Feastday Dec.28 St. Romulus and Conindrus, 450 A.D. Missionaries and bishops, honored as the first evangelizers of the Isle of Man. They were contemporaries of St. Patrick and part of the great mission labors of that era. St. Maughold, 488 A.D. Irish bishop converted by St. Patrick, also listed as Macull and Maccaldus. Originally an outlaw, he was spiritually changed by St. Patrick and performed penance and entered the religious life. Maughold was told to leave Ireland as part of his penance and set ...

  St John the Apostle, Blessed Sara Salkahazi https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/364

  Gospel in Art: Feast of Saint John, Apostle, Evangelist https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54004

  St. John, Apostle and Evangelist - Information on the Saint of the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/27/st--john--apostle-and-evangelist.html