Seigneur, Venez nous sauver!

Lord, Come and save us!

St. Jerome, Pray for Us on your Feast Day

St. Jerome is often remembered for his bad temper and sarcasm. Having been reared in an environment where sarcasm ruled, I can appreciate the challenges he must have had to get adjust his attitude. But I confess I love St. Jerome for his absolute commitment to defending the faith. He was totally intolerant when it came to those who preached error. So I'm invoking him today for my own diocese where heretics are allowed to speak and spread their errors. One of them, Anthony Tambasco, is on the diocesan paper's calendar for several talks and apparently the bishop has no problem. I faxed letters two weeks ago to the head of catechetics, the chancellor, and the pastor before leaving on a two-week trip and came home to more notices in the diocesan paper. And this in a diocese that supposedly screens speakers for orthodoxy.

Aside from his temper, St. Jerome is remembered most for translating the Bible (The Vulgate). His translation was corrected by the Council of Trent and then declared the authentic version for use in the Church. He also wrote many commentaries.

One of St. Jerome's most famous quotes is, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." In honor of his feast today why not read the Bible and share it, especially with your children and grandchildren. There are so many wonderful stories like Joseph and his many-colored coat. What a lesson that is about the terrible impact of sibling rivalry and jealousy! Know your Bible, know Jesus!

Two New American Saints: St. Kateri and St. Marianne

It's an exciting day for American Catholics as the Church raises the Lily of the Mohawks and Mother Marianne of Molokai to sainthood. Christians are called to both a life of prayer and a life of service and these holy women remind us of both.

St. Kateri lost her parents and brother in a smallpox epidemic and was herself severely scarred with impaired eyesight. She was adopted by her maternal uncle and became skilled in all the women's arts of weaving, basket making, etc. When the Blackrobes came to live among the Mohawks, Kateri was drawn to the faith. Her decision to remain a virgin brought persecution and ridicule from the tribe, but she persisted until, finally, with the help of the Jesuits, she left her home near Auriesville in upstate New York and fled to a mission near Montreal. There she devoted herself to prayer and mortification. She died at age 23 or 24 saying, "Jesus, I love you." The epitaph on her gravestone reads, "Kateri Tekawitha, the fairest flower that ever bloomed among red men." Within a few minutes of her death, Kateri's pockmarked complexion became smooth and beautiful reflecting her inner purity.

Mother Marianne of Molokai was a heroine to the people of Hawaii. She arrived in Hawaii with a group of sisters in 1883. In the next few years she opened a hospital and a home for the homeless children of parents who died of leprosy. After the government reinstituted the policy of segregating leprosy patients, she joined Fr. Damien on the island of Molokai and became his successor a few months later when he succumbed to the dreaded disease. Mother Marianne carried through many of the visions Fr. Damien had for the refuge on Molokai and became known as the heroine of Molokai.

St. Kateri and St. Marianne present the ideal of the Catholic apostolate: love God, and love neighbor. They were both committed to prayer and service. Kateri's apostolate was primarily prayer and mortification and Mother Marianne's was to serve the the sick and suffering. Both showed incredible courage as they made difficult choices to answer God's call.

As we celebrate these two new women saints, I can't help thinking of the relentless attack on the Church as a misogynist  institution that denegrates women. St. Kateri and St. Marianne are simply the latest to put the lie to that canard. The Church offers hundreds of strong, courageous women saints for emulation: founders of abbeys like St. Clare and St. Scholastica; mothers and martyrs like St. Perpetua, St. Felicity and St. Margaret Clitherow; mystics and writers like St. Teresa of Avila and St. Edith Stein. The list of women saints shows women at their best, holy and happy serving Our Blessed Lord. Rejoice and be glad! St. Kateri and St. Marianne, pray for us.

St. Katharine Drexel, Pray for Us!

We live in a culture where the rich are often demonized as selfish monsters exploiting everyone around them. But today's optional feast day is a celebration of the wealthy who exhibit a proper attitude toward the use of their possessions. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955) was the second child of a wealthy banker and philanthropist in Philadelphia, Francis Drexel. Her mother, Hannah, died several weeks after her birth. Later, her father remarried and he and his new wife, Emma Bouvier, taught their children that all they had was loaned to them by God to be shared with others.

On a trip out West, Kate's heart was moved by the sad condition of the native American Indians. In 1887 she financed her first mission in Sante Fe. Later she personally asked Pope Leo XIII to send missionary priests to staff some of the missions she was personally financing. He responded by inviting her to become a missionary herself. That was the beginning of her lifelong commitment to poverty and service. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to work among native Americans and Afro-Americans.

She was far ahead of her times working to increase educational and social opportunities for America's oppressed minorities. Her love and great devotion for the Holy Eucharist empowered her ministry which continues today through the order she founded. Like St. John Bosco, Mother Drexel believed that to bring children to Christ the sisters "must attract them with joy." The first school she founded staffed by her sisters was a high school for black girls, St. Francis de Sales, in Powhaten, VA. She also founded Xavier University in New Orleans, one of the earliest Catholic colleges for black youth.

What an example she is for those who dream of serving God. Her own words bear witness to how He acts in our lives:

I looked up in wonder at God's wonderful ways and thought how little we imagine what may be the result of listening and acting on a desire he puts into the heart. If He puts it into the heart, He will bless it; if we try to act upon it, great will be the effect before God.

Mother Katharine Mary Drexel was canonized October 1, 2000. Her national shrine is in Bensalem, PA

For more about this wonderful woman of God visit these websites:

KATHARINE DREXEL (1858-1955)

National Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel