Week at a glance |
calendar of saintsFrom Living With Christ
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Wednesday April 14th ~
Thursday April 15th ~
Friday April 16th ~
Saturday April 17th ~ Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
St. Stephen's Catholic Parish - Olds, Alberta Sunday April 18th ~ Third Sunday of Easter
Monday April 19th ~
Tuesday April 20th ~
Wednesday April 21st ~
Thursday April 22nd ~
Friday April 23rd ~ Saint George & Saint Adalbert
Saturday April 24th ~ Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen
St. Stephen's Catholic Parish - Olds, Alberta Sunday April 25th ~ Fourth Sunday of Easter
The monthly prayer intention of pope francisUniversal Intention - Fundamental Rights
Let us pray that we may experience the sacrament of reconciliation with renewed depth, to taste the infinite mercy of God. |
April 17 ~ Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
The first North American indigenous woman to be canonized, Kateri is often called the Lily of the Mohawks. Tekakwitha was born in 1656, on the southern bank of the Mohawk River at Osserneon (Auriesville, NY). Her mother was a Christian Algonquin from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, and her father was a non-Christian Mohawk Turtle chief. When she was four years old, a smallpox epidemic killed her parents and her brother, and left her with seriously impaired eyesight and a disfigured face. Inspired by Jesuit missionaries from an early age, Tekakwitha was baptized on Easter Sunday 1676 and assumed the name Kateri, likely in honour of Saint Catherine of Siena. The following year, due to persecution in her community, Kateri escaped to Kahnawake on the Saint Lawrence River opposite Tiohtiake (Montreal). She had a strong devotion to the Eucharist and a deep concern for others. She died on April 17, 1680 and was canonized in 2012. Kateri is a patron saint of Ecology, those who have lost their parents, and World Youth day. April 18 ~ Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin
Ester Blondin (Sister Marie-Anne) was born in 1809 in what is now a suburb of Montreal. She learned to read and write at age 22 while working as a domestic for nuns. Two year later, she started teaching in Vaudreuil. In 1850, with the permission of Bishop Bourget, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne for the education of poor boys and girls together - a radical idea at the time. While the congregation thrived, she endured opposition and obstruction from the local clergy. Forbidden to lead her sisters, she nevertheless remained the spiritual mother of her congregation. Sister Marie-Anne died in 1890, devoted to Christian education to the end. She was beatified in 2001. April 21 ~ Saint Anselm
Born in 1033, Anselm was motivated to enter the monastery of Bec in Normandy due to the reputation of the great teacher, Lanfranc. Anselm became a monk at the age of 27, and a student and close friend of Lanfranc, eventually succeeding him as prior and abbot of Bec. After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William I replaced the English hierarchy with Normans, and Lanfranc was sent as archbishop of Canterbury. Three years after Lanfranc's death, Anselm was in England (1093) and was forcibly made archbishop. Neither an administrator nor a politician by nature, he persevered nonetheless. Through his encouragement of English devotions, he helped heal the wounds of the Conquest on the English. Anselm's fame lies in his role as theologian and philosopher. His argument for the existence of God still holds strong appeal. In his concern for the oppressed, he was one of the first opponents of the slave trade. Anselm died in 1109. Never formally canonized, he was made a Doctor of the Church in 1720. April 23 ~ Saint George
Little is known about George, who was killed for his faith in Palestine at the beginning of the fourth century. Believed to be a soldier in the Roman army, he was involved in the organization of a Christian community at Urmiah (modern Iran), and visited Britian on an imperial expedition. During the reign of Edward III (14th century), he was made a patron of the kingdom. George is also patron of several Mediterranean and European countries and cities, and the Boy Scouts. George has figured prominently in popular feasts and folklore: 12th-century literature hailed him as the dragon-slayer. During the Middle Ages, he was a popular patron of knights, soldiers and crusaders, who adopted what was called St George's Arms, a red cross on a white background. The red cross appears on the modern Union Jack. April 23 ~ Saint Adalbert
Born in Bohemia (Czech Republic) around 956, Adalbert was consecrated bishop of Prague in 983. The task proved too onerous because of fierce political opposition, and he withdrew to a Benedictine abbey in Rome. He engaged in several very successful preaching missions to Poland, Prussia, Hungary and Russia. Dubbed the Apostle of the Slavs, he was martyred near Gdansk on this date in 997. April 24 ~ Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen
Mark Roy was born in Swabia (Germany) in 1578. He held doctorates in philosophy, canon law and civil law, and served as a tutor to nobles in France, Italy and Spain. Known as the 'lawyer of the poor,' he gave up practising law to enter the Capuchins in Freiburg, Switzerland, in 1612; he accepted the name Fidelis of Sigmaringen. A dynamic preacher, he was appointed by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith to preach to the Calvinists in Switzerland. He met with much resistance and was assaulted and slain in 1622. He is a patron of lawyers. April 25 ~ Saint Mark
The author of the earliest and shortest gospel, Mark was a member of the first Christian community in Jerusalem. Christians used his mother's house there as a place of prayer during Peter's imprisonment under Herod Agrippa I (see Acts 12.12). When Paul and Barnabas returned from Jerusalem, they took Mark back with them to Antioch in Syria. Later, they brought him along as their assistant on a missionary journey. After this, Mark returned to Jerusalem. In Christian art Mark is often depicted with a winged lion. Legends speak of Mark as bishop of Alexandria, where he cured a shoemaker and was killed in the streets of the city. He is a patron of notaries, of Egypt and Venice. |
