Week at a glanceTuesday December 10 ~ Our Lady of Loreto
Wednesday December 11 ~ Saint Damasus I
Thursday December 12 ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe
Friday December 13 ~ Saint Lucy
Saturday November 14 ~ Saint John of the Cross
Sunday December 15 ~ 3rd Sunday of Advent
Monday December 16 ~
Tuesday December 17 ~
Wednesday December 18 ~ Saint Damasus I
Thursday December 19 ~
Friday December 20 ~
Saturday December 21 ~ Saint Peter Canisius
Sunday December 22 ~ 4th Sunday of Advent
The monthly prayer intention of pope francisFOR PILGRIMAGES OF HOPE
We pray that this Jubilee Year strengthen our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in our daily lives, and that it may transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope. Daily Offering Prayer God, our Father, I offer You my day. I offer You my prayers, thoughts, words, actions, joys, and sufferings in union with the Heart of Jesus, who continues to offer Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit, Who guided Jesus, be my guide and my strength today so that I may witness to your love. With Mary, the mother of our Lord and the Church, I pray for all Apostles of Prayer and for the prayer intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen. |
calendar of saintsDecember 10 ~ Our Lady of Loreto
The Holy House of Loreto (Santa Casa) in Italy has been venerated since the Middle Ages and has been a site of devotion and pilgrimage for centuries. In adding this memorial to the General Calendar in 2019, the Vatican noted that “Saints and Blesseds have responded to their vocation, the sick have invoked consolation in suffering, the people of God have begun to praise and plead with Mary using the Litany of Loreto, which is known throughout the world. In a particular way, all those who travel via aircraft have found in her their heavenly patron.” Our Lady of Loreto is the patroness of air travellers and aviation. December 11 ~ Saint Damasus I
Damasus was born in Rome about 305. His father, who was likely of Spanish descent, was a priest. Damasus also became a priest and in 366 he was chosen pope. He commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin, a version known as the Vulgate. Damasus died in 384. December 12 ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe
Today's memorial commemorates the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin in 1531 at Tepeyac, on the outskirts of Mexico City. Our Lady appeared four times, twice to aboriginal convert Juan Diego, with whom she left orders to build a church and an imprint of her image on a cloak. This cloak, an object of great veneration, is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the major pilgrimage centres of North America. Devotion to Our Lady under this title has grown over the centuries and in 1946 Pius XII named her a patron of the Americas. December 13 ~ Saint Lucy
Lucy was born in Syracuse, Italy, and martyred about 304. Details of her life have been lost in the ensuing legends. During the Middle Ages, people suffering from eye trouble began invoking Lucy's aid because her name is derived from lux ('light'). She is also associated with festivals of light, especially in Scandinavia. December 14 ~ Saint John of the Cross
John was born in 1542 at Fontiveros, Spain. He entered the Carmelite community and was ordained in 1567. With the great Carmelite mystic, Teresa of Avila, he worked for the reformation of his order, and helped found the reformed ('Discalced') Carmelites. During his life, he suffered much, enduring imprisonment, humiliation and ill-treatment. His writings are both classics of spirituality and of Spanish literature. His best-known works are The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, and The Living Flame of Love. He died in 1591, was canonized in 1726 and proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 1926. December 21 ~ Saint John Canisius
Peter was born in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in 1521. He joined the Jesuits and worked in Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Switzerland as a leader of the Counter-Reformation. Peter educated Catholics with his popular and influential catechism. Although he worked in a time of conflict with growing Lutheranism, he remained moderate and courteous. Peter died in Fribourg in 1597. He was canonized and declared Doctor of the Church in 1925. December 23 ~ Saint John of Kanty
John was born in Kanti, Poland, in 1390. After his ordination, he served in the Faculty of Theology at Krakow University. A popular teacher and preacher, John was noted for his simplicity and love for the poor. He died in 1473 and was canonized in 1767. December 26 ~ Saint Stephen
This celebration dates back to about the 4th century. Because his name is Greek, it is assumed Stephen was a Jew of the diaspora (Jewish communities outside Israel) who had resettled in Jerusalem. Stephen is the first-named among the seven deacons chosen to minister to Greek-speaking Christians in Jerusalem at the very dawn of the Christian church. He is the first recorded martyr of the New Testament. December 27 ~ Saint John
Also known as John the Divine, the apostle John was the son of Zebedee and the brother of James, and a fisherman. John was very close to Jesus and was present at the Transfiguration, the raising of Jairus' daughter and the Agony in the Garden. John is the "beloved disciple" referred to in the gospels. While ancient scholarship linked him to the Fourth Gospel, the Book of Revelation and the three epistles that bear his name, modern scholarship disputes this notion. John is believed to have died at Ephesus in extreme old age. In Christian iconography, his symbol is the eagle. December 28 ~ Holy Innocents
The 'Holy Innocents' are the male children recorded slain by King Herod in Matthew's Gospel. This unique episode in Jesus' life, along with the account of the flight into Egypt, presents the ancient tradition of the early Church: Jesus as the 'new Israel,' persecuted and forced to flee, and the 'new Moses,' marvellously rescued from the slaughter of the Hebrew children. This feast also points to Jesus as the Messiah and foreshadows the secular opposition Jesus will later meet, culminating in his Passion. December 29 ~ Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
Devotion to the Holy Family flourished in the Renaissance. The leading artists of the time Michelangelo, Raphael, El Greco, Rembrandt, Rubens, to name a few - often portrayed the Holy Family in their work. When this feast day was instituted in 1921, it was originally assigned to the third Sunday after Christmas (unless Christmas itself falls on a Sunday, in which case Holy Family is celebrated on Friday December 30). December 29 ~ Saint Thomas Becket
Thomas was born in London about 1118 and after studies in various European cities he was ordained a deacon in 1154. King Henry II chose his capable friend Thomas as Lord Chancellor in 1155 and appointed him archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. Unfortunately, Thomas and the king did not agree on matters regarding the Church, forcing Thomas into exile in France. Within weeks of his return in 1170, he and the king clashed again. In a fit of rage the king wished aloud to be rid of this "low-born priest." Four of the king's men took this to be a command and proceeded to Canterbury cathedral where they murdered Thomas. Upon learning of the archbishop's fate, the king was shocked and all Europe with him. Pope Alexander III declared Thomas a saint in 1173. December 31 ~ Saint Sylvester I
Sylvester was the first pope to be elected after the Edict of Milan (314) granted the Christian religion recognition and freedom. He led the Church as bishop of Rome for almost 21 years. Huge basilicas were built during Sylvester's reign by Emperor Constantine and various other leaders. Sylvester was a strong defender of the Church against heresies. The first general council was held at Nicaea during his pontificate; the 'Nicene Creed' was formulated at this council. Sylvester died in 335. |
St. Stephen Catholic Parish
4302 57 Avenue
Olds, AB
403-556-3084
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Facebook: St. Stephen's Catholic Parish - Olds, Alberta
4302 57 Avenue
Olds, AB
403-556-3084
[email protected]
Facebook: St. Stephen's Catholic Parish - Olds, Alberta
