Saint Joseph Catholic Church

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England celebrates the Feast of the English Martyrs, a group of forty men, women, religious, priests, and lay people who were canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970 (in Wales this feast is celebrated October 25th as the Six Welsh Martyrs and Companions).

Excerpt from the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way." (John 14:1-4)

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Athanasius (295-373), Bishop of Alexandria and a great defender of the orthodox faith, throughout his life opposed the Arian heresy. By denying the Godhead of the Word the Arians turned Christ into a mere man, only higher in grace than others in the eyes of God. St. Athanasius took part in the Council of Nicea in 325 and until the end remained a champion of the faith as it was defined by the Council. In him the Church venerates one of her great Doctors. He was subjected to persecutions for upholding the true teaching concerning the person of Christ and was sent into exile from his see no less than five times. He died at Alexandria in 373 after an episcopate of forty-six years.

The Optional Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to Christianize the concept of labor and give to all workmen a model and a protector. By the daily labor in his shop, offered to God with patience and joy, St. Joseph provided for the necessities of his holy spouse and of the Incarnate Son of God, and thus became an example to all laborers. "Workmen and all those laboring in conditions of poverty will have reasons to rejoice rather than grieve, since they have in common with the Holy Family daily preoccupations and cares" (Leo XIII).

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Pius V (1504-1572). He joined the Dominicans at the age of fourteen; he was sixty-two when he was elected Pope. His reign, though short, was one of the most fruitful of the sixteenth century. To Protestantism, which had proclaimed the Reformation, St. Pius replied by applying the decrees of the Council of Trent for the reform of the Church. He played a great part in the return of the clergy to ecclesiastical discipline. Against Islam, which threatened the West, he succeeded in forming a coalition of Christian forces: and by public prayers, organized everywhere at his request, he was instrumental in obtaining the decisive victory of Lepanto in 1571. He died the following year on May 1. We also owe to St. Pius the reformation of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite.

Today is the Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). She was born Catherine Benincasa in Siena at a date that remains uncertain, was favored with visions from the age of seven. Becoming a tertiary of the Dominican Order, she acquired great influence by her life of prayer and extraordinary mortifications as well as by the spread of her spiritual writings. Her continual appeals for civil peace and reform of the Church make her one of the leading figures of the fourteenth century. Worn out by her mortifications and negotiations she died in Rome on April 29, 1380.

Today the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Peter Chanel (1803-1841). St. Peter was born in France in 1802. He was ordained a priest in 1827, and engaged in the parochial ministry for a few years; but the reading of letters of missionaries in far-away lands inflamed his heart with zeal, and he resolved to devote his life to the Apostolate. He joined the Society of Mary (Marists), and in 1836 he embarked for Oceania. He died a martyr's death on the island of Futuna, Melanesia. He is called the apostle of Oceania where he spread the Gospel.

Today is the traditional feast of Our Lady of Montserrat. Monserrat is located in the region of Catalonia in Spain. Legend relates that the original sculpture was carved by St. Luke and brought to Montserrat by St. Peter in 50 A.D. St. Ignatius of Loyola, a former Crusader, decided to become a missionary after having prayed before this image of Mary.