聖人是基督所救贖的人，他們是基督救恩的證人，也是我們跟隨基督的榜樣。他們既是教會的肢體，也是我們的前輩和朋友。 今日，他們在天主前，仍不斷為我們代禱。
「藉著基督，我們雙方在一個聖神內，才得以進到父面前。 所以，你們已不是外方人或旅客，而是聖徒的同胞，是天主的家人。」（弗2:18-19）
「我們既有如此眾多如雲的證人，圍繞著我們，就該卸下各種累贅和糾纏人的罪過，以堅忍的心，跑那擺在我們面前的賽程， 雙目常注視著信德的創始者和完成者耶穌：他為那擺在他面前的歡樂，輕視了凌辱，忍受了十字架，而今坐在天主寶座的右邊。」（希12:1-2）
（教會初期已有殉道者的紀念，進而也紀念非殉道的聖者。 610年，教宗改羅馬萬神殿為聖堂，以保存地窟殉道者的遺髑，稱「殉道者聖母堂」。 835年，教宗額我略四世定11月1日紀念全體聖人。）
「煉獄」是某些人死後一種存在的狀態。 他們因為尚未除去罪的玷污(小罪)，或為了生前未做的補贖，或因沒有充分悔罪的心情，暫時還不能接近至聖的天主。 他們應先煉淨自己的罪汙，才能與至聖的天主合一。這些需被淨化的亡者靈魂，就是「煉靈」。 煉靈這種暫時遠離天主的痛苦，和切願面見天主的渴望，都能煉淨他們，如同火煉純金一樣；然後才能與至潔的天主同居共處。 煉靈在煉淨罪汙後，便可離開煉獄，在天堂與天主一起。
聖奧思定曾說「雖然這火是為了洗滌和潔淨靈魂，它卻是比我們在世上所能受的痛楚更為劇烈，煉獄中的苦楚是遠遠超出我們所能想像的。」
世界上的信徒，可以行善功幫助煉靈。煉靈只能忍受痛苦並耐心地接受淨化，因為他們不能再為自己獲取功行而自救。 他們唯一能夠獲得減輕刑期的方法，是來自世人為他們所奉的賠補。
天主是愛，祂願意我們彼此相愛，互相幫助。基於“諸聖相通功”的緣故，我們應該幫助煉靈早登天鄉與主相聚，做天主喜悅的事。
「那些在天主恩寵和友誼中過世的，而尚未完全煉淨的人，雖然他們永遠的得救已確定，在死後要經過煉淨， 為能獲得必需的聖德，進入天主的榮耀。」(羅馬天主教教理1054) 「因著‘諸聖相通’的事實，教會將亡者交托給天主的仁慈，為他們奉獻祈禱，尤其是感恩聖祭。」(羅馬天主教教理1055)
十一月是煉靈月，為煉靈取得全大赦：
教友如滿全辦告解、領聖體及為教宗意向祈禱之條件 （該等條件可於履行下列善工當日或之前或之後約二十日內滿全，而為教宗意向祈禱，則可以誦念天主經及聖母經各一遍滿全）， 並履行以下其中一項善工，可為煉靈取得全大赦：
一、在十一月一日至八日任何一日，虔誠地前往一間天主教墳場，並在該處為亡者默禱或誦禱；
二、十一月二日，虔誠地前往任何聖堂或小堂，並在該處誦念一遍天主經及信經。（注：來自香港教區）
主保：社會工作者(1579-1639)
「父親不詳」（Father unknown）這個冷漠的法律用詞，有時會被用在洗禮的證明上； 而「混血」（Half-breed）或「戰爭下的紀念品」（war souvenir）， 則常是那些所謂驕傲的「純種」（pure-blood）者用來輕蔑他人的殘酷用詞。不幸的是，這些詞句就常落在瑪定年幼的心靈裡。 然而，瑪定卻從來不是個生來就充滿怨恨的人；相反地，為一個貧苦的小孩，他願意給予他全部的心； 為窮困有需要的人，聖人則願意給他們自己身上所有的全部。
1579年的12月9日，聖人誕生在秘魯的利馬（Lima,Peru）。 他是巴拿馬一位女子的非婚兒子；母親可能是一位黑人，亦可能是美洲當地的印地安住民；父親則是一位西班牙人，是駐秘魯利瑪的一位公爵。 瑪定誕生時便承襲了母親黝黑的膚色與外觀，這帶給父親極大的困擾，甚至八年後才願承認瑪定是他的兒子； 瑪定的妹妹誕生後，父親便離棄了這個家庭。從此，他們一家就活在貧苦之中，成為利瑪社會中的低下階層。 聖人12歲時，母親願意瑪定在一位同時是理髮師又是外科醫師的門下做學徒； 在那兒，聖人學會了如何修剪頭髮，也學會了如何抽血（這在當時是一個標準的醫療程序），並且還能照料傷口、預備和管理藥品。
就在瑪定當醫療學徒的數年後，他向道明會申請成為一位「在俗助手」（lay helper），因為他自覺不配成為一位會士。 九年後，因著他在祈禱、補贖、愛德與謙遜等方面的善表，道明會反而轉而邀請他矢發完整的修會聖願。
在聖人的修道生活中，夜晚他都用來祈禱與補贖，白日則排滿了照料病患與窮人的行程。 令人印象深刻的是，瑪定對人的關懷，從不因對方的膚色、種族，甚至是社會階層而有任何的差異。 為此，他按著理想，創辦了一個孤兒院，還特別照料從非洲被賣至美洲的奴隸，且盡可能地在會院內安排每日的佈施。 漸漸地，他成了會院與該城的代管事務者（procurator）； 無論是毛毯、上衣、蠟燭、糖果、甚至是奇蹟或是祈禱，只要有人有求於他，瑪定便努力地答覆這些需要； 而當自己的會院出現債務時，他則會說：「我只是一個可憐的混血兒，把我賣掉吧！我是這個修會的資產，賣掉我吧！」
除了牧靈的工作之外，聖人的工作還包括廚房、洗衣房以及醫院裡的日常工作；他的生命，完全反映出天主不尋常的恩寵來。 為此，關於聖人的報導不計其數，例如：身體在祈禱的神拔（ecstasy）中被舉揚了起來、他祈禱的小室， 總是充滿著耀眼的光亮、同時出現在不同的處所、對超自然知識的理解、神奇的醫治能力、能與動物溝通等等。
聖人除了對人靈表達關懷之外，對動物也有同等的愛心，連廚房裡的老鼠也不例外。為此，關於聖人與動物間的傳奇到處留傳。 相傳，凡靠近他的所有動物，聖人都會加以餵食與醫治；而動物們也似乎都聽得懂他的話語而遵從之。 有個傳奇甚至這樣描述：某日，由於會院內鼠患日增，於是大家便決意設置捕鼠器，捕殺日漸增多的老鼠。 瑪定聽聞後大感哀傷，於是便與老鼠協議，若牠們願意退出會院，他則願意在廚房的後門設法餵食牠們。 神奇的是，從那天起，會院內就再也沒有老鼠的蹤跡了。 有時，他甚至還會因老鼠無法獲得飽食而向其道歉；至於路上流浪的貓狗，瑪定則託負妹妹照管。
後來，瑪定成了非常成功的資金籌募者；他所籌募的款項，幫助了許多貧窮的女孩，使她們能夠負擔結婚或進入修會時所需的資金； 許多與聖人同時期的修道者，皆以他為自己的神師，但瑪定卻仍喜歡自稱是「可憐的奴隸」。他同時還是祕魯利瑪的聖女－聖羅莎（St. Rose of Lima）的好友。
最後，聖人於1639年的11月3日過世；他在修會弟兄誦念「信經」的簇擁下，嚥下了最後一口氣，生前的最後一句話便是： 「et homo factus est－降生成人」。 聖人過世後，他的會衣成了眾人爭相取得的聖物；相傳，無數次的醫治神蹟都與這些會衣的碎片有關。
教宗額我略十六世（Pope Gregory XVI）宣佈瑪定為真福品，並將其慶日訂在11月3日； 教宗若望二十三世（Pope John XXIII）則在1962年的5月6日，在四萬群眾前宣佈其為聖品。 直到今日，因著聖瑪定在種族與社會工作上的努力，仍有許多人對其表示崇敬，特別是在美洲地區。
"Father unknown" is the cold legal phrase sometimes used on
baptismal records. "Half-breed" or "war souvenir" is the cruel
name inflicted by those of "pure" blood. Like many others, Martin
might have grown to be a bitter man, but he did not. It was said
that even as a child he gave his heart and his goods to the poor
and despised.
He was the illegitimate son of a freed woman of Panama, probably
black but also possibly of Native American stock, and a Spanish
grandee of Lima, Peru. Martin inherited the features and dark
complexion of his mother. That irked his father, who finally
acknowledged his son after eight years. After the birth of a
sister, the father abandoned the family. Martin was reared in
poverty, locked into a low level of Lima’s society.
When he was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon. He learned how to cut hair and also how to draw blood (a standard medical treatment then), care for wounds and prepare and administer medicines.
After a few years in this medical apostolate, Martin applied to the Dominicans to be a "lay helper," not feeling himself worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the example of his prayer and penance, charity and humility led the community to request him to make full religious profession. Many of his nights were spent in prayer and penitential practices; his days were filled with nursing the sick and caring for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all people regardless of their color, race or status. He was instrumental in founding an orphanage, took care of slaves brought from Africa and managed the daily alms of the priory with practicality as well as generosity. He became the procurator for both priory and city, whether it was a matter of "blankets, shirts, candles, candy, miracles or prayers!" When his priory was in debt, he said, "I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. I am the property of the order. Sell me."
Side by side with his daily work in the kitchen, laundry and infirmary, Martin’s life reflected God’s extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures and a remarkable rapport with animals. His charity extended to beasts of the field and even to the vermin of the kitchen. He would excuse the raids of mice and rats on the grounds that they were underfed; he kept stray cats and dogs at his sister’s house.
He became a formidable fundraiser, obtaining thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls so that they could marry or enter a convent.
Many of his fellow religious took him as their spiritual director, but he continued to call himself a "poor slave." He was a good friend of another Dominican saint of Peru, Rose of Lima (August 23).
Comment:
Racism is a sin almost nobody confesses. Like pollution, it is a
"sin of the world" that is everybody's responsibility but
apparently nobody's fault. One could hardly imagine a more fitting
patron of Christian forgiveness (on the part of those
discriminated against) and Christian justice (on the part of
reformed racists) than Martin de Porres.
Quote:
In 1962, Pope John XXIII remarked at the canonization of Martin:
"He excused the faults of others. He forgave the bitterest
injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on
account of his own sins. He tried with all his might to redeem the
guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing
and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm
laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon
at that time as akin to slaves: thus he deserved to be called by
the name the people gave him: 'Martin of Charity.'"
Patron Saint of:
African-Americans
Barbers
Hairdressers
Race relations
Social justice
「主日學校」的鼻祖
公元十六世紀正是教會多難的時期。 教會的中流砥柱，改革運動的中心份子共有四位聖者：教宗聖碧岳五世、聖斐利伯內利、聖依納爵聖師，和今日紀念的聖嘉祿主教。
嘉祿出身義大利米蘭貴族，生於公元一五三八年，父親是位伯爵，母親是教宗碧岳四世的姊姊。 嘉祿自幼熱心敬主，在學校期間已有超凡聖德，同學奉他為模範。
嘉祿博學多才在教會擁有崇高的地位和權力，可是他非常謙遜，常擔憂自己的地位太高權力太大惴惴不安，他渴望早日掛冠求去，入隱院修道。 巴格德主教勸嘉祿不必擔憂，天主賞賜他的尊貴地位和權力，是叫他充份利用，為聖教會服務， 所以他必須努力工作，幫助教會傳揚福音與榮主救靈。
教宗碧岳四世決定重開大公會議，負責執行這項歷史性任務的就是嘉祿。 在大公會議進行期間，嘉祿的父親逝世，按律應由嘉祿繼承爵位，但嘉祿一心獻身事主，視富貴如敝屣，就將伯爵的名銜讓給叔父。 公元一五六三年嘉祿領受了鐸品，陞任主教職，不久他回米蘭，致力整頓教區紀律。 他以身作則，操務苦行，生活儉樸，並將主教府收入全撥給慈善事業。 嘉祿對教會所訂的禮儀非常注意。無論他有什麼急事，或是遇到冗長的禮儀，總是用心地誦念經文，絕不草率。
嘉祿愛主的熱忱，鼓舞著眾人修德行善。嘉祿的善表，是他整頓教區紀律的最有效的武器。 他召集教務會議多次，擬訂改革紀律的詳細方案。嘉祿在推行改革運動時，恩威兼施。
嘉祿的口才並不很好，他講道完全靠個人的努力，才獲得成功。 他的知友亞基利說：「嘉祿沒有天生的口才，說話的聲音又很低，可是他一上講壇，字字打入聽眾的心坎，這一點確是非常難能可貴的。」
嘉祿對兒童的要理非常注意。除了督促本堂司鐸每主日講道以外，他又創設了教理研究會。 研究會擁有七百四十所教理學校，三千名要理講解員，四萬名學生。聖嘉祿可以說是「主日學校」的鼻祖。 他創辦的公教主日學校，比新教的主日學校早二百年。
公元一五八○年，嘉祿與聖類思相遇，那聖類思還只有十二歲，初領聖體時，送聖體給他的正是聖嘉祿。
米蘭大疫期內，總督和縉紳離城逃避，嘉祿不顧生命危險，留居城內，主持救濟工作。 主教府神職人員不夠分配，嘉祿就向各修院呼籲，請求協助，修士紛紛響應主教的號召，全體動員，參加看護病人的工作。 這一次米蘭疫病的嚴重，空前未有，喪命者不計其數，商業停頓，糧食缺乏。嘉祿每天需籌募糧食銀錢，供應數千人的膳食，歷盡辛苦。 主教府的財產全部變賣後，嘉祿還欠了許多的債務，他甚至將教宗遊行所用的帳篷都全部拆下來，裁製衣服，發給災民使用。
嘉祿建築了許多臨時醫院，在街道上搭起臨時祭台，病人可以在自己的窗口望彌撒。嘉祿重新將教友們組織起來，協助神職人員看護病人。 他自己每天親自往城內各區照顧病人，給他們準備善終。米蘭大疫，於一五七六年爆發，兩年後（一五七八年）方才終止。 嘉祿在這兩年內，獻出全部身心為病人服務，日以繼夜，心力交瘁，個人的生命安全，早已置之度外。
嘉祿因公務繁劇，睡眠不足，身體一天比一天弱。 公元一五八四年，嘉祿病勢惡化，在故鄉亞隆伯作了最後一次彌撒後，安逝主懷，享年四十六歲。公元一六一○年由教宗保祿五世列入聖品。
Patron Saint of: catechists, seminarians
Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy, on 2 October 1538. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.
In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius' legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Milan (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of Protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.
He died at Milan on the night of 3-4 November 1584, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times.
聖吳國盛，貴州省遵義縣人，自幼生性剛強，氣力過人，好打抱不平，人見他都怕。可是，事奉父母特別孝順。 在隆平開設一家大客棧，一天，有個教友來投宿。此人姓徐，是四川省羅瑪弟神父派遣來的。徐姓教友見國盛性情豪爽，心中暗想： 若能勸他信主，一定能大大發展教務。一夜，月色甚好，便向他說：「吳老闆，今夜的月光，如此明朗，您可曉得這月光是怎麼來的？」 「是它本身發的光嘛！」「屋里的燈燭，如果不加油，不點火，為何不能自己發光呢？天空的日月星辰，從古到今，所發射的光芒，為何一些不減？ 這里面一定有掌管它們的神，請問祂是誰？」國盛沉思良久，竟想不出個道理來。 「你不明白，我倒曉得。」徐姓教友於是把宇宙的原始，萬物的來歷，人類的根源，以及其他重要道理，一一講給他聽。 國盛聽罷，深受感動。徐君又送給他幾本關於教理的書。
乾隆六十年，羅神父親自往隆平場，見國盛信德不凡，立他為本地會長，那時他尚未受洗。 神父為了要改變他的性情，要他去四川省，看看老教友的榜樣。 國盛在重慶住了多日，感覺自己的行為，多不合乎耶穌的聖訓，回家以後，深自悔過，盡心改變固執的個性。 翌年，羅神父給他付了洗，取名伯多祿。到嘉慶十六年，隆平場週圍，創建了很多堂口，進教的有六百多人。
不久，教難興起，情勢非常險惡。差役來抓他，他本來有機會逃脫，卻不肯走，甘願跟差役進城。 多次動大刑逼他背教，國盛不為所屈，寧死不肯背教。
國盛在監時，每天同教友唱經。縣官逼他踐踏十字，他抵死不從，縣官就定了他絞刑。赴法場，國盛手持唸珠，歡歡喜喜地唸玫瑰經。 既到法場，雙膝跪地，大聲喊道：「天堂、天堂，我的家鄉！」「我看見了天堂的榮光，我看到了救主耶穌！」 「我看見天主之母和我的護守天使下來接我了。」 這時刑役把他綁在十字架上，頸項套著繩索，用力一扯，登時畢命。忽然聽得一聲巨響，驚天動地。 時嘉慶十九年九月二十六日（陽曆1814年11月7日），享年四十有六。 聖人殉道日，他的妻子聞訊，立即來城領屍，葬在隆平場的墳山上。聖人死後曾顯現很多奇蹟。 教宗良十三世，於1900年5月27七日奉他為真福。二○○○年十月一日宣聖。
聖母無染原罪信理的捍衛者
真福董思高是第十三世紀時的一位方濟會士，他是一位司鐸，也是位神學家。 在方濟會的歷史中，他可說是聖文都拉之後最重要、也最具有影響力的神學家。 聖人是「思高學派」的創始者，法國大革命前，他的神學思想幾乎主宰了所有歐洲的各主要天主教大學。 聖人最知名的的神學主張是：「耶穌基督的絕對王權」、「聖母無染原罪」與「進化論的駁斥」。
聖人的孩童時期
聖人在1265年時誕生於蘇格蘭的董思小城（Duns, Berwickhire,Scotland），一出生便付了洗，並以聖史若望為名。 他年幼時極其乖巧、健康，純潔得像個小天使一樣；他從家裡與堂區神父那接受了很紮實的信仰培育，並在熙篤會的Melros會院學習要理。 在該會院裡，小思高深深地浸淫在對天主之母的熱愛裡，而這正是聖伯爾納鐸（St. Bernard）留給熙篤會士最寶貴的精神遺產。
聖人在孩童時期因思考較為遲鈍受了許多的苦；他切望能好好地閱讀、學習信仰方面的真理，然而他的心智卻無法了解或明暸任何事物。 於是小思高藉著祈禱，求助於上智之座—聖母，祈求他的駑鈍能得著治癒，並能在學習上有所精進。 聖母於是向小思高顯現，並賞賜了他所求的恩寵。回到學校後，思高的「小小的腦袋瓜」著實讓同學與老師們大感訝異！ 於是，小思高決定以此屬天的卓絕智慧來光榮甜美與榮耀的童貞聖母。
十五歲時，聖人在Dumfries加入了小兄弟會(方濟會)的初學院；在初學中，他的虔敬與天使般的德行與日俱增。 一年後，他在修會內矢發貧窮願、貞潔願和服從願，將自己奉獻給上主。 之後，他被差遣到修會所設立的神學院研習神學，並在英國林肯郡的Oliver Shtton主教手中領受司鐸聖制， 時間是在1291年的3月17日，地點是克隆尼修道院的聖安德肋教堂。晉鐸後，聖人開始在英國與法國繼續神、哲學的深造。
聖母的顯現
1299年的聖誕夜，聖人在牛津會院沉浸於默觀聖言降生成人的奧跡裡，隨後他即神魂超拔。 當時聖母向他顯現，並將嬰孩耶穌放在他的懷裡，嬰孩耶穌則溫柔地親吻擁抱聖人， 這或許是後來他主張在「道成肉身」的奧跡中，基督有著絕對優先性的原因； 在他看來，除了天主的救贖之外，基督的「道成肉身」可以說是天主之愛的最卓絕彰顯。
執教於牛津大學的董思高
聖人在牛津與劍橋大學執教約四年後，於1301年末回到巴黎，取得了神學學士的學位。 後來，在他獲得博士學位的前夕，聖人突然必須離開法國而回到英格蘭，因為當時的法王菲利比（Philip）與教宗Boniface VIII有一次爭執，於是法王要求法國境內的所有神職人員、貴族、修道人、主教與巴黎大學的教授訴諸大公會議來抵制教宗。 然而，思高卻不願接受法王的要求，於是只能選擇被逐出法國。這事件約發生在1308年的六月25到28日
一年之後，緊張的情況好轉，聖人再次回到巴黎大學接受神學博士的學位，並成為該校的正式教授，這使得他名列在中世紀最偉大的學者之列。 聖人的天賦與學識很快地就傳遍了整個歐洲，大批的學生慕名前來，希望能聆聽這位大師的課程。 因著聖人習慣在神學論題上作縝密的解析，因此當代的學者皆以「精微博士（Subtle Doctor）」稱之。 Rodulphus這樣描述他說：「為他而言，沒有任何事物是過於艱深難懂的；在他熱切的心智中，沒有任何事物是無法測度與澄清的； 沒有什麼糾結是他無法解開的；為他過人的天資而言，也沒什麼事物是過於困難、誨澀而不能加以詳解的。」 另一位寫道：「當他描述天主的神聖屬性時，就好似他親眼見過天主一樣；當他描述天朝諸神時，就好似自己曾是位天使一樣； 當他描述未來屬天的幸福時，就好似他已享受其間一樣；當他描述天主的眷顧時，就好似他已浸淫在這奧秘之中一樣。」
思高捍衛聖母無染原罪信理
聖人在巴黎時因擁護聖母無染原罪（聖母無玷始胎）的信理，因而獲得了「聖母博士(Marian Doctor)」的稱號。 對該信理的宣揚，聖人在英國並未遭到任何的阻礙，但在巴黎的情況卻正好相反。巴黎大學只承認聖母的原罪是在母親聖亞納(St. Anne)的胎中被淨化的，就如同洗者若翰例子。當時巴黎大學裡所有大師級的人物如：Alexander of Hales、聖文都拉與聖多瑪斯等，都無法解決原罪的普遍性與基督的救贖功效間的問題；他們認為： 即便是童貞聖母瑪利亞，也被包括在原罪的普遍性之內，因此必會與原始罪污的影響有所關聯，雖然僅是片刻而已，所以聖母也應被救贖。 聖人在巴黎大學內試圖向學生介紹並講授與校方不同立場的神學觀點，因此，他必須在整個學院前對此一信念作公開性的辯護。 若他無法為他所信仰的真理做有效的辯護，那麼，他將承擔被逐出校園的風險。 為此，思高在祈禱中、帶著全部的信心，將自己託付給上智之座的無玷聖母。
當辯護的日子來到之時，在離開會院的路上，他途經一座聖母雕像，聖人便懇求她說： 「喔，至聖聖母！請允許我讚美妳，並賜我力量對抗妳的敵人。」聖母便以一個明顯可見的記號回應他： 聖母雕像的頭部在他面前輕輕地點了頭。這就好像是說：「會的，我會賜你所需的力量。」
二位教宗的代表主持了這場公開的神學辯護。 後來，思高以有力的辨證與精妙的推理論證，駁斥了在場所有學者的異議，使反對聖母無染原罪的所有爭論都變得啞口無聲。聖人指出： 「無限美善的救贖主必會在某些情況下完成祂卓絕的救贖工程；然而，除非藉由某人預先平息了天主的忿怒，否則這卓絕的救贖工程是不能完成的。」 最後，思高獲得了勝利。從那一天起，巴黎大學也開始為至聖童貞聖母所享有的這項殊恩加以辯護。
思高的死亡與列品
思高必須又一次地離開巴黎大學，一方面是政治的因素，一方面是因他的反對者質疑聖人的神學理論。 離開巴黎後，方濟會的總會長派遣他到德國的科倫，在那裡負責教導方濟學院的學生，直到聖人1308年的11月8日病逝為止，享年僅43歲。 他過世後不久，很快地就被人稱為「真福」了。
數世紀以來，許多教友都會到他的墳前紀念他； 蘇格蘭的愛丁堡、義大利的諾拉（Nola）、德國的科隆教區更常有奉獻給他的公開敬禮，就如同普世方濟會內所做的一樣。 1854年，教宗碧岳九世（Pius IX）隆重地宣佈聖人關於聖母的道理正確無誤，且是基於宗徒信仰的表達： 「從耶穌基督功績的觀點下，瑪利亞從成胎的第一刻起，就脫免了原罪的玷污。」 當基督君王節在1925年被教會建立時，聖人關於「基督的絕對優越性」神學也為教會官方所認可。 1992年的3月20日，在羅馬的伯多祿大殿廣場前，董思高由教宗聖若望保祿二世宣布為「真福品」。
早期教會經歷教難和迫害，達三百多年，終在313年得到自由。 當時的君士坦丁大帝，皈依聖教，並將拉特朗宮殿獻給教宗，又於殿旁建一所大殿，供舉行禮儀之用， 亦即今日之「拉特朗大殿」，又名「救主大殿」，別名「聖若翰大殿」。324年，由教宗西物斯德祝聖。
拉特朗大殿的祝聖紀念，最初只在羅馬舉行，後因它是羅馬的主教座堂（即宗徒之長、伯多祿繼承人、教宗的座堂）， 故被尊為「全球聖堂的母堂」。 於是，自十二世紀，拉特朗大殿的祝聖紀念，便推行到普世拉丁禮的教會，作為各地教會敬愛聖座和團結一致的象徵， 正如安提約基亞的聖依納爵所寫的：聖座「在這充滿愛德的整個團體（教會）中位居首席」。
(1880-1906) Carmelite
1984年11月25日，若望保祿二世冊封這位法國加爾默羅聖衣會的修女為真福。 他這麼介紹道：「一道新光為我們放射，一個新而可靠的引導。這位年輕熱情的基督徒，能夠和年輕人及所有尋找真理的人對話。 」她的秘密是什麼？「我告訴你，是內在和天主親密的生活，成為照耀我生命的太陽。」
《天使或魔鬼？》這是當依撒伯爾去聽要理時，本堂神父對依撒伯爾的評語。依撒伯爾生於1880年7月18日。她的父親是軍隊的長官。 小女依撒伯爾生來聰慧有才氣，個性堅強，但脾氣暴躁。 她姐姐說：「她很活潑，但常發怒，發火時像魔鬼。」另一方面，她嚮往一切高尚美麗的事，擁有一顆慷慨的心。 由於對耶穌的開放，她要因愛來克服她「可怕的個性」。
《熱情的年輕人》她7歲喪父。13歲時，她獲得法國鋼琴比賽頭獎，音樂家的事業向她招手。 但她的野心在他處：要愛耶穌，這位她在初領聖體時相遇的耶穌。她要瘋狂地愛祂！她從心底內被天主的臨在所吸引。 14歲時，她「不能禁止地」把自己完全交托給耶穌，她惟一所愛。誰會相信呢？她的母親愛好旅行。 他們有許多朋友，交際繁忙：出外遊玩、跳舞、打球、彈鋼琴，這就是依撒伯爾，年輕人當中的佼佼者。 她的愛好廣泛：游泳、爬山、和朋友談天，但也喜歡去教堂，拜訪病人，為孩子教要理。在這一切之上，她最喜歡祈禱。 她寫道：「即使在這塵世中，我們也可以在內心靜默之處聆聽天主，這顆心只屬於祂。」
《愛人的聲音》依撒伯爾越來越感到被召入加爾默羅聖衣會，以便能不斷祈禱，並把人類帶到天主前。 她寫道：「一個加爾默羅修女的靈魂是望著十字架，並瞭解祂深切的愛；她願意像祂一樣把自己交出。」她的母親堅決反對。 人們向她提親。她回答道：「我的心已有所屬！」她21歲入聖衣會，會名為聖三依撒伯爾。 她非常快樂：這是個貧苦、簡單的祈禱生活，但卻充滿著天主的臨在以及姐妹的情誼。
《深沉的愛》她的初學生活是困難與痛苦的。一年四個月之後，在1903年1月11日發願，從此成為「基督的聖配」： “成為聖配，就是像祂一樣被交出……和祂一起生活……永遠一起……是要為祂孕育許多恩寵的孩子……” 她的生活越來越建立在天主的聖言：聖若望教導她如何“留存在天主內”； 聖保祿邀請她成為“天主光榮的讚頌”（弗1，12），因天主是“如此愛世人”（弗2，4），所以依撒伯爾要“以愛還愛”。 她的書信滿溢著信心，相信天主的愛是為所有的人，祂只要我們相信。她和她的許多平信徒朋友們分享道： 「所有的人都被召，都被愛，所有受過洗禮的人都是天主的孩子，所有的人都被邀請參加聖餐，所有的人都可以把自己交給愛……」
《到光明、到愛、到生命去》依撒伯爾不斷地把我們的心引到生活的天主前：父、子和聖神。 依撒伯爾如此寫道：「天主聖三，這是我們的居留，我們的家，父親的家，永遠不應離開的家。」 1904年11月，她寫了這篇出名的祈禱文：“啊，我的天主，我崇拜的聖三。” 在這祈禱中，她把自己完全奉獻給燃燒的聖神愛火：“我將自己如俘虜般交付給祢”。 她的渴望就只是要相似耶穌，成為祂的“特選的人類，從現祂一切的奧跡”。26歲時，她患上了愛迪生症(Addison)，在當時是不治之症。 她和死神掙扎了9個月。在這極大的痛苦中，她沒有隱瞞她的焦慮，但也很高興能分擔耶穌的苦難，並和祂一起為世人奉獻。 她在1906年11月9日淩晨去世。她最後的遺言是：「我走向光明、愛情和生命！」最後的一句話是生命！
《現代的先知》在她豐富的譯著中，依撒伯爾留給我們一個簡單但深刻與真實的訊息。 當愛我們的天主就住在我們內心的深處時，又何必到所謂的“東方”靈修中去尋找與神的經驗？天主不是透過‘方法’來找到的。 依撒伯爾告訴我們她的秘密：“忘了自己”！停止和自私的“自己”對話，以便仰望那位元尋找我們，並帶領我們到聖三親密生活的耶穌。 如此，每日的生活，無論是喜怒哀樂，都是在祂的光明中。痛苦與死亡變成了通往生命的道路。
依撒伯爾許下要幫助我們： 「在天上，我的使命是吸引人們，幫助他們放下自己，接受天主，透過簡單但充滿愛的行動，並使他們保持內心的平靜， 以便讓天主把自己的肖像刻印在他們內，使他們變成祂的樣子。」
依撒伯爾於2016年10月16日獲宣聖。
Source: http://www.helpfellowship.org/Blessed_Elizabeth_of_the_Trinity.htm
St. Elizabeth was born in July of 1880 into a military environment. Her father, Joseph, had been raised in a poor, agricultural family. At the age of twenty-one, he had enlisted in the French army. In September of 1873, Catez had married Marie Rolland, herself the daughter of a successful military man. After a career marked by combat as well as by many promotions, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1881. Spending her earliest years in this military environment Elizabeth was naturally formed in such virtues as courage and forthrightness.
From her earliest years, Elizabeth's personality was also marked by a determined, energetic disposition. The strong-willed, exuberant child's energy, however, often became violent, resulting in fits of rage. She could not support being opposed, seeming "to think that all must give way before her." Nevertheless, this child who was once described mischievously as "pure devil" simultaneously demonstrated and developed a great attraction to prayer.
The year 1887 marked a great change in seven-year-old Elizabeth's life. The year began with the death of her maternal grandfather in January. In October of that same year, her father, Joseph, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of fifty-five. Madame Catez and her two children (Elizabeth's sister, Marguerite, who had been born in 1883) soon moved from their former house to an apartment in what could be called the suburbs of Dijon. From the window of her room in her new home, Elizabeth could see the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns.
After the death of her father, Elizabeth's outbursts of anger increased both in number and in violence. During the course of the same year, though, the child experienced for the first time the sacrament of Penance, "which brought about what she styled her ‘conversion'." She henceforth began to struggle noticeably against her violent temper, promising her mother that she would strive to be the very model of a "sweet, patient, and obedient" daughter.
However, it was only four years later that the future Blessed would manage finally to conquer her difficult temperament. In the spring of 1891, when she was almost eleven years old, Elizabeth made her First Communion. Sensitive by nature, especially to things sacred, she was profoundly affected by her first reception of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Tears of joy were seen to run down the young girl's face after her Communion. Upon leaving the church, she said to a close friend, "I'm no longer hungry. Jesus has fed me."
On the afternoon of her First Communion, Elizabeth also encountered the prioress of the Carmel of Dijon for the first time. The prioress, upon learning the name of the child, explained to her that "Elizabeth" means "house of God." A few days later, she would send this same message to Elizabeth, writing on the back of a holy card: "Your blessed name hides a mystery, accomplished on this great day. Child, your heart is the House of God on earth, of the God of love."
This theme of being the "house of God," then, was at first closely associated with the mystery of the Eucharist in the mind of Elizabeth. In a poem that she would later write to commemorate the seventh anniversary of her First Communion, she meditates upon the day:
When Jesus made in me His dwelling place,
When God took possession of my heart,
So well that since that hour,
Since that mysterious colloquy,
That divine and delicious meeting,
I have aspired to nothing else but to give my life
In order to return a bit of His great love
To the Beloved of the Eucharist
Who reposed in my feeble heart,
Inundating it with all of his favors.
Likewise, Elizabeth once wrote the following words to a friend who had just made her First Communion: "If He came this morning into your little heart, it was not to pass through it and go away, but to remain there always." It seems that the future Blessed understood that by giving himself to her in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus had come to dwell within her in a new way.
Elizabeth lived out her desire "to return some of His great love to the Beloved of the Eucharist" by conquering her tempestuous nature. Her mother later testified, "From that day (of her First Communion) and afterwards, no more fits of anger." This victory did not come easily to the young girl, however, but rather cost her a considerable amount of effort and struggle. Yet, Elizabeth desired to return love for love, and to show her love for the loving God by becoming herself more loving towards others. She drew strength for this struggle from "the Beloved of the Eucharist who had made in her His dwelling place.
Elizabeth first discerned her vocation to Carmel after having received Communion one day when she was fourteen years old, but her mother was opposed to the idea. Eventually, when Elizabeth was nineteen years old, Madame Catez agreed to her daughter's entry into Carmel, but required her to wait until her twenty-first birthday. In the years before she entered the cloister, Elizabeth studied St. Teresa of Jesus' Way of Perfection. She also read the first edition of Therese of Lisieux's Story of a Soul, and quickly became an enthusiastic follower of the -Little Way." The soon-to-be Carmelite was also greatly enamored of "Little Therese's ‘Act of Offering to Merciful Love.’" Furthermore, in February of 1900, the young aspirant to the Carmel of Dijon was introduced to a Dominican friar, a friend of the nuns. Elizabeth asked for help in understanding her interior experience - her need for silence and recollection, and her sense - of an inexplicable presence in the depth of her soul. This Dominican proceeded to deepen her awareness of the truth of the indwelling of the Trinity in the soul of the baptized: that not just Christ, but that "all three of the Trinity" - Father, Son, and Spirit - were present in love in her soul. This graced meeting greatly reassured Elizabeth and aided her in her spiritual progress.
As she was waiting to enter her beloved Carmel, Elizabeth lived the life of a typical young, active Catholic laywoman of her time. She sang in two choirs in her parish, she helped prepare children for their First Communions, and she animated a type of summer "day care" for the children of those who worked in the local tobacco factory. The personality of this sensitive and energetic young woman had blossomed from her earlier years. Her simple, vivacious and spontaneous nature, coupled with her great, if hard won, self-possession, won for her friends of all ages. Many of those who knew her later testified that she exercised a notable influence on others, especially on those younger than herself, being skilled at animating recreations and other youthful activities. It should be noted that Elizabeth was also a very gifted musician. From the age of seven, she studied music at the Conservatory of Dijon, winning several prizes for her skill at the piano. She is said to have played with great passion, playing in order to please God himself. "No one can interpret the great masters like Elizabeth," noted one of her many admirers.
In the midst of her active social life. Elizabeth sought to liveas "a Carmelite on the inside" while she awaited the day of her entrance into the cloister, She sought to live in constant communion with the loving God whom she knew was always present within her. When she was twenty years old, Elizabeth addressed the following words to Jesus: "May my life be a continual prayer, one long act of love. May nothing be able to distract me from you [...]. I would like so much, O my Master, to live with you in silence. But what I love above all is to do your will, and since you still want me to be in the world. I submit with all my heart for love of you. I offer to you the cell of my heart; may it be your little Bethany, come to rest there, I love you so."
Finally, in 1901, Elizabeth entered her beloved Carmel, receiving the name "Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity." Her awareness and experience of the Triune God dwelling within her continued to grow. Through her communion with Christ in the Eucharist and in the Scriptures, the young Carmelite's spiritual life deepened even more. She drew nourishment from the teachings of the great saints of Carmel - St. Teresa of Jesus and St, John of the Cross, as well as from her contemporary, Therese of Lisieux. Above all, though, Elizabeth names as "the father of her soul" St. Paul, who preached to her "nothing but this mystery of the charity of Christ."
In St. Paul, Elizabeth found teaching that both echoed her own experience of the love of God and helped her to interpret this experience. Paul spoke to her of the "exceeding love" of Christ, who "loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20) According to Elizabeth, this last Pauline expression summed up everything about the love of Christ, a love that was true and strong.
As a child, Elizabeth had found the strength to conquer her fiery temper only after having received the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist for the first time. As a Carmelite, she would read in St. Paul that it was Christ who made peace through the blood of his Cross (Col 1:20), making "peace in my little heaven," so that it may truly be the repose of the Three." Elizabeth had experienced for herself the way in which the blood of the Eucharistic Christ had brought peace to her tempestuous soul, and later found the words in St. Paul to affirm her experience. Also, as seen above, Elizabeth found in the words of St. Paul the scriptural foundation for the doctrine of the indwelling of God in the soul of the Christian.
Likewise, Elizabeth found in St. Paul the words to confirm her experience that it is through Jesus that "we have access to the Father" (cf Eph 2:18). As Elizabeth writes in a poem that she composed for Christmas of 1901:
He comes to reveal the mystery,
To give all of the Father's secrets
To lead from glory to glory Even unto the bosom of the Trinity.
Elizabeth, then, experienced Christ as the one who comes to reveal to us the Father's love and to lead us to share in the divine life of Trinitarian love.
Finally, the young Carmelite found many passages in St Paul that helped her discover the great dignity of this vocation of the Christian to share in the life of the Trinity through union with Christ. She was especially drawn to the eighth chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans, in which the great saint writes: "For those he foreknow he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified" (Rom 8:29-30). Likewise, she drew great riches from the first chapter of the letter to the Ephesians, in which Paul writes: "He chose us in (Christ), before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ. In accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in his beloved." (Eph 1:4-6)
Further on in this passage from Ephesians, Elizabeth discovered a type of "personal vocation" to live as a "Praise of Glory" of the Father, just as Jesus himself was the definitive Praise of the Father's Glory. This call to praise the glory of God also Included the call to share in the redemptive sufferings of Christ, to be able to say like St Paul, "In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church." (Col 1:24).
Elizabeth realized that all people are created in order to be united to Jesus, to be made like him, even in his sufferings, in order to share in the relationship of love that the risen Jesus shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit. She explains this great plan of God in one of her meditations:
God bends lovingly over this soul, His adopted daughter, who is so conformed to the image of His Son, the 'first born among all creatures,' and recognizes her as one of those whom He has 'predestined, called, justified.' And His fatherly heart thrills as He thinks of consummating His work, that is, of 'glorifying' her by bringing her into His kingdom, there to sing for ages unending 'the praise of His glory’.
All of this great work is an action of the God of Love. God creates us in order to lead us to communion with Himself, the God who is Love itself.
In response to this loving plan of God, Elizabeth desired to live fully her Christian and Carmelite vocation. On November 21, 1904, the feast of the Presentation of Mary, Elizabeth composed her famous prayer to the Trinity. This prayer is like an offering of herself to the God who is Love. It marks out the program of life which Elizabeth desired to follow. In it we see her desire to be united to Christ, conformed to him, in order to please the Father and to enter profoundly into the dynamic and infinite love of the Trinity. Elizabeth begs the Holy Spirit to "create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery." She entreats the Father: "Bend lovingly over Your poor little creature; 'cover her with Your shadow.' seeing in her only the 'Beloved in whom You are well pleased." She concludes by surrendering herself to the Trinity, begging God: "Bury yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness."
It was only two years after composing this prayer that Elizabeth of the Trinity finally did depart this life in order to contemplate the abyss of God's great love for all eternity. The young Carmelite died after many months of suffering from Addison's Disease, a malady of the kidneys which at that time was incurable. As a result of this illness, Elizabeth suffered great fatigue, an inability to digest food, intense abdominal pains and great thirst. She wrote that she felt as though tiny beasts were devouring her insides, and said that one of the first things she would do in heaven was to have a drink of water. Her community noted the great patience, courage, and joy with which Elizabeth suffered.
The young Carmelite viewed her suffering as a way of being conformed to Jesus, as a way of sharing in the redemptive suffering of her divine Bridegroom for the good of the Church. As such, Elizabeth even came to view this suffering as a gift. She explains to her mother in a letter written from her sickbed:
'I rejoice,' said St. Paul, 'to make up in my flesh what is lacking in the passion of Jesus Christ for the sake of His body the Church.' Oh, how your mothers heart should leap for divine joy in thinking that the Master has deigned to choose your daughter, the fruit of your womb, to associate her with His great work of redemption, and that He suffers in her, as it were, an extension of His passion. The bride belongs to the Bridegroom, and mine has taken me. He wants me to be another humanity for Him in which He can still suffer for the glory of His Father, to help the needs of His Church: this thought has done me so much good."
Elizabeth's last audible words before her death were, "I am going to Light, to Love, to Life." She died on November 9, 1906, at the age of 26, after having lived in Carmel for only five years. When asked if she would spend her heaven doing good on earth like "Little Therese," Elizabeth responded that she would not, but that she would shoot "like a rocket" deeper and deeper into the abyss of the Trinity. Nevertheless, she did intuit that she would exercise a particular mission within the Church from her place in heaven. From her sick bed, Elizabeth wrote to a fellow Carmelite "I think, that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them go out of themselves to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within that will allow God to communicate Himself to them and transform them into Himself".
On November 25, 1984, Pope John Paul II beatified Elizabeth of the Trinity. In his homily at the beatification, the Pope presented Elizabeth of the Trinity to the Church as one "who led a life 'hidden with Christ in God' (Col 3:3)," and as "a brilliant witness to the joy of being 'rooted and grounded in love' (Eph 3:17)." We can turn to Elizabeth of the Trinity today as a witness to the impact that the presence of the loving God within the soul can have in a human life. She proclaims to us with St. Paul the great dignity of the Christian Vocation: the call to be conformed to Christ - crucified, risen, and present in the Eucharist - to become "temples of the Spirit," all to the praise of the Father's glory. She reminds us that the Trinity is "our home," that God has created us in order to be united to Christ, to live as his adopted sons and daughters, dwelling in his love and remaining there always in this life and in the next.
Elizabeth of the Trinity was canonized on October 16 2016.
461
聖人不僅是位著作豐富的聖師，更是一位維護教會統一、抵擋蠻人入侵的偉大教宗； 在教會歷史中，僅有二位教宗被冠以「大」的名號，聖人是其中之一（另一位是教宗額我略一世—St. Gregory the Great）。 聖人生於義大利的Tuscany，生年不詳。他曾受託於羅馬皇帝Valentinian III與高盧人交涉，當時他僅是位執事。 主後453年，匈奴（Huns）入侵義大利，聖人出面與亞提拉（Attila）交涉，在羅馬的城門外， 成功地勸退了蠻族的入侵，當時他已是教宗的身份（440-461）； 三年後，汪達爾人（Vandal）入侵了羅馬城，在聖人斡旋的努力下，羅馬城與人民才倖免於徹底的毀滅。 聖人的這些偉大事蹟，歷史皆有留下明確的紀錄； 或許當時教宗首席權的理論（Papal supremacy）也正是因著聖人的偉大功績而獲得了更多的支持。
在聖人的時代，教會內關於基督「二性一位（Two Natures in One Person）」 的信理仍是莫衷一是，對於耶穌基督同時具有天主性與人性的真理，當代學者們的意見普遍不一。 主後449年，聖人在寫給君士坦丁堡的Flavian主教的信函中確認：基督的天主性與人性同時存在一個位格內。 隨後，這封信函在451年所舉行的加采東大公會議（Council of Chalcedon, 451）上被隆重地宣讀，且由大會判定為當信無誤的信理。 聖人死於主後461年，留下了許多具有歷史價值的的書信與著作。
以下文字節錄自聖良教宗講道集：
「天主的普世教會是由不同的階層所組成，然而，這身體雖有許多部分，但卻是個神聖的整體，就如同宗徒保祿所說的： 『我們大家都在基督內合而為一』。
在洗禮中，十字架的標記使所有在基督內重生的人成為君王；他們全因聖神的傅油而成為司祭。 因此，除了我們這些肩負特殊職務的司祭之外，所有領受精神與超性恩寵的基督徒，也都應知道自己有份於王家的種族與司祭的職務。 一個靈魂由於服從天主而做肉體的主人，還有什麼比這更像似君王的？ 一個人將純潔的良心奉獻與主，並在自己心靈的祭台上，呈上虔誠無玷的犧牲，還有什麼比這更屬司祭的職務呢？」
聖人在公元316年左右，出生於班諾尼（今匈牙利），父母皆屬外教。 父為軍官；15歲時，聖人被父親強迫加入軍隊，在法國亞米央城駐屯時，開始慕道。 337年，他遇到一位凍得要死的乞丐，便把自己的斗逢，割下一半，送給這乞丐。當天夜裡，他夢見耶穌穿著他割下的斗逢，顯現給他。
聖人曾因不肯收取軍隊擄獲的戰利品，而被軍法處理，後來幸因戰事結束，而不了了之。聖人22歲領洗後，脫離軍隊。
聖人在聖依拉略的指導下，度隱修生活，曾在里古日建立隱修院；這是高盧地區首座隱修院。晉鐸後，371年被選為都爾主教。 聖人確是善牧的模範；他建立隱修院，訓誨神職，向窮人宣講福音，使國人得聞喜訊。397年安逝。
聖人在聖本篤之前，是歐洲隱修者的先驅。
聖人名句：
主！假如你的子民仍需要我的話，我願繼續為他們服務。我願承行你的旨意
Lord, if your people still need me, I am ready for the task; your will be done.
聖人約在1580年出生於烏克蘭，父母皆屬東正教會；聖人與天主教會共融後，入聖巴西略隱修會，且曾任院長。 晉鐸後，被選為波羅克城主教，力謀教會之合一。1623年遭暴徒所害，而捨身殉道。
聖心傳教女修會創辦人
聖女方濟加的父親加比尼，務農為業，在意大利洛弟諾經營一個農場，共有子女十三人，方濟加最小。
方濟加生於一八五Ｏ年七月十五日。年幼時，由大姐羅撒負責管教。羅撒是個女教員，性情嚴肅，方濟加的學業成績非常好。
加比尼全家都是虔誠的天主教徒，書架上的《傳信部大事錄》一書，敘述傳教士在遠方各地艱苦地傳揚福音的英勇事跡。 方濟加耳濡目染，對傳教生活，感到很大的興趣，她渴望能到中國來傳教。
方濟加的遊戲，都以傳教為中心對象。 她的洋娃娃都穿了修女的衣服，她折了紙船，放在水中飄浮，她把這些船看作是裝運傳教士到遠方去的船。 兒童都喜歡吃糖，方濟加也不例外，可是她戒掉了吃糖果的習慣，因為「將來到遠方傳教，沒有糖果吃，所以還是趁早戒掉的好。」
但是方濟加的父母希望女兒在教育界工作，就送她進了亞呂諾修女學校讀書。 十八歲那一年，方濟加畢業，就在那時候，家庭遭遇重大的不幸：方濟加的父母相繼去世。
以後兩年，她和大姐羅撒同住，在山拉弟神父主辦的學校讀書。 她向舊日讀書的亞呂諾女修院申請入會，因健康關係，她的請求被駁回；方濟加又向另一所女修院申請，也以同樣理由被駁回。
一八七四年，山拉弟神父調任古督日教堂主任。堂區內有一所孤兒院，孤兒院的工作人員共有三名：安多尼亞小姐和另外兩個女子。 山拉弟神父請方濟加來幫助，同時利用這孤兒院為中心，創辦了一所女修院。
安多尼亞性情古怪，給予方濟加很多的麻煩，可是方濟加是一位意志堅強的女子，沉著應付， 一八七七年，方濟加發了修道的初願，同時發願的有七人。主教任命方濟加為院長。
安多尼亞繼續和方濟加搗亂，方濟加和七位修女苦心孤詣，維持了三年後，孤兒院就無法繼續了，主教下令結束這項工作。 他召來方濟加，對她說：「你不是有志到遠方去嗎？現在可以開始了，你自己創設一個傳教女修會吧。」
方濟加立刻著手進行準備，她在古督日找到一間破舊的房屋，就和她的七位修女搬去同住。 院舍佈置就緒，方濟加起草了一份會規，這個新穎的女修會以灌溉基督化的教育給女童為目的， 會名位「聖心傳教女修會」，會規於同年獲得主教批准。兩年內，增設了兩所分院：一所在古美洛，一所在米蘭。
我們現在寫方濟加的傳記，說來容易： 「兩年內，增設了兩所分院……」實際上，聖心傳教女修會的創建，絕不是這樣容易一舉成功的，中間經過了不少的波折、阻撓和打擊。 傳教事實勝於雄辯，聖心傳教女修會一成立，成績就非常好，有目共睹，反對的人不能不承認過去觀察的錯誤。 這樣良好的成績，一方面固然是修會的目標正確，迎合教會和時代的需要；另一方面，不能不歸功於方濟加的領導有力。
一八八七年，方濟加親赴羅馬，向教廷申請批准聖心女修會。同時她計劃在羅馬創建分院。 這個計劃一宣佈，別人便都勸阻她，認為聖心女修會成立到現在，只有七年，歷史太短，申請教廷批准，似乎時機尚未成熟。 方濟加力排眾議，拜訪了巴洛基樞機。第一次會談中，樞機的意見和一般人相同，認為要請求批准會規似乎有點過早。 可是第二次會談時，樞機表示絕對支持方濟加的計劃。方濟加原來的目的，是預備在羅馬創辦一所分院。 樞機卻讓她創辦兩所分院，一所義務學校，一所貧童收容所。數日內教廷頒詔，對聖心女修會的會規作「初次批准」。
方濟加原來的傳教目的是我們中國，現在她的工作，卻正在向西半球發展。 華亞森石主教在美洲創建了聖查理修會，為旅美的意大利僑胞服務，他請求聖心會修女到美洲來協助傳教事業。 方濟加對這個請求，本沒有加以考慮，不久紐約總主教古利根正式邀請她去美國，除了山拉弟神父以外， 人人都鼓勵她接受紐約總主教的邀請，她一時打不定主意，因為這件事涉及整個修會將來的發展方向，她決定晉謁教宗良十三世，請教宗做主。 教宗的答語很簡單：「不要到東方去了，到西方去。」 方濟加不再猶豫，帶了六位修女，搭船橫渡大西洋，一八八九年三月三十一日在紐約上岸。
近一百年來，歐洲大量移民到美國。移民中有許多意大利人、波蘭人、克羅地亞人、斯洛文尼亞人。 方濟加到美國的時候，僅紐約一地，意籍僑民就達五萬人，其中大部分都沒有學習過要理。 五萬人中，只有一千二百人到聖堂參與彌撒。 在賓夕法尼亞州，情形也大致相仿，古利根總主教和良十三世教宗，對這種宗教危機非常擔憂不安。
聖心會修女到了美國，遭到了一連串的困難。她們計劃在紐約開設一所孤兒院，教育意籍兒童，接著辦一所初級學校。 可是到了紐約，她們連宿舍也沒有，寄宿在一間污穢、有蟲鼠的破屋。 方濟加和古利根總主教會談後，才知道原來答應捐款建院的西斯諾伯爵夫人臨時改變主意， 孤兒院的計劃因此成了泡影，初級學校只有教室，沒有修女宿舍和設備。 總主教對於這種意外的不利環境，非常抱歉，他最後一句話是：「我已經盡了我的可能，現在沒有辦法，只好請你們回去。」 方濟加堅決而明白地答道：「不，主教大人。教宗命我到這裏來，我必須留在這裏。」 總主教想不到這位意大利女子有這樣大的勇氣，就慨然表示： 「你既有這樣的 決心，我一定盡力幫助你。」修女們暫時寄宿在仁愛會女修院。
方濟加有的是堅強的意志。苦幹的精神。 幾個星期內，她和原來的捐款人--西斯諾伯爵夫人，就建立了友誼關係。 不但修女宿舍問題解決了，而且一個規模不大的孤兒院也正式開辦了。
一八八九年七月，方濟加重返義大利徵募新的修女，參加偉大的傳教事業。
九個月後，方濟加帶了大批生力軍，回到美國，接辦了過去由耶穌會主持的赫遜河西園的傳教機構。
孤兒院原有屋舍不夠，就搬到西園。聖心女修會在美國的總院和初學院也設在西園。
聖心女修會在意大利和美國的傳教事業，齊頭並進的發展著。方濟加親自到了尼拉加加，在那裏接辦了一所孤兒院，開設了一所學校。 她應尚遜總主教的邀請，去新奧爾良考察。當地意大利僑民對宗教生活很冷淡，方濟加考察後，決定在新奧爾良創設一所分院。
方濟加是一位能幹的女子，這一點只要看了她的事業，就可以知道了。 她沒有學習外國語言的天才，說起英文來，口音強硬，可是她和社會各階層的人都能合作。 她對於非教徒的美國人，最初不大了解，因為過去在祖國沒有機會和這一類人接觸。但是她勇於學習，善於吸收新的觀念、新的知識。
方濟加是一個天生的領袖，人們有時過於嚴肅，但是，她富有博愛的精神，不斷敦勸修女們發揮仁愛的精神： 「踴躍地在一切事上，隨時為你的姊妹而犧牲自己。」
一八九二年是新大陸發現四百周年，就在這一年，聖心會最著名的事業--紐約市哥倫布醫院正式成立。 這醫院過去由聖查理會經辦，規模很小，自一八九二年起，由聖心女修會接辦後得到擴充。
方濟加辦事的毅力，實在令人欽佩。 她在意大利觀察完，回到美國，席不暇暖，就又踏上旅程，經過哥斯達黎加、巴拿馬和智利，橫越巴西，最後到達阿根廷的波愛諾賽。 一八九五年的中南美洲旅行，決不是現在遊覽旅行所能比擬。那時交通工具缺乏，路上非常辛苦。 但是，為了開拓福音的王國，方濟加覺得這代價是值得付出的。
方濟加在波愛諾賽開辦了高級女子學校一所，然後，她又橫渡大西洋，返回意大利處理會務。
方濟加由意大利回到法國創建了分院，一八九八年秋季，她到了英國。沙華主教波恩過去在古督日已經認識方濟加，便請她在英國創設分院。
這樣，一連十二年，方濟加風塵僕僕，來往各地，有時在里約熱內盧，有時在羅馬，有時在西登赫，有時在西愛特。 假如在現代聖人中，物色像聖基多福那樣的旅行主保，恐怕要算對方濟加的呼聲最高了。
一八八八年，聖心女修會成立時，修女人數（ 包括方濟加在內），僅有八人。 到了一九Ｏ七年，會規正式批准的時候，修女人數躍升至一千有餘，分院達五十所以上。 修會主辦的事業：有義校，有高級學校，有醫院，還有其它慈善事業。 服務的對象，不僅以旅美意國僑民為限，社會廣大群眾，不分階層，都是修會服務的對象。 修會五十周年金慶，連美國星星監獄的囚犯都寫信道賀，聖心會創辦的事業不勝枚舉。最著名的有芝加哥哥倫布醫院和波谷黎學校。
一九一一年起，方濟加的身體一天比一天衰弱，那時她年達六十一歲。六年後，病勢突然惡化，一九一七年十二月二十二日在芝加哥修院安逝。 一九四六年榮列聖品。
在美國出生或在美國工作的聖人聖女，過去有，將來也有。但是由教會正式宣佈列聖品的，方濟加是第一人。 她的光榮，屬於意大利，也屬於美國；屬於教會，更屬於全人類。 遠在方濟加列聖品的前五十年，教宗良十三世就已經說過： 「方濟加修女是一位聖德高超的女子，她是一位聖女。」良十三世的話，在五十年後獲得證實。
“We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.” - Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
One of thirteen children raised on a farm. She received a convent education, and training as a teacher. She tried to join the order at age 18, but poor health prevented her taking the veil. A priest asked her to teach at a girl’s school, the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadagono, Italy, which she did for six years. She took religious vows in 1877, and acquitted herself so well at her work that when the orphanage closed in 1880, her bishop asked her to found the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. Pope Leo XIII then sent her to the United States to carry on this mission.
She and six Sisters arrived in New York in 1889. They worked among immigrants, especially Italians. Mother Cabrini founded 67 institutions, including schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the United States, Europe and South America. Like many of the people she worked with, Mother became a United States citizen during her life, and after her death she was the first US citizen to be canonized.
主教、聖師(1206-1280)
主保：哲學家與科學家
聖師大亞爾伯是13世紀的一位德國道明會士，同時還是教會中最偉大的學者之一。 他對教會最大的貢獻是：在哲學方面，他藉由撰寫亞里斯多德作品的注釋，決定性地影響了教會對亞里斯多德學派的看法 （在此之前，教會所沿用的是柏拉圖學派的哲學系統）。 不過，聖人有機會接觸到亞里斯多德等希臘智慧的作品，仍應歸功於伊斯蘭的商人將它們帶到了歐洲。
由於士林哲學的頂峰代表 － 聖多瑪斯（St. Thomas Aquinas）的影響，學習哲學者大多只知大亞爾伯是聖多瑪斯的老師； 雖然，在學術界中，甚至是在教會的神學領域裡，亞里斯多德哲學的發展，是由學生多瑪斯推向頂峰的； 因此，聖人作為此一領域的啟蒙者，卻也不失其先鋒的地位；確實配得這些學術上的榮耀與尊榮。
1206年左右，聖人誕生在德國多瑙河流域的勞因根（Lauingen），父親是一個既富有而又有權勢的德國貴族， 大亞爾伯則是家中年紀最長的孩子；其父雖是一位驍勇善戰的軍人，但聖人卻寧可選擇接受文學方面的培育。 年輕時，他就學於Padua大學；畢業後，則於 Hildesheim、 Freiburg-im-Breisgau、Regensburg 以及Strasbourg大學任教。 由於他的聲譽卓著，最後還被巴黎大學所延攬，除了在該校任教之外，並於1245年時，在該校獲得博士學位。 為當時的學術界而言，大亞爾伯可說是第一批最偉大的自然科學家之一； 他在生物學、化學、物理學、天文學、地理學、形上學和數學等領域上，向來享有極高的聲譽。 同時，他在教會內，又是神學與聖經學方面的權威學者。成年後，在家人激烈的反對下，進入了道明會的初學。 後來，多年在各地宣講，成績輝煌。
他對知識有著無窮盡的興趣，因此，他畢其精力撰寫了一部關於所有知識的概要，內容包羅萬象，包括： 自然科學、邏輯學、修辭學、數學、天文學、倫理學、經濟學、政治學與形上學等； 對這些學科與知識的論述，共計花了他二十年的時間才予完成。 他說：「我們如此做的目的，是為了讓拉丁語系的人，都能明瞭在他們以前的所有學問。」 這崇高的理想，在聖人於巴黎與科倫大學的任教中、道明會省會長的任內、以及作為雷根斯堡（Regensburg）主教期間，已經達成了。 同時，他還是托缽修會的保護者（mendicant orders），並且在德國與波希米亞大力為十字軍而宣講。 最後，1280年的11月15日，聖人逝世於德國的柯隆；1622年被列為「真福品」； 1931年由教宗碧岳十一世（Pope Pius XI）宣布為聖品。
「你們應行此禮，為紀念我。」在這句話裡，要注意二件事。 第一，吾主命令我們使用這件聖事，這是當祂說「你們應當行此禮」時所表示的。 第二，這件聖事應該成為祂的紀念，紀念祂為我們而赴死。 這件聖事有利於我們獲得罪赦，最有利於我們生命擁有滿溢的恩寵…； 也就是說，當基督在這件聖事中為我們而自獻與聖父時，也把祂自己作為食物而賜給了我們…。此外，我們無法做比這更甘甜的事。 因為天主在這聖事中賞給我們無窮的美味，還有什麼比這聖事更甘飴的呢？… 也沒有比這命令更有益的。 原來這件聖事便是那棵生命樹的果實；誰以純樸的信心虔誠地吃這果實，便永遠不死。…
也沒有比這命令更可愛的。因為這件聖事能產生愛情與合一。愛情最偉大的標記便是把自己作為食物而給人。 …基督好似這樣說：「我如此愛了他們，我也切望住在他們的肺腑內；而他們也盼望與我結合，好能成為我的肢體。 他們不能以比這更密切又更合乎本性的方式與我結合了，而我也是如此。」最後，沒有比這命令更符合永生的了。 永生也來自這件聖事，因為天主把甘飴無比的幸福，傾注於享受永福的人身上。
－節錄自《每日誦禱》11月15日誦讀。
聖婦約在一○四六年出生於匈牙利，當時其父充軍該地。及長，嫁給蘇格蘭王，生了八子。 聖婦是母親及王后的最佳模範。一○九三年安逝於愛丁堡。
聖女日多達是本篤會的修女，生於公元一二五六年。五歲的時候，入德意志漢夫德女修院，她的老師是聖女梅帝弟。
日多達天資聰敏，好學不倦，精通拉丁文學。長大成人，正式領受會衣，矢發聖願。
廿五歲的時候，日多達首次見基督的顯現。耶穌對她說：「你不要怕，我一定要拯救你。」
事後日多達自述道：「耶穌說完了這幾句話，拉著我的手，說道： 「過去你吮吸荊棘上的蜜糖，和敵人親善。現在你回到我跟前來，我要賞賜你甘美如醇酒的喜樂。」 我的身體似乎提升空中，與吾主並肩而立，定睛注視，才見吾主手上的聖傷，灼灼發光，恍如珍寶一般。」
以上所述，是日多達靈奇「歸化」的經過。過去日多達嗜愛世俗文學，對宗教生活，不大感興趣。從那一天起，她的思想完全轉變。 她全心全意謀取與吾主密切結合。 在學術工作方面，她拋棄世俗文學，潛心研究聖經和教父的著作，尤其是聖奧斯定、聖額我略和聖伯爾納多的著作。 日多達由文學家一變而為神學家，這是她神修生活的轉折點。
表面上，日多達的生活與一般修女毫無差別。她每日抄寫聖經，並寫了幾本研究聖經的小冊子。
關於死亡的問題，日多達的見解頗有獨到之處。 她寫道：「我渴望臨終前有領全聖事的充分時間，可是我認為最可靠的準備善終的方法，是服從天主的聖意，服從天主的安排。 我堅決相信：無論我們死亡方式是怎樣的，是驟然死亡也好，是可以預見的死亡也好，天主對我們是仁慈的，我完全依靠天主。」
首次顯現以後，日多達每天在領聖體的時候享見吾主。到了那一年聖母領報瞻禮上，耶穌恩賜聖女更清楚地認識祂。 日多達自述道：「從那一天起，我受著‘愛主’的熱情所驅使，改過遷善，而不再為了‘畏懼’天主義怒的緣故，才糾正自己的錯誤。」
日多達將歷次神視的經過情形，筆錄成書，書名是《天主聖愛的報導》。 她在這本書中自述，看見苦像肋部聖傷，有一股異光射出，恍如利矢。 她看見自己的靈魂如一塊蠟在火上熔化，陳列在耶穌聖胸前，準備接受印記，又看見自己被吸入耶穌的聖心。
聖女日多達復提倡勤領聖體、大聖若瑟的敬禮和耶穌聖心的瞻禮。這些運動到後來方才普遍傳揚。由此可知聖女的先知先覺，見解高人一籌。
聖女日多達和她的老師梅帝弟二人常以耶穌聖心的愛為題材。吾主顯現的時候，日多達有二次將她的頭枕在耶穌聖胸上。 日多達所著的《天主聖愛的報導》一書，神學意義深邃，文字秀美，為靈修生活不可多得的佳作， 若干人推崇日多達這本書的價值僅次於聖德肋撒的作品。
聖女日多達於一三Ｏ一年逝世，享年僅四十五歲。
永生的天主聖父，我呈獻給祢至聖聖子耶穌基督的寶血，並結合今天全世界所奉獻的彌撒聖祭，為了煉獄內全部的煉靈， 為世上所有的罪人，也為普世教會內的罪人，那些在我家族內，以及在我家中的罪人。亞孟。
November 16 St. Gertrude the Great
"The eloquence of that sweet beating of His Heart is reserved for the last age in order that the world grown cold and torpid may be set on fire with the love of God."
(1256-1302 A.D.) Few men have merited the title, "the Great"; fewer women. I know of only one nun so honored, St. Gertrude of Helfta (in Germany), a mystic whose spiritual writings have remained influential up to the present.
When five years old, she was entrusted to the sisters of Helfta Abbey to be educated. From a very young age she gave evidence of her brilliance and quickly outstripped her companions. In her teen years she asked to join the community. Therefore, she probably spent her whole life from childhood on within the abbey walls.
Her love for secular studies made the common life wearisome, pride and vanity ate away at her soul and she soon became an unhappy young woman until Christ appeared to her. The day was branded in her memory, it was in her 26th year, when as she says "in a happy hour, at the beginning of twilight, thou O God of truth, more radiant than any light, yet deeper than any secret thing, determined to dissolve the obscurity of my darkness." From then on her biographer tells us "she became a theologian instead of a grammarian." She did not give up her intellectual ardor but now, all her labors were for her sisters, to cure what she termed "the wound of ignorance". Her many gifts and mystical graces did not prevent her from giving herself wholeheartedly to the common life with its joys and sorrows. In fact many of her special graces came to her as she took part in the ordinary routine of convent life. She felt keenly for those whose burdens involved them in distracting duties, for example those responsible for meeting the debts of the monastery.
She prayed that they might have more time to pray and fewer distractions. The Lord's answered "It does not matter to me whether you perform spiritual exercises or manual labor, provided only that your will is directed to me with a right intention. If I took pleasure only in your spiritual exercises, I should certainly have reformed human nature after Adam's fall so that it would not need food, clothing or the other things that man must find or make with such effort."
Many of her writings are lost, but fortunately she left to the world an abundance of spiritual joy in her book The Herald of Divine Love, in which she tells of the visions granted her by our divine Lord. She wrote this excellent, small book because she was told that nothing was given to her for her own sake only. Her Exercises is an excellent treatise on the renewal of baptismal vows, spiritual conversion, religious vows, love, praise, gratitude to God, reparation, and preparation for death.
She began to record her supernatural and mystical experiences in what eventually became her Book of Extraordinary Grace (Revelation of Saint Gertrude), together with Mechtilde's mystical experiences Liber Specialis Gratiae, which Gertrude recorded. Most of the book was actually written by others based on Gertrude's notes. She also wrote with or for Saint Mechtilde a series of prayers that became very popular, and through her writings helped spread devotion to the Sacred Heart (though it was not so called until revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque).
Gertrude is inseparably associated with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The pierced heart of Jesus embodied for her the Divine Love, an inexhaustible fountain of redemptive life. Her visions and insights in connection with the Heart of Jesus are very enlightening. In one such intellectual vision, she perceived the unceasing love of Christ for us in two pulsations of his Heart - one accomplished the conversion of sinners, the other the sanctification of the just. Just as our own faithful heart keeps right on whether we advert to it or not, these pulsations will endure till the end of time despite the vicissitudes of history.
Our Lord wishes people to pray for the souls in purgatory. He once showed Gertrude a table of gold on which were many costly pearls. The pearls were prayers for the holy souls. At the same time the saint had a vision of souls freed from suffering and ascending in the form of bright sparks to heaven.
In one Vision, Our Lord tells Gertrude that he longs for someone to ask Him to release souls from purgatory, just as a king who imprisons a friend for justice's sake hopes that someone will beg for mercy for his friend. Jesus ends with: "I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer."
In another vision she was given the Prayer which Our Lord told her would release 1000 Souls from Purgatory every time it is said with love and devotion. "Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, those in the Universal Church, in my home, and in my family."
To her was granted the privilege of seeing our Lord's Sacred Heart. The graces flowing from it appeared like a stream of purest water flowing over the whole world. In many of the visions of the Sacred Heart, we find St John the Beloved Disciple present. He who leaned back against Jesus' chest at the Last Supper. On his own feast day, St John appeared and placed Gertrude near the wounded side of the Savior, where she could hear the pulsations of the Sacred Heart. "Why is it, O beloved of God", she asked him, "that you who rested on His bosom at the Last Supper have said nothing of what you experienced then? St John told her "It was my task to present to the first age of the Church the doctrine of the Word made flesh which no human intellect can ever fully comprehend. The eloquence of that sweet beating of His Heart is reserved for the last age in order that the world grown cold and torpid may be set on fire with the love of God."
These visions continued until the end of her life. Jesus said to her at the last: "Come, my chosen one, and I will place in you My throne."
Saint Gertrude was "the Great" because of her single-hearted love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the souls in purgatory. Though she was never formally canonized, Pope Clement XII in 1677 directed that her feast be observed throughout the Church. It is interesting to note that Saint Teresa of Avila had a great devotion to Gertrude.
聖瑪加利大丟薇爾（Marguerite d'Youville）1701年10月15日出生於滿地可附近的Varennes, 1771年12月23日去世。她是慈善組織Sisters of Charity的創始人，也是第一個學習衛生學的魁北克婦女。 她的兄弟la Verendrye是第一個發現Rocheuses山脈的法裔人士。
她的父母Christophe Dufrost de Lajemmerais 和 Marie-Renee Gaultier一共育有六個子女，她是最小的一個。 在她7歲那年，父親就去世了，她們家也陷入極度貧困中。在她爺爺的幫助下，瑪加利大丟薇爾勉強念了兩年學。
1722年她嫁給Francois-Madeleine de Youville，8年不幸的婚姻生活產下六個孩子，但是只有兩個活到成年。
儘管屢遭不幸，瑪加利大丟薇爾一生篤信天主，並熱心慈善。 1737年12月31日瑪加利大丟薇爾和三名志同道合的婦女共同發起成立了後來被稱為 Sisters of Charity會。 她們決定把一生獻給天主和幫助窮人的事業。在她的一生中有許許多多幫助窮人的動人的故事。
1747年，聖瑪加利大丟薇爾參與Charon 1694年創立的魁北克第一座慈善醫院的工作，並隨後在這所醫院的運作中扮演了積極的角色。 在後來的七年戰爭期間，這所醫院曾經救過許多士兵的生命。
教宗若望二十三世於 1959年5月3日宣福。1990年宣聖。她是第一個被封聖的加拿大人。
MARGUERITE d'YOUVILLE, the first native Canadian to be elevated to sainthood, was born October 15, 1701 at Varennes, Quebec. She was the eldest of six children born to Christophe Dufrost de Lajemmerais and Marie-Renée Gaultier. Her father died when she was seven years old leaving this family of six in great poverty. It was only through the influence of her great grandfather, Pierre Boucher, that she was enabled to study for two years at the Ursulines in Quebec. Upon her return home, she became an invaluable support to her mother and undertook the education of her brothers and sisters.
She married François d'Youville in 1722 and the young couple made their home with his mother who made life miserable for her daughter-in-law. She soon came to realize that her husband had no interest in making a home life. His frequent absences and illegal liquor trading with the Indians caused her great suffering. She was pregnant with her sixth child when François became seriously ill. She faithfully cared for him until his death in 1730. By age 29, she had experienced desperate poverty and suffered the loss of her father and husband. Four of her six children had died in infancy.
In all these sufferings Marguerite grew in her belief of God's presence in her life and of his tender love for every human person. She undertook many charitable works with complete trust in God, whom she loved as a Father. She provided for the education of her two sons, who later became priests, and she welcomed a blind woman into her home. Marguerite was soon joined by three young women who shared her love and concern for the poor. On December 31, 1737, they consecrated themselves to God and promised to serve him in the person of the poor. Marguerite, without even realizing it, had become the foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, "Grey Nuns".
She persevered in caring for the poor despite many obstacles. She was in weakened health and mourning the death of one of her companions when a fire destroyed their home. This only served to deepen her commitment to the poor. On February 2, 1745, she and her two early companions pledged themselves to put everything in common in order to help a greater number of persons in need. Two years later, this "mother of the poor" as she was called, was asked to become director of the Charon Brothers Hospital in Montreal which was falling into ruin. She and her sisters rebuilt the hospital and cared for those in most desperate human misery. With the help of her sisters and their lay collaborators, Marguerite laid the foundation for service to the poor of a thousand faces.
In 1765 a fire destroyed the hospital but nothing could destroy Marguerite's faith and courage. At the age of 64 she undertook the reconstruction of this shelter for those in need. Totally exhausted from a lifetime of self-giving, Marguerite died on December 23, 1771 and will always be remembered as a loving mother who served Jesus Christ in the poor.
Pope John XXIII beatified Marguerite on May 3, 1959 and called her "Mother of Universal Charity." She was canonized by Pope John Paul II, December 9, 1990.
聖婦生於1207年，父為匈牙利王。十四歲時嫁給海門伯爵路易為妻，生有子女三人。 聖婦善盡賢妻良母之職，同時，慷慨救助窮人，不遺餘力。 1227年，丈夫死後，翁家不滿她慷慨賙濟貧病，迫她離家，但聖婦安心忍受。 1228年，聖婦加入方濟第三會，立志度貧窮生活，專心默想天上事理，又建立 病院，親為病人服務。1231年安逝於馬爾堡城。
聖婦實為公教慈善事業的主保。
十二世紀時，羅馬教會便紀念聖伯多祿及聖保祿兩大聖殿的奉獻，而兩座聖殿是在第四世紀興建的。到近期，教會才將此紀念日推廣到普世。 正如在八月五日，教會紀念聖母大殿的奉獻，以尊敬天主之母；同樣，教會紀念此兩大聖殿的週年奉獻日，是為尊敬兩位大宗徒。
基督普世君王節，宣示基督救恩的完成。基督將要為王於普世。他所帶來天主的國，將要圓滿實現。
梵二後，教會把基督普世君王節，放在禮儀年的最後一個主日，正要強調萬物終要歸於基督元首，始得圓滿。
（1925年12月11日，教宗庇護十一世，鑒於世俗放任主義、國內和國際戰爭四起， 遂以《建立基督君王瞻禮》通諭（Quam Primas）宣布訂定每年十月最後主日， 為「耶穌基督君王節」，希望藉此敬禮，人人尊崇基督為王，停止作亂，世人得享和平幸福。
事實上，耶穌基督為王的概念，已見於主顯節、耶穌升天節，甚至整個聖周，因為耶穌戰勝死亡，顯示復活時，他的王權已體現人間。
（斐2:6-11）
1969年，梵二禮儀年曆，將「基督君王節」，改於禮儀年最後一個主日（常年期第三十四主日）慶祝，
作為禮儀年的終向，以示萬物都要在基督權下，獲得圓滿的救贖。（參閱哥1:12-20）
相傳聖母在三歲時，由她的父母聖若亞敬和聖婦亞納送到聖殿，奉獻於天主。
東方教會於公元第八世紀，已有獻聖母於主堂的瞻禮。西方教會於公元1372年起，也舉行本瞻禮。
教宗庇護五世（1565-1572）改革禮儀時，不把這瞻禮列入禮書， 但教宗格肋孟八世（1592-1605），規定普世教會均應慶祝獻聖母於主堂的瞻禮。
（耶路撒冷第三座敬禮聖母的聖堂，建於聖殿原址入口廣場，於543年11月21日祝聖； 後來，便在這天（11月21日），按偽經所傳，紀念聖母三歲時，被獻於聖殿。）
童貞殉道
教會音樂的主保
求主讓我心，純潔不受損，保全我貞潔，潔白獻主前。
聖女則濟利亞是初期教會最著名的殉道貞女之一。她出身羅馬貴族，自幼信奉聖教，並矢志終身守貞，每星期守齋多次。 到了及笄的年齡，父親給她擇配。未婚夫名叫華肋廉，是羅馬的一位青年貴族。
在結婚的那一天，則濟利亞一心祈求天主護佑她，保持身心的無玷。 晚上新郎和新娘到了洞房裡，則濟利亞鼓起勇氣，對華肋廉說：“我有一件秘密的事要告訴你。天主派一位天使在我身旁，保護我的童貞。” 則濟利亞又道：“假如你一心信仰唯一的真天主，領受聖洗，你就會看見這位天使。”華肋廉表示接受。 則濟利亞囑他到羅馬城外距亞爾比大道三里的貧人窟裡找烏爾巴諾主教領受洗禮。
華肋廉到了城外的貧民窟，按址查訪，找到了烏爾巴諾主教。烏爾巴諾給他付了洗。華肋廉回到家裡，真的看見則濟利亞身旁的那位天使。 天使在二人頭上放了一枝花冠，則濟利亞和華肋廉共度守貞的生活，熱心恭敬天主。
過了一個時期，華肋廉的弟弟諦步爵來訪，見兄嫂容光煥發，室內芬香撲鼻，不由嘖嘖稱奇，問起原因， 則濟利亞據實相告，並勸諦步爵也皈依真教，獲取永生的榮冠。諦步爵也到城外去找烏爾巴諾主教，領了聖洗。
自該時起，華肋廉和諦步爵弟兄二人全力從事公教敬主愛人的工作，在家裡舉行宗教儀式，並殮葬殉道烈士的屍體，後被人告發解往公庭受審。
法官命華肋廉弟兄二人向邪神獻祭，就可以獲釋出獄。華肋廉道：“我們決不向任何邪神獻祭。 我們只欽崇唯一的真天主。”法官下令對他們施鞭刑。二人聽了，欣喜若狂。 華肋廉對法庭旁聽的基督徒高呼道：“羅馬公民們，你們不要看見了我們所受的酷刑而覺得害怕，你們應堅守信德，寧死不背棄真主。”
華肋廉弟兄二人解往刑場，斬首致命。有一個官吏，見他們這樣英勇，非常感動，當場表示皈依真教，同時執行死刑。
則濟利亞殮葬了三個烈士的遺體。官吏派人去勸聖女背教，聖女反而將一些派來的人說服，歸奉聖教。
則濟利亞繼續為聖教服務。信教的人一天比一天增加，她的房屋成為傳教的中心。吳爾班親往她家裡給四百人付洗。 一個貴族在則濟利亞的屋子裡，建了一座聖堂。
法官將則濟利亞拘捕，勸她背教。則濟利亞口才很好，不消三言兩語，將法官說得啞口無言。 人們將聖女關在浴室，燒起烈火，欲使她窒息而死。燃料較一般的數量加上七倍，誰知燒了一日一夜，聖女在浴室還是安然無恙。 一個兵士用利斧將聖女斬首，斬了三次，聖女倒在地上，信友紛紛前來慰問。 聖女遺命將自己的住屋送給教會，三日後方才氣絕，遺體葬在聖加理多公墓，教宗陵墓的旁邊。
則濟利亞遇難的日期，傳記各有出入，但不出公元第二世紀至第四世紀中葉的一段時期。聖女為初期聖教殉道烈士的典型人物。 她的敬禮很早已非常普及。她的名字列入彌撒經的行祭常典內。聖女遇難的處所，建有“聖女則濟利亞大堂”一座。
820年左右，教宗聖巴斯加將則濟利亞的遺體迎往聖女則濟利亞大堂。
1599年，史豐旦樞機修建則濟利亞大堂，啟棺重殮聖女的遺體。 名雕刻師馬德諾在旁，目睹聖女面目如生，身體側睡，恍如安眠的少女，就按照她的模樣製成銅像。 這尊銅像安放在則濟利亞大堂的祭台下面，像上有雕刻師的題語，照錄如下： “此乃童貞聖女則濟利亞之像，我親見其遺容完整不腐，面容如生，特按 狀製成本像。”
自16世紀以來，聖女則濟利亞是我們教會最著名的音樂主保，因為她舉行婚禮的時候，樂師奏樂，聖女暗自詠唱，求主保護她的貞操。歌詞是： 求主讓我 心，純潔不受損，保全我貞潔，潔白獻主前。 1584年，羅馬成立音樂學院選她為主保。卓登（Oryden）在她的節日寫了一首歌，教宗也寫了一首頌歌。
St. Cecilia, Feastday: November 22,
Virgin, Martyr, Patroness of Church Music
The story of S. Cecilia is not without beauty and merit. There was in the city of Rome a virgin named Cecilia, who was given in marriage to a youth named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, and fasted, and invoked the saints and angels and virgins, beseeching them to guard her virginity. And she said to her husband, "I will tell you a secret if you will swear not to reveal it to anyone." And when he swore, she added, "There is an angel who watches me, and wards off from me any who would touch me." He said, "Dearest, if this be true, show me the angel." "That can only be if you will believe in one God, and be baptized."
She sent him to Pope S. Urban (223-230), who baptized him; and when he returned, he saw Cecilia praying in her chamber, and an angel by her with flaming wings, holding two crowns of roses and lilies, which he placed on their heads, and then vanished. Shortly after, Tibertius, the brother of Valerian, entered, and wondered at the fragrance and beauty of the flowers at that season of the year.
When he heard the story of how they had obtained these crowns, he also consented to be baptized. After their baptism the two brothers devoted themselves to burying the martyrs slain daily by the prefect of the city, Turcius Almachius. [There was no prefect of that name.] They were arrested and brought before the prefect, and when they refused to sacrifice to the gods were executed with the sword.
In the meantime, S. Cecilia, by preaching had converted four hundred persons, whom Pope Urban forthwith baptized. Then Cecilia was arrested, and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. She was shut in for a night and a day, and the fires were heaped up, and made to glow and roar their utmost, but Cecilia did not even break out into perspiration through the heat. When Almachius heard this he sent an executioner to cut off her head in the bath. The man struck thrice without being able to sever the head from the trunk. He left her bleeding, and she lived three days. Crowds came to her, and collected her blood with napkins and sponges, whilst she preached to them or prayed. At the end of that period she died, and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons.
Alexander Severus, who was emperor when Urban was Pope, did not persecute the Church, though it is possible some Christians may have suffered in his reign. Herodian says that no person was condemned during the reign of Alexander, except according to the usual course of the law and by judges of the strictest integrity. A few Christians may have suffered, but there can have been no furious persecutions, such as is described in the Acts as waged by the apocryphal prefect, Turcius Almachius.
Urbanus was the prefect of the city, and Ulpian, who had much influence at the beginning of Alexander's reign as principal secretary of the emperor and commander of the Pretorian Guards, is thought to have encouraged persecution. Usuardus makes Cecilia suffer under Commodus. Molanus transfers the martyrdom to the reign of Marcus Aurelius. But it is idle to expect to extract history from romance.
In 1599 Cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati, nephew of Pope Gregory XIV, rebuilt the church of S. Cecilia.
St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music [because of the story that she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married], and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.
From The Lives of the Saints by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, M.A., published in 1914 in Edinburgh.
聖人是伯多祿後的第三位教宗，第一世紀末治理羅馬教會。他給格林多教友寫了一封著名的書信，勸勉他們和平相處，團結一致。
聖人是愛爾蘭籍，生於第六世紀初，精通人文科學和神學。後棄俗度隱修生活，並移居法國，創立了許多隱修院，院規嚴格。 後被迫充軍至意大利，創立包比奧隱修院。六一五年安逝。
蒲羅（Bl. Michael Augustine Pro），1891年生於墨西哥充滿教友精神的家庭， 1911年加入耶穌會，因祖國政治動盪不安，先後在西班牙及比利時讀書，1925年8月30日晉鐸。 雖然健康欠佳，特別是讀神學時，但仍保持愉快及幽默感。 1926年7月回到祖國墨西哥，恰逢迫害教會的法律生效的前幾天，蒲羅神父被迫祕密地開始執行司鐸職務， 遭受虛偽的指控而被捕，短暫囚禁後，未經任何審判，於1927年11月23日在墨西哥城受處決殉道。 蒲羅以其愉快的氣質，在艱難中奮勇獻身於鐸職，以及對耶穌君王的熱忱敬禮，受人追念。
自從十六世紀初，越南人民就開始接受了基督的福音，福音的種籽，因殉道者的見證，而不斷結出果實。
十七、十八及十九世紀時，特別在閔芒作皇帝時代，有許多基督徒為主殉道。殉道者中有主教、司鐸、男女會士、傳道員及平信徒。 他們為了基督信仰，及對主十字架的忠信，忍受了各種刑罰，成為基督的見證。
教宗若望保祿二世於1988年8月19日，從這些殉道者中，選出了117位列入聖者的名單。
聖徐德新主教聖名若望．加俾額爾，十八世紀時生於法國中部。及長，入巴黎外方傳教會。 晉鐸後，於一七七六年到中國四川傳教，前後凡四十年，並曾召開四川天主教會議。一八一五年為主殉道。
教宗良十三世於一九○○年宣布他為真福。二○○○年十月一日宣聖。
閨女、女學生、哲學家、講道員、磨坊工人的主保。
聖女出身亞力山大里亞貴族，才貌雙全、學問淵博，青年時目睹聖母聖嬰顯現而皈依聖教； 當時皇帝迫害聖教，加大利納親自往皇宮痛斥皇帝暴行，皇帝無言自辯，召來外教哲學士五十人與聖女辯道， 聖女舌戰群儒，語驚四座，哲學士們頓口無言，甘拜下風，當場表示信奉聖教，皇帝大怒，將哲學士們烈火焚斃，聖女押入監獄。 後來皇帝出巡，皇后聽說有一位年輕貌美的才女，出於好奇心到監獄觀看，被聖女說服領洗奉教，同時入教者有御林軍二百名， 皇帝回來，將這批兵士一併處死，聖女被判車輪輾死，但車軸折裂，聖女無損，改判斬刑，後人將聖女遺體葬於西乃山。
According to the popular tradition, Catherine was born of a patrician family of Alexandria and from childhood had devoted herself to study. Through her reading she had learned much of Christianity and had been converted by a vision of Our Lady and the Holy Child. When Maxentius[3] began his persecution, Catherine, then a beautiful young girl, went to him and rebuked him boldly for his cruelty. He could not answer her arguments against his pagan gods, and summoned fifty philosophers to confute her. They all confessed themselves won over by her reasoning, and were thereupon burned to death by the enraged Emperor. He then tried to seduce Catherine with an offer of a consort's crown, and when she indignantly refused him, he had her beaten and imprisoned. The Emperor went off to inspect his military forces, and when he got back he discovered that his wife Faustina and a high official, one Porphyrius, had been visiting Catherine and had been converted, along with the soldiers of the guard. They too were put to death, and Catherine was sentenced to be killed on a spiked wheel. When she was fastened to the wheel, her bonds were miraculously loosed and the wheel itself broke, its spikes flying off and killing some of the onlookers. She was then beheaded. The modern Catherine-wheel, from which sparks fly off in all directions, took its name from the saint's wheel of martyrdom. The text of the <Acts> of this illustrious saint states that her body was carried by angels to Mount Sinai, where a church and monastery were afterwards built in her honor. This legend was, however, unknown to the earliest pilgrims to the mountain. In 527 the Emperor Justinian built a fortified monastery for hermits in that region, and two or three centuries later the story of St. Catherine and the angels began to be circulated.
聖若望碧文於公元1599年3月生於比利時，父親是一名鞋匠。他在十三歲時被迫輟學，後半工半讀在修院學校研究聖學。 1616年，碧文進入耶穌會初學院，並勤修聖德，多年勤勞，削弱了他的健康。他於1621年8月13日安逝主懷，時年僅22歲。 聖人於1865年被列真福品，1888年榮列聖品。聖碧文最傑出之處，乃在「小事情」上修煉偉大的聖德。 他曾說過：「假如我青年時不能作聖人，我就永遠沒有作聖人的機會了。」 事實證明，他的確是少年成聖，是年青人的好榜樣，有「輔祭主保」、「青年主保」的美譽。
Miraculous Medal Prayer
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to
thee, and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially
the enemies of the Church and those recommended to thee. Amen.
一個出生於法國黃金海岸的農家女加大利納拉布萊，一向熱心恭敬天主聖母。做一切事，都為恭敬天主聖母。 當她妙齡24歲那年，在法國巴黎進了仁愛會做修女。 1830年7月18日半夜時分，加大利納在夢中被一個發光的孩子叫醒，並帶她到修會小聖堂。 便作虔誠祈禱，這時忽見聖母顯現，對她說，將有一件困 難的事要她去做。
那年11月27日加大利納正在小聖堂祈禱，前面忽然有一道美麗柔和的光射出。 仔細一看，在光芒中見到聖母，她腳踏地球，雙手向下拓開，手上射出燦爛的光線。 週圍有法文的經文：『吁！瑪利亞─無原罪之始胎，我等奔爾台前，望爾為我等祈。』 聖母教加大利納唸這篇經，並說：『我要祝福那些唸這經文的 人。』
不一會，這幅聖母圖案轉了過去。在光芒中，加大利納又見到一個M字，這是聖母的名字MARY的第一個字母。 在M字上有個十字架，下面有兩顆心，一顆是有茨冠的耶穌聖心，另一顆是被一把利劍刺透的聖心。 這時聖母對加大利納說：『照這圖樣去製成聖牌；誰配戴這聖牌，並熱心誦唸聖牌上這篇經文，必得我特別保佑和各種恩寵。』 聖母說完這話，便隱去了。加大利納就把聖母指示的聖牌樣子繪在紙上，去交給院長，並告訴她是聖母的意思，請她照樣去製成聖牌。 但院長沒有立即去做，加大利納只好熱切地祈禱。
過了一個月，聖母再以同樣方式顯現，教加大利納設法去製這樣的聖牌。 加大利納沒有辦法，一面加工祈禱，一面把這情形去告訴她的神師神父。 那位神父調查清楚之後，就去呈報巴黎的總主教，那位神師神父仔細地作深入的調查； 經過很長時間，查出事實真相之後，就一切經過去向巴黎總主教呈報。總主教見事情屬實，就批准照加大利納說出的版樣去製造聖牌。 數年後，第一批這樣的聖母聖牌問世了，當院長把第一個聖母聖牌掛在加大利納胸前時，她的喜樂真不是言語可以形容。
不久，這件有關聖牌的事很快就傳開了，大家很喜歡把這種聖牌配戴在身上，許多人因此得到聖母很多恩寵， 甚至那裏有人掛這種聖牌，那裏就有奇蹟，不少病人掛帶這聖牌，病就痊癒了，許多罪人掛帶了這聖牌， 便立定志向悔改了，由於顯的奇蹟很多，人們就稱這種聖牌為『顯靈聖牌』。但當時沒有人知道是誰設計了這種聖牌。
當加大利納修女完成她的初學之後，被派到巴黎的英格恩之家服務。在長達四十六年的歲月裡，她照顧那裡的老弱高年長者。 她剛去時，以「神貧」之志服務天主，在廚房裡與鍋盤為伍，她也曾在農場看管家禽，這必令她回憶起童年時，返家後在農莊的那段日子。 這麼多年來，加大利納修女過著謙卑和祈禱的生活，她溫柔慈藹地照顧貧窮的人，並且分送顯靈聖牌給任何她見到的人。
聖母顯現給她的事，除了她辦告解的阿爾德神父外，沒有人知道。 但阿爾德神父又不可告知任何人，那麼當神父過世以後，加大利納修女的故事就再沒有人知曉了。
在修會總院的教堂聖壇上，豎著一尊聖母顯靈聖牌的雕像，如聖牌上所見的，聖母的雙手伸了開來。 但加大利納修女曾告訴阿爾德神父，聖母也要求一尊她手握地球的塑像。 可惜不等塑像完成，阿爾德神父就過世了，僅留下素描和草圖。
加大利納修女年事漸高，又患了疼痛難忍的風濕病症，她已不能再繼續照顧貧苦老弱了。 慢慢的，管理門房、接待訪客、修補衣務等成了她日常的工作，當然最重要的就是她永不間斷的祈禱。 此外，她一直念念在心的就是完成聖母塑像一事了。
一天加大利納修女突然哭泣不止，令她的長上為之一驚，但加大利納修女不願說明原因， 只表示要等二天得到聖母的允許之後再告明。 次日加大利納修女將聖母顯現給她，以及顯靈聖牌和聖母塑像的事全部告訴了她的長上， 長上聽後保証根據已繪製的草圖完成聖母塑像，加大利納修女為此欣慰不已。 就在那年底，一八 七六年十二月三十一日，她安詳平靜地離開了人世， 去世前她已知道聖母手握地球的塑像，即將完成立於母院的教堂內。
一九四七年七月二十七日，教宗碧岳十二世宣佈加大利納修女列入聖品。
在巴黎母院的教堂內，聖母手握地球祭壇的下方，安放著聖加大利納的遺體，至今仍然保存得十分完好。
Meraculous Medal and St. Catherine Laboure
SANCTITY THROUGH LOVING SERVICE
The fact that Saint Catherine rested her hands on the lap of the
Blessed Mother did not make her a saint. She personally worked no
miracles, nor did she practice externally heroic charity like
other great saints. She was not materially poor as were the
children of Fatima and Bernadette... She sprang from upper middle
class parents among the meadows and vineyards of Burgundy, France.
Her father was an educated man and an excellent farmer living in
the village of Fain-les-Moutiers not far from DiJon. Her sanctity
consists in half a century of faithful service as a simple
Daughter of Charity.
CHILD OF MARY
As the evening Angelus sounded, Catherine was born of Peter and
Louise Laboure on May 2, 1806. She was the ninth child of a family
of eleven. Fifteen minutes after her birth, her name was entered
on the city records. The next day, she was baptized on the feast
of the Finding of The True Cross. It seems more than a coincidence
that Catherine was born at the ringing of the Angelus; surely it
was God's charming touch - the heralding by our Lady's bells of
the saint who was to be so highly favored by Mary. Nor was it an
accident that Catherine's name received the prompt attention of
the world... certainly it was her holy mother's intuition that led
Louise Madeleine Laboure to call attention to her elected child.
Even the feast of Catherine's baptism was prophetic, for Catherine
was to find the cross in every turn of her life, and to have deep
devotion for it, and to see a mysterious vision of the cross.
When Catherine was nine years old, her saintly mother died. After
the burial service, little Catherine retired to her room, stood on
a chair, took our Lady's statue from the wall, kissed it, and
said: "Now, dear Lady, you are to be my mother."
GOD HAS DESIGNS
After living a year in Paris with her Aunt Margaret, Catherine
came back to her father's home to supervise the household. She was
her father's favorite child, and this efficient, stern, upper
middle class farmer depended on her. On January 25, 1818,
Catherine received her First Holy Communion. From that day on she
arose every morning at 4:00 a.m., walked several miles to church
in order to assist at Mass, and to pray.
One day she had a dream in which she saw an old priest say Mass.
After Mass, the priest turned and beckoned her with his finger,
but she drew backwards, keeping her eye on him. The vision moved
to a sick room where she saw the same priest, who said: "My child,
it is a good deed to look after the sick; you run away now, but
one day you will be glad to come to me. God has designs on you -
do not forget it." Later, she awoke, not knowing the significance
of the dream.
Sometime later, while visiting a hospital of the Daughters of
Charity, she noticed a priest's picture on the wall. She asked a
sister who he might be, and was told: "Our Holy Founder Saint
Vincent de Paul." This was the same priest Catherine had seen in
the dream.
SISTER CATHERINE, DAUGHTER OF CHARITY
In January of 1830, Catherine Laboure became a postulant in the
hospice of the Daughters of Charity at Catillon-sur-Seine. Three
months later she was again in Paris, this time to enter the
Seminary at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity. Shortly
after she entered her new home, God was pleased to grant her
several extraordinary visions. On three consecutive days she
beheld the heart of Saint Vincent above the reliquary in which his
relics were exposed, each time under a different aspect. At other
times she beheld our divine Lord in front of the Blessed
Sacrament; this would occur especially during Mass when he would
appear as he was described in the liturgy of the day.
Mary Appears to Saint Catherine Laboure
THE FIRST APPARITION
On the eve of the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, July 19, the
Sister Superior spoke to the novices about the virtues of their
Holy Founder and gave each of them a piece of cloth from his
surplice. Catherine earnestly prayed to Saint Vincent that she
might with her own eyes see the mother of God.
She was convinced that she would see the Blessed Virgin Mary that
very night; and in her conviction, Catherine fell asleep. Before
long, she was awakened by a brilliant light and the voice of a
child. "Sister Laboure, come to the Chapel; the Blessed Virgin
awaits you."
Catherine replied: "We shall be discovered."
The little child smiled, "Do not be uneasy; it is half past
eleven, everyone is sleeping... come, I am waiting for you." She
rose quickly and dressed. The hall lights were burning. The locked
chapel door swung open at the angel's touch. Amazed, Catherine
found the Chapel ablaze with lights as if prepared for midnight
Mass. Quickly she knelt at the communion rail, and suddenly, she
heard the rustle of a silk dress... the Blessed Virgin, in a blaze
of glory, sat in the director's chair. The angel whispered: "The
Blessed Mother wishes to speak with you."
Catherine rose, knelt beside the Blessed Mother and rested her
hands in the Virgin's lap. Mary said:
"God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be
contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what
is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within
you. Times are evil in France and in the world."
A pain crossed the Virgin's face.
"Come to the foot of the altar. Graces will be shed on all, great
and little, especially upon those who seek for them. You will have
the protection of God and Saint Vincent. I always will have my
eyes upon you. There will be much persecution. The cross will be
treated with contempt. It will be hurled to the ground and blood
will flow." Then after speaking for some time, the Lady like a
fading shadow was gone.
Led by the child, Catherine left the Chapel, marched up the
corridor, and returned to her place in the dormitory. The angel
disappeared and as Catherine went to bed she heard the clock
strike two.
MARY REAPPEARS
Catherine lived the normal life of a novice of the Daughters of
Charity until Advent. On Saturday, November 27, 1830, at 5:30
p.m., she retired to the Chapel with the other Sisters for evening
meditation. Catherine heard the faint swish of silk... she
recognized our Lady's signal. Raising her eyes to the main altar,
she saw her beautiful Lady standing on a large globe.
The Virgin spoke, this time giving a direct order: "Have a medal
struck as I have shown you. All who wear it will receive great
graces."
Catherine asked how she was to have the medal struck. Mary replied
that she was to go to her confessor, a Father Jean Marie Aladel
saying of this saintly priest: "He is my servant." Father Aladel
at first did not believe Catherine; however after two years, he
finally went to the archbishop who ordered two thousand medals
struck on June 20, 1832. When Catherine received her share of
these first medals from the hands of the priest she said: "Now it
must be propagated."
The spread of a devotion to the medal urged by Saint Catherine was
carried out so swiftly that it was miraculous itself.
THE SILENT SAINT
We might expect that praise and prominence would be the lot of one
so favored by heaven. But she sought none of it; rather, she fled
from it. She wanted to be left alone to carry out her humble
duties as a Daughter of Charity. For over forty years, she spent
her every effort in caring for the aged and infirm, not revealing
to those about her that she had been the recipient of our Lady's
medal. The Sisters with whom she lived held her in the highest
esteem, and each one longed to be her companion.
In 1876, Catherine felt a spiritual conviction that she would die
before the end of the year. Mary Immaculate gave Catherine leave
to speak, to break the silence of forty-six years. To her Sister
Superior, Catherine revealed the fact that she was the sister to
whom the Blessed Mother appeared. On the last day of December,
1876, Saint Catherine passed on - once again to the hands of Mary
- this time, however, in heaven. Today her beautiful remains still
lie fresh and serene.
When her body was exhumed in 1933 it was found as fresh as the day
it was buried. Though she had lived seventy years and was in the
grave for fifty-seven years, her eyes remained very blue and
beautiful; and in death her arms and legs were as supple as if she
were asleep. Her incorrupt body is encased in glass beneath the
side altar at 140 Rue du Bac, Paris, beneath one of the spots
where our Lady appeared to her.
In the Chapel of the Apparition you can gaze upon the face and the
lips that for forty-six years kept a secret which has since shaken
the world.
Prayer of St. Catherine Laboure
"Whenever I go to the chapel, I put myself in the presence of our
good Lord, and I say to him, Lord I am here. Tell me what you
would have me to do. If he gives me some task, I am content and I
thank him. If he gives me nothing, I still thank him since I do
not deserve to receive anything more than that. And then, I tell
God everything that is in my heart. I tell him about my pains and
joys, and then I listen. If you listen, God will also speak to
you, for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen.
God always speaks to you when you approach him plainly and
simply."
劉瑞廷，四川人，生於一七七三年，父母皆為熱心教友。 嘉慶十二年，由聖徐德新主教手中領受鐸品，在川東一帶傳教，一八二二年十一月卅日為主殉道。 教宗良十三世於一九○○年宣福。二○○○年十月一日宣聖。
聖安德肋是位宗徒也是位殉道者。聖人的名字是個希臘化的字，意謂著「勇氣」。 他是加里肋亞漁夫若望的兒子，同時是西滿伯多祿的兄弟。
蒙耶穌召喚前，他所追隨的是洗者若翰，居住在葛法翁。 但是當他認出耶穌就是他們所期待的默西亞之後，便立即將主引薦給他的兄弟西滿伯多祿。 聖人與伯多祿、雅各伯、若望在當時組成了耶穌的第一批門徒，最後甚至被選為宗徒。 在耶穌的公開事件中，聖人的名字曾多次被提及；基督復活並升天後，聖人也隨同其 他宗徒領受了由聖神而來的神恩。
按初期教會歷史家的記載， 聖人是先在卡帕多細雅（Cappadicia）、迦拉達、彼提尼雅（Bithynia）、叔提雅（Scythia）開始他的傳教使命，而後轉 往拜占廷。 聖人的宣講足跡也曾履及特瑞斯（Thrace）、馬其頓、帖撒肋（Thessaly）與阿該雅（Achaea）。 最後，聖人在阿該雅的帕特雷（Patrae）領受了殉道冠冕。相傳他是在羅馬官長Aegeas的命令下，被判處X形的十字架之刑。 事實上，聖人並非是被處以釘刑，而是被綁在十架上受折磨而死的，因此，受苦的時間可能更長。 一般相信聖人是在尼祿皇帝任內，也就是主後60年的11月30日殉道的。
蘇格蘭、俄羅斯、希臘、伯艮地（Burgundy）、西班牙、西西里、奧地利、納布勒斯、拉維納（Ravenna）、 布雷西雅（Brescia）、阿瑪菲（Amalfi）、曼突阿（Mantua）、馬尼拉、布魯格斯（Bruges）、波爾多與帕特拉斯 （Patras）等地， 皆是以聖安德肋為主保。另外，聖人還是肉販、漁夫、礦工、繩索編織工、紡織業者和婚禮的主保。
聖人的部分遺骨被帶往君士坦丁堡（即今日的伊斯坦堡）， 其他的部分則分佈在拉維納、米蘭、莫斯科、布雷西雅、諾拉（Nola）、納慕爾（Namur）等地。
在聖像當中，聖安德肋常被描繪成是一位身負X形十字架的漁夫或傳教士。
「大聖安德，你曾是捕魚的能手，今日為捕人的漁夫，奔走四方。偉大的使徒，請撒下你的漁網，援救我眾信徒，脫離世海的驚滔駭浪。
與聖伯鐸生為兄弟，殉道時也如同手足，甘心接受十字架的苦刑，雙雙進入永生的天堂。 偉大的同胞兄弟，共同分享榮冠，同為聖教之父，同為世界之光。
你找到耶穌在先，又把西滿帶到主的身旁，求你時時引導我們，馳騁在天國道上。 聖伯鐸的傑出伴侶，求你顯示愛心，使戰鬥中的教會，信心堅強。
大聖安德，基督的愛徒，求你接引我們，奔向永恆的天鄉，永遠歌頌上主的榮光。亞孟。」
