July 15
Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Feast
“Now just as no one comes to wisdom save through grace, justice, and knowledge, so none comes to contemplation save through penetrating meditation, holy conversation, and devout prayer.”
St. Bonaventure was born near Orvieto in 1221, entered the Franciscan Order in his early twenties, and studied in Paris, where, in 1248, he received a doctorate in theology. In 1257, he was elected Minister General of the Order. In 1273, he became Cardinal of Albano and played a prominent role at the Council of Lyons, which aimed to unite the Latin and Greek Churches.
As a theologian, Bonaventure stressed the “mystical illumination which God sheds on the faithful Christian” [2] and sought to unite reason and faith. Classic works of his include the definitive Life of St. Francis, The Mind’s Road to God, and a commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sentences. He was canonized in 1482 and proclaimed a doctor of the Church in 1588 by Sixtus V.
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July 16
Canonization of Saint Francis of Assisi
Memorial
On the Canonization of St. Francis of Assisi
Pope Gregory IX
Bishop Servant of the Servants of God
for an everlasting memorial
July 16, 1228 A.D.
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July 17
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July 18
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July 19
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July 20
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July 21
St. Lawrence of Brindisi, OFM
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July 22
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July 23
Saint Bridget, OFS
of Sweden
Secular Franciscan
(c. 1303 – July 23, 1373)
From age 7 on, Bridget had visions of Christ crucified. Her visions formed the basis for her activity—always with the emphasis on charity rather than spiritual favors.
She lived her married life in the court of the Swedish king Magnus II. Mother of eight children—the second eldest was Saint Catherine of Sweden—Bridget lived the strict life of a penitent after her husband’s death, taking the habit of a Secular Franciscan.
Bridget constantly strove to exert her good influence over Magnus; while never fully reforming, he did give her land and buildings to found a monastery for men and women. This group eventually expanded into an Order known as the Bridgetines.
In 1350, a year of jubilee, Bridget braved a plague-stricken Europe to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Although she never returned to Sweden, her years in Rome were far from happy, being hounded by debts and by opposition to her work against Church abuses.
A final pilgrimage to the Holy Land, marred by shipwreck and the death of her son, Charles, eventually led to her death in 1373. In 1999, Bridget, Saints Catherine of Siena and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, were named co-patronesses of Europe.
And
Blessed Cunegunda, PC
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July 24
Blessed Louise Of Savoy, PC
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July 25
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July 26
Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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July 27
Blessed Novellone of Faenza, OFS
Secular Franciscan Order
Son of a craftsman. Layman cobbler who led a dissolute life in his youth and early married life. However, a serious illness at age 24 caused him to re-evaluate his life; he had a conversion experience, repented his early life, and dedicated himself to God, penance and prayer. He became a member of the Secular Franciscan Order, and converted his wife to an active faith. His charity to the poor nearly ruined his business. Pilgrim to many holy sites, and made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela eleven times. He is buried in Faenza Cathedral, Italy and beatified in 1817.
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July 28
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July 29
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July 30
Blessed Solanus Casey, OFM Cap.
(1870-1957)
Barney Casey became one of Detroit’s best-known priests even though he was not allowed to preach formally or to hear confessions!
Barney came from a large family in Oak Grove, Wisconsin. At the age of 21, and after he had worked as a logger, a hospital orderly, a streetcar operator and a prison guard, he entered St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee—where he found the studies difficult. He left there and, in 1896, joined the Capuchins in Detroit, taking the name Solanus. His studies for the priesthood were again arduous.
On July 24, 1904, he was ordained, but because his knowledge of theology was judged to be weak, Father Solanus was not given permission to hear confessions or to preach. A Franciscan Capuchin who knew him well said this annoying restriction “brought forth in him a greatness and a holiness that might never have been realized in any other way.” During his 14 years as porter and sacristan in Yonkers, New York, the people there recognized him! as a fine speaker. “For, though he was forbidden to deliver doctrinal sermons,” writes his biographer, James Derum, “he could give inspirational talks, or feverinos, as the Capuchins termed them” (18:96). His spiritual fire deeply impressed his listeners.
Father Solanus served at parishes in Manhattan and Harlem before returning to Detroit, where he was porter and sacristan for 20 years at St. Bonaventure Monastery. Every Wednesday afternoon he conducted well-attended services for the sick. A co-worker estimates that on the average day 150 to 200 people came to see Father Solanus in the front office. Most of them came to receive his blessing; 40 to 50 came for consultation. Many people considered him instrumental in cures and other blessings they received.
Father Solanus’ sense of God’s providence inspired many of his visitors. “Blessed be God in all his designs” was one of his favorite expressions.
The many friends of Father Solanus helped the Capuchins begin a soup kitchen during the Depression. Capuchins are still feeding the hungry there today.
In 1946 in failing health, he was transferred to the Capuchin novitiate in Huntington, Indiana, where he lived until 1956 when he was hospitalized in Detroit. He died on July 31, 1957. An estimated 20,000 people passed by his coffin before his burial in St. Bonaventure Church in Detroit.
At the funeral Mass, Father Gerald, the provincial, said: “His was a life of service and love for people like me and you. When he was not himself sick, he nevertheless suffered with and for you that were sick. When he was not physically hungry, he hungered with people like you. He had a divine love for people. He loved people for what he could do for them —and for God, through them.”
In 1960 a Father Solanus Guild was formed in Detroit to aid Capuchin seminarians. By 1967 the guild had 5,000 members—many of them grateful recipients of his practical advice and his comforting assurance that God would not abandon them in their trials. He was declared Venerable in 1995. www.americancatholic.org
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July 31
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August 1
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August 2
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August 3
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August 4
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August 5
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August 6
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August 7
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August 8
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August 9
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August 10
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August 11
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August 12
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August 13
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August 14
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August 15
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August 16
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August 17
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August 18
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August 19
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August 20
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August 21
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August 22
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August 23
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August 24
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August 25
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August 26
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August 27
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August 28
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August 29
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August 30
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August 31
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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September
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