FROM SATANIC PRIEST TO ‘APOSTLE OF THE ROSARY'

By Addison Nugent, for OZY

ONE DAY, WHILE IN A PARANOID STUPOR, THE YOUNG MAN HEARD THE VOICE OF HIS DEAD FATHER CALL OUT: “RETURN TO GOD!”

Emaciated from fasting and cloaked in a black robe, Bartolo Longo entered the satanic church in Naples, Italy, determined to go to the dark side. The 23-year-old law student with the devilishly pointed beard walked skull-lined halls to the sacrificial altar, his eyes glittering. Much later, Longo would recount that night in 1864, when the walls of the church shook and the air filled with the unearthly shrieks of demons. After reciting occult dedications and swearing an oath, he was anointed with defiled sacred oils, whereupon he entered a trance. It was in this dream state that Longo pledged his soul to the assembly, abandoning the God of his upbringing for the Prince of Darkness.

Our Lady of Fatima's 100th Anniversary Together With the Canonization of Francisco and Jacinta Marto as New Saints of the Church

Canonization of Seven New Saints!

Pope Francis presides over the Holy Mass with canonisation of : Salomon Leclercq, José Sánchez Del Río, Manuel González García, Lodovico Pavoni, Alfonso Maria Fusco, José Gabriel Del Rosario Brochero, Elisabeth Catez.

SAINT TERESA OF KOKLATA, NOW WORTHY OF OUR DEVOTION AMONG THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN!

St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata, Pray for us!

FIVE SAINTS THIS YEAR! FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND HIS CHURCH!

Source: NCRegister
Posted on Tuesday Mar 15th, 2016

From Left: Bl. Mother Teresa; Bl. Jose Sanchez del Rosario; Bl. Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochelo; Bl. Ma. Elisabetta Hesselblad; Bl. Stanislaus of Jesus Mary

VATICAN CITY — After months of anticipation, the date of Mother Teresa’s canonization has finally been announced. It falls on Sept. 4, which this year will also mark a special jubilee for workers and volunteers of mercy.

Though it’s been rumored for months that Mother Teresa’s canonization will take place Sept. 4, the Vatican made the date official during a March 15 consistory of cardinals.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia. After joining the Sisters of Loretto at age 17, she was sent to Calcutta, where she later contracted tuberculosis and was sent to rest in Darjeeling.

On the way, she felt what she called “an order” from God to leave the convent and live among the poor.

After she left her convent, Mother Teresa began working in the slums, teaching poor children and treating the sick in their homes. A year later, some of her former students joined her, and, together, they took in men, women and children who were dying in the gutters along the streets.

In 1950, the Missionaries of Charity were born as a congregation of the Diocese of Calcutta. In 1952, the government granted them a house from which to continue their mission of serving Calcutta's poor and forgotten.

She died Sept. 5, 1997, and was beatified just six years later by St. John Paul II on Oct. 19, 2003.

In addition to Mother Teresa, the consistory also decided on the canonization dates of four other blesseds: Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad, Jose Sanchez del Rio, Stanislaus of Jesus Mary and Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero.

The canonization of Jose Sanchez del Rio is also noteworthy. He will be made a saint on Oct. 16, alongside Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero.

José Luis Sánchez del Río was brutally tortured and killed when he was 14 years old during the 1924-1928 religious persecution by Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles. José Luis had enlisted in the ranks of the Cristeros, under the command of Gen. Prudencio Mendoza.

He was martyred by the Federal Army on Feb. 10, 1928. According to the story, the soldiers cut off the soles of his feet and forced him to walk barefoot to his grave. Moments before he was killed, the boy shouted, “Viva Cristo Rey!” or “Long live Christ the King!”

His character was one of the main protagonists in the film For Greater Glory.

Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, frequently referred to as the “gaucho priest,” will be Argentina’s first saint.

Born on March 16, 1840, the priest suffered from leprosy throughout his life and is known for his service to the sick and the dying. He died in 1914 and was beatified by Pope Francis on Sept. 14, 2013.

Sweden will also receive a new saint in Blessed Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, who will be canonized June 5, alongside Polish Blessed Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczynski.

Born in the small village of Faglavik, in Sweden’s western coast province of Alvsborg, on June 4, 1870, Maria Elisabeth was a nurse and a convert to Catholicism. After her conversion, she went on to found a new order of Bridgettines, called the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget.

She died in Rome on April 24, 1957, and was beatified April 9, 2000, by St. John Paul II.

Blessed Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczynski is a Polish priest born in 1631 and beatified by Benedict XVI in 2007.

Often referred to as the “Father Founder,” Stanislaus is known for his writings and constant encouragement to contemplate God’s mercy and to turn to Mary Immaculate for guidance and protection.

In addition to founding the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the priest also experienced visions of Holy Souls in Purgatory and urged penance and prayers on their behalf.

Mexican Boy Murdered for His Catholic Beliefs to Become a Saint

Praise the Lord! Another soon-to-be Saint! VIVA CRISTO REY! -CD2000

Source: TeleSUR
Published 15 March 2016
By sh-OA-mk

Jose Sanchez del Rio will be canonized in October this year. | Photo: Cortesía Aciprensa

Jose Sanchez del Rio was tortured and killed by the Mexican government forces for his catholic beliefs.

Pope Francis ruled on Tuesday that Jose Sanchez del Rio, the Mexican boy who was tortured and killed aged 14 in 1928, will be canonized on Oct. 16, this year.

The boy was captured by government forces after he enlisted in the ranks of the Cristeros, who were devout Catholics and struggled against the secularist, anti-Catholic, and anticlerical policies of Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles during the 1924-1928 religious persecution.

According to the fable, Sanchez had the souls of his feet cut off and was forced to walk barefoot to his grave before he was killed. Moments before he was murdered he supposedly shouted “Viva Cristo Rey!” or “Long live Christ the King!”

His character was one of the main protagonists in the 2013 film “For Greater Glory.”

Sanchez was declared a martyr in June 2004 by Pope John Paul II and was beatified (blessed) by Pope Benedict XVI in late 2005 in Mexico.

Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him in January this year which paved the way for his sainthood.

The pope also announced that Mother Teresa and Argentine priest Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, frequently referred to as the “gaucho priest,” will also become saints in September and October in 2016.

Catholic Herald: Swedish Sister who hid Jews from the Nazis is to be canonised

Source: Catholic Herald
by Mark Greaves
posted Friday, 18 Dec 2015

Blessed Mary Elizabeth is a Righteous Among the Nations

Blessed Mary Elizabeth saved the lives of more than 60 people

A Swedish Sister who hid Jews from the Nazis during the Second World is to be canonised next year.

Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, who refounded the Bridgettines and worked to restore the order in Italy and Sweden, saved the lives of over 60 people by hiding them at the motherhouse in Rome.

Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to her intercession earlier this week, paving the way for her to be proclaimed a saint.

The Swede, a convert from Lutheranism, was mother superior at the motherhouse in Piazza Farnese during the Second World War.

The hiding of dozens of people at the motherhouse was recounted by an Italian Jew, Piero Piperno, as part of his testimony on behalf of another Bridgettine, Brighton-born Mother Mary Richard Beauchamp Hambrough, whose Cause was opened five years ago.

Mr Piperno told the Times newspaper: “We were three families, 13 in all. We stayed in three rooms, all the men in one, except an uncle who slept in a dark, small room with no windows, and another two for the women. In the beginning we all ate in one room by ourselves.”

For six months –until the Allies liberated Rome – the Piperno family hid in the convent, at every moment fearing potential arrest.

The nuns did not discriminate between the people they helped, he said, and took in Fascist refugees as well as Jews.

He said: “Something which bothered me back then, but which I now understand, was that the nuns that helped us also helped Fascist families. There was great solidarity because everybody was suffering and everybody finally realised we were all in the same boat. “

Blessed Mary Elizabeth, who Yad Vashem has named as a Righteous among the Nations, was beatified by St John Paul II in 2000.

She was born Sweden in 1870 and baptised into the Reform Church. In 1886 she migrated to the United States to earn money for her family back home.

After working as a nurse, she converted to Catholicism in 1902.

Moving to Rome, she dedicated her life and her religious order to prayer and work for the attainment of Christian unity.

She refounded the Order of the Most Holy Saviour of St Bridget, better known as the Bridgettines.

Mother Riccarda later succeeded her as mother superior at the order’s Rome motherhouse.

Catholic Herald: Mother Teresa to be canonised on September 4

Source: Catholic Herald
by Staff Reporter
posted Tuesday, 15 Mar 2016

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta pictured in 1993 (AP)

The canonisation Mass will conclude the Vatican Jubilee for 'workers and volunteers of mercy'

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be canonised on September 4, the Vatican has announced.

The canonisation Mass at which Mother Teresa will be declared a saint will conclude the Vatican Jubilee for “workers and volunteers of mercy”, according to Catholic News Service.

The canonisation, which was approved at a consistory at the Vatican today, comes the day before the 19th anniversary of Blessed Teresa’s death, September 5, 1997.

On December 17, Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to Blessed Teresa’s intercession. That miracle involved the healing of a now 42-year-old mechanical engineer in Santos, Brazil, who was in a coma after being diagnosed with a viral brain infection that resulted in multiple brain abscesses

The Vatican has also announced that Blessed Stanislaus Papczynski and Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad will be canonised on June 5.

Argentine priest Blessed Gabriel del Rosario Brochero and Mexico’s Blessed Sanchez del Rio to be canonised on October 16.

Mother Teresa’s canonization date expected on March 15 ‎

Source: Vatican Radio 2016-March-07

Pope Francis will hold an ordinary public consistory of cardinals in the Vatican March 15, during which he will sign the decree for the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata and four others. The dates and venue of their sainthood ceremony are expected to be declared at the consistory. Pope Francis had officially cleared Blessed Mother Teresa for sainthood on Dec. 17, 2015, recognizing the miraculous healing through her intercession of a Brazilian man with multiple brain abscesses. Mother Teresa was conferred the title Blessed in Rome, Italy, on October 19, 2003, after Pope St. John Paul II recognized the miraculous healing of an Indian woman with a tumour in her abdomen.

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu‎ of Albanian parents on ‎August 26, 1910, in Skopje, in what ‎is ‎Macedonia today, Mother Teresa died in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, on September 5, ‎‎1997. ‎Affectionately known as the "saint of the gutter" for her unconditional ‎love ‎for the poor, abandoned and the marginalized, she earned several international honours, including ‎the ‎Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. ‎

SAINT MOTHER TERESA OF KOLKATA, PRAY FOR US!

Pope advances sainthood causes of Lutheran convert, U.S. missionary in Vietnam -Catholic Courier

By Junno Arocho Esteves (Catholic Courier)
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of a Lutheran convert who established a branch of the Bridgettine order in her country and a U.S. missionary who died while ministering to the wounded in Vietnam.

During a Dec. 14 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, the pope signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, who refounded the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget, better known as the Bridgettines.

Born in Sweden in 1870 and baptized into the Reform Church, she immigrated to the United States in 1886 to earn money for her family back home.

After working as a nurse, she converted to Catholicism in 1902. Moving to Rome, she dedicated her life and her religious order to prayer and work for the attainment of Christian unity. St. John Paul II beatified her in Rome in 2000.

The pope also signed decrees recognizing the miracles needed for the beatifications of:

-- Father Ladislao Bukowinski, a Ukrainian priest who died in Kazakhstan in 1974.

-- Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa, an Italian nun who founded the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer in the 18th century.

-- Sister Mary of Jesus Santocanale, an Italian nun born in 1852, who founded the Congregation of the Capuchin Sisters of the Immaculate of Lourdes.

-- Itala Mela, an Italian laywoman and Benedictine Oblate who died in 1957.

The pope also recognized the heroic virtues of four women and eight men, including New Hampshire native Brother William Gagnon -- a member of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God. Brother Gagnon tended to the sick and wounded during the Vietnam War, before falling ill and dying in Ho Chi Minh City in 1972.

The pope also recognized the heroic virtues of Teresio Olivelli, an Italian layman who spoke out against fascism and Nazism before being arrested and imprisoned. Olivelli died trying to protect a fellow prisoner in a German concentration camp in 1945.

Mother Teresa to be made a saint by Catholic Church

Source: Inforum
By Reuters Media

Catholic nuns from the order of the Missionaries of Charity gather under a picture of Mother Teresa during the tenth anniversary of her death in Kolkata, India, in this September 5, 2007 file photo. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw/Files

VATICAN CITY - Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Nobel peace laureate who dedicated her life to helping the poorest, is to be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Friday.

Pope Francis has cleared the way for sainthood by approving a decree recognizing a second miracle attributed to her intercession with God, a requirement of sainthood.

The nun, who died in 1997 at the age of 87, became an international icon but has also been criticized for trying to convert people to Christianity.

The late Pope John Paul II bent Vatican rules to allow the procedure to establish her case for sainthood to be launched two years after her death instead of the usual five. She was beatified in 2003, a mere six years after her death.

Beatification requires one miracle and is the last step before sainthood, which requires a second.

The church defines saints as those believed to have been holy enough during their lives to now be in Heaven with God.

Francis, who has made concern for the poor a major plank of his papacy, was keen to make Mother Teresa a saint during the church's current Holy Year.

Church officials say Mother Teresa's second miracle involved the healing of a Brazilian man suffering from a viral brain infection that resulted in multiple abscesses with hydrocephalus.

Relatives prayed to Mother Teresa and he recovered, leaving his doctors mystified, they said. A Vatican medical commission deemed the sudden recovery "inexplicable in the light of present-day medical knowledge," according to Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, the chief promoter of the sainthood cause.

"CHRISTMAS GIFT"

In Kolkata, as Calcutta is now called, Sunita Kumar, spokeswoman for the Missionaries of Charity religious order which Mother Teresa founded, said the nuns were "over the moon" at the news.

"We thought her whole life was a miracle. Her whole life was dedicated to the poor and there was nothing else in her mind than service. Everyone was accepted and there was no obstruction in her work," she told Reuters.

Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of Kolkata told Reuters the news from Rome was "the best Christmas gift," adding: "Her entire life and work was for the poor. Now it is in a way officially recognized. We are grateful to God."

In the years since her death, some have accused Mother Teresa and the order of having ulterior motives in helping the destitute, saying their aim was to convert them to Christianity.

The order rejects that, saying, for example, that most of those helped in the Kalighat Home for Dying Destitutes in Kolkata were non-Christians with just a few days left to live and noting that conversion is a lengthy process.

The order has also denied allegations of financial mismanagement of the huge sums it received from donors.

Known as the "saint of the gutters," the diminutive nun is expected to be canonized - formally made a saint - in early September. It is not clear if the ceremony will take place in Rome or if the pope will travel to India to preside.

It would be the first trip by a pope to India since 1999.

Mother Teresa was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu of Albanian parents in Macedonia in 1910 in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

She founded the Missionaries of Charity with about a dozen nuns in the 1950s to help the poor on the streets of Calcutta and the religious order spread throughout the world. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Yes! That Much!

SAINTS POPE JOHN XXIII & POPE JOHN PAUL II - PRAY FOR US!

OFFICIAL: Pope Francis approved the Canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II to become Saints

Pope John XXIII(Time.com) and Pope John Paul II (Time.com)

VATICAN CITY (News.va) - Journalists in the Holy See Press Office busy getting to grips with Pope Francis’ first encyclical the Light of Faith, were somewhat surprised Friday lunchtime when Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. called them back for a second announcement: Pope Francis had approved the cause for canonization of two of his venerable and much loved predecessors Blessed John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II.

Meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, Friday morning, Pope Francis approved the promulgation of the decree and also convoked a special Consistory of the College of Cardinals to discuss the canonization of the Polish pope in depth.

Furthermore, he approved the favorable votes of the Ordinary Session of the Congregations Cardinals and Bishops regarding the raising to the altars of sainthood of Blessed John XXII.

This slightly unusual gesture was explained by Fr. Lombardi who told journalists that despite the absence of a second miracle it was the Pope’s will that the Sainthood of the great Pope of the Second Vatican Council be recognized.

Fr. Lombardi stated that a canonization without a second miracle is still valid, given that there is already the existing miracle that lead to the Roncalli Pope’s beatification. He also pointed to ongoing discussions among theologians and experts about whether it is necessary to have two distinct miracles for beatification and canonization. Certainly, he added the Pope has the power to dispense, in a Cause, with the second miracle.

However, there was no mention of dates. Neither for the Consistory nor for the Canonizations. Fr. Lombardi did not rule out that both celebrations could coincide, and he did express his belief that they would take place by the end of the year. Either way any date would be established during the Consistory.

Martyred for Christ: 800 victims of Islamic violence who will become saints this month

News Source: Telegraph UK

The cathedral of Otranto in southern Italy is decorated with the skulls of 800 Christian townsfolk beheaded by Ottoman soldiers in 1480. A week tomorrow, on Sunday May 12, they will become the skulls of saints, as Pope Francis canonises all of them. In doing so, he will instantly break the record for the pope who has created the most saints.

I wonder how he feels about that. Benedict XVI announced the planned canonisations just minutes before dropping the bombshell of his own resignation. You could view it as a parting gift to his successor. Or a booby trap.

The 800 men of Otranto – whose names are lost, except for that of Antonio Primaldo, an old tailor – were rounded up and killed because they refused to convert to Islam. In 2007, Pope Benedict recognised them as martyrs “killed out of hatred for the faith”. That is no exaggeration. Earlier, the Archbishop of Otranto had been cut to pieces with a scimitar.