Kerala, a part of India with so many Blessed Saints .. and 6 Clubfeet miracles, nowhere else to be found the world.
I feel embarrased nearly all these saints I never heard of before, But it is wonderful to discover them.
How did this woman transcend the obscurity of her geography and genealogy to receive beatification at the hands of the Pope in the Jubilee Year 2000, only the fourth Indian ever to have been beatified? The story of Mariam Thresia is a remarkable one. Born in 1876 into a family in straitened circumstances — the result of a grandfather having had to sell off all his property to get seven daughters married — Mariam Thresia was one of three daughters. https://shashitharoor.in/writings_essays_details/164 CARRYING KERALA TO THE VATICAN To hear Malayalam recited in St Peter’s alongside half a dozen European language is in its own way, satisfying. I am not a Christian but I rejoice in the magic an Indian woman has brought to Christianity. https://shashitharoor.in/writings_my_essays_details/13
SAINT OF THE DAY TUESDAY, 9 JUNE, 2026 SAINT EPHREM OF SYRIA DEACON AND DOCTOR Ephrem was of Syrian descent and son of a citizen of Nisibis. While yet a young man be betook himself to the Holy Bishop James, by whom he was baptized, and he soon made such progress in holiness and learning as to be appointed master in the school of Nisibis in Mesopotamia. After the death of the Bishop James, Nisibis was captured by the Persians, and Ephrem went to Edessa, where he settled first among the monks in the mountains. Later, to avoid the company of those who flocked to him, he adopted the eremitical life. He was made deacon of the church of Edessa, but refused the priesthood out of humility. He was rich in all virtues and strove to acquire piety and religion by the following of true wisdom. He placed all his hope in God, despised all human and transitory things, and was ever filled with the earnest desire of those which are divine and eternal. He was led by the Spirit of God to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he saw Basil, the mouthpiece of the Church, and they obtained benefit from their mutual intercourse. In order to refute the many errors which troubled the Church at that time, and to expound the mysteries of Jesus Christ, he wrote many books in the Syrian tongue, almost all of which have been translated into Greek. St. Jerome bears witness that he attained such fame that his writings were read publicly in the churches after the reading from the Holy Scriptures. On account of his works, so full of the light of heavenly doctrine, he was greatly honored even during his lifetime as a Doctor of the Church. He composed a poem in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints for which he was called by the Syrians "the Harp of the Holy Ghost." He was noted for his great and tender devotion towards the immaculate Virgin. He died, rich in merits, at Edessa in Mesopotamia, on the fourteenth of the Kalends of July, in the reign of Valens. Pope Benedict XV, at the instance of many Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots and religious communities, declared him by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites to be a Doctor of the Universal Church. PATRON: Spiritual directors; spiritual leaders. SYMBOLS: cowl with small cross; pillar of light; scourge. OFTEN PORTRAYED: In monastic habit; lying on a funeral slab; with a scroll and vine, as a deacon. PRAYER: Pour into our hearts O Lord, we pray, the Holy Spirit, at whose prompting the Deacon Saint Ephrem exulted in singing of your mysteries and from whom he received the strength to serve you alone. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
One of the wonderful thing about these men was not that they were great theologians but that they put their theology into practice in their lives. That they bore fruit in holiness. The devil is a superb theologian but it doesn't do himself or anyone much good in fact it only ever did great harm. The same thing in the Church today . We have many, many theologians telling us many different things. But we should ask if these people are showing signs of holiness in their own lives. If they are not doing so how will anything they say be worth listening to or even be trusted.? St Ephrem does both. He teaches wisdom and assists us too to walk in the Path of Holiness he walked himself. Someone to be both trusted and emulated.
Another Saint for today Saint Louise de Marillac, 1591–1660 Connection to the date: Feast day May 9 (beatification date—May 9, 1920; her death anniversary is March 15, 1660, but her feast was transferred to May 9 in 2017). Canonized March 11, 1934, by Pope Pius XI. Patronage: Social workers; widows; sick people; the poor; Christian charity; Daughters of Charity; rejected children; people disappointed in life. Life: Born August 12, 1591, in Ferrières-en-Brie, France, as the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman. Raised by relatives in the Dominican monastery at Poissy. Desired religious life but was denied entry to the Capuchins due to her illegitimate birth. Married at age 22 to Antoine Le Gras (secretary to Queen Marie de Médicis); widowed in 1625. Made vow of widowhood and chose Saint Vincent de Paul as her spiritual director. Cofounded the Daughters of Charity in 1633 (unenclosed community dedicated to serving the poor, sick, and orphaned). By her death, the Daughters of Charity operated more than forty houses throughout France. Died March 15, 1660, at age 68. ◾Beatification Miracle: Young girl named Louise Labouré, born with severe congenital heart condition, was medically predicted to die before her second birthday. Her family prayed to Louise de Marillac for intercession. The child experienced miraculous recovery, her heart condition resolved, and she went on to live a full, healthy life. The healing was recognized as inexplicable and attributed to Louise de Marillac's intercession. CAVEAT: Beatified and canonized pre-Consulta Medica (beatification 1920, canonization 1934); miracle examined through earlier canonical process. Prayer: Saint Louise de Marillac, mother to the poor and advocate of the widowed, intercede for all who serve the sick and suffering.
SAINT OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY, 10 JUNE, 2026 SAINT LANDERICUS OF PARIS BISHOP AND CONFESSOR c.661 St. Landericus was a sincere and dedicated servant of God who, like his Lord Jesus Christ, had great love for the poor and the lowly. He became bishop of Paris in 650 A.D., in the Frankish kingdom (formally Gaul) during the reign of Clovis II and served as bishop until 656 A.D. (some records show until his death in 661). He was a very earnest and devout man, and distinguished especially by his great love of the poor and by his charity during the famine of 651 A.D. To relieve them, during a time of famine he sold not only his personal possessions but also some of the vessels and furniture of the church. He became increasingly aware that the sick and poor of disease were not really cared for by the custom then in vogue of housing them in little hotels dependent on the casual aims of charitable persons. For this, it was attributed to him was the foundation of the city's first real hospital, dedicated to St. Christopher, erected near Notre-Dame on the site of the dwelling place of Erchinoaldus, mayor of the palace In time, this became the famous Hotel-Dieu. He was also responsible for the Benedictines' setup of the Abbey of Denis and in 653 AD, he signed along with 23 other bishops the foundation charter granted by King Clovis to the Abbey. He was buried in the church of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, then called Saint Vincent's, where his relics, except two bones given to the parish of Saint Landry in 1408, are kept in a silver shrine. He is honored with an office in the new Paris Breviary. There is a statue of St. Landry, behind the alter of the Church of St. Landry in Opelousas, Louisiana. It appears to be that of a bishop, holding or distributing some bread or food. His feast day is June 10th. PATRON: Paris and Opelousas. PRAYER: O God, You made St. Landericus an outstanding exemplar of Divine love and the Faith that conquers the world, and added him to the roll of saintly pastors. Grand by his intercession that we may persevere in Faith and love, and become shares of his glory. Amen.
