When the Roman Empire fell to the Goths it seemed like the end of the World. It also seemed like the End of the Catholic Faith, in the West at least. The Goths took over and ruled from the City of Ravenna and although they were converted and became Christian I am afraid they were Arian heretics. I take it this is why the Pope sent Saint Peter to Ravenna ; he was sending him where he could do the most good. At around the same time St Benedict was founding Western Monasticism a Great Light which would rebuild the Faith and culture in Western Europe. A kind of monastic Noah's Ark. Saints like St Peter remind us that God writes straight in crooked lines. He brought a whole new Christian civilisation out of what seemed like a total shipwreck.
It is also the feastday for Blessed Father Solanus!!!He often counseled others to “Thank God ahead of time.” He has always interceded for me for years.
SAINT OF THE DAY FRIDAY, 31 JULY, 2026 SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA PRIEST AND CONFESSOR (1491 - 1556) Ignatius, by nation a Spaniard, was born of a noble family at Loyola, in Cantabria. At first he attended the court of the Catholic king, and later on embraced a military career. Having been wounded at the siege of Pampeluna, he chanced in his illness to read some pious books, which kindled in his soul a wonderful eagerness to follow in the footsteps of Christ and the saints. He went to Montserrat, and hung up his arms before the altar of the Blessed Virgin; he then watched the whole night in prayer, and thus entered upon his knighthood in the army of Christ. Next he retired to Manresa, dressed as he was in sackcloth, for he had a short time before given his costly garments to a beggar. Here he stayed for a year, and during that time he lived on bread and water, given to him in alms; he fasted every day except Sunday, subdued his flesh with a sharp chain and a hair-shirt, slept on the ground, and scourged himself with iron disciplines. God favored and refreshed him with such wonderful spiritual lights, that afterwards he was wont to say that even if the Sacred Scriptures did not exist, he would be ready to die for the faith, on account of those revelations alone which the Lord had made to him at Manresa. It was at this time that he, a man without education, composed that admirable book of the Spiritual Exercises. However, in order to make himself more fit for gaining souls, he determined to procure the advantages of education, and began by studying grammar among children. Meanwhile he relaxed nothing of his zeal for the salvation of others, and it is marvelous what sufferings and insults he patiently endured in every place, undergoing the hardest trials, even imprisonment and beatings almost to death. But he ever desired to suffer far more for the glory of his Lord. At Paris he was joined by nine companions from that University, men of different nations, who had taken their degrees in Arts and Theology; and there at Montmartre he laid the first foundations of the order, which he was later on to institute at Rome. He added to the three usual vows a fourth concerning missions, thus binding it closely to the Apostolic See. Paul III first welcomed and approved the Society, as did later other Pontiffs and the Council of Trent. Ignatius sent St. Francis Xavier to preach the Gospel in the Indies, and dispersed others of his children to spread the Christian faith in other parts of the world, thus declaring war against paganism, superstition, and heresy. This war he carried on with such success that it has always been the universal opinion, confirmed by the word of pontiffs, that God raised up Ignatius and the Society founded by him to oppose Luther and the heretics of his time, as formerly he had raised up other holy men to oppose other heretics. He made the restoration of piety among Catholics his first care. He increased the beauty of the sacred buildings, the giving of catechetical instructions, the frequency of sermons and of the sacraments. He everywhere opened schools for the education of youth in piety and letters. He founded at Rome the German College, refuges for women of evil life, and for young girls who were in danger, houses for orphans and catechumens of both sexes, and many other pious works. He devoted himself unweariedly to gaining souls to God. Once he was heard saying that if he were given his choice he would rather live uncertain of attaining the Beatific Vision, and in the meanwhile devote himself to the service of God and the salvation of his neighbor, than die at once certain of eternal glory. His power over the demons was wonderful. St. Philip Neri and others saw his countenance shining with heavenly light. At length in the sixty-fifth year of his age he passed to the embrace of his Lord, whose greater glory he had ever preached and ever sought in all things. He was celebrated for miracles and for his great services to the Church, and Gregory XV enrolled him amongst the saints; while Pius XI, in response to the prayers of the episcopate, declared him heavenly patron of all Spiritual Exercises. PATRON: Basque country; Jesuit Order; Jesuits; retreats; soldiers; Spiritual Exercises (by Pope Pius XI). PRAYER: O God, who raised up Saint Ignatius of Loyola in your Church to further the greater glory of your name, grant that by his help we may imitate him in fighting the good fight on earth and merit to receive with him a crown in heaven. 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.
Saint Ignatius reminds me of the power of being a Catholic. The reason why the Protestant rebellion took place was that most people who called themselves Catholic, including priests, Bishops and Cardinals were not really Catholic at all. They were like hollowed out husks. On the outside they looked fine but on the inside they were spiritually dead. Ignatius on the other hand had been a simple soldier who concerted to the Faith. With him it was the other way around. On the outside he looked like nothing but on the inside burned a fierce fire. It was largely through Ignatius and his disciples the Jesuits that the Church was saved. So much of what was happening in his own day is happening now. So many husks of Priests, Bishop , Cardinals and lay folk who claim to be Catholic but are simply stumbling useless or evil husks. But nowadays the Jesuits themselves appear to be the worst of all. I wonder what St Ignatius and the whole army of Jesuit saints think of what is going on in the World and their Order in the present day? I don't suppose you can suffer in heaven , but if you could what a torment it must be to them!
SAINT OF THE DAY SATURDAY, 1 AUGUST, 2026 SAINT ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (1696 - 1787) Alphonsus Liguori, born in 1696, was the son of an ancient Neapolitan family. His father was an officer in the Royal Navy. At the age of sixteen, Alphonsus received his doctorate in both canon and civil law and for nearly ten years practiced at the bar. When he found that one of the legal cases he was defending was not based on justice but on political intrigue, he gave up the practice of law and dedicated his life to God. Ordained to the priesthood in 1726, St. Alphonsus Liguori joined a group of secular priests dedicated to missionary activities. He involved himself in many kinds of pastoral activities, giving missions and organizing workers, and had a part in the founding of an order of contemplative nuns. In 1732, he founded the Redemptorists, a congregation of priests and brothers, to work especially among the country people of Italy who often lacked the opportunity for missions, religious instruction, and spiritual retreats. Strangely, his first companions deserted him; but Alphonsus stood firm, and soon vocations multiplied and the congregation grew. The Redemptorists were approved by Pope Benedict XIV in 1749, and Alphonsus was elected superior general. In 1762, he was appointed bishop of Sant' Agata dei God and as bishop he corrected abuses, restored churches, reformed seminaries, and promoted missions throughout his diocese. During the famine of 1763-64, his charity and generosity were boundless, and he also carried on a huge campaign of religious writing. In 1768, he was stricken with a painful illness and resigned his bishopric. During the last years of his life, problems in his congregation caused him much sorrow and when he died on August 1, 1787, at Pagani, near Salerno, the Redemptorists were a divided society. He was beatified in 1816, canonized in 1839, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871. PATRON: Confessors; final perseverance; theologians; vocations. PRAYER: O God, who constantly raise up in your Church new examples of virtue, grant that we may follow so closely in the footsteps of the Bishop Saint Alphonsus in his zeal for souls as to attain the same rewards that are his in heaven. 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.
Saint Alphonsus is a Doctor of the Church. What I like about him best is that he did what Scripture tells us to do: Matthew 5:37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one. All he wrote on morals was simple black and white. For instance he believed in hell and that people went there. In fact he believed it so much that when he founded the Redemptorists he had them take a vow to preach on hell. Which they very much did, I remember them doing so when I was young. They got rid of this vow very,very,very sadly after Vatican 2. Yuk! An interesting story about Alphonsus comes from the life of St Gerald Majella a simple lay brother. Gerald was accused by a local woman of having sex with her. Alphonsus called Gerald in and asked Gerald if this was true. Gerald said nothing. St Alphonsus took this as admission of guilt and started punishing Gerald. But the woman later repented and admitted she had made the whole thing up. Alphonsus called Gerald in asked him why he had not defended himself? St Gerald pointed out that in the Redemptorist rules Alphonsus had written people were not to defend themselves when accused, even if falsely. So St Gerald was simply doing what Alphonsus had ordered. I think this is a good example of how even a great saint can get things wrong. I find it encouraging in my own life when I so often get things wrong. The other day I discovered something about St Padre Pio I never knew before. One of the accusations against him by those who slandered him was that he was a homosexual. This made me smile a little because one of the main accusations against him that he was a womaniser and having sex with them in the confession box. This makes me smile because they can't have it both ways. But for the devil and his disciples logic is no big deal so long as they could throw mud.
1 August | SAINT ALPHONSUS MARY DE LIGUORI (1696-1787) Bishop and Doctor of the Church From the Catechesis by Pope Benedict XVI, 30 March 2011 St Alphonsus Maria Liguori is an example of a zealous Pastor who conquered souls by preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments combined with behaviour impressed with gentle and merciful goodness that was born from his intense relationship with God, who is infinite Goodness. He had a realistically optimistic vision of the resources of good that the Lord gives to every person and gave importance to the affections and sentiments of the heart, as well as to the mind, to be able to love God and neighbour. I would like to recall that our Saint, like St Francis de Sales insists that holiness is accessible to every Christian: “the religious as a religious; the secular as a secular; the priest as a priest; the married as married; the man of business as a man of business; the soldier as a soldier; and so of every other state of life” (Practica di amare Gesù Cristo. Opere ascetiche [The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ] Ascetic Works 1, Rome 1933, p. 79). Let us thank the Lord who, with his Providence inspired saints and doctors in different times and places, who speak the same language to invite us to grow in faith and to live with love and with joy our being Christians in the simple everyday actions, to walk on the path of holiness, on the path towards God and towards true joy."
FEASTS OF THE DAY SUNDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2026 OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS OF THE PORTIUNCULA SAINT PETER JULIAN EYMARD OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS OF THE PORTIUNCULA August 2nd, is a special day for all Franciscans, as it is celebrated The Feast of Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula. When St. Francis was discerning his vocation, he heard the Lord tell him, “Go and build my church”. Francis taking what he heard literally, went and repaired chapels that were deteriorating. The Portiuncula or the “Little Portion,” dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels was one of the three chapels he repaired. The chapel and the land belongs to the Benedictines for it was given to St. Benedict in the 6th century. However, the friars came to live at the Portiuncula in early 1211. It became the “motherhouse” of the Franciscans. St. Francis felt that the Portiuncula was a place filled with God's grace. In 1216, at the request of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Honorius granted special privilege (plenary indulgence – a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins) to all those who would visit the little chapel. Although limited to include from noon on August 1st to midnight on August 2nd, the privilege continues to be granted to this day; not only to those who visit the Portiuncula, but to anyone who visits any church where Franciscan Friars live and minister. To receive this privilege (for yourself or for someone else – living or deceased), in addition to the visit, one must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation within several weeks of the Feast Day, go to Mass and receive the Eucharist, recite the Our Father and Apostles Creed, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father. DETAILS: In Assisi there is a small chapel (the Portiuncula) where St. Francis lived and where he began the Franciscan Order. It is now enclosed in a basilica in Assisi and the original structure of the Portiuncula is preserved. The beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli that now surrounds the Portiuncula chapel was begun in 1569 (completed in 1684) by decree of Pius V. It was meant to accommodate the huge crowds of pilgrims who came on August 2nd for Il Perdono (Portiuncula Indulgence). It also contains the cell where Saint Francis died, the Chapel of the Transito. There is the “thornless rose bush“. When St. Francis was tempted by the Devil he reportedly rolled in the bush and it turned from a briar bush into a thornless rose bush. To this day there are no thorns on the rose bushes–but only here on this spot. Here, also, is a statue of Saint Francis to mark the spot where he talked to the doves. To this day, white turtle doves continue to nest in this statue. The story is told that once while Saint Francis was praying here, Jesus appeared to him and offered to grant him a request. The humble saint asked for a plenary indulgence to be granted to all who, having confessed their sins and visited the chapel. The request was granted on the condition that such an indulgence meet with the Pope's approval. Pope Honorius III did grant the request on the condition that it only be honored one day each year: August 2nd. It is called the “Pardon of Assisi.“ SAINT PETER JULIAN EYMARD PRIEST AND FOUNDER (February 4, 1811 - August 1, 1868) Born in La Mure d'Isere in southeastern France, Peter Julian's faith journey drew him from being a priest in the Diocese of Grenoble (1834) to joining the Marists (1839) to founding the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (1856). In addition to those changes, Peter Julian coped with poverty, his father's initial opposition to Peter's vocation, serious illness, a Jansenistic striving for inner perfection and the difficulties of getting diocesan and later papal approval for his new religious community. His years as a Marist, including service as a provincial leader, saw the deepening of his Eucharistic devotion, especially through his preaching of Forty Hours in many parishes. The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament began working with children in Paris to prepare them to receive their first Communion. It also reached out to non-practicing Catholics, inviting them to repent and begin receiving Holy Communion again. He was a tireless proponent of frequent Holy Communion, an idea given more authoritative backing by Pope Pius X in 1905. Inspired at first by the idea of reparation for indifference to the Eucharist, Peter Julian was eventually attracted to a more positive spirituality of Christ-centered love. Members of the men's community, which Peter founded, alternated between an active apostolic life and contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist. He and Marguerite Guillot founded the women's Congregation of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1962, one day after Vatican II's first session ended. PATRON: Eucharistic Congress. PRAYER: O God, who adorned Saint Peter Julian Eymard with a wonderful love for the sacred mysteries of the Body and Blood of your Son, graciously grant that we, too, may be worthy to receive the delights he drew from this divine banquet. 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.
Part of the Portiuncula Indulgence is to pray to Our Lady, Queen of the Angels and I hope to do this today. Pere Lamy said the angels used to address Our Lady as, 'Queen'.
SAINT OF THE DAY MONDAY, 3 AUGUST, 2026 SAINT LYDIA OF PHILIPPI (LYDIA PURPURARIA) (First Century) Lydia is the first recorded person in Europe to become a follower of Jesus Christ. She was Saint Paul's first baptized convert at Philippi. What we know of Lydia is found in the Acts of the Apostles. She was from Thyatira, an industrial center located in what is now western Turkey. She was a wealthy business-woman; a manufacturer and seller of purple dyes and fabrics for which the city of Thyatira was noted. Lydia was part of a high value industry. Purple goods were luxury items, used by emperors, high government officials, and priests of the pagan religions. At the time of the narrative in Acts, Lydia and her household had moved to the city of Philippi, a Roman colony on the Rome-to-Asia trade route. This is where she had her first encounter with Paul on his second missionary journey about the year 50. While visiting Philippi for the first time, Paul and his party came upon Lydia and a group of women gathered by the river that ran through the city center. He sat down and shared the gospel with them. Lydia listened intently, took the gospel message to heart, and she and her family were then baptized in the river. Lydia insisted on providing hospitality to Paul and his companions, so they made their home with her while in Philippi. She continued to help them even after they were jailed and released. As a successful businesswoman, her home would have been spacious enough to welcome guests and to become a place for community gatherings and liturgies. Paul cherished the members of the Christian community at Philippi and called them his “joy and crown.” Undoubtedly, Lydia's generous hospitality and leadership in the founding of this early Christian community contributed to Paul's affection. PATRON: Cloth dyers. PRAYER: Pour out upon us, Lord, the spirit of knowledge and love of you, with which you filled your handmaid blessed Lydia, so that, serving you sincerely in imitation of her, we may be pleasing to you by our faith and our works. 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.
I often think about Lydia, she has such a modern feel. Not only was she a successful businesswoman but she was a very ,very successful one dealing in purple dye goods, purple being the colour of Kings and Emperors. So it is clear that she had top, top clients and was top of the pole at her trade. Clearly also she was rich and good with her money. very generous and well liked. A person who was rich , successful , popular an entrepeneur and a woman who took to Christianity like a duck to water. Also clearly a woman who was very,very forceful and did not take no for an answer from the very forceful St Paul. So right out of Scripture she breaks the mould in so many ways. In all the centuries to follow in the Church's history it is very hard to find a lady like her. There were, of course women saints and many of them. But most of them were nuns. The ones who were not nuns tended to be from poor backgrounds, mystics and visionaries. Lydia was none of these things. Nor was she even married. A husband or children are not even mentioned. Lydia is so much her won woman. But still a saint. She reminds me of something Our Lady of Good Success prophesied regarding out own times. That people who could well afford to help the Church would not do so. Lydia could afford to help the Church and did so. Anyone rich and successful reading about her, please take note. She is also the first documented Christian woman convert in Europe. Please take note.
SAINT OF THE DAY TUESDAY, 4 AUGUST, 2026 SAINT JOHN MARIE VIANNEY PRIEST AND CONFESSOR (8 May 1786 - 4 August 1859) Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, known as John in English, was born May 8, 1786 in Dardilly, France and was baptized the same day. He was the fourth of six children born to Matthieu and Marie Vianney. John was raised in a Catholic home and the family often helped the poor and housed St. Benedict Joseph Labre when he made his pilgrimage to Rome. In 1790, when the anticlerical Terror phase of the French Revolution forced priests to work in secrecy or face execution, young Vianney believed the priests were heroes. He continued to believe in the bravery of priests and received his First Communion catechism instructions in private by two nuns who lost their convents to the Revolution. At 13-years-old, John made his first communion and prepared for his confirmation in secrecy. When he was 20-years-old, John was allowed to leave the family farm to learn at a "prsbytery-school" in Écully. There he learned math, history, geography and Latin. As his education had been disrupted by the French Revolution, he struggled in his studies, particularly with Latin, but worked hard to learn. In 1802, the Catholic Church was reestablished in France and religious freedom and peace spread throughout the country. Unfortunately, in 1809, John was drafted into Napoleon Bonaparte's armies. He had been studying as an ecclesiastical student, which was a protected title and would normally have excepted him from military services, but Napoleon had withdrawn the exemption in some dioceses as he required more soldiers. Two days into his service, John fell ill and required hospitalization. As his troop continued, he stopped in at a church where he prayed. There he met a young man who volunteered to return him to his group, but instead led him deep into the mountains where military deserters met.John lived with them for one year and two months. He used the name Jerome Vincent and opened a school for the nearby village of Les Noes' children. John remained in Les Noes and hid when gendarmes came in search of deserters until 1810, when deserters were granted amnesty. Now free, John returned to Écully and resumed his ecclesiastic studies. He attended a minor seminary, Abbe Balley, in 1812 and was eventually ordained a deacon in June 1815. He joined his heroes as a priest August 12, 1815 in the Couvent des Minimes de Grenoble. His first Mass was celebrated the next day and he was appointed assistant to Balley in Écully. Three years later, when Balley passed away, Fr. John Vianney was appointed parish priest of the Ars parish. With help from Catherine Lassagne and Benedicta Lerdet, La Providence, a home for girls, was established in Ars. When he began his priestly duties, Fr. Vianney realized many were either ignorant or indifferent to religion as a result of the French Revolution. Many danced and drank on Sundays or worked in their fields. Fr. Vianney spent much time in confession and often delivered homilies against blasphemy and dancing. Finally, if parishioners did not give up dancing, he refused them absolution. He spent 11 to twelve hours each day working to reconcile people with God. In the summer months, he often worked 16-hour days and refused to retire. His fame spread until people began to travel to him in 1827. Within thirty years, it is said he received up to 20,000 pilgrims each year. He was deeply devoted to St. Philomena and erected a chapel and shrine in her honor. When he later became deathly ill but miraculously recovered, he attributed his health to St. Philomena's intercession. By 1853, Fr. Vianney had attempted to run away from Ars four times, each attempt with the intention of becoming a monk but decided after the final time that it was not to be. Six years later, he passed away and left behind a legacy of faith and was viewed as the champion of the poor. On October 3, 1873, Pope Pius IX proclaimed Fr. Vianney as "venerable" and on January 8, 1905, Pope Pius X beatified him. St. John Vianney was canonized on May 31, 1925. His feast day was declared August 9 but it was changed twice before it fell to August 4. St. John Vianney would often say: "Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there: If you set it on fire, it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that." PATRON: Parish priests, Priests. PRAYER: Almighty and merciful God, who made the Priest Saint John Vianney wonderful in his pastoral zeal, grant, we pray, that through his intercession and example we may in charity win brothers and sisters for Christ and attain with them eternal glory. 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.
St John Vianney is one of my very great favourites. One time a Protestant Anglican clergyman from England visited him and someone asked what he was like and he replied, 'In seeing him I have seen the face of God!' Quite the compliment! We can see the truth of this in this statue of him. https://www.papalartifacts.com/portfolio-item/st-jean-vianney/ My Jesus, from all eternity you were pleased to give yourself to us in love. And you planted within us a deep spiritual desire that can only be satisfied by yourself. I may go from here to the other end of the world, from one country to another, from riches to greater riches, from pleasure to pleasure, and still I shall not be content. All the world cannot satisfy the immortal soul. It would be like trying to feed a starving man with a single grain of wheat. We can only be satisfied by setting our hearts, imperfect as they are, on you. We are made to love you; you created us as your lovers. It sometimes happens that the more we know a neighbor, the less we love him. But with you it is quite the opposite. The more we know you, the more we love you. Knowledge of you kindles such a fire in our souls that we have no energy left for worldly desires. My Jesus, how good it is to love you. Let me be like your disciples on Mount Tabor, seeing nothing else but you. Let us be like two bosom friends, neither of whom can ever bear to offend the other. —St. Jean Vianney
FEAST OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY, 5 AUGUST, 2026 DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT MARY MAJOR FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS. We celebrate today the dedication of one of the four most illustrious churches of Rome. While each diocese and parish keeps its own dedication anniversary, the Church universal commemorates the consecration of the four great Roman basilicas, the mother churches, we may call them, of Christendom, viz., St. John Lateran, St. Peter, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major. By means of these feasts the Church seeks to link all Christians with the Holy See. OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS This feast commemorates the miracle of the snowfall that occurred during the night of August 4-5 in the year 358 on the site where the basilica now stands. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to two faithful Roman Christians, the patrician John and his wife, as well as to Pope Liberius (352-366), asking that a church be built in her honor on the site where snow would fall on the night of August 4-5. Pope Liberius traced the outlines of the church in the snow and the first basilica was built on that site. It was completed about a century later by Pope Sixtus III (432-440), after the Council of Ephesus in 431 during which Mary was declared to be the Mother of God. In Rome the Basilica of St. Mary Major will hold its traditional triduum from August 1 to 3 and two days of celebration on August 4 and 5. During the pontifical Mass and the second vespers, the traditional shower of flower petals will descend from the ceiling of the basilica to commemorate the August snowfall in 358. ST. MARY MAJOR IS IMPORTANT TO CHRISTENDOM FOR 3 REASONS: It stands as a venerable monument to the Council of Ephesus (431), at which the dogma of Mary's divine Motherhood was solemnly defined; the definition of the Council occasioned a most notable increase in the veneration paid to Mary. The basilica is Rome's "church of the crib," a kind of Bethlehem within the Eternal City; it also is a celebrated station church, serving, for instance, as the center for Rome's liturgy for the first Mass on Christmas. In some measure every picture of Mary with the divine Child is traceable to this church. St. Mary Major is Christendom's first Marian shrine for pilgrims. It set the precedent for the countless shrines where pilgrims gather to honor our Blessed Mother throughout the world. Here was introduced an authentic expression of popular piety that has been the source of untold blessings and graces for Christianity in the past as in the present. PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS Our Lady of the Snows, Immaculate Queen of the Universe, from this privileged sanctuary, Thou has bestowed so many countless graces and pledges of love upon the hearts and souls of millions. O Mother, from this cradle of Christianity, this Mother Church of all churches, deign to shower forth the graces of thine Immaculate Heart upon the remnant Faithful throughout the world, wherever they may be, and grant them the graces of a childlike love and unwavering fidelity to the holy truths of our Faith. Grant, good Mother, to the faithful Bishops of the Church the grace to defend Her Sacred Teachings, and to persevere courageously against all the enemies of the Holy Church. Amen.
I remember walking around Saint Mary's Major in Rome. All places have their own spiritual feel. This includes Churches, no Church is the same. Some are holier than others. Marian apparition sites have the strong sense of the presence of Mary. A beauty, a peace, a sense of coming home, a joy. St Mary Major in Rome is so, so, so like this. It sparkles.
FEAST OF THE DAY THURSDAY, 6 AUGUST, 2026 TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD Our divine Redeemer, being in Galilee about a year before His sacred Passion, took with him St. Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, Sts. James and John, and led them to a retired mountain. Tradition assures us that this was Mount Tabor, which is exceedingly high and beautiful, and was anciently covered with green trees and shrubs, and was very fruitful. It rises something like a sugar-loaf, in a vast plain in the middle of Galilee. This was the place in which the Man-God appeared in His glory. Whilst Jesus prayed, he suffered that glory which was always due to his sacred humility, and of which, for our sake, He deprived it, to diffuse a ray over His whole body. His face was altered and shone as the sun, and his garments became white as snow. Moses and Elias were seen by the three apostles in his company on this occasion, and were heard discoursing with him of the death which he was to suffer in Jerusalem. The three apostles were wonderfully delighted with this glorious vision, and St. Peter cried out to Christ, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tents: one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias" Whilst St. Peter was speaking, there came, on a sudden, a bright shining cloud from heaven, an emblem of the presence of God's majesty, and from out of this cloud was heard a voice which said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" The apostles that were present, upon hearing this voice, were seized with a sudden fear, and fell upon the ground; but Jesus, going to them, touched them, and bade them to rise. They immediately did so, and saw no one but Jesus standing in his ordinary state. This vision happened in the night. As they went down the mountain early the next morning, Jesus bade them not to tell any one what they had seen till he should be risen from the dead. PRAYER: O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration of your Only Begotten Son confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness of the Fathers and wonderfully prefigured our full adoption to sonship, grant, we pray, to your servants, that, listening to the voice of your beloved Son, we may merit to become co-heirs with him. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I love this Luminous Mystery. In the West we concentrate on the Cross in the East on Light. But we do have a tradition of showing saints surrounded by a halo round their heads. This actually has an origin where saints have indeed been seen in a glow. I visited the Monastery in Monte Casino in Italy one time, the home of St Benedict and Western Monasticism. There was the most gorgeous painting of him surrounded by light.
