Saints' Feast Days – September

• Blessed Dina Belanger (Marie Ste. Cécile de Rome) September 4^th
• Saint Teresa of Calcutta September 5^th
• Saint Peter Claver-Slave of the Slaves Priest, September 9^th
• Saint Hildegard of Bingen Virgin & Doctor of the Church, September 17^th
• Saint Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist Apostle & Evangelist, September 21^st
• Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (First Gospel)
• Saint Padre Pio Priest, September 23^rd
• The Exaultation of the Holy Cross September 14^th

---

Background:

Blessed Dina Belanger was born in Quebec City, on April 30, 1897 (five .months to the day before the death of St. Therese of Lisieux). Educated by the Notre Dame Sisters. After she graduated in 1914, she moved to New York to study piano and composition. After receiving her degree in 1918, she returned to her parents’ home.

Dina Belanger entered the Congregation of Religious of Jesus and Mary in Quebec in 1922. She professed religious vows in 1923. Assigned to teach music, she contracted tuberculosis and scarlet fever (the result of caring for a sick child). Her health began to deteriorate quickly, but during this time she wrote a spiritual autobiography and composed music intended to express her union with Jesus. Blessed Dina Belanger died on September 4, 1929. She was beatified in 1993.

My task throughout eternity, and until the end of the world, is and will be to radiate, through the most Holy Virgin, the Heart of Jesus in all souls.

-Blessed Dina Belanger

Intercessory Prayer:

Father of everlasting goodness, You put into the heart of Blessed Dina Belanger the burning desire to offer you on behalf of all mankind, the infinite riches of the Heart of Jesus present in the Eucharist, and, to live, like Mary, closely united to Him whom she loved with an undivided heart.

May we, like her, find our joy in faithfully doing your Will, and since you revealed to her your great desire to pour out upon the world the abundance of your graces, hear the prayer which we make for your greater glory, and which we entrust to her intercession. Amen.

… Blessed Dina Belanger, Pray for Us …

---

Background:

Saint Teresa of Calcutta was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. She devoted her life to caring for the sick and poor. Born in Macedonia to parents of Albanian-descent and having taught in India for 17 years, Mother Teresa experienced her "call within a call" in 1946. Her order established a hospice; centers for the blind, aged and disabled; and a leper colony. She died in September 1997 and was beatified in October 2003. In December 2015, Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for her to be canonized on September 4, 2016.

Her Feast Day is 5^th September.

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

-Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Intercessory Prayer:

Saint Teresa of Calcutta,
you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living
flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all. Obtain
from the Heart of Jesus

(here make your request).

Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so
completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.

Amen.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for me.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta, pray for me!

---

Background:

Born near Barcelona, St. Peter (1580-1654) was a Jesuit missionary who ministered to African slaves as they arrived at the South American seaport of Cartagena (modern Colombia), the principle slave market of the New World, where a thousand [slaves were landed every month. Enduring the derision of the slave traders, he fed the hungry, cared for the sick and dying, preached the Gospel, and baptized converts. He labored unceasingly for the salvation of the slaves and the abolition of the slave trade for nearly forty years. His Feast Day is 9^th September.

Intercessory Prayer:

God our Heavenly Father,
You have given us life through the Death and
Resurrection of Your Beloved Son, Jesus Christ;

Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be…

Jesus our saving Lord,
You came into a world darkened by man's sin
and gave it light through your teachings;

Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be…

Holy Spirit, the Breath of God Within us,
You guide and enlighten us and give us
the strength of our convictions;

Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be…

Closing Prayer:

Saint Peter Claver,
who became an example for us, you showed us the Love of God,
the light of Christ, and the strength of the Holy Spirit;
We pray now that all we say and do, in your honour,
be a continuation of your work here on earth. Amen.

… St Peter Claver, Pray for Us …

---

Background:

St. Hildegard (1098-1179) had her first vision at the age of three and these continued throughout her life. At the age of eight, her parents gave her into the care of St. Jutta, an anchoress. After her death, Hildegard became the abbess at the adjoining abbey. At forty-two, she heard God tell her to write her visions down. She wrote not only about her visions, but on theology, natural science, and medicine. She composed music, poems, and plays. She also founded a new abbey.

Her Feast Day is 17^th September.

Intercessory Prayer:

Father, Source of Life,
you have bestowed on St Hildegard of Bingen
many excellent graces.

Help us to follow her example of meditating on your
ineffable Majesty and to follow you so that we,
amidst the darkness of this world, recognise the Light
of your clarity to cling to you without fail.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

… St Hildegard of Bingen, Pray for Us …

---

Background:

Born in Palestine sometime in the 1st century, Saint Matthew was one of Jesus's 12 apostles and also one of the four Evangelists, according to the Bible. Matthew authored the first Gospel of the Bible's New Testament, now known as the Gospel of Matthew. Prior to preaching the word of God, he worked as a tax collector in Capernaum. Matthew is the patron saint of tax collectors and accountants. The Feast of St. Matthew is annually celebrated on September 21.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Intercessory Prayer:

O glorious Saint Matthew,
you were first a publican, a tax collector
and then a gatherer of souls for Christ
after immediately following His call.
In your Gospel you portray Jesus
as the longed-for Messiah
who fulfilled the prophets of the old covenant
and as the new lawgiver
who founded a church of the new covenant,
Obtain for us the grace
to see Jesus living in His Church
and to follow His teachings in our lives on earth
so that we may live forever with Him in Heaven.
Amen.

---

Saint Matthew's Portrait of Jesus:

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised Messiah (Christ, Matt 1:1), the coming King (Matt 2:2). The Gospel of Matthew is very Jewish in its message, revealing Jesus as the Star that would come out of Jacob, the Scepter that would rise out of Israel (Num 24:17-19), and the One who would sit on David’s throne (Isa 9:7). The Gospel gives great revelation of the Kingdom to come (Matt 3:2, et.al, Matt 13). In Matthew, Jesus’ genealogy is recorded from Abraham to Joseph, making Jesus the legal heir to the throne of David.

Chaplet Prayers:

On the Medal Pray:

O Glorious Saint Matthew, in your Gospel you portray
Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the
prophecies of the Old Covenant and as the new
Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant.
Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in his Church
and to follow His teachings in our lives on Earth so that
we may live forever with him in Heaven. Amen.

On the First Bead of each set, Pray the Our Father.

On the Second Bead of each set, Pray the Hail Mary.

On the Third Bead of each set, Pray the Glory Be.

On the Crucifix Pray:

We are reminded by the call of Saint Matthew that when we put on Christ, and follow Him, our old ways are made new, our sins are forgiven and we are reborn into the light of His salvation.  If Christ could call a tax collector to be His Disciple, we are filled with the hope that our salvation, however improbable it may seem based upon our wicked lives, is not only possible, but inevitable when we put our faith in the Lord.  Lift our gaze to Heaven and center our lives in His love. Amen.

---

Background:

Saint Padre Pio or St. Pio of Pietrelcina (25 May 1887 – 23 September 1968) was a Capuchin priest from Italy. He was popularly known as Padre Pio after his ordination to the priesthood. He became famous after receiving the “Stigmata“. In 1947, Fr. Karol Wojtyla visited Padre Pio who prophetically told him he would rise to the highest post in the Church." Fr. Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II in 1978 and on 16 June 2002 he canonized Padre Pio a saint. His Feast Day is 23^rd September.

The devil is like a rabid dog tied to a chain; beyond the length of the chain he cannot seize anyone. And you; keep at a distance. If you approach too near, you let yourself be caught. Remember that the devil has only one door by which to enter the soul; the will.

-Pio of Pietrelcena

Intercessory Prayer:

Oh Jesus, full of grace and charity,
victim for sinners,
so impelled by Thy love of us that
Thou didst will to die on the Cross.

I humbly entreat Thee to glorify in Heaven and on earth,
the servant of God, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina,
who generously participated in Thy sufferings,
who loved Thee so much and laboured
so faithfully for the glory of Thy heavenly Father
and for the good of souls.

With confidence, I beseech Thee to grant me, through his intercession,
the grace of (mention your intentions) which I ardently desire.

… St Padre Pio, Pray for Us …

---

The Exultation of the Holy Cross

Background:

Public veneration of the Holy Cross dates to the fourth century when St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine discovered it in Jerusalem. This feast commemorates the rescue of the Holy Cross from the Persians in the seventh century. The Church sings of the triumph of the Holy Cross, the instrument of salvation in the preface for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Sept. 14: “For you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth.”

The Tree of Life and the Wood of the Cross

Genesis 2:9 introduces us to the tree of life: “Out of the ground the Lord God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life also in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” According to Genesis 2:16-17, God told Adam, “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden [evidently including the tree of life] except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die” — that is, become subject to death.

The tempter, the father of lies, persuaded Eve (and through her, Adam) that eating the forbidden fruit would confer divine status on them. Indeed, the tempter spoke the truth, but with an entirely different, ominous meaning. By this act of disobedience, she and Adam certainly would know good and evil. But how? By themselves, actually becoming evil, disobedient to God.

Note that the fruit of the tree of life, which was believed to confer eternal life, was not forbidden to Adam and Eve not prior to their fall, but after their fall. Only then — and for Adam and Eve's ultimate benefit — did God forbid them to eat the fruit of the tree of life (see Gn 3:22-24). In their condition of disobedience they would eternally have been cut off from God. It was an act of mercy for God to prevent them from plunging themselves into damnation. God had in mind the new Adam through which he would restore to the human race the possibility of eternal life lost in the fall of Adam and Eve. We now know that Jesus Christ is the new Adam who reopened the way to eternal life.