ALL POSTS TAGGED: BLEST ARE WE

Sometimes our choices change our lives. In 1805, Elizabeth Seton chose to become a Catholic. This choice changed her life and ours.

Born in 1870 in a small town in Spain, Genoveva had a difficult childhood. By the time she was eight, her parents and four of her brothers and sisters had died. When she was 13, doctors had to amputate her leg because of an infection.

The new Bishop of Philadelphia had just about had it with the unfair treatment of Catholic students in the public school system of his city. We can hardly imagine such an occurrence today, but in the middle 1800s, school boards, administrators, and teachers were mostly Protestant and forced their beliefs on all the students. Catholic children were pressured (often with whippings) to read the Protestant Bible and participate in Protestant worship services in their schools.

André Bessette was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1845. By the time he was 12 he was an orphan who had to take care of himself. He traveled to the United States and worked for a time in a textile mill in New England. But he soon returned home to Canada with a dream of entering religious life.

Laura was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1891. Her father was a soldier. When civil war broke out, her father took Laura and her mother to another town across the mountains in Argentina so that they would be safe. Laura’a father died when she was only two years old.

There is a popular saying you may have heard: “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” This means that if you want people to agree with you or help you, being nice to them is better than being mean or unfriendly. The person who first said that lived more than 400 years ago, and he was a very persuasive speaker — and a saint.

Thomas was born in Italy around 1225 or 1227. He was originally Thomas of Aquino, the region in which he was born, but he has become known as Thomas Aquinas since that time.

People need work so that they can buy food and clothes and pay for a place to live. They need God so that they will be happy. John (Giovanni) Bosco was a priest who tried to teach poor children how to work and how to love God.

Brigid and her mother were said to have been slaves in fifth-century Ireland; her father was believed to have been an Irish chieftain. As a young girl, one of Brigid’s responsibilities was to care for the dairy farm on the property. After Brigid milked the cows, she gave the milk away to the poor. She gave the needy the eggs she collected from the hens and churned cream into butter to share with the hungry.

Maria Domenica Mantovani was born in 1862 in a small Italian village. Two things were always important to Maria: her love for God and her desire to help others. Her parish priest, Blessed Giuseppe Nascimbeni, encouraged her to teach religion classes to younger children, visit the sick, and join in parish activities. Maria asked our Blessed Mother Mary to guide her in all that she did.