‘Hate eats you inside’: 95-year-old Holocaust
survivor speaks at John Carroll
Dec 05 2006
Georges Selzer stood naked in the snow when guards at the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland tattooed a camp number on his left forearm: 101100. Standing at a podium more than six decades later, the 95-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor calmly unbuttoned and rolled up his left sleeve to show some 30 students at The John Carroll School in Bel Air the deep purple digits that remain emblazoned on his body and in his soul.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
Nov 18 2006
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was born Aug. 29, 1769, in Grenoble, France. As young as age 8, she knew she wanted to evangelize in America because she’d heard a Jesuit discuss his missionary work there. In 1788, she joined the Visitation nuns in Grenoble without her family’s knowledge. Her convent was closed in 1792 during the French Revolution, but she still lived as though in her order. St. Rose cared for the sick. She also began a school and hid priests during the revolution. When the Terror of the revolution was over, she tried to start up her order. However, the order was added to the Society of the Sacred Heart. St. Rose made her final vows as a member of that order in 1805. She left for the Louisiana Territory in 1818, finally fulfilling a dream she’d had since a child. Along with four other sisters, she tried to start the Society of the Sacred Heart in her new home. She opened schools and worked with American Indians. She died in Missouri in 1852. St. Rose is patron saint of the diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Names of new committees in bishops' conference
Nov 17 2006
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- When the nation's bishops adopted a plan to reorganize the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops next year, a major component was a sharp reduction in the number of the bishops' standing committees and the elimination of all their ad hoc committees.
St. Margaret of Scotland
Nov 16 2006
St. Margaret of Scotland was born in Hungary circa 1045.The granddaughter of an English king, Margaret, along with her family, was exiled during an invasion of England. Her family ended up in Scotland when their ship crashed there. Scotland’s King Malcolm III helped the family. Margaret married the Scottish king in 1070 and had eight children. Margaret founded abbeys, worked for justice and aided the poor. She died Nov. 16, 1093, just a few days after her husband and son died. St. Margaret is patron saint of large families, queens, Scotland, death of children and widows.
St. Vincent de Paul
Sep 27 2006
St. Vincent de Paul was born to a peasant family in 1581 in southwest France. He was educated by Franciscan friars before beginning studies at the University of Toulouse in 1596. He was ordained when he was 20 years old. Captured by pirates, St. Vincent de Paul was sold into slavery. He was only freed in 1607 after he converted his owner to Christianity. While serving as a parish priest in Paris, he formed groups to help the poor, the ill and the unemployed. With Louise de Marillac, he founded the Daughters of Charity. He also instituted the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (Lazarists). St. Vincent de Paul always worked for those in society who needed the most help: the poor, abandoned, ignored, sick, etc. He died in Paris in 1660, and his body was later found incorrupt. St. Vincent de Paul is patron saint of charities, St. Vincent de Paul societies, Vincentian Service Corps and volunteers.
St. Rose
Aug 23 2006
St. Rose was born in 1586 in Lima, Peru, to Spanish immigrants. She took a vow of chastity, and she lived in a garden where she prayed and grew vegetables to help support her family. She also did embroidery to help her family and the poor living around her. This mystic and visionary is said to have received invisible stigmata, and she was a Dominican tertiary. St. Rose was the first saint born in the Americas, and she founded social work in Peru. She died in 1617. She is patron saint of the Americas, Peru and embroiderers.
St. Anthony Gianelli
Jun 07 2006
St. Anthony Gianelli was born into a poor but religious family in Cerreto, Italy, in April 1789. He was ordained in May 1812 with a special dispensation because of his young age, and he became a parish priest. In 1827 he founded the Missionaries of St. Alphonsus, but the group only existed until 1848. He also founded the Sisters of Our Lady of the Garden, an order of women religious dedicated to working with the sick and teaching, in 1829. St. Anthony Gianelli died in 1846 and was canonized in 1951.
St. John the Great Sinner
Jun 03 2006
St. John the Great Sinner was born into a Christian family in March 1546 in Spain. When he was 19 he left his business and gave away his belongings to live as a hermit. He worked in prisons and hospitals in Jerez de la Frontera, and he later founded the Hospital of Our Lady of Candlemas in Jerez. He joined the Order of Hospitallers in 1574. In 1600 he died while caring for those who were dying of the plague. St. John the Great Sinner is patron saint of the diocese of Jerez de la Frontera.
St. Agnes of Montepulciano
Apr 20 2006
St. Agnes of Montepulciano was born to a wealthy family in Italy in 1268. She was a pious child and knew she wanted to join a convent by age 6. She entered the convent in Montepulciano when she was 9 years old. She later went to Procena when her spiritual director was appointed abbess there. When St. Agnes was 15 years old, she received special permission from Pope Nicholas IV to become an abbess. She later returned to Montepulciano to work in a new Dominican convent, and she was the prioress there for the last 17 years of her life. St. Agnes died April 20, 1317. People reported miracles at her tomb, and her body was found incorrupt.
St. Vincent Ferrer
Apr 05 2006
St. Vincent Ferrer was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1350. He became a Dominican friar at age 18 despite his family’s disapproval. He was a priest and missionary who taught theology. A great preacher, he converted many people across Europe, including people in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, England and Scotland, among others. He worked to end the schism in the church and saw it end before he died. St. Vincent Ferrer is patron saint of builders because helped to “build up” the church.
St. Patrick
Mar 17 2006
St. Patrick was born in Scotland around the year 387. When he was about 16, he was captured and sent to Ireland to become a slave. At the time, Ireland was pagan. During his captivity, St. Patrick spent much time in prayer. Around the age of 20, he had a dream that he should return to Britain and his family, and he did. He studied and became a priest and then a bishop. He evangelized England then he started in Ireland. He worked to convert people in Ireland for 40 years, and he died around 461. The shamrock is associated with St. Patrick and Ireland because St. Patrick used the shamrock to help explain the Trinity. He is patron saint of Ireland.