St. Faustus of Cordova Feast Day: October 13 d. 304 Martyr ​ Next Item Previous Item

St. Joseph Cupertino Feast Day: September 18 1603 Confessor, Franciscan ​ Next Item Previous Item

St. Katharine Drexel Feast Day: March 3 1858 Foundress ​ Next Item Previous Item

St. John the Apostle Feast Day: December 27 UNK Apostle, Evangelist ​ Next Item Previous Item

St. Jude Thaddeus the Apostle Feast Day: October 28 UNK Apostle, Martyr ​ Next Item Previous Item

Wood of the True Cross Feast Day: September 14 1st Century Wood of the True Cross ​ According to ancient historians, mass crucifixions occurred multiple times around the world, but by far the most famous crucifixion in the history of mankind took place in 1st century Judea, when Jesus Christ, a Nazarene, carried the heavy pinewood up to Golgotha, was nailed upon the cross, and then lifted, to lift humanity out of eternal damnation. As Catholics, we know what happens next. What you may not know, is what happened to that empty, bloodstained cross. The Roman Emperor Hadrian, who reigned A.D. 117-138, abolished the name Judea and renamed the area “Syria Palaestina” after a Jewish insurrection around the year 132. Hadrian forbade Jews from entering the area, and demolished any remaining temples, deciding instead to erect temples to pagan gods and goddesses on the top of Mount Calvary. It was this destruction and ensuing construction of new buildings on the landscape that ensured the preservation of the holy and sacred sites of Jesus’ crucifixion, deep below the ground. More than 40 Roman Emperors later, Constantine the Great seized control of Rome in 312. It was not a smooth transition of power though, and one of the emperors, Maxentius, declared war and marched into battle with an army twice the size of Constantine’s. When Maxentius and his forces arrived on the battlefield, they were greeted by an unfamiliar symbol facing them: a cross. Most historians tell of Constantine reportedly praying before the battle that the true God might “reveal to him who he is and stretch forth his right hand to save him.” Then, marching at midday, he suddenly looked up at the noonday sky to see a bright cross of light flash among the heavens, with an inscription upon it: “In Hoc Signo Vinces” or “In this Sign Conquer.” Constantine, bolstered with the assurance that the True God had indeed heard him, inscribed the cross on their shields before advancing on Maxentius, who held a much better position for the battle near the Milvian Bridge in Rome. Maxentius’ troops were broken before the first charge had completed and he was among those who were pushed into the Tiber River and drowned. After the battle, Constantine didn’t forget who helped earn him the victory. In 313, the Edict of Milan was created as an agreement among the Roman Empire to treat Christians benevolently. This was a monumental shift, since for almost 250 years, the persecution of Christians was the norm for Roman emperors. All that changed by Constantine issuing an order that not only should the Christian Church be tolerated just as other religions are, but he went so far as to build places of worship for Christians and be baptized himself. Around the same time of Constantine’s conversion, his mother Helena also became a Christian, and she traveled to Palestine in the year 324 to search for sacred sites and relics to be reverenced. Details regarding the discovery the True Cross are lacking and often contradictory among many ancient writers, but the basis of the story is generally accepted as this: Around 326, Helena was traveling the area when an aged Jewish man who had inherited traditional knowledge of the location of the True Cross heard of Helena’s searching. He guided her to a cistern that the Cross had purportedly been thrown into. But oddly enough, after a brief excavation, laying before Helena were three crosses. But which one had held Christ? Theodoret, a biblical commentator and Christian Bishop of Cyrrhus in the 400’s, wrote a detailed account of how it was determined which was the True Cross: A woman who was either close to death or who had long been suffering an affliction of sorts was brought from the city. She touched each cross in earnest prayer, attempting to “discern the virtue residing in that of the Savior.” Nothing happened upon touching the first and second cross, but as she touched the third and final cross, she was immediately healed. It was determined that this was the True Cross of Jesus Christ, upon which His precious Blood had spilled. According to tradition, this discovery took place on May 3, 326 A.D. The Wood of the True Cross would change hands multiple times over the centuries, with the last officially recorded mention of its location in 1219, when the True Cross was offered to the Knights Templar by the Sultan of Egypt, in exchange for a siege on the city of Damietta being lifted. However, the True Cross was never delivered; the Sultan did not actually have it. Last seen in the city of Damascus, the wood upon which Jesus had hung disappeared from historical records. Luckily, many relics of the True Cross remain in the world today. In those early years following the discovery of the True Cross, fragments had been divided and distributed widely among churches. “The whole earth is full of the relics of the Cross of Christ,” wrote Cyril of Jerusalem. By the Middle Ages, there were so many churches that claimed to possess a piece of the True Cross, that John Calvin famously quipped “if all the pieces that could be found were collected together, they would make a big ship-load.” While indeed forged relics were a common occurrence around the 11th century, a study conducted by Charles Rohault de Fleury, a French architect, compared the supposed weight of the cross carried by Jesus compared to the combined volume of all known relics. He concluded that the remaining fragments together again wouldn’t reach even one-third of the size of the original Cross. His calculations placed the original volume of the True Cross at 178 million cubic millimeters. However, the combined volume of all known relics of the True Cross amount to just about 4 million cubic millimeters, meaning that almost 98% of the True Cross is lost, destroyed, or otherwise unaccounted for. Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, the anniversary of when the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was dedicated by Constantine. On Good Friday, Catholics around the world venerate the cross, the symbol of their salvation. Next Item Previous Item

St. Josemaria Escriva Feast Day: June 26 1902 Founder of Opus Dei ​ Next Item Previous Item

St. Teresa of Calcutta Feast Day: September 5 1910 Virgin, Foundress of Missionaries of Charity ​ Next Item Previous Item

St. Benedict the Moor Feast Day: April 4 1526 Confessor, Franciscan ​ Saint Benedict the Moor lived a life of the Beatitudes. Born to two African slaves and illiterate, he would later possess a knowledge of Sacred Scripture and complex theological questions that astonished priests and scholars alike. Growing in fame for his miracles and teachings, he was meek, and chose to travel at night to avoid recognition. Facing persecution throughout his life due to being “il Moro,” or dark skinned, he chose to be a peacemaker, and is remembered for his racial tolerance. Benedict was born in 1526 in Italy, most likely near San Fratello. His parents, Cristoforo and Diana Manasseri were Africans who were captured and taken as slaves to San Fratello, located near Sicily. After they arrived in Italy, they both converted to Catholicism, prior to the birth of Benedict. Thanks to his parents “loyal service” as slaves, Benedict was born free from slavery. Just because he wasn’t a slave didn’t mean his life was easy though. Like most peasants, he didn’t attend school, and instead worked as a shepherd through his youth. Even at a young age, he had a heart for the poor, and gave most of what he earned to those in need. Benedict was often subject to persecution and ridicule due to his race and his parents’ servitude. Despite being the object of frequent humiliation, he bore these insults with dignity, patience and even cheerfulness. By the age of 10, he had become known as “The Holy Black” in Italy. It was Benedict’s gentleness and peaceful nature that one day attracted the attention of Jerome Lanzi, a member of a group of hermits from nearby Monte Pellegrino. The twenty-one-year-old Benedict was encouraged to join the independent society of hermits, who lived under the Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi. Lanzi, a former nobleman who had left his former life to join the hermits, succeeded in convincing Benedict to join and he soon sold the few possessions he had and joined their monastic group. Benedict found a welcome home among the small group of hermits, who would relocate to a new location outside Palermo not long after he joined. For many years, he happily worked in the kitchen as a lay brother, serving as an exceptional cook. When he was 28, Jerome Lanzi, who had been serving as the superior of the order, passed away. Reluctantly, it was Benedict himself who agreed to become the new superior, and the community prospered under his leadership. Following the third Council of Trent in 1564, Pope Pius IV announced a decree for all independent hermit societies to disband. Considering that the Benedict-led hermits were adhering to the Rule of St. Francis, they followed the Pope’s encouragement to join Franciscan orders. Benedict would become a member of the Order of the Friars Minor, and travel to Palermo to the Franciscan Friary of St. Mary of Jesus. He initially returned to the kitchen to continue his work as a cook, and he quickly became known not just for his tasty food, but for his resourcefulness. Stories tell of his miraculous ability to “multiply the food” and feed more and more people despite a limited amount of food available. Over the years, Benedict would rise in ranks at the friary, advancing to Master of Novices before becoming the Guardian of the community, a significant leadership role, in 1578. This was especially notable due to the fact that Benedict was still illiterate – and thus he was unable to become a priest due to the requirement of priests and religious figures being able to read and write. Nonetheless, he soon displayed a vast and deep understanding of theology and scripture, and word of his knowledge and sanctity began to spread outside Palermo. Benedict became known for his many gifts and miracles, one of them including the apparent ability to read the minds of others. This created large groups of lay people, clergy, and curious Italians far and wide flocking to his side, seeking his counsel. Benedict disliked the attention though, and always tried to travel at night when he could. When daytime trips were unavoidable, he would cover his face with a hood. Benedict also encouraged and developed a stricter Franciscan rule of life as the Guardian of the friary. He fully embraced the austerities of the hermit life, sleeping only a few hours each night, eating sparingly, and keeping seven 40-day fasts through the year. Benedict continued to serve the friary faithfully as a lay person, drawing people every day to hear his teachings of the scripture, experience his healing abilities, and just be in the presence of a man of divine wisdom and compassion. Towards the end of his life, Benedict asked to be relieved of his offices, and return to his favorite work: cooking in the kitchen. He resumed his duties as cook but had nearly every day interrupted by crowds who continued to seek alms, advice, prayers and cures for their illnesses. Around the age of 63, it was Benedict himself who fell ill and on the exact date and time that he had predicted, he passed away in Palermo. He was initially buried in a large tomb inside the friary church, but would have his body exhumed twice, with King Phillip III of Spain creating a shrine for Benedict in Palermo, Italy, and his body was placed in the shrine in 1611. His remains were discovered to be without any noticeable signs of decay, and his relics are still considered incorrupt to this day. Benedict was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in 1743 and canonized by Pope Pius VII in 1807. He is the patron saint of African missions, African Americans, Palermo, and Sicily. He became known as Saint Benedict the Moor, after the Italian phrase “Il Moro” meaning “The Black”. There are several historically black Roman Catholic churches bearing his namesake across the country, including parishes in Georgia, New York, Florida, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and more. Saint Benedict the Moor showed others that God doesn’t always call the qualified, but he qualifies the called. He endured the taunts of racial prejudice, refused to be hindered by his illiteracy, and humbly served the Lord whether he was leading in the front or cooking in the back. He had every opportunity to become prideful, arrogant, angry or impatient – instead, he handed what he had to the Lord, and then leaned into the gifts the Lord provided in return. Next Item Previous Item

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Feast Day: November 13 1850 Virgin ​ Next Item Previous Item