Text Box: MAY May 1 – St. Joseph the Worker - Patron Saint of Workers. May 1 – THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD (transferred to 7th Sunday of Easter) May 2 – St. Athanasius –Bishop, doctor of the Church. Athanasius, died 373; 45 years the bishop of Alexandria; champion of Nicea (325; prolific polemicist argainst the Arians, who exiled him five times; one of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church; wrote On the Incarnation, the Discourse Against the Arians, and The Life of Antony (17 Jan.); known as the “Doctor of the Incarnation”. May 3 – Sts. Philip & James – St. Philip, died 1st c.; from Bethsaida; among the first disciples called by Jesus (Jn 1:43-44); tradition holds he preached in Phrygia, dying on a cross at Hierapolis; two apocryphal works attributed to him; with James, venerated as the patron saints of Uruguay. St. James, died 62; son of Alphaeus and cousin or “brother of the Lord”; surnamed “the Less” (see 25 July ) or “the Just” for his piety; leader of the Jerusalem Church; an epistle is ascribed to him; believed to have been beaten or stoned to death; patron of the dying; both saints mentioned in the Roman Canon. May 10th – Blessed Damien Joseph de Veuster of Moloka’i, priest (USA), died April 15, 1889 at age 49. Belgian who joined the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; arrived in Honolulu 03.19, 1864; in 1873, began his work on Moloka’i, known as “Devil’s Island”, used as a colony for 800 lepers; diagnosed with leprosy in 1885; beatified in 1995; “I make myself a leper with the lepers, to gain all for Jesus. May 12th – Nereus, Achilleus & Pancras, martyrs. Nereus and Achilleus died at the end of the first century; their acta reported that they were beheaded during the reign of Trajan on the island of Terracina. Pancras, died in the year 304; his “acts” state that he was a Syrian or Phrygian orphan who came to Rome where he was converted to Christianity; he was beheaded under Diocletian; buried on the Via Aurelia. May 13 – Our Lady of Fatima – 91st Anniversary of Apparition. Our Lady of Fatima is venerated under this title following apparitions to three shepherd children in Portugal in 1917.The message of Fatima includes a call to conversion of heart, repentance from sin, and prayer, especially the Rosary. This memorial has been Text Box: newly-included in the Universal Calendar of the revised Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia Holy Mass will be celebrated at 7.30PM followed by Rosary and Procession with statue of Our Lady of Fatima. May 14, 2005 – MATTHIAS, APOSTLE - Matthias died in the first century; chosen to replace Judas; qualified because he witnessed Jesus’ ministry and resurrection; said to have suffered martyrdom either at Colchis (modern day Georgia). May 15 – St. Isidore the farmer – a farm laborer, whose wife, Maria de la Cabeza (Torribia) is also a saint was associated with miracles. He is patron saint of Madrid, of farmers, and rural communities. Died 1130. May 18 - St. John I, pope & martyr from Tuscany; introduced the Alexandrian computation of the date of Easter; led an embassy to Constantinople to discuss Emperor Justin I’s policy toward Arians in the East. This day also marks the 85th birthday of the late pope John Paul II. May 20 - St. Barnardine of Siena famous reformer & eloquent franciscan preacher who traveled throughout Italy; encouraged devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus; known for his use of the monogram IHS (Iesus Hominum Salvator) May 21 – St. Christopher Magellanes, priest & martyr. He & 21 diocesan priest & 3 layman were either shot or hanged (1915 – 1937) for the association with the Cristero uprising which opposed the anti-Catholic Mexican government in the 1920s. The Cristero motto: Long live Christ the King & the Virgin of Guadalupe. May 22 – St. Rita of Cascia – Born in 1381in the town of Roccaporena in Umbria. She lived with a brutal husband and had two sons. After the violent murder of her husband, she urged forgiveness in contrast to the customary vendetta of her day. Becoming an Augustinian nun, she spent some forty years in prayer, contemplation, and service to the sick and poor. Toward the end of her life, she received a wound from a thorn from the crown of thorns. She died in 1457. She is the patron saint of desperate situations. This memorial has been newly-included in the Universal Calendar of the revised Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia. May 25 - St. Bede the Venerable, priest & doctor of the Church;O.S.B. +735; born in Northumbria: called “Venerable” while still living; wrote Scriptural expositions, commentaries, and homilies; known as the “Father of English history.”; Gregory VII, pope + 1085; from Tuscany; O.S.B. championed reform of the clergy agaist simony, clerical marrige, and lay investiture, leading to the