Text Box: FEBRUARY February 2nd – PRESENTATION OF THE LORD - This feast, originating in the 4thc. Jerusalem, came to be celebrated in Rome by the middle of the 5th c. under the title “Feast of the meeting” known also as Candlemas Day. February 3rd – St. Blaise, bishop, martyr & St. Ansgar, bishop – Blaise, believed to have been martyred in the persecution of Licinius, early 4th c.; bishop of Sebaste in Armenia; associated with the healing of throats; venerated as well by the Eastern Church. Ansgar, 865 at Bremen; O.S.B. missionary to Denmark and Sweden; bishop of Hamburg; great preacher and administrator; known as the “Apostle of the North”; patron saint of Denmark, Germany, and Iceland. February 6th – St. Paul Miki and 25 companions Were crucified by order of the ruler Hideyoshi Feb. 5, 1597 at Nagasaki; among them, the Mexican, Felipe de Jesus, first martyr from the Americas to be beatified; protomartyrs of the Far East (canonized in 1862 by Pope Pius 1X). February 7th – St. Perpetua & Felicity, martyrs - Perpetua, a noble lady, and Felicity, her slave, at Carthage in 203 under Septimus Severus; names mentioned in the Roman Canon. February 8th – St. John of God - John of God, religious, 1550 in Granada; shepherd, soldier, and entrepreneur before his conversion at age 42; laid foundation (1537) for the Order of Hospitallers, today numbering about 1,470 religious; patron of hospitals and the sick, of nurses and booksellers. February 8th – St. Jerome Emiliani & St. Josephine Bakhita – St. Jerome 1537 of the plague; Venetian soldier whose conversion led to the founding (1534) of the Clerks Regular of Somascha, today numbering about 500 members; dedicated to the poor and the education of youth; patron of orphans and abandoned children. St. Josephine, born around 1869 in Sudan and reared in the Islamic faith. She was kidnapped about the age of 7 by slave-traders who gave her the name, “Bakhita”, meaning “lucky one”. She was sold to a number of owners until she was purchased at about the age of 12 by the Italian Consul Callisto Legnani. He brought her to Italy and, while serving as a nanny, was sent to live with the Canossian Sisters in Venice. There she was formally introduced to the faith, baptized Guiseppina and, eventually, granted her freedom. February 9th – St. Frances of Rome, religious – Frances of Rome, 1440; noblewoman, wife, and mother; founded a community of Benedictine women oblates committed to serving the poorest of the poor; patroness of widows and motorists. February 10th – St. Scholastica – 543 Monte Cassino; twin sister of St. Benedict; “She could do more because she loved more” (Gregory the Great, The Dialogues), eventually interred in the same grave with her brother; invoked against storms, patroness of Benedictine nunneries. February 11th – Our Lady of Lourdes –According to St. Bernadette (16 April), the visionary at Lourdes in 1858, the Virgin Mary proclaimed herself “The Immaculate Conception”; patroness of Portugal and the Philippines. PN Pope John Paul II has designated 11 February as World Day of the Sick, “a special time of prayer and sharing, of offering one’s suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding us to see in our sick brother and sister the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying, and rising, achieved the salvation of humankind.” (Letter Instituting the World Day of the Sick, 13 May 1992, 3.) Text Box: February 14th – St. Cyril, Methodius & St. Valentine – Cyril, monk, and Methodius, bishop. Cyril, 869, and Methodius, 885; brothers known as the Apostles to the Slavs”prepared Slavic liturgical texts; served as the “spiritual bridge between Eastern and Western traditions” (Pope John Paul II); patrons of Europe and, in particular, of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. St. Valentine – was a holy priest in Rome, who assisted the martyrs in the persecution. He was apprehended and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commended him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, in the year 270. February 17th – The Seven Founders of the Order of Servites – The Servites were founded by seven Florentine cloth merchants in 1223, today numbering about 1,000 members; they popularized devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. February 21st – St. Peter Damian – Bishop & Doctor, 1072; indefatigable defender of the Gregorian reform; monk, later Cardinal bishop of Ostia; promoter of religious life February 22nd – The Chair of Peter, Apostle – Today’s feast, attested as early as the mid-fourth century, has its roots in the commemoration of dead relatives and friends (Parentalia) celebrated in Rome between 13-22 February. At this commemoration, a chair (cathedra) was left empty for particular deceased persons. Since the actual date of Peter’s death was unknown, it came to be commemorated on 22 February, eventually celebrating his taking pastoral responsibility of the Church of Rome. February 23 – Polycarp, bishop, martyr – Polycarp, c.155 at age 86; disciple of St. John and bishop of Smyrna; his Letter to the Philippians witnesses to various New Testament writings; the Martyrdom of Polycarp records his being burned at the stake; one of the first martyrs to be venerated. February 25—ASH WEDNESDAY ******************************************* BLESSING OF EXPECTANT MOTHERS Will be next weekend during Saturday January 31, at 5.00PM, and Sunday, February 1, at 8.30am & 10.30am Masses. MARIAN MOVEMENT of PRIESTS CENACLE - 4th Sunday of every month at 3:30 p.m. in our church. This Sunday January 25, at 3.30PM Holy Mass will be said for the Marian Movement of Priests (this is a movement for lay people, priests and religious who wish to pray for priests), followed by Holy Hour with Benediction afterwards. Please come to pray for our priests. Everybody is welcome. Please inform and invite others. Next month Marian Movement Mass: February 22, 2009, at 3.30pm. FIRST HOLY COMMUNION FOR CHILDREN - Candles - Sunday - February 1st. On next Sunday, February 1, the First Holy Communion Children - Class of 2009 - of St. Margaret Mary will be presented with Candles. As we commemorate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2nd), known as CANDLEMAS, let us pray to Our Lady for these children as they continue to