Mary Most Holy Mother of God
With the solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God the Church celebrates and confesses that the Blessed Virgin truly is the Theotókos (in Greek: 'She who gives birth to God') or Deipara (according to the corresponding Latin word). They defined the first Marian dogma in history, intimately linked to the divinity of the Son and the mystery of His Incarnation in the virginal womb of Mary.
Saint Sylvester I
Saint Sylvester I († 31 December 335) saw the transition from the persecutions of Christians to the establishment of freedom of worship in the Roman Empire. His 21-year pontificate coincided with the extraordinary period of consolidation of Christianity
Saint Felix I
The pontificate of St. Felix I († 30 December 274) began on January 5th, 269, as the Church was tackling Adoptionism, one of the many heresies on the Holy Trinity to emerge in the early centuries of Christianity.
Saint Thomas Becket
For most of his life he had been a man of the world. But when God called him to be a pastor of souls, St Thomas Becket (c. 1119-1170) fought to the point of martyrdom to defend the freedom of the Church, refusing to compromise with power.
Holy Innocents
The Church venerates as martyrs, with the name of Holy Innocents, the children up to two years old in the Bethlehem area, whose killing was ordered by Herod with the intent to eliminate Jesus.
Holy Family
The Holy Family fulfils to the highest degree the two commandments of love. Jesus, Mary and Joseph indicate that the family is an image of the Holy Trinity and, to reflect this image, is called to place God at the centre
Saint Stephen
"Lord, do not impute this sin to them", were the last earthly words of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who testified his faith in the Risen Christ without fear of death and, as a faithful in Christ, imitated him to the exent of asking God to forgive his executioners.
Nativity of the Lord
“Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you, who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger”. Thus the angel announced to the shepherds the birth of the divine Child who took us away from the slavery of darkness to illuminate us with His light, becoming flesh in the fullness of time.
Saints Adam and Eve
December 24th is the day of the liturgical memory of the holy ancestors of Jesus, among whom the Church venerates Adam and Eve.
Saint John of Kety
Karol Wojtyla was very devoted to Saint John of Kety (1390-1473), also known as John Cantius, a Polish priest, theologian and university teacher, who always gave half of his academic salary to the poor.
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
The unshakable faith in God’s will was the distinctive trait of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), detectable in the choice of her name as a religious, when she added "Xavier" to her first name, in honour of the great Spanish missionary who had given everything up for Christ, announcing Him in the most distant and impenetrable lands of the East.
Saint Peter Canisius
Without St. Peter Canisius (1521-1597), the Catholic Reformation would have lacked a fundamental building block. Suffice to say that his three Catechisms formed German Catholics for centuries.
