St. Bernadette

Incorrupt Relic in the Chapel of St. Bernadette in Nevers

Chronicle of Significant Events in the Life of St. Bernadette

7th January 1844	The birth of Bernadette to Francois and Louise Soubirous. She was christened Marie Bernadette on 9th January at St. Peter's Parish Church in Lourdes.
Autumn 1855	The plague broke out in Lourdes. Bernadette was infected by the plague. Although she recovered from it, she fell victim to asthma, and was to suffer for this for the rest of her life.
11th February -  16th July 1858	It was during this period that the eighteen (18) apparitions took place. Our Lady on most occasions simply prayed with Bernadette and allowed herself to be contemplated. At other times, Our Lady would converse with Bernadette, giving her instructions, thus bequeathing to us the message and the spirituality of Lourdes.
19th May 1866	The crypt which formed the basis of the Chapel in Lourdes (desired by Our Lady through Bernadette) was inaugurated and consecrated by Bishop Laurence of Tarbes.
4th July 1866	Bernadette left Lourdes and entered the Convent of Saint Gildard to become a nun under the Order of the Sisters of Charity in Never.
30th October 1867	Bernadette took her Religious Vows together with 43 other novitiates. Bernadette remained in Nevers because she was ill and considered incapable. She was entrusted with the task of working in the infirmary of the convent and of helping in the kitchen.
16th April 1879	Bernadette had been suffering serious attacks of asthma and tuberculosis of the bones of her legs. She died at 3:00pm on this day. Bernadette was just over 35 years old.
23rd September 1903	Bernadette's body was exhumed, 30 years after her death, as part of the ecclesiastical investigation leading up to beatification and canonisation. Her body was found to be incorrupt, the whiteness of her body preserved and there was no odour.
14th June 1925	The Beatification of Bernadette.
8th December 1933	Pope Pius XI proclaimed Bernadette Saint. The Canonisation of Bernadette Soubirous took place on this day, which was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Present	St. Bernadette's body is still in a perfect state. Her body, covered by a thick layer of wax for preservation, is resting inside a bronze and crystal urn, in the chapel of the Convent of Nevers in France.

Selain St. Bernadette masih banyak lagi loh sebenernya... coba aja lihat

Blessed Imelda (1322-1333)

The Lord gave to Imelda Lambertini a special gift at age 9 on the Feast of the Ascension (May 12) in 1333. The nuns were preparing to leave the church when some of them were startled to see what appeared to be a Sacred Host hovering in the air above Imelda, as she knelt before the closed tabernacle absorbed in prayer. Quickly they attracted the attention of the priest who hurried forward with a paten on which to receive It. The Host dropped onto the paten, and the priest gave Imelda her First Holy Communion. In the face of such a miracle he could not do otherwise than give to Imelda her first communion, which was also her last.

For the love with which she received her Lord was so great that it broke her heart: she sank unconscious to the ground, and when loving hands upraised her, it was found that she was dead.

Blessed Imelda’s incorrupt body lies in the church of San Sigismondo near the University of Bologna. Pope St. Pious X named her Protectress of First Holy Communicants.

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Saint Catherine Laboure (1806 - 1876)

Saint Catherine Laboure died on 31st December 1876. When her body was exhumed 56 years later it was unblemished. Her eyes were as blue as the day she died. Catherine Laboure is still lying in state at the right of the altar in the chapel Rue du Bac 140, in Paris and she still looks as though she only died yesterday.

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Saint Vincent de Paul (circa 1580 - 1660)

Vincent de Paul was born around 1580 in the village of Pouy in Gascony, southwest France, into to a poor peasant family. Being a highly intelligent youth, Vincent was allowed to spend four years with the Franciscan friars at Acqs getting an education. In 1596 he began theological studies at the University of Toulouse and was ordained priest in 1600 at the age of 20.

Returning by sea from a journey to Marseilles in 1605, he was captured by Turkish pirates who took him to Tunis, where he was sold as a slave. Two years later he managed to escape together with his master, a renegade whom he had converted to Christianity.

After returning to France, he served as parish priest near Paris where he founded several organizations to help the poor, nurse the sick, finding jobs for the unemployed, etc.

Vincent de Paul died in Paris in 1660. In 1737 he was canonized by Pope Clement XII.

His bones are encased in a wax figure, and rest in a reliquary in the chapel of the Vincentian Fathers in Paris. His still incorrupt heart is enclosed on the altar of his shrine in the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity in Paris.

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Saint Francis Xavier (1506 - 1552)

He was born in 1506 at Javier, Spain, he died on December 2, 1552 in Sancian, China of a disease he contracted during his missionary work. Born in Spain of noble parents, he studied and became a teacher of philosophy at the University of Paris. Together with Saint Ignatius of Loyola and four other young men, they founded the Society of Jesus, "The Jesuits". As a priest he traveled to India, Japan and China, he was a very powerful evangelizer and is said to have caused the conversion of entire cities. His body remains incorrupt.

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Saint Maria Goretti (1890 - 1902)

Maria quickly matured in grace and holiness in the eyes of friends and other acquaintances. After losing her father to malaria, she developed great strength and maturity. Her charming modesty, cheerful obedience and the serious, but free acceptance of a hundred thankless home chores distinguished her from the other children who would play in the dusty streets of Ferriere. Perhaps the highlight of her life was her First Holy Communion, which she dutifully prepared for and awaited with great anticipation. She truly seemed to be advancing "in wisdom, and age and grace before God and men."

Alessandro Serenelli had been a thorn in lovely Maria's side. He propositioned her on several occasions. On July 5, 1902, she once again rebuffed his advance, shouting, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!", Alexander then stabbed Maria 14 times. Doctors in Nettuno tried to save Maria's life to no avail. After 20 painful hours of suffering during which she forgave and prayed for Alessandro, Maria entered Heaven fortified with the Last Sacraments. Her last earthly gaze rested upon a picture of the Blessed Mother. It was July 6, 1902.

Almost fifty years later on June 24, 1950, Pope Pius XII stood on the steps of St. Peter's in Rome and pronounced Maria Goretti a Saint and Martyr of the Universal Church to half a million people. He proposed her as the Patroness of Modern Youth and set July 6th as her feast Day. Her mother, and her murderer, attended the canonization ceremony together.

This was the triumph of the little girl who loved God and hated sin.

Official Prayer to St. Maria Goretti:
Oh Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve
to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity, look graciously on the
unhappy human race which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially
youth,with what courage and promptitude we should flee for the love of Jesus anything that could offend Him
or stain our souls with sin. Obtain for us from our Lord victory in temptation, comfort in the sorrows of
life, and the grace which we earnestly beg of thee (here insert intention), and may we one day enjoy with thee
the imperishable glory of Heaven. Amen.

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Saint John Marie Vianney (1786 - 1859)

He was born in 1786 in Dardilly, Lyons, France, died in 1859. He was raised in the country in a humble peasant family. He had many difficulties in learning, but he taught other children how to pray and to learn the catechism.

It was very difficult for him to become a Priest since he had so many problems in learning, but he was a holy man whose inability to learn was compensated by the Wisdom of God. He was assigned to the parish of Ars, a town of 250 people who were not very good Catholics. He began visiting his parishioners, especially the sick and poor. He would spend days in prayer, doing penance for them.

His main concern was to save sinners, God gifted him with a very powerful message in his sermons that would convert his listeners. He had the gift of reading souls in confession and because of this love for souls the devil would torment him at night, by shaking his bed and setting it on fire. Thousands would come from everywhere to hear him preach, and to have a confession with him. He served God as a priest for 40 years and is called the patron saint of parish priests.

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Blessed Margaret of Castello (1287 - 1320)

It must have been about the year 1293 when some women of Citta-di-Castello in Umbria, who had gone one day to pray in their parish church, found within, a destitute blind child of about six or seven, who had been abandoned there by her parents. The kind souls were filled with pity for the little waif, and, poor though they were, they took charge of her - first one family and then another, sheltering and feeding her until she became practically the adopted child of the village. One and all declared that, far from being a burden, little Margaret brought a blessing upon those who befriended her. Some years later, the nuns of a local convent offered her a home. The girl rejoiced at the prospect of living with religious, but her joy was short-lived. The community was lax and worldly; Margaret's fervor was a tacit reproach to them, nor did she bring them the profit they had anticipated. Neglect was succeeded by petty persecution, and then by active calumny. Finally she was driven forth ignominiously to face the world once more.

However, her old friends rallied around her. One couple offered her a settled home, which became her permanent residence. At the age of fifteen, Margaret received the habit of a tertiary from the Dominican fathers, who had lately established themselves in Citta-di-Castello, and thence forth, she lived a life entirely devoted to God. More than ever did God's benediction rest upon her. She cured another tertiary of an affliction of the eyes which had baffled medical skill, and her mantle extinguished a fire which had broken out in her foster parents' house. In her desire to show her gratitude to the people of Citta-di-Castello, she undertook to look after the children while their parents were at work. Her little school prospered wonderfully, for she understood children, being very simple herself. She set them little tasks which she helped them to perform; she instructed them in their duty to God and to man, instilling into them her own great devotion to the sacred Childhood, and she taught them the psalms which, inspite of her blindness, she had learned by heart at the convent. We are told that when at prayer she was frequently raised a foot or more from the ground, remaining thus for a long time. Thus she lived, practically unknown outside her own neighborhood, until the age of thirty-three, when she died amidst the friends who loved her, and was buried by their wish in the parish church, where many remarkable miracles took place.

She died on April 13, 1320 at the age of 33. When she died, the townspeople thronged to her funeral and demanded that “the saint” be buried in a tomb inside the church. The priest protested, but when a crippled girl was miraculously cured at the funeral, the people had their way. More than 200 miracles have been credited to her intercession after her death.

In 1558, her remains were transferred because her coffin was rotten. Her clothes were also rotten, but her body was preserved. She was beatified on October 19, 1609 by Pope Paul V and awaits canonization as a Saint. Thus the daughter that nobody wanted is one of the glories of the Church. God has given to us an illustration of how handicapped persons fit in with His eternal plan. Take courage, then, you who are handicapped. God loves you doubly! To this day the body of Blessed Margaret is still incorrupt.

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Saint Rita of Cascia (1381 - 1457)

Rita of Cascia died on May 22, 1457. The incorrupt body of this “patron saint of hopeless cases” can be seen at the Basilica of St Rita in Cascia, Italy. It is also publicly known that her body has been seen in different positions in the glass case, as well as eyes have opened and closed unaided. Her symbol is the rose petal, which she shares with St Therese of Lisieux. Rita was beatified by Pope Urban VIII in 1627 and canonized on May 24, 1900 by Pope Leo XIII.

Rita was born in the year 1381 in the village of Roccaporena near Cascia, Italy. Her parents, Antonio and Amata Lotti, considered her from birth a very special gift from God, for Rita was born to them as they were already advancing in age. As a young girl Rita frequently visited the convent of the Augustinian nuns of Cascia and dreamed of one day joining their community. Her parents, however, promised her in marriage, according to the custom of the day to Paolo Mancini, a good man of strong and impetuous character. Rita accepted her parents' decision, resolved to see this as God's will for her.

One day as Paolo was returning home from work he was ambushed and killed. The pain which this unexpected and violent death inflicted upon Rita was only compounded by the fear she felt that her two teenage sons, moved by the unwritten law of the "vendetta," would seek to avenge their father;s death. Rita's only recourse was to prayer and persuasion. As it happened, the death of both boys from natural causes a short time later removed them from physical and spiritual danger. Despite the great burden she could still thank God that they had died in peace, free of the poison of murder to which hatred and revenge might have otherwise drawn them.

With a pure love she wanted more and more to be intimately joined to the redemptive suffering of Jesus, and this desire of hers was satisfied in an extraordinary way. One day when she was about sixty years of age, she was meditating before the image of Christ crucified as she was long accustomed to doing. Suddenly, a small wound appeared on her forehead, as though a thorn from the crown that encircled Christ's head had loosed itself and penetrated her own flesh. For the next fifteen years she bore this external sign of stigmatization and union with the Lord. In spite of the pain she constantly experienced, she offered herself courageously for the physical and spiritual well being of others.