Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
Lives Of Saints
December 21 : Saint Peter Canisius
Peter was born in Holland in 1521. When he was 19, he went on a retreat led by St. Peter Faber and decided to join the Society of Jesus—the Jesuits. He continued to study and teach and was ordained a priest in 1546. St. Ignatius of Loyola was his spiritual director. During Mass one day,... Read More
December 22 : Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
Frances Xavier Cabrini was the first United States citizen to be canonized. Her deep trust in the loving care of her God gave her the strength to be a valiant woman doing the work of Christ. Refused admission to the religious order which had educated her to be a teacher, she began charitable work at... Read More
December 23 : Saint John of Kanty
John Cantius, born in 1390, grew up in Poland and became a priest and teacher at the University of Krakow. He was a serious man and a good teacher. He ate no meat, slept on the floor, and rested little. Though John was hard on himself, he was patient and kind to his students, who... Read More
December 24 : Christmas at Greccio
What better way to prepare for the arrival of the Christ Child than to take a brief journey to Greccio, the spot in central Italy where Saint Francis of Assisi created the first Christmas crib in the year 1223. Francis, recalling a visit he had made years before to Bethlehem, resolved to create the manger... Read More
December 25 : Nativity of the Lord
The first evidence of the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord dates back to the year 336. Soon after, in the Eastern Church, the Christmas feast of the Epiphany began to be celebrated on the 6th of January. The date was connected to the civil pagan festival of the birth of the invincible sun... Read More
December 26 : St Stephen
Stephen is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity. Stephen is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community in the early church. He was a deacon in the early Church... Read More
December 27 : Saint John the Apostle
St. John, the son of Zebedee and brother of St. James the Great, was called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His public ministry. He became the “beloved disciple” and the only one of the Twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. He... Read More
December 28 : Holy Innocents
The feast of the Holy Innocents has been remembered by the Church since the fifth century. Feast of the Holy Innocents, also called Childermas or Innocents’ Day is a Christian feast in remembrance of the massacre of young children in Bethlehem by King Herod the Great in his attempt to kill the infant Jesus. These... Read More
December 29 : Saint Thomas Becket
A strong man who wavered for a moment, but then learned one cannot come to terms with evil, and so became a strong churchman, a martyr, and a saint—that was Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, murdered in his cathedral on December 29, 1170. His career had been a stormy one. While archdeacon of Canterbury, he was... Read More
December 30 : St. Felix I
A Roman priest, Felix reigned as Pope from 269 to 274. He celebrated Masses over the tombs that guarded the relics of the Christian martyrs, and strongly defended the doctrines of the Trinity of God and the Incarnation of the Word. St. Felix inherited from Dionysius the problems associated with the deposition of Bishop Paul of Samosata. Although he had... Read More