August Saints

August 1. St. Alphonsus Liguori.

He was very young when he became an attorney, acquiring a good reputation. But one day he committed a grave error and his pride was crushed. He had a conversion and became a preacher. He founded a congregation called Redemptorists and began a ministry with workers. He wrote many books. Today the Redemptorists, in addition to having popular missions, have publishing houses with simple material to evangelize the people.

Your turn
What does your profession mean to you? Do you carry it out like a disciple of Christ or do it just for your own Glory and prestige?

August 4. St. John Mary Vianney.

The priest of Ars was not known for his intelligence. He was rejected in the Seminary and Barkly completed an elementary education. He joined the military, but was unable to keep up the pace, so he was unable to continue. A priest in his town had faith in him and supported him by helping him with his studies so he could follow his vocation and become a priest. They sent him to Ars, a French town that was religiously cold. There is won over the people with his patience and kindness. It is said that after a few years a great number of people from the nearby town went to Ars for confession with the priest. He is known as the holy priest from Ars.

Your turn
Do you give up easily on your objectives when it becomes difficult or you find obstacles? What makes you lose confidence in your own capabilities? Do you have patience?

August 8. St. Dominic Guzmán.

He is the founder of the Order of Preachers, known Dominicans dedicated to studying and preaching the Word of God. Dominic was well known for his works and the defense of the teachings of the church at a time it was enduring difficult times.

Your turn
How much time do you dedicate to studying and getting the know God’s Word better? Do you think it is important to get to known your faith in-depth?

August 10. St. Lawrence.

A deacon in the third century, Lawrence was the administrator of the community and when the Roma authorities wanted to see the treasures of the church, he showed them the city’s poor. St. Lawrence was tortured and burned in the blazes of Valerian’s persecution.

Your turn
What does a treasure mean to you? What do you value the most in life? What would you say is your treasure?

August 10. St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross).

She was the daughter of German Orthodox Jews. She was a brilliant intellectual who abandoned the faith of her parents and declared herself an atheist. One night as she read the life of St. Theresa of Avila she converter to Catholicism and entered the Carmel. She was arrested by the Nazis, along with her sister Rosa who has also converted to Catholicism, and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on August 9, 1942.

Your turn
What is the faith you have inherited from your parents? Do you share it? Have you ever read a book that has impressed you so much it has changed your life?

August 11. St. Clare.

Just like Francis of Assisi, Clare belonged to a wealthy family but decided to leave and embrace poverty in a new order of women that took a strict vow of poverty. Her order, which is today known as the Poor Clares, extended throughout the world.

Your turn
Do you think it is absurd to embrace poverty? How would you do it?

August 10. Blessed Victoria Diez.

She was a teacher in a rural public school in Spain at a time when religion was banned. Victoria organized women in literary schools, taught catechesis, and helped families find jobs. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War she was arrested along with 17 men from the town. She was repeatedly offered the opportunity to save her life by renouncing her faith. She refuse and was fusilladed alongside the men on August 12, 1936.

Your turn
What needs are there in your surroundings? Is there something, even if it is very simple, that you can do to help?

August 13. Claretian Martyrs at Assumption.

In the Claretian Seminary at Barbastro, Spain 50 seminarians died with their teachers for defending faith at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Although executed on different days they are known as the martyrs of Assumption, since the last of them died on August 15, 1936. There were extremely young and the testimony that remains from those days shows a powerful faith and a great enthusiasm for their vocation.

Your turn
Do you think that pursuing a vocation is a lot easier if you have the support of a community? Would you be capable of giving up your life for it>

August 14. St. Maximilian Kolbe.

He was born in Poland and was a Franciscan friar. As a result of some publications in which he was critical of the Nazi occupation of Poland, he was arrested and take to a concentration camp in Auschwitz. There he offered his life in exchange for a man who was married with children and was going to be executed by the Nazis as an example to others after a prisoner had escaped the camp. Maximilian’s offer was accepted and he was sent to the starvation chamber where he dies. The man, he had offered his life for, survived and left the camps when they were liberated.

Your turn
Who or what are you willing to give your life up for?

August 18. Blessed Albert Hurtado.

He was a Chilean Jesuit priest who worked tirelessly with the needy creating school, shelters and all forms of support wherever he saw the greatest needs. He is the first Chilean beatified. He was born in 1901 and died in 1952.

Your turn
Where do you see the greatest needs? Is there any effort underway in your community that you can become a part of? If not, who would have to start something?

August 21. St. Rosa of Lima.

Her attempts of become a religious were unsuccessful, but she was allowed to make vows and continue living at home. She became a Dominican tertiary in order to live her vocation at home and gather a small group of women around her. Her spirit of prayer and service to the poor earn the affection and admiration of the entire city of Lima. She was the first saint canonized in America. It is said that when a door closes, a window is opened.

Your turn
Have you found obstacles in realizing your vocation? What doors and windows have been opening up for you?

August 27. St. Monica.

She was born in the north of Africa. She was married to a violent who she prayed for continually. In the end her husband converted to Catholicism. Her son Augustine was a brilliant man but lived a life that was very far from God. He did not understand and battled constantly with his teachers and tutors who tried to bring him the faith. He had a lover and a son. Monica also prayed for him and he finally accepted the baptism and grew to become a bishop and one of the Church’s greatest saints.

You turn
Do you trust God will take care of your prayers for the people you love?

August 28. St. Augustine.

The son of St. Monica was a philosopher and intellectual. When he finally converted, her wrote great treatises and books which continue to be ver y influential today in the theology and spirituality of the church, such as The City of God and The Confessions.

Your turn
Is it difficult to believe the truth about faith because you need to understand? Where or how have you become more enlightened?