* * *** Born at Poitiers, St. Hilary was a leading defender of the Church against the Arian heresy. He wrote many books about the Blessed Trinity as well as commentaries on St. Matthew’s Gospel and the Psalms.

“Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we may rightly understand and truthfully profess the divinity of your Son, which the Bishop Saint Hilary taught with such constancy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Collect ~ Proper of Saints, Daily Roman Missal)

* * *** “Hail, Holy Mother, who gave birth to the King / who rules heaven and earth forever.” (Entrance Antiphon, Daily Roman Missal)

— We wish you and family a blessed and joyous New Year!

This feast venerates the memory of the male children King Herod ordered to be killed in his attempt to kill the infant Christ.

“The innocents were slaughtered as infants for Christ; spotless, they follow the Lamb and sing for ever: Glory to you, O Lord.” (Proper of Saints, Daily Roman Missal)

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“O God, who through the blessed Apostle John have unlocked for us the secrets of your Word, grant, we pray, that we may grasp with proper understanding what he has so marvelously brought to our ears. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Proper of Saints, Daily Roman Missal)

May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character… (CCC 533)

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of […]

* * *** St. John of Kanty, also known as John Cantius, was born in Cracow, Poland. He taught at the Jagiellonian University for most of his life and was noted for his piety and the humble, unassuming spirit of charity that pervaded his professional life.

~ Patron of St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, where both the extraordinary and ordinary forms of the Latin Rite are celebrated.

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— St. John was persuaded by Teresa of Avila to join her in reforming the Carmelites, and as a result he suffered many tribulations, including imprisonment. During his incarceration he wrote “Dark Night of the Soul,” a profound work of mysticism and study on the development of the soul. St. John’s writings are considered to […]

* * *** “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Rev 12:1 ~ Proper of Saints, Daily Roman Missal)

— The miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the tilma of St. Juan Diego is preserved at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, in Mexico City.

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— The Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 at Tepeyac hill, leaving a miraculous image on Juan’s tilma. Nearly 500 years later, the tilma is still preserved at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage destinations in the world.

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— Pope Bl. Pius IX solemnly defined the traditional belief of the Church: the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free from all stain of Original Sin. Her Immaculate Conception is the most beautiful fruit of the work of redemption accomplished by her Son, Jesus Christ. Chosen to be the Mother of the Savior, the Blessed […]

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