Feast of Saint Martin of Tours:

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop of Tours who lived during the period 316-397. He was raised a pagan but began going to Church from a young age. He served in the Roman army but eventually left it to become a 'Soldier of Christ'. He learned the faith from St. Hilary of Poitiers and later was made the Bishop of Tours. As the bishop, he worked tirelessly to defeat heresy and paganism. Many miracles have been attributed to his intercession. He is the patron of beggars, cavalry, soldiers, reformed alcoholics, wool weavers and tailors. Read more at...

Blessed Bartolo Longo:

The story of Blessed Bartolo Longo is one of the most hope rendering stories of conversion of a hardened sinner to a state of holiness. He was a practising Satanist priest who gave up his wayward life and became the ‘Apostle of the Rosary’. After his conversion, he spent the rest of his life propagating devotion to the Holy Rosary. His writings on the Rosary have inspired thousands including Pope John Paul II who drew several insights from his writings whilst writing the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. Bartolo was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980. ........Read more here...

The Holy Infant of Cebu (Santo Nino de Cebu), Philippines:

The island of Cebu was the first island in Philippines to adopt Christianity. It is in this island that the miraculous statue of the Holy Infant Jesus, also called the 'Santo Nino de Cebu' is enshrined in the Minor Basilica. The statue is believed to have been given as a gift by Magellan to the wife of the then Chief of the island, Rajah Humabon. Magellan who headed the first Spanish expedition to the island converted hundreds of natives to Christianity within a week of his arrival on the island. Though he was killed a few weeks later, the statue of the Holy Infant remained on the island. Over a period of time, the natives came to realise the miraculous powers of the Holy Infant. In 1730 a Church was built by the Augustinian missionaries and the Holy Infant was placed in the Church on January 16, 1740 among great festivities which are observed every year since then. Read more here...

Month of November: Dedicated to the Holy Souls

The month of November each year is dedicated to commemorating those who have died and departed to their heavenly home. It begins with All Saints Day celebrated on November 1 to remember all the numerous holy souls who died and are believed to have entered into Heaven. As only some of the popular saints have specific dates dedicated as feasts for remembering them, this day is celebrated to mainly honor all the hundreds and thousands of holy souls that have entered into Heaven and do not have any specific day dedicated in their honor. In most countries this is a day of holy obligation when Holy Masses are offered for the dead. This practice began in 1261 when the Church began to honor martyrs on this day. Later, all those holy souls who lived a life of extraordinary holiness on earth also began to be remembered on this day.Read more here...

First Saturday Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

The First Saturday devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a tradition that has been followed by Catholics world over since the early 1900s. The First Five Saturday devotion has its origin in the request made by Our Lady of Fatima to one of the visionaries Lucia Santos long after the Fatima apparitions. Our Lady appeared again to Lucia Santos in December 1925 and requested that a devotion of the first five Saturdays be observed in reparation to her Immaculate Heart. Our Lady said "Look, my daughter, at my Heart encircled by these thorns with which men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, strive to console me, and so I announce: I promise to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all those who, with the intention of making reparation to me, will, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the beads, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. Read more here...

Eucharist miracle of Cascia in AD 1330:

In the year AD 1330, a priest in Siena was asked to administer the Holy Eucharist to a dying sick man in his town. He agreed to this request but irreverently placed the Consecrated Host between the pages of his breviary instead of placing it in a Pyx and carrying it close to his heart. When he arrived at the sick man’s house and opened the breviary to give him the Communion, he found that the Host was bleeding and there were round stains of blood on the two pages of the breviary where it was placed. He immediately repented for what he had done and rushed to the nearby Augustinian monastery in Siena to confess and narrate what had happened to Blessed Fr. Simon Fidati who was a well known holy man. He granted absolution to the truly repentant priest and took the two pages and placed one in a tabernacle in Perugia and the other he bought to the Augustinian monastery of Cascia in Italy and placed it in a reliquary. Read more here...

Our Lady, Rosa Mystica:

“I have placed myself as the Mediatrix between my Divine son and mankind, especially for the souls consecrated to God. ” - Our Lady to Pierina Gilli

'Rosa Mystica' meaning 'Mystical Rose' is one of the ancient titles in honor of the Blessed Virgin. The devotion under this title gained more popularity through a series of apparitions in the year 1947 at Montichiari to Pierina Gilli. Montichiari is a small town in Northern Italy, twenty kilometers from Brescia. Pierina Gilli was a Roman Catholic nurse who worked in the local hospital. During the apparitions, Our Lady wished for a new marian devotion in the title 'Rosa Mystica' and asked for 'Prayer, Sacrifice and Penances' for the offences committed against Our Lord especially by consecrated souls. Read more here...

Mystical Gift of Saint Catherine de Ricci:

Saint Catherine dei Ricci was an Italian Dominican Tertiary Sister who lived during the period 1522-1590. She joined the Dominican convent of San Vincenzio, at Prato, Italy at the age of 13 and lived a life of severe penances and prayer since then. She was appointed the novice mistress at a young age and then the sub-prioress. Later at the age of 38, she was appointed the Prioress in perpetuity. Her holiness and wisdom brought several people to her, seeking her counsel in their matters. She was blessed with extraordinary mystical gifts which included the stigmata and the gift of bilocation. After a prolonged illness, Saint Catherine died at the age of 68. Her incorrupt remains are held in an ornate reliquary under the main altar of the Basilica of Prato. Read more here...