Deeper Truth

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Stand In The Gap With Us And Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael 9/29/2023
Angels—messengers from God—appear frequently in Scripture, but only Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are named.
The three Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are the only angels named in Sacred Scripture and all three have important roles in the history of salvation.
Each of these archangels performs a different mission in Scripture: Michael protects; Gabriel announces; Raphael guides (see the books of Daniel and Tobit). Their feast day is Sept. 29. ST. MICHAEL is the leader of all of the archangels and is in charge of protection, courage, strength, truth and integrity.
The four most often depicted in art are: Gabriel, the messenger of God who brought the announcement of Christ's birth to the Virgin Mary; Michael, the dispenser of justice; Raphael, the healer and protector of travellers; and Uriel, the angel of prophecy and wisdom.
The earliest specific Christian references are in the late 5th to early 6th century: Pseudo-Dionysius gives them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. In the Lutheran and Roman-Rite Catholic Christian traditions, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are referred to as archangels.
The angel Gabriel is the herald of visions, messenger of God and one of the angels of higher rank. He makes God's message understandable to people and helps them to accept it with a pure heart.
Within the hierarchy of the angels, at the highest level, St. Michael is a princely seraph, an angel of supreme power and the leader of God's army.
 

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Wenceslaus

Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Wenceslaus 9/28/2023
Wenceslas was born in the early years of the tenth century, likely between 903 and 907. His grandmother, Ludmilla, arranged with the parents to raise him at her castle at Tetin. There her personal chaplain, a follower of Methodius, baptized Wenceslas. In addition to ensuring that her grandson received instruction in Christian catechism, Ludmilla also made certain that he was educated in other subjects, including literacy in both the Slavonic and Latin languages. Some of this schooling took place at a forerunner of a collegiate institution in Budweis (Budech).
Although his death resulted primarily from political upheaval, Wenceslaus was hailed as a martyr for the faith, and his tomb became a pilgrimage shrine. He is hailed as the patron of the Bohemian people and of the former Czechoslovakia.
Wenceslaus was born in 907 near Prague, son of the Duke of Bohemia. His saintly grandmother, Ludmilla, raised him and sought to promote him as ruler of Bohemia in place of his mother, who favored the anti-Christian factions. Ludmilla was eventually murdered, but rival Christian forces enabled Wenceslaus to assume leadership of the government.
His rule was marked by efforts toward unification within Bohemia, support of the Church, and peace-making negotiations with Germany, a policy which caused him trouble with the anti-Christian opposition. His brother Boleslav joined in the plotting, and in September of 929 invited Wenceslaus to Alt Bunglou for the celebration of the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian. On the way to Mass, Boleslav attacked his brother, and in the struggle, Wenceslaus was killed by supporters of Boleslav.
 

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Vincent de Paul

Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Vincent de Paul 9/27/2023
Vincent de Paul has become known as the “The Apostle of Charity” and “Father of the Poor.” His contributions to the training of priests and organizing parish missions and other services for the poor shaped the Church's role in the modern world.
Vincentian Spirituality is based on the very real presence of Christ in those whom we serve. Vincentians know that when they come to the aid of poor friends or neighbors, they are serving Jesus, their friend and neighbor. This is the core of Vincentian Spirituality.
Two miracles were attributed to the work of Vincent de Paul, a nun cured of ulcers, and a laywoman who was healed of paralysis. Subsequently, Pope Benedict XIII beatified Vincent on August 13, 1729.
Born in 1581 in France, Vincent de Paul became a priest at the early age of 19. He became famous for his kindness and generosity. As a young priest, Vincent was captured by Turkish pirates at sea and sold into slavery. He eventually escaped, along with his master, whom he had converted.
The deathbed confession of a dying servant opened Vincent de Paul’s eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry of France. This seems to have been a crucial moment in the life of the man from a small farm in Gascony, France, who had become a priest with little more ambition than to have a comfortable life.

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Paul VI

Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Paul VI 9/26/2023
Pope St. Paul VI is the patron saint of the diocese of Milan. You can ask him to pray for the leadership of the Milan diocese and for the Church in Milan. You can also ask him to pray for you if you are traveling to Milan or if you live in Milan.
After having been proclaimed a Servant of God and declared Venerable, he was beatified on 19 October 2014, after the recognition of a miracle had been attributed to his intercession, and declared a saint by Pope Francis on 14 October 2018.
The miracle attributed to Paul VI involves the healing of a seriously ill fetus, according to the Diocese of Brescia, where the pope was born.
Born near Brescia in northern Italy, Giovanni Battista Montini was the second of three sons. His father, Giorgio, was a lawyer, editor, and eventually a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. His mother, Giuditta, was very involved in Catholic Action.
After ordination in 1920, Giovanni did graduate studies in literature, philosophy, and canon law in Rome before he joined the Vatican Secretariat of State in 1924, where he worked for 30 years. He was also chaplain to the Federation of Italian Catholic University Students, where he met and became a very good friend of Aldo Moro, who eventually became prime minister. Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigade in March 1978, and murdered two months later. A devastated Pope Paul VI presided at his funeral.
In 1954, Fr. Montini was named archbishop of Milan, where he sought to win disaffected workers back to the Catholic Church. He called himself the “archbishop of the workers” and visited factories regularly while overseeing the rebuilding of a local Church tremendously disrupted by World War II.

Deepertruth: The Eucharistic Miracle and Saint Angela of Foligno

The Eucharistic Miracle and Saint Angela of Foligno
When Angela had visions of the Eucharist, she would see the Host radiating such luminous beauty, "it surpassed the splendor of the sun." At another time, there appeared "two most splendid Eyes" in the Host, looking at her. She was also gifted with a vision of the Eucharist where the Child Jesus appeared in the Host, resplendently dressed, majestically seated on a throne. So passionately was she consumed by the Eucharist, one day she cried out she wished she could receive Communion every day.
Angela reported that after her soul experienced itself nestled within the Holy Trinity, the soul was able to understand that Jesus was everywhere - in the Eucharist, in the Word and in everyone she met. But then her soul asked the Lord, why did she feel closest to Him in the Ciborium! The Lord responded that it was because through the Priest's words of consecration, He dwelt inside the Ciborium. And He added it was by a special miracle that this comes to pass.
Another time, as the Priest raised the Host, she heard the Father say, "Behold the Man Who was crucified." And with the eyes of her soul she saw Jesus. At another time, during the consecration, when the Priest raised the Host, she saw Jesus descending down upon the Altar, accompanied by a host of Angels.
With one vision of God, King of the Universe, displaying His power and involvement in all of His creation, she was so enthralled with His Divine Presence, her soul cried out,
If you want faith, pray. If you want hope, pray. If you want charity, pray. If you want poverty, pray. If you want obedience, pray. If you want chastity, pray. If you want humility, pray. If you want meekness, pray. If you want fortitude, pray. If you want any virtue, pray."

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us and Saints Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin

 Stand In The Gap With Us and Saints Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin 9/25/2023
Saints Louis and Zelie Martin are the patron saints of illness, mental illness, marriage, parenting, and widowers. St Louis Martin, born Louis Joseph Aloys Stanislaus Martin, was the third of five children, but his siblings all died before reaching the age of 30.
In April 1858, Zélie Guérin crosses paths with a young man on the Saint-Léonard bridge whose appearance impresses him… It is Louis Martin, watchmaker. The love she has for her husband is expressed in her letters
Born into a military family in Bordeaux, Louis trained to become a watchmaker. His desire to join a religious community went unfulfilled because he didn’t know Latin. Moving to Normandy, he met the highly-skilled lace maker, Zélie Guérin, who also had been disappointed in her attempts to enter religious life. They married in 1858, and over the years were blessed with nine children, though two sons and two daughters died in infancy.Louis managed the lace-making business that Zélie continued at home while raising their children. She died from breast cancer in 1877.
Louis then moved the family to Lisieux to be near his brother and sister-in-law, who helped with the education of his five surviving girls. His health began to fail after his 15-year-old daughter entered the Monastery of Mount Carmel at Lisieux in 1888. Louis died in 1894, a few months after being committed to a sanitarium.
Today, the Church offers them to us as models on the path to Holiness because they knew in the ordeal that was theirs, “to live on Love”, to use the title of a poem by their own. girl Saint Therese 
 
 
 
 
 

Blessed Mary visits Germany in 1641

Join John Carpenter, Donald Hartley, and the Deeper Truth research team as we examine another one of the Blessed Mother's appearances -- this time in Germany from 1641-1642.
Kevelaer is a center of veneration and pilgrimage to Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted (also known as Our Lady of Consolation. The following story is the testimony and witness of a merchant named Hendrik Busman
To give the history of the Shrine of Our Lady of Kevelaer in Northwestern Germany, we must begin by mentioning another Marian Shrine—Maria Consolatrix Afflictorum of Luxemburg. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Luxemburg City is home to the original miraculous statue of Our Lady under this title. She is the Patroness of Luxemburg, and copies of the image are to be found in nearly every major church in this tiny country. It was a printed copy of this image that became the main feature of the Shrine at Kevelaer—the second most visited Marian Shrine in Germany, after that located in Altötting.

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint John Henry Newman

Saint John Henry Newman, Patron of Seekers | Salt + Light Media.9/24/2023
John Henry Newman, the 19th-century’s most important English-speaking Catholic theologian, spent the first half of his life as an Anglican and the second half as a Roman Catholic. He was a priest, popular preacher, writer, and eminent theologian in both churches.
Born in London, England, he studied at Oxford’s Trinity College, was a tutor at Oriel College, and for 17 years was vicar of the university church, St. Mary the Virgin. He eventually published eight volumes of Parochial and Plain Sermons as well as two novels. His poem, “Dream of Gerontius,” was set to music by Sir Edward Elgar.
After 1833, Newman was a prominent member of the Oxford Movement, which emphasized the Church’s debt to the Church Fathers and challenged any tendency to consider truth as completely subjective.
Historical research made Newman suspect that the Roman Catholic Church was in closest continuity with the Church that Jesus established. In 1845, he was received into full communion as a Catholic. Two years later he was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome and joined the Congregation of the Oratory, founded three centuries earlier by Saint Philip Neri. Returning to England, Newman founded Oratory houses in Birmingham and London and for seven years served as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland.
Before Newman, Catholic theology tended to ignore history, preferring instead to draw deductions from first principles—much as plane geometry does. After Newman, the lived experience of believers was recognized as a key part of theological reflection.

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Padre Pio

Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Padre Pio9/23/2023
St. Padre Pio is one of the more influential Saints that had a particular influence for me because of all the signs related to his life. He is also someone who I can identify with as he lived during my growing up years. Padre Pio touches the hearts of people world wide many times will recognize a fragrance of flowers. I remember working at a warehouse pulling a hand jack picking up pallets all day long. My Mother introduced me to Padre Pio through a book she had and that book captivated me.
At times, especially when I was thinking about a mystery of the Rosary, or I was thinking about the Catholic faith, I would get a strong scent of roses and I would be looking around for any possible reason for such a fragrance. Then I would remember that many times Padre Pio would be recognized with such occurrences. Working at this warehouse, I most of the time had time to offer my thoughts to God in meditation.
 
 
 
 

Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions

Stand In The Gap With Us and Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions: 9/22/2023
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is the first Filipino venerated in the Roman Catholic Church. Of Chinese-Filipino parentage, he became the country's protomartyr after his execution by the Tokugawa Shogunate during its persecution of Japanese Christians in the 17th century.
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is the patron saint of Filipino youth, the Philippines, people working overseas, and altar servers. Lorenzo Ruiz's feast day falls on September 28.
In the icon of San Lorenzo Ruiz, the saint holds the Bible and the rosary, because he was a religious teacher, a humble teacher of Manila." The solemn mass that took place in the forecourt of the monastery was presided over by the new Apostolic Nuncio for Israel and Cyprus and Apostolic Delegate for Jerusalem
Lorenzo was born in Manila of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, both Christians. Thus he learned Chinese and Tagalog from them, and Spanish from the Dominicans whom he served as altar boy and sacristan. He became a professional calligrapher, transcribing documents in beautiful penmanship. He was a full member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary under Dominican auspices. He married and had two sons and a daughter.
Lorenzo’s life took an abrupt turn when he was accused of murder. Nothing further is known except the statement of two Dominicans that “he was sought by the authorities on account of a homicide to which he was present or which was attributed to him.”