Our Celebrities

January 14, 2008 — fr. david

Meet a few of our Milestones

St. Thomas Aquinas: The Smart Guy

aquinas.jpg

  • One of the greatest theologians in the Church, he is known as the Angelic Doctor.
  • Of noble descent, he chose to become a Dominican rather than a Benedictine Abbot, against his family’s wishes.
  • His family abducted him in an attempt to make him change his mind, but failed.
  • He stopped writing and wanted to burn his works after receiving a vision while celebrating Mass, for they seemed to him like straw compared with what he had see.

St. Catherine of Siena: A very active mysticcatalina-001.jpg

  • Known as the Seraphic Virgin, her love for the poor matched that of St. Francis of Assisi, the Seraphic Saint.

  • This mystic of the Mystical Body of Christ was declared one of the 33 doctors of the Church in 1970.

  • At six, she had her first ecstasy. Often seen rapt in prayer, she yearned to receive the Dominican habit.

  • She pleaded for the Pope’s return to Rome.
  • One with Christ, she received the stigmata, experienced an exchanged of hearts, receiving Christ’s, and lived for days on the Eucharist alone.

St. Albert the Great: The Geniusst-albert.jpg

  • He wrote on botany, mineralogy, astronomy, physics, chemistry, cosmography and, of course, philosophy and theology, in 38 volumes. He is thus known as the Universal Doctor and the Patron of Scientists.
  • He was a professor and defender of St. Thomas
  • He was so devoted to Our Lady that a biographer called him “the secretary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
  • He became Bishop of Ratisbon.

Meister Eckhart: The Spiritual Mastereckart.jpg

  • A mystic
  • Some of his pearls of wisdom:
  • “All that God asks you most pressingly is to go out of your self and let God be God in you”
  • “We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are; for it is not our works which sanctify us, but we who sanctify our works.”

 

 

 

St. Martin de Porres: Dominican simplicitymartiporres.jpg

  • Accepted as a servant, he gave himself to the lowliest duties in the Dominican house before becoming a cooperator brother.
  • He befriended a doctor who taught him the art of healing and became a famous healer.
  • He passed through locked doors, appeared at the bedside of sufferers, soothed the sick and healed many.

  • Endowed with the gift of bi-location, he was seen in places like Mexico, and even Japan, but never left Lima.

 

 

Fr. Bartolomeo de las Casas: The Fighterlas-casas.jpg

  • Like most, he used the forced labour of the Indies to prosper as a planter.

  • Later he saw the mistreatment of Indians and denounced their exploitation in his “Short Account of the Destruction of the Americas”.

  • He pleaded the cause of the natives to the Spanish King.

  • He became a bishop and kept fighting for the defence of the natives.

 

 

Fra Angelico: The Painter Saintfra-angelico.jpg

  • He is the Patron Saint of Artists.

  • He preached with the brush and expressed the truth through art.

  • His motto was, “To paint Christ, one must live Christ.”

  • The Annunciation was his favourite subject, and he painted dozens of them.

 

St. Francisco de Capillas: The First Martyr of Chinacapillas.jpg

  • While still a deacon, he volunteered for the Philippines missions and was later sent to Fujian.

  • He was captured and imprisoned by the Tartars and so impressed his captors with his courage that they became curious about his teachings.

  • While in prison, he converted his jailer and fellow prisoners.

  • He was tortured for days and beheaded in 1640.

 

 

Fr. Yves Congar: A Theologiancongar.jpg

  • One of the leading theologians of Vatican II.
  • He was an expert on the Church and ecumenism.
  • He was created a Cardinal by John Paul II in 1994