Today the Church honors St. Maximilian Kolbe on his feast day!
St. Maximilian Kolbe was a priest and martyr who gave his life at Auschwitz during the Holocaust in place of a stranger condemned to die. Even in a place built for despair, he chose love, leading his fellow prisoners in prayer until his final days.
This prayer asks for his aid for all those who are imprisoned, struggling, or in need of the grace to face life’s hardest trials with faith.
Join us in prayer as we seek the powerful intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the martyr of charity, for courage and sacrificial love. If you are facing a difficult trial or feeling forgotten, let us pray together for the strength to endure.
St. Alphonsa is honored in the Catholic Church as the first woman of Indian origin ever canonized a saint, and the first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Her life stands as a witness that holiness can be found even in the midst of great physical suffering.
Born Anna Muttathupadathu in 1910 in Kudamaloor, Kerala, India, she lost her mother when she was still a small child and was raised by her aunt. From an early age she felt called to religious life. When her family arranged a marriage for her as a young woman, she took drastic steps to preserve her vocation and was ultimately able to join the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, taking the name Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception.
Her years in religious life were marked by chronic illness and physical suffering, which she offered up with remarkable peace and humility. She worked as a teacher, beloved by her students for her gentleness, even as her health continued to decline. She died in 1946 at the age of 35.
In the decades following her death, many miraculous healings were reported through her intercession, especially near her tomb in Bharananganam, which remains a major pilgrimage site in Kerala to this day. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and is honored as the patron of the sick and suffering, and of India.
Today, on her feast day, we ask for St. Alphonsa’s intercession for all who carry the weight of illness or suffering, that they may find in her example the grace to bear their crosses with faith and trust in God’s will.
We want to remind you that this Monday, December 8th, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a Holy Day of Obligation, which means all Catholics are required to attend Mass on this day.
The Immaculate Conception refers to the Catholic dogma that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was conceived without original sin. From the very first moment of her existence in her mother’s womb, Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind.
This teaching does not refer to the conception of Jesus (which we celebrate at the Annunciation), but rather to Mary’s own conception. God prepared Mary to be a pure and holy vessel for His Son by granting her this unique privilege.
Pope Pius IX formally defined this dogma on December 8, 1854, though the Church had celebrated this feast for centuries before. The Immaculate Conception is the patronal feast of the United States of America.
Please remember to fulfill your obligation by attending Mass on Monday. Consider praying the Rosary or other Marian devotions to honor Our Lady on this special feast day.
May the Immaculate Virgin Mary intercede for all of us.
