St. Domenic Savio

Pope Pius XI described St. Domenic Savio as  "Small in size, but a Towering giant in Spirit."
Born	2nd April  1842,Italy
Died	9th  March 1857, Italy  (@ 15 Years)
Venerated	9th July 1933 by Pope Pius XI
Beatified	5th March 1950 by Pope Pius XII
Canonized	12 June 1954 by  Pope Pius XII
Major Shrine	The Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin (Where his Mortal remains)
Patronage	Choir Boys, Falsely accused People
Feast	March 9th

Dominic Savio is the youngest non-martyr to be officially canonised in the Church. He owes a lot to the moderating influence of his mentor St John Bosco, with whom he went to train for the priesthood. Patrick Duffy outlines his life. Of poor parents Born at Riva near Turin, Dominic was one of ten children of poor parents, Carlo a blacksmith and Birgitta a seamstress. Already in his home, he showed signs of unusual holiness and was serving Mass by the time he was five. When he made his First Communion, at the age of seven, he wrote down his plan of life: “I will go to confession very often and go to communion as often as my confessor gives me permission. I will celebrate Sundays and feast days as holy days. Jesus and Mary will be my friends. Death rather than sin.” Don Bosco's school in Turin At twelve he went to the school of St John Bosco in Turin. Don Bosco examined him for entrance and at the end of the questions, Dominic asked him: "What do you think of me?" "I think you're good material," said the priest smiling. "Well, then," said Dominic, "You are a good tailor, so if the material is good, take me and make a new suit out of me for Our Lord!" A maturity beyond his years One day, a boy in the school was showing a magazine with immodest pictures to a group of other boys gathered round him. "What's up?" wondered Dominic, and he, too, went to look. Just one peek was enough for him. He grabbed the magazine and tore it to pieces, saying: "Poor us! "Did God give us eyes to look at such things as this? Are you not ashamed?" "Oh, we were just looking at these pictures for the fun of it," said one boy. "Sure, for fun," answered Dominic, "and in the meantime you're preparing yourselves to go to hell!" "What's so wrong about looking at these pictures anyway?" another fellow demanded. Dominic replied. "If you don't see anything wrong, that is even worse. It means you're used to looking at shameful things!" Mortification Dominic tried to do physical penances, like making his bed uncomfortable with small stones and pieces of wood, sleeping with a thin covering in winter, wearing a hair shirt, and fasting on bread and water. When his Don Bosco and his confessor came to know this, they forbade it, as it could affect his health. John Bosco told Dominic that as a schoolboy, the best penance would be to do all his duties with perfection and humility, and that obedience was the greatest sacrifice. From this time on Don Bosco notes that Dominic did not complain about the food or the weather, but bore all suffering cheerfully, and practised custody of his eyes and tongue. Falsely accused One day during the winter months two boys filled the school stove with snow and rubbish. When the teacher came into the room, they falsely accused Dominic of doing the "dirty" deed. Although disciplined in front of the entire class, Dominic refused to tell on the two mischievous boys. When the truth was later revealed, Dominic was asked why he didn't confess to his innocence. He remarked that he was imitating Our Lord, who stayed silent during his persecutions and crucifixion. Sodality of Mary Immaculate In 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Dominic consecrated himself to Mary. In 1856 he set up the Sodality of Mary Immaculate with a group of his friends, to carry out apostolic work together. Don Bosco’s mother (Mamma Margaret), who had come to Turin to help her priest son in his school, said one day: “You have many good boys, but none can match the good heart and soul of Dominic Savio. I see him so often at prayer, staying in church after the others; every day he slips out of the playground to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. When he is in church he is like an angel living in paradise.” Death and influence Just a month before his fifteenth birthday Dominic developed tuberculosis and was sent home to recover. On the evening of March 9, he asked his father to say the prayers for the dying. His face lit up with an intense joy and he said to his father: "I am seeing most wonderful things!" These were his last words. His remains are in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, built by Don Bosco in Turin as the headquarters of his Salesian order. Don Bosco wrote his Life, which pave the way for his beatification in 1950 and his canonisation in 1954. Pope Pius XI described him as “small in size, but a towering giant in spirit.” He is the patron saint of those falsely accused. http://www.catholicireland.net/

Bl. Mother Teresa

Angel of Gutters’ and ‘Mother of the Poor’, Mother Teresa was a living testimony of Christian charity
Born	August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, in the former Yugoslavia,
Birth name	Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu
Died	September 5, 1997(1997-09-05) (aged 87) Calcutta, India
Servant of God	June 12, 1999
Venerated	20th December 2002
Beatified	19 October 2003
Successor	Sr. Nirmala

By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus. ”  Mother Theresa born on 26 August 1910 in Skopje, a city situated at the crossroads of Balkan history. The youngest of the children born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu, she was baptized as Gonxha Agnes, At the age of eighteen, moved by a desire to become a missionary, Gonxha left her home in September 1928 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. There she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux. In December, she departed for India, arriving in Calcutta on 6 January 1929. After making her First Profession of Vows in May 1931, Sister Teresa was assigned to the Loreto Entally community in Calcutta and taught at St. Mary’s School for girls. On 24 May 1937, Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, becoming, as she said, the “spouse of Jesus” for “all eternity.” From that time on she was called Mother Teresa. She continued teaching at St. Mary’s and in 1944 became the school’s principal. In 1946, she got a special inspiration to work for the poorest of the poor and got permission to leave the congregation. On 7 October 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity congregation for women devoted to the care of the sick, destitute and the neglected. Starting in 1980 and continuing through the 1990s, Mother Teresa opened houses in almost all of the communist countries, including the former Soviet Union, Albania and Cuba. In order to respond better to both the physical and spiritual needs of the poor, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963, in 1976 the contemplative branch of the Sisters, in 1979 the Contemplative Brothers, and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. Yet her inspiration was not limited to those with religious vocations. She formed the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, people of many faiths and nationalities with whom she shared her spirit of prayer, simplicity, sacrifice and her apostolate of humble works of love. This spirit later inspired the Lay Missionaries of Charity. In answer to the requests of many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests as a “little way of holiness” for those who desire to share in her charism and spirit.  During the years of rapid growth the world began to turn its eyes towards Mother Teresa and the work she had started. Numerous awards, beginning with the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962 and the highest civilian honor of Bharat Ratna in 1980  and notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, honoured her work, while an increasingly interested media began to follow her activities. She received both prizes and attention “for the glory of God and in the name of the poor.” By 1997, Mother Teresa’s Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members and were established in 610 foundations in 123 countries of the world. In March 1997 she blessed her newly-elected successor, Sr. Nirmala  as Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity and then made one more trip abroad. After meeting Pope John Paul II for the last time, she returned to Calcutta and spent her final weeks receiving visitors and instructing her Sisters. On 5 September 1997 Mother Teresa’s earthly life came to an end. She was given the honour of a state funeral by the Government of India and her body was buried in the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. Cause of her canonization was taken up by the Archdiocese of Calcutta in 1999 and she was declared Servant of God on June 12, 1999. Declared as Venerable on 20th December 2002 .His Holiness, Pope John Paul II beatified the Venerable Servant of God Mother Teresa of Calcutta at St. Peter’s square 19 October 2003.

Pope Benedict XVI

Popularly Known as “Green Pope”
Born	16 April 1927, Marktl, Germany .
Birth name	Joseph Ratzinger
Ordination	29 June 1951
Elevated to Cardinal	On 27th June 1977, Pope Paul VI,
Papacy began	19 April 2005
Predecessor	John Paul II
Motto	“Cooperatores Veritatis “ , ( Cooperators of the Truth )

Pope Benedict XVI

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, was born at Marktl am Inn, Diocese of Passau (Germany) on 16 April 1927 (Holy Saturday) and was baptised on the same day. His father, a policeman, belonged to an old family of farmers from Lower Bavaria of modest economic resources From 1946 to 1951 he studied philosophy and theology in the Higher School of Philosophy and Theology of Freising and at the University of Munich. He received his priestly ordination on 29 June 1951. A year later he began teaching at the Higher School of Freising. In 1953 he obtained his doctorate in theology with a thesis entitled "People and House of God in St Augustine’s Doctrine of the Church". On 24 March 1977, Fr. Ratzinger was elected Archbishop of Munich and Freising by Pope Paul VI. He was ordained to the episcopal Order on 28 May 1977, taking  as his motto a phrase from 3 John 8, "Fellow Worker in the Truth."  On 27 June 1977, he was elevated to Cardinal (Cardinal Priest) by Pope Paul VI, with the titular church of St. Mary of Consolation (in Tiburtina) John Paul II named him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and of the International Theological Commission on 25 November 1981 He was President of the Preparatory Commission for the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which after six years of work (1986-1992) presented the new Catechism to the Holy Father. On 19 April 2005, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected the Bishop of Rome and the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church.

Bl. Pope John Paul II

Most influential leader of the 20th century
Born	May 18, 1920, Wadowice,Poland
Birth name	Karol Jozef Wojty
Died	2 April 2005(2005-04-02) (aged 84), Vatican
Servant of God	June 28, 2005
Venerated	19 December 2009
Beatified	1 May 2011, by Pope Benedict XVI
Papacy began	16 October 1978
Papacy ended	2 April 2005
Predecessor	John Paul I
Successor	Benedict XVI
Feast	22 October
Motto	Totus Tuus meaning "totally yours"

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II was born  on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. His original name was Karol Jozef Wojty?. He was ordained in 1946, became the bishop of Ombi in 1958, and became the archbishop of Krakow in 1964. He was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1967. In 1978, when became the pope, he was the first non-Italian person in  above 400 years to attain this position. With 27 years of service, he was the longest serving pope of the 20th century (the second longest serving pontiff was Pope Pius XII -- 19 years -- from 1939 to 1958). He was the most traveled pope with 104 trips from the Vatican to different countries of the world in all the continents. He met with the highest number of Catholics as a pope in the Vatican as well as a traveler to other countries He played a crucial role in the downfall of communism in Europe. He was acclaimed as the most influential leader of the 20th century. He spoke in 12 languages (Polish, Ancient Greek, Croatian, English, Esperanto, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukranian). He wrote five books during his papacy: Crossing the Threshold of Hope (1994), Gift and Mystery (1996), Roman Triptych – Meditations (2003), Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way (2004), and Memory and Identity (2005). He wrote and issued 14 encyclical letters during his papacy: He officially proclaimed 482 saints; more than the total number of people declared saints in the last 500 years. He also beatified 1,338 people in his papacy. He was the first pope to gain the most popularity among the youth of the world. Pope John Paul II, the third longest-serving pontiff in history, has died at the age of 84 0N 2ND April 2005. Pope John Paul II was declared a Servant of God on June 28, 2005.  John Paul II was proclaimed  as "Venerable" by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 December 2009. Pope Benedict XVI, in an official St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, beatified Pope John Paul II on  1 May 2011.

Vatican Holy See- Roman Curia

Vatican Holy See- Roman Curia

Roma Curia is the group of various Vatican bureaus that assist the pope in exercising his jurisdiction over the Roman Catholic Church. Roma Curia coordinates and provides the necessary central organization for the correct functioning of the Church and the achievement of its goals. The work of the Curia is traditionally associated with the College of Cardinals. The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome. The term Holy See comes from the Latin Sancta Sedes, meaning “Holy Seat” or the place of government for the Catholic Church.