December
Daily Saints
 

December 3	St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552). Francis was born into a noble Basque family in Navarra, Spain. He undertook university studies at the University of Paris and in 1534 made profession of religious vows, along with St. Ignatius Loyola, in a Church in Montmartre, Paris. At this time, he made a vow to go to the Holy Land but was prevented from doing this by the Turkish Muslims. In 1537, he was ordained to the priesthood and the following year offered his services to the pope who soon sent him to India. He worked as a missionary for the remainder of his life in Goa, Malacca, Japan and China. He died on December 3, 1552 on the island of Shangchwan, near the Chinese port of Canton. He was canonized in 1662, inscribed in the Roman Calendar in 1663, and named patron of India and the Far East in 1748. In 1927, he, along with St. Theresa of Lisieux, was declared patron of foreign missions.
December 4	St. John Damascene (675-749?). John was born into a Christian-Arab family in 675 and was educated by a monk who had been brought as a prisoner from Sicily to Damascus. He was trained in "finance" and for a few years served as finance minister for the Muslim caliph. As a still relatively young man, he left this post and entered the Byzantine monastery at Mar Saba near Jerusalem. He was ordained a priest in 726 and spent most of his life in scholarly pursuits. His feast is celebrated on the date on which the Byzantine Rite commemorates the transfer of his relics to the monastery where he lived. His feast was entered in the Roman Calendar in 1890 when Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church.
December 6	St. Nicholas (+350?). Relatively little is known about the life of St. Nicholas except that he was ordained a priest by his uncle, the bishop of Myra in Italy. Nicholas then distributed all his possessions to the poor and entered a monastery where he eventually became abbot. Later he became the bishop of Myrna and was one of those who signed the document affirming the divinity of Christ at the Council of Nicea (325). He was imprisoned and tortured during a period of persecution of the Church and died at age 65. Many legends surround Nicholas. In the ninth century, the folklore of northern Germany made St. Nicholas the Weihnachtsmann, the man of Christmas Eve; in the Anglo-Saxon world, he is known as "Santa Claus" (the name for Nicholas in German is Klaus). In the eleventh century, the custom originated of distributing candy to children on the eve of St. Nicholas. Devotion to Nicholas has been widespread in the Greek, Slavic and Russian Churches for centuries. He (along with St. Andrew) is the patron of Russia. He is also honored as patron of Greece, Sicily and Lorraine, France. His relics were transported to Bari, Italy in 1087.
December 7	St. Ambrose Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family in 339 (?). He spent his early years, however, in Gaul since his father was a government official there. When his father died at an early age, the family returned to Rome. Ambrose became a lawyer and a consul in the region of Milan. He was named bishop by popular acclamation, although he was still a catechumen. He was baptized eight days later and, after receiving further instruction in the faith, was ordained bishop. Ambrose was involved in defending the rights of the Church against civil authorities, the reform of the liturgy, the care of souls (he instructed and baptized St. Augustine), and the author of commentaries on the Old Testament and the Gospel of Luke. He died at an early age at Milan and since the eleventh century his feast has been celebrated in Rome on December 7, the date of his ordination as bishop. In 1298, he was named a Doctor of the Church, together with Augustine, Jerome and Gregory the Great.
December 8	Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. This feast honouring the sinlessness of Mary, mother of Jesus, has been celebrated in the East since the middle of the eighth century. It became an obligatory holy day by edict of Emperor Emmanuel in 1166. The English Crusaders brought the feast to Europe and the British Isles from the East in the middle of the eleventh century together with the feast of St. Anne which was celebrated on December 9th. It was listed in the Roman Calendar by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476, and the Sistine Chapel was dedicated to the Conception of Mary after the Council of Basle decided to make it a universal feast in 1439. This feast is different from that celebrated in Spain on December 18th under the title "Conception of Mary" which refers to the conception of Jesus by Mary. In 1708 Pope Clement XI made the conception of Mary a feast of obligation, and in 1855, after the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX, the name of the feast became the Immaculate Conception. In 1846, the American bishops made the Immaculate Conception the patronal feast of the Church in the United States.
December 9	St. Damasus (305-384) Damasus was the son of an official of Spanish origin who lived during a time when there were severe divisions between the East and West in the Roman Empire. He was elected pope by the clergy and the people but had to battle with an anti-pope, Felix, who claimed to be the rightful pontiff. Damasus was the first pope to use the term "Apostolic See" in order to designate the primacy of the Roman See. In the course of his pontificate he was accused of terrible scandals and was eventually exiled. He also had to battle various heresies that swept through the Church - Arianism, Donatism and Novationism. He called St. Jerome back to Rome as his secretary and commissioned him to make a new translation of the bible into Latin (the Vulgate). He also changed the liturgical language from Greek to Latin (except for the Kyrie). He was an avid promoter of devotion to the martyrs and through his efforts Catholicism became the State religion under Theodosius I in 379. His feast has been celebrated since the eighth century.
December 12	St. Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641). Jane Frances was born into a wealthy and aristocratic family in Dijon, France in 1572, and married the Baron of Chantal when she was 20 years of age. They had six children, of whom four survived. After the Baron was killed in a hunting accident shortly after the birth of their last child, Jane Frances devoted her life to raising her children and to caring for the sick and poor. In 1604, she met St. Francis de Sales who became her spiritual director. Her spiritual life was also formed by the Carmelite nuns in Dijon with whom she had frequent contacts. In 1607 Francis de Sales spoke to her of his desire to found a religious community of women who would not be cloistered and would admit older women and those of weak health. The Confraternity of the Visitation was established in 1610 after Jane Frances had arranged for the care of her youngest children. However, in 1615 the archbishop of Lyons insisted that these religious women be cloistered, contrary to the wishes of Francis de Sales who wished them to be actively engaged in the apostolate. After the death of St. Francis, Jane Frances published his writings and died herself in 1641 after a prolonged illness. She was canonized in 1767 and inscribed in the Roman Calendar in 1769. Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron of Mexico, of Latin America and of the Philippines. It is believed that she appeared to Juan Diego, a Catholic Indian layman as he was hurrying to Mass on December 9, 1521. The Virgin appeared to him and told him to tell the bishop to have a church built on that spot in her honour. After hearing the message, the bishop sent Diego to ask for a sign. At daybreak on December 12, as he was going to get a priest to give the sacraments to his dying uncle, Mary appeared to him again and asked him to return to the bishop. When Diego asked for a sign, she told him to go and gather roses from amongst the rocks even though it was December. Diego did as she asked and filled his cloak with roses which he then took to the bishop. When he opened the cloak, the figure of the Blessed Virgin was impressed on the inside of the material. Today a magnificent basilica ( one of the most frequently visited in the world), stands in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her feast is also celebrated in the United States due to the close links between the U.S. and Mexico.
December 13	St. Lucy (+304). The account of Lucy's martyrdom dates from the fifth century. "It states that while she was on a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Agatha, patroness of Catania, Italy, the saint appeared to her and promised her that the Lord would bless the city of Syracuse as he had Catania because of the virginal love of Lucy. Lucy then convinced her mother to give to the poor the money that had been set aside for her dowry. This so infuriated her fiancé that he had her brought before the judges so that she could be tortured and killed". Her feast is listed in the Jerome Martyrology (sixth century). A church was built above her tomb in Syracuse and dedicated to St. Agatha in the seventeenth century. Her relics are venerated in Venice and she is the patroness of those who suffer eye diseases.
December 14	St. John of the Cross (1542-1591). John was born John de Yepes at Fontiveros, a town between Salamanca and Avila, Spain. His father died while he was an infant and his mother moved to Medina del Campo to earn a living. There John attended a Jesuit school and then apprenticed in various trades, ending up as a male nurse. He entered the Carmelite Order in 1563, and after his period of formation was sent to Salamanca for further studies. Shortly after ordination to the priesthood, he met St. Teresa of Avila who persuaded him to join in her efforts to reform the Carmelite friars and nuns. John changed his name from John of St. Matthias to John of the Cross and dedicated his life to Carmelite reform which eventually led to the split of the Order into Calced and Discalced Carmelites. For his efforts, he was kidnapped and held prisoner at Toledo. After holding several positions in the Discalced Carmelites and writing his major treatises and poems on mystical theology (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticle, The Living Flame of Love), he died at Ubeda in Andalusia, Spain. He was canonized in 1726 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926.
December 21	St. Peter Canisius (1521-1597). Peter was born at Nijmegen, Holland, and educated at Cologne and Louvain. He entered the Society of Jesus at age 23. He spent his early years in the Society publishing treatises on the Fathers of the Church. In 1545, he took part in the Diet of Worms. In 1546, he was ordained to the priesthood and shortly thereafter became the theologian to the cardinal of Augsburg at the Council of Trent. St. Ignatius Loyola called him to Rome and then sent him to Messina, Sicily, to teach rhetoric. After some years, Peter returned to Germany and spent the next thirty years there, working for the renewal of Catholic life. During these years, he held several important positions and eventually was appointed the Jesuit Provincial of territory that included Germany, Austria and Bohemia. During these years he founded several Jesuit colleges which continued the work of Catholic reform. Once his term as Provincial was completed, he wrote his Catechism which became extremely popular throughout Europe. In 1581, he was assigned to found a college at Fribourg and remained there until his death in 1597. He was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925 and was inscribed in the Roman Calendar in 1926.
December 23	St. John of Kanty (1390 - 1473). John was born just outside of Kanty in Poland. He attended the University of Cracow where he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1418. He taught at a secondary school and later at the University of Cracow where he eventually became Dean. Much of his academic career was devoted to translating theological texts. Even during his lifetime, he was known for his orthodoxy and kindness in dealing with others, even with adversaries. He died in 1473 and is buried in the Church of St. Ann in Cracow. He was canonized in 1767 and listed in the Roman Calendar in 1770.
December 26	St. Stephen. Stephen was a deacon in the early Church. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that he was commissioned by the apostles to distribute food to the needy and that "he worked great signs and wonders among the people". Eventually, he was falsely accused of various "crimes" and was stoned to death. His relics have been moved from site to site over the course of the centuries and finally were distributed to Prague, north Africa, Constantinople and Rome. His feast has been celebrated in the West since the fifth century and in the east nearly 120 years earlier.
December 27	St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. According to the scriptures, John was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman from Bethsaida, and of Salome who later served Jesus (Mk. 1:20; Mt. 15:40; 77:56). He had been a disciple of John the Baptist (Jn. 1:39) but later followed Jesus, along with Andrews, the brother of Peter. He is known as "the beloved disciple" of Jesus and was present for some of the more significant events of His life - the Transfiguration, Last Supper, Agony in the Garden. It is believed that he preached in Samaria (with Peter), Antioch and Ephesis. Eventually, he was exiled to the isle of Patmos where he died near the end of the first century. His feast has been celebrated int he west since the sixth century.
December 28	Holy Innocents. The Scriptural basis for this feast is found in Matthew 2:13-18. "Once Herod realized that he had been deceived by the astrologers, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and its environs, making his calculations on the basis of the date he had learned from the astrologers. What was said through Jeremiah the prophet was then fulfilled: 'a cry was heard at Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation: Rachel bewailing her children; no comfort for her, since they are no more'". This feast has been celebrated in some parts of the Church since the fifth century and by the universal Church since 1568.
December 29	St. Thomas Becket (1118 - 1170). Thomas was born in London and studied at Paris. He was ordained deacon at age 25 and was sent to study in Rome and Bologna before moving to Auxerre, France, to study law. He became an archdeacon at age 36 and in 1154 was promoted to the office of chancellor under King Henry II. He was ordained priest and bishop in 1162. After becoming archbishop of Canterbury, his relationship with the king deteriorated, a disintegration fueled by Becket's resistance to Henry in the matter of Church property and the right of clerics to be tried by ecclesiastical courts. Becket refused to sign the document which severely restricted to the rights of the Church in England and was not supported in this by the other bishops who desired to retain the king's favour. He was officially condemned for disobedience to the monarch and was exiled in France for six years. Through the efforts of Pope Alexander Ii, a partial reconciliation was achieved and Thomas returned to England in 1170. His fellow bishop, who considered that Becket was persecuting them, arranged for his murder. He was assassinated in his cathedral. The king was then placed under personal interdict by the pope but was absolved after his public statement of repentance two years later. Becket was canonized in 1173. His "story" was immortalized by T.S. Eliot in "Murder in the Cathedral".
December 31	St. Sylvester (+335). Little is known about Sylvester except that he was elected pope in 314 and was responsible for the rapid expansion of Christianity after the peace of Constantine, whom (according to legend) he had baptised in the Lateran basilica. Sylvester's relics are preserved in the Church of St. Sylvester in Rome and he is the first saint not a martyr to be venerated in the Church. The celebration of his feast dates back to 354.