Feast Days – December 20-December 26

On December 20, we celebrate the feast day of St. Vincent Romano who was born in 1751 in Naples, Italy.  He was a parish priest who focused his ministry on educating children, especially orphans, because he knew how important a good education would be for the betterment of their life.  In 1794, Mount Vesuvius erupted causing much damage and rubble including the destruction of his church.  St. Vincent tirelessly assisted with the clearing of the rubble, including moving a great amount by hand himself.  He helped rebuild much of the community including his church.  St. Vincent is our role model of living a simple life with great love and charity to all those he encountered.

The Nativity of Jesus is more than just the birth of our Lord Jesus, it’s the fulfilment of God’s plan, our salvation history has come full circle culminating in the birth of Jesus, our Savior.  And God made this happen despite our human weaknesses because He works through our real, imperfect lives.  God always keeps His promises no matter how long it takes and He will never abandon us.  Let us thank God for loving us no matter what and saving us from ourselves.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Who is the patron saint of Deacons and Altar Servers?  It’s St. Stephen who was the first Christian martyr, stoned to death for being Christian just two years after the Crucifixion of Jesus.  We celebrate his feast day on December 26.  He was one of the seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to serve the poor throughout the Early Church.  He knew that being a practicing Christian would put him at great risk but he chose to stand up for his faith and Jesus Christ.  He died forgiving his executioners the same as Jesus did as He was crucified.  

“And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them.  And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”  Acts 7:60