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Crux Stationalis

Romanitas — exploring the Roman station churches, all things Roman liturgy, art and architecture.
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12/08/2026

What would you do if this happened to you? 💚

Braden thought his 18th birthday would be memorable simply because he was spending it in Rome. He never imagined the Holy Father would personally give him a birthday gift.

The teenager from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was visiting the Vatican on August 5 when he found himself among the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica for Pope Leo XIV’s weekly Wednesday audience.

As the pope came by, Braden seized the moment.

“Holy Father, today is my birthday,” he told him.

The pope’s second personal secretary, Fr. Marco Billeri, heard the exchange. He went to retrieve a blessed rosary and brought it back for Braden.

Pope Leo XIV then placed the rosary in the teenager’s hands.

“For your birthday.”

For Braden, an ordinary visit to the Vatican had suddenly become an 18th birthday he will never forget.

12/08/2026

“Woah”! “Here’s a Rosary”

Braden thought his 18th birthday would be memorable simply because he was spending it in Rome. He never imagined the Holy Father would personally give him a birthday gift.

The teenager from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was visiting the Vatican on August 5, which happened to be a Wednesday, when the Pope gives his general audience. Due to the heat the crowd was gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica.

As the pope came by, Braden seized the moment.

“Holy Father, today is my birthday,” he told him.

The pope’s second personal secretary, Fr. Marco Billeri, heard the exchange. He retrieved a blessed rosary for the birthday boy.

Pope Leo XIV then placed the rosary in the teenager’s hands.

“For your birthday.”

For Braden, an ordinary visit to the Vatican had suddenly become an 18th birthday he will never forget.

Credit TT: @ braden_8096

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11/08/2026

Do you have devotion to the wonderworker St. Philomena? ⚓️🏹💐

St. Philomena inspired an extraordinary devotion among some of the greatest saints of the 19th and early 20th centuries:

🔹 St. John Vianney (Curé of Ars) — perhaps her most famous devotee. He kept a statue of St. Philomena at Ars, frequently encouraged others to invoke her, and attributed remarkable favors and cures to her intercession. He affectionately called her his “dear little saint.”
🔹 St. Peter Chanel — the Marist missionary and martyr invoked St. Philomena in connection with his missionary work in Oceania.
🔹 St. Peter Julian Eymard — founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, was devoted to Philomena and visited her sanctuary at Mugnano.
🔹 St. Madeleine Sophie Barat — founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, promoted devotion to her.
🔹 St. Euphrasia Pelletier — foundress of the Good Shepherd Sisters, invoked St. Philomena and encouraged devotion to her.
🔹 St. Anthony Mary Claret — the great Spanish missionary and archbishop counted Philomena among the saints to whom he was devoted.
🔹 St. Damien of Molokai — was devoted to St. Philomena and dedicated a church on Molokai to her.
🔹 Pope St. Pius X — strongly supported her devotion and elevated her Archconfraternity to the Universal Archconfraternity.
🔹 Padre Pio — is also remembered among her devotees and reportedly called her the “little princess of Paradise.”

And then there was Bl. Pauline Jaricot. Gravely ill, she visited Philomena’s shrine at Mugnano in 1835 and attributed her extraordinary recovery to the young martyr’s intercession. The event helped spread devotion to St. Philomena throughout the Catholic world.

Of all her devotees, St. John Vianney became especially associated with her, repeatedly directing attention away from himself and toward the intercession of his beloved St. Philomena.

10/08/2026

Nearly 1,800 years after his martyrdom, the blood of St. Lawrence still draws pilgrims to Amaseno, Italy.

Inside the Church of Santa Maria Assunta is a small ampulla containing the blood of the Roman deacon and martyr. The relic is not simply blood: it also preserves material traditionally identified as skin, fat, ash, and charcoal—echoes of the fire in which Lawrence gave his life.

Around his feast on August 10, the normally dark, coagulated substance undergoes the prodigy of liquefaction, becoming fluid and vividly red.

A remarkable relic. An ancient prodigy. A timeless witness to a man who gave everything for Christ.

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