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Bishop Yong D.D., Iligan City (2026)

29/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Andrew the Apostle
November 30

Andrew was Saint Peter’s brother, and was called with him. “As [Jesus] was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is now called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-20).

John the Evangelist presents Andrew as a disciple of John the Baptist. When Jesus walked by one day, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Andrew and another disciple followed Jesus. “Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day” (John 1:38-39a).

Little else is said about Andrew in the Gospels. Before the multiplication of the loaves, it was Andrew who spoke up about the boy who had the barley loaves and fishes. When the Gentiles went to see Jesus, they came to Philip, but Philip then had recourse to Andrew.

Legend has it that Andrew preached the Good News in what is now modern Greece and Turkey and was crucified at Patras on an X-shaped cross.

Reflection
As in the case of all the apostles except Peter and John, the Gospels give us little about the holiness of Andrew. He was an apostle. That is enough. He was called personally by Jesus to proclaim the Good News, to heal with Jesus’ power and to share his life and death. Holiness today is no different. It is a gift that includes a call to be concerned about the Kingdom, an outgoing attitude that wants nothing more than to share the riches of Christ with all people.

Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of:
Fishermen
Greece
Russia
Scotland

Sources:
Text: franciscanmedia.org
Photo: commons.wikimedia

28/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Saturninus of Toulouse
November 29

St. Saturninus Bishop of Toulouse and Martyr November 29 A.D. 257 St. Saturninus went from Rome by the direction of pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in Gaul, where St. Trophimus, the first bishop of Arles, had some time before gathered a plentiful harvest. In the year 250, when Decius and Gratus were consuls, St. Saturninus fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse. Fortunatus tells us, that he converted a great number of idolaters by his preaching and miracles. This is all the account we have of him till the time of his holy martyrdom. The author of his acts, who wrote about fifty years after his death, relates, that he assembled his flock in a small church; and that the capitol, which was the chief temple in the city, lay in the way between that church and the saint's habitation. In this temple oracles were given; but the devils were struck dumb by the presence of the saint as he passed that way. The priests spied him one day going by, and seized and dragged him into the temple. declaring that he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifice to them, or expiate the crime with his blood. Saturninus boldly replied: "I adore one only God, and to him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise. Your gods are devils, and are more delighted with the sacrifice of your souls than with those of your bullocks. How can I fear them who, as you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?" The infidels, incensed at this reply, abused the saint with all the rage that a mad zeal could inspire, and after a great variety of indignities, tied his feet to a wild bull, which was brought thither to be sacrificed. The beast being driven from the temple, ran violently down the hill, so that the martyr's scull was broken, and his brains dashed out. His happy soul was released from the body by death, and fled to the kingdom of peace and glory, and the bull continued to drag the sacred body, and the limbs and blood were scattered on every side, till, the cord breaking, what remained of the trunk was left in the plain without the gates of the city. Two devout women laid the sacred remains on a bier, and hid them in a deep ditch, to secure them from any further insult, where they lay in "wooden coffin" till the reign of Constantine the Great. Then Hilary, bishop of Toulouse, built a small chapel over this his holy predecessor's body Sylvius, bishop of that city towards the close of the fourth century, began to build a magnificent church in honor of the martyr, which was finished and consecrated by his successor Exuperius, who, with great pomp and piety, translated the venerable relics into it. This precious treasure remains there to this day with due honor. The martyrdom of this saint probably happened m the reign of Valerian, in 257.

Sources:
Text: catholic.org
Photo: anastpaul.com

27/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. James of the Marches
November 28

St. James of the Marches was a Franciscan priest in the 15th century. He was born into a poor family in Monteprandone, Italy in 1391 and was educated by his uncle who was a priest. He continued his education, eventually achieving the degree of Doctor in Canon and Civil Law from the University of Perugia. He worked for some time as a tutor in a noble family, but on July 26, 1416, he was received into the order of Friars Minor in the Chapel of the Portiuncula in Assisi.

After completing his novitiate, he studied theology under St. Bernardine of Siena. On June 13, 1420, St. James was ordained a priest, and soon began to preach in Tuscany, in the Marches, and in Umbria. For half a century, he continued as a missionary and preacher. St James of the Marches preached penance, combated heretics, and was on legations in Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, and Bosnia. He was also appointed inquisitor against the Fratelli, a heretic sect that dissented from the Franciscans on the vow of poverty, among other things. He was offered the See of Milan in 1460, but he refused it.

Inspired by St. Jame's apostolic example, more than 200 young men of Germany were impelled to enter the Franciscan Order. The crowds who came to hear him were so great that the churches were not large enough to accommodate them, and it became imperative for him to preach in the public squares. At Milan he was instrumental in converting 36 women of bad repute by a single sermon on St. Mary Magdalen. It is said that he brought 50,000 heretics into the Church and led 200,000 nonbelievers to baptism. In addition, God granted St James such wisdom that popes and princes sought counsel from him. He possessed the gifts or miracles and of prophesy in great measure, yet his humility surpassed all those distinctions. On Easter Monday, 1462, St. James, while preaching at Brescia, repeated the ideas of some theologians that the Precious Blood shed during the Passion was not united with the Divinity of Christ during the three days of His burial. He was accused of heresy for saying that, but no discussion or resolution was ever granted to his case, and the matter was ignored or forgotten. James spent the last three years of his life at Naples, and was buried there in the Franciscan church of St. Maria la Nuova, where his body can be seen today.

He was beatified by Urban VIII in 1624 and was canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726. Naples venerates him as one of its patron saints.

Sources:
Text: catholicnewsagency.com
Photo: catholicnewsagency.com

27/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
November 27

The Miraculous Medal, the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, popularly known as the Miraculous Medal, is unique among all medals. The Blessed Virgin gave it to Catherine Laboure on November 27th, 1830. The apparition appeared in the Motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul and St. Louise de Marillac, in Paris France. Catherine saw Our Lady standing on a globe with dazzling rays of light streaming from her outstretched hands. Framing the figure was the inscription:

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Mary then spoke to Catherine, “Have a medal struck upon this model. Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around their neck.”

The vision then rotated showing the reverse side of the medal: the letter M surmounted by a cross with a bar at its base. Below this monogram, the Sacred Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary pierced with a sword.

Today, millions of Catholics show their love of Christ by honoring his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, by wearing this Medal.

Sources:
Text: olmmparish.com
Photo: amm.org

26/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Virgilius of Salzburg
November 27

Benedictine bishop, also called Vergilius, Virgil, Ferghil, and Feargal. A native of Ireland, he entered a monastery and probably served as abbot of Aghaboe before setting out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He then spent two years in France, later going to Bavaria, Germany, where he assisted St. Rupert, the Apostle of Austria. He was elected abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Peter at Salzburg and bishop of the city about 765. A noted intellectual, he believed that the earth was a sphere, which brought him into conflict with St. Boniface of Mainz who twice denounced him to Rome. Both times Virgilius was exonerated, and his reputation as an Apostle of Carinthia (modern southern Austria), where he conducted missionary labors, was unblemished. Besides rebuilding the cathedral of Salzburg, he encouraged a vast missionary venture into Carinthia. Virgilius died after returning from one such mission on November 27, in Salzbwg. He was canonized in 1232.

Sources:
Text: catholic.org
Photo: anastpaul.com

26/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Leonard of Port Maurice
November 26

St. Leonard was born on December 20, 1676 in Porto Maurizio, Italy. He was given the name Paul Jerome Casanova by his father, Domenico Casanova, a sea captain, and his mother, Anna Maria Benza.

When he was 13, he was placed with his uncle Agostino to study for a career as a physician, but when the boy decided against medicine, his uncle disowned him. He then began to study at the Jesuit College in Rome.

On October 2, 1697, he joined the Franciscans of the Strict Observance and took the name Brother Leonard. He was ordained in Rome in 1703. He taught for a while, and expected to become a missionary in China, but a bleeding ulcer kept him in his native Porto Maurizio for the four years it took for him to recover and regain his strength.

In 1709, St. Leonard of Port Maurice was sent to Florence where he preached in the city and nearby region. A great preacher, he was often invited to visit and preach in other areas. He worked to increase devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Sacred Heart, Immaculate Conception, and the Stations of the Cross.

One of his accomplishments was to set up the Stations of the Cross in over 500 different places, including the Colosseum. He was sent as a missionary to Corsica by Pope Benedict XIV in 1744 and restored discipline to the holy orders there, but local politics greatly limited his success in preaching.

He returned to Rome exhausted, and died that night on November 26, 1751 at the monastery of Saint Bonaventure in Rome.

From St. Leonard of Port Maurice, a Modern Catholic can find an example of great servitude and spiritual stamina. One may look at how he lived his life with Christian perseverance, always seeking out opportunities to build the Kingdom of God, until his death.

Sources:
Photo: traditionalcatholic.co
Text: catholicnewsagency.com

24/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Catherine of Alexandria
November 25

According to the Legend of St. Catherine, this young woman converted to Christianity after receiving a vision. At the age of 18, she debated 50 pagan philosophers. Amazed at her wisdom and debating skills, they became Christians—as did about 200 soldiers and members of the emperor’s family. All of them were martyred.

Sentenced to be executed on a spiked wheel, Catherine of Alexandria touched the wheel and it shattered. She was beheaded. Centuries later, angels are said to have carried the body of Saint Catherine to a monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

Devotion to her spread as a result of the Crusades. Catherine of Alexandria was invoked as the patroness of students, teachers, librarians and lawyers. Catherine is one of the 14 Holy Helpers, venerated especially in Germany and Hungary.

Reflection
The pursuit of God’s wisdom may not lead to riches or earthly honors. In Catherine’s case, this pursuit contributed to her martyrdom. She was not, however, foolish in preferring to die for Jesus rather than live only by denying him. All the rewards that her tormentors offered her would rust, lose their beauty, or in some other way become a poor exchange for Catherine’s honesty and integrity in following Jesus Christ.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a Patron Saint of:
Lawyers
Librarians
Philosophers
Students
Teachers

Sources:
Text: franciscanmedia.org
Photo: giveninstitute.com

23/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions
November 24

Andrew Dung-Lac, a Catholic convert ordained to the priesthood, was one of 117 people martyred in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. Members of the companions group gave their lives for Christ in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and received beatification during four different occasions between 1900 and 1951. All were canonized during the papacy of Saint John Paul II.

Christianity came to Vietnam through the Portuguese. Jesuits opened the first permanent mission at Da Nang in 1615. They ministered to Japanese Catholics who had been driven from Japan.

Severe persecutions were launched at least three times in the 19th century. During the six decades after 1820, between 100,000 and 300,000 Catholics were killed or subjected to great hardship. Foreign missionaries martyred in the first wave included priests of the Paris Mission Society, and Spanish Dominican priests and tertiaries.

In 1832, Emperor Minh-Mang banned all foreign missionaries, and tried to make all Vietnamese deny their faith by trampling on a crucifix. Like the priest-holes in Ireland during English persecution, many hiding places were offered in homes of the faithful.

Persecution broke out again in 1847, when the emperor suspected foreign missionaries and Vietnamese Christians of sympathizing with a rebellion led by of one of his sons. The last of the martyrs were 17 laypersons, one of them a 9-year-old, executed in 1862. That year a treaty with France guaranteed religious freedom to Catholics, but it did not stop all persecution.

By 1954, there were over a million Catholics—about seven percent of the population—in the north. Buddhists represented about 60 percent. Persistent persecution forced some 670,000 Catholics to abandon lands, homes and possessions and flee to the south. In 1964, there were still 833,000 Catholics in the north, but many were in prison. In the south, Catholics were enjoying the first decade of religious freedom in centuries, their numbers swelled by refugees.

During the Vietnamese war, Catholics again suffered in the north, and again moved to the south in great numbers. Now reunited, the entire country is under Communist rule.

Reflection
It may help a people who associate Vietnam only with a 20th-century war to realize that the cross has long been a part of the lives of the people of that country. Even as some people ask again the unanswered questions about United States involvement and disengagement, the faith rooted in Vietnam’s soil proves hardier than the forces that willed to destroy it.

Sources:
Text: franciscanmedia.org
Photo: franciscanmedia.org

22/11/2025

𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟑 | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓, 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄

On the last Sunday of each liturgical year, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or Christ the King.

Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his encyclical Quas primas (“In the first”) to respond to growing secularism and atheism. He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. This solemnity reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever.

Christ the King sacred art
During the early twentieth century, in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and—while governments around them crumbled—the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever. Jesus Christ “is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind” (Quas primas, 7).

Christ’s kingship is rooted in the Church’s teaching on the Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is both the divine Lord and the man who suffered and died on the Cross. One person of the Trinity unites himself to human nature and reigns over all creation as the Incarnate Son of God. “From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures” (Quas primas, 13).

The Church calls us to acknowledge Christ’s kingship with our whole lives:

He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, ‘as instruments of justice unto God.’ -Quas primas, 33
Today, religious freedom for many people means that we can believe whatever we want in private, but when we enter the public square or the marketplace, we may not speak of anything that relates to our faith. However, the Church acknowledges the reign of Christ, not only privately, but publicly. This solemnity encourages us the celebrate and live out our faith in public. “Thus by sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by solemn processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given them for their King” (Quas primas, 26).

For Christians, when our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives. We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.

Sources:
Text: usccb.org
Photo: catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com

22/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Clement I – Pope and Martyr
November 23

St. Clement I (born, Rome?—died 1st century ce, Rome; feast day November 23) was the fourth pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, from 88 to 97 or from 92 to 101, making him the supposed third successor of St. Peter the Apostle. (In Catholic tradition, Peter was the first pope, and his ministry was passed on to his successors as bishops of Rome.) Clement was also the first Apostolic Father, a title given to early Greek Christian writers whose works, dating primarily from the late 1st and early 2nd centuries, are the principal source for information about Christianity during the two or three generations following the Apostles.

According to the early Christian writer Tertullian, Clement was consecrated by St. Peter, and St. Irenaeus lists him as a contemporary of the Apostles and a witness of their preaching. Eusebius of Caesarea dates his pontificate from 92 to 101, following that of St. Anacletus. Clement was succeeded by St. Evaristus. His martyrdom is legendary, and he has been hypothetically identified with the Clement mentioned in the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians (4:3). His attribute is an anchor, to which he was tied and cast into the sea, according to spurious tales.

Authorship of the Letter to the Church of Corinth (or First Letter of Clement, I Clement), perhaps the most important 1st-century Christian document other than the New Testament, has been traditionally ascribed to him. Still extant, it was written to settle a controversy among the Corinthians against their church leaders and reveals that Clement considered himself empowered to intervene (the first such action known) in another community’s affairs. His Letter achieved almost canonical status and was regarded as Scripture by many 3rd- and 4th-century Christians.

Sources:
Text: britannica.com
Photo: en.wikipedia.org

21/11/2025

𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 | St. Cecilia
November 22

There was in the city of Rome a virgin named Cecilia, who was given in marriage to a youth named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, and fasted, and invoked the saints and angels and virgins, beseeching them to guard her virginity. And she said to her husband, “I will tell you a secret if you will swear not to reveal it to anyone.” And when he swore, she added, “There is an angel who watches me, and wards off from me any who would touch me.” He said, “Dearest, if this be true, show me the angel.” “That can only be if you will believe in one God, and be baptized.”

She sent him to Pope S. Urban (223-230), who baptized him; and when he returned, he saw Cecilia praying in her chamber, and an angel by her with flaming wings, holding two crowns of roses and lilies, which he placed on their heads, and then vanished. Shortly after, Tibertius, the brother of Valerian, entered, and wondered at the fragrance and beauty of the flowers at that season of the year. When he heard the story of how they had obtained these crowns, he also consented to be baptized.

After their baptism the two brothers devoted themselves to burying the martyrs slain daily by the prefect of the city, Turcius Almachius. They were arrested and brought before the prefect, and when they refused to sacrifice to the gods were executed with the sword.

In the meantime, St. Cecilia, by preaching had converted four hundred persons, whom Pope Urban baptized. Then Cecilia was arrested, and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. She was shut in for a night and a day, and the fires were heaped up, and made to glow and roar their utmost, but Cecilia did not even break out into perspiration through the heat. When Almachius heard this he sent an executioner to cut off her head in the bath. The man struck thrice without being able to sever the head from the trunk. He left her bleeding, and she lived three days. Crowds came to her and she preached to them or prayed. At the end of that period she died, and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons.

Sources:
Text: saintcecilias.org
Photo: catholicwomeninbusiness.com

20/11/2025

𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗚𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬
November 21

Mary’s presentation was celebrated in Jerusalem in the sixth century. A church was built there in honor of this mystery. The Eastern Church was more interested in the feast, but it does appear in the West in the 11th century. Although the feast at times disappeared from the calendar, in the 16th century it became a feast of the universal Church.

As with Mary’s birth, we read of Mary’s presentation in the temple only in apocryphal literature. In what is recognized as an unhistorical account, the Protoevangelium of James tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was 3 years old. This was to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still childless.

Though it cannot be proven historically, Mary’s presentation has an important theological purpose. It continues the impact of the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the birth of Mary. It emphasizes that the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life on earth continued through her early childhood and beyond.

Reflection
It is sometimes difficult for modern Westerners to appreciate a feast like this. The Eastern Church, however, was quite open to this feast and even somewhat insistent about celebrating it. Even though the feast has no basis in history, it stresses an important truth about Mary: From the beginning of her life, she was dedicated to God. She herself became a greater temple than any made by hands.

God came to dwell in her in a marvelous manner and sanctified her for her unique role in God’s saving work. At the same time, the magnificence of Mary enriches her children. They—we—too are temples of God and sanctified in order that we might enjoy and share in God’s saving work.

Sources:
Text: franciscanmedia.org
Photo: catholicnewsagency.com

Bishop Yong D.D.

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