OFS St. Anthony of Padua Fraternity - Las Piñas

24/08/2026

AUGUST 25 I FEAST OF ST. LOUIS IX
King of France and Patron of Secular Franciscan

At his coronation as king of France, Louis IX bound himself by oath to behave as God’s anointed, as the father of his people and feudal lord of the King of Peace. Other kings had done the same, of course. Louis was different in that he actually interpreted his kingly duties in the light of faith. After the violence of two previous reigns, he brought peace and justice.

Louis “took the cross” for a Crusade when he was 30. His army seized Damietta in Egypt but not long after, weakened by dysentery and without support, they were surrounded and captured. Louis obtained the release of the army by giving up the city of Damietta in addition to paying a ransom. He stayed in Syria four years.

Louis deserves credit for extending justice in civil administration. His regulations for royal officials became the first of a series of reform laws. He replaced trial by battle with a form of examination of witnesses and encouraged the use of written records in court.

Louis was always respectful of the papacy, but defended royal interests against the popes, and refused to acknowledge Innocent IV’s sentence against Emperor Frederick II.

Louis was devoted to his people, founding hospitals, visiting the sick, and like his patron Saint Francis, caring even for people with leprosy. He is one of the patrons of the Secular Franciscan Order. Louis united France—lords and townsfolk, peasants and priests and knights—by the force of his personality and holiness. For many years the nation was at peace.

Every day, Louis had 13 special guests from among the poor to eat with him, and a large number of poor were served meals near his palace. During Advent and Lent, all who presented themselves were given a meal, and Louis often served them in person. He kept lists of needy people, whom he regularly relieved, in every province of his dominion.

Disturbed by new Muslim advances, Louis led another crusade to North Africa in 1270. Within a month of their landing at Carthage, the army camp was decimated by disease. Louis himself died there at the age of 56. He was canonized 27 years later.

ST. LOUIS IX OF FRANCE, Pray for us.

24/08/2026

AUGUST 25 I MEMORIAL OF ST. JOSEPH CALASANZ
Priest and Cordbearer of St. Francis of Assisi

From Aragon where he was born in 1556, to Rome where he died 92 years later, fortune alternately smiled and frowned on the work of Joseph Calasanz. A priest with university training in canon law and theology, respected for his wisdom and administrative expertise, he put aside his career because he was deeply concerned with the need for education of poor children.

When he was unable to get other institutes to undertake this apostolate at Rome, Joseph and several companions personally provided a free school for deprived children. So overwhelming was the response that there was a constant need for larger facilities to house their effort. Soon, Pope Clement VIII gave support to the school, and this aid continued under Pope Paul V. Other schools were opened; other men were attracted to the work, and in 1621 the community—for so the teachers lived—was recognized as a religious community, the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools—Piarists or Scolopi. Not long after, Joseph was appointed superior for life.

A combination of various prejudices and political ambition and maneuvering caused the institute much turmoil. Some did not favor educating the poor, for education would leave the poor dissatisfied with their lowly tasks for society! Others were shocked that some of the Piarists were sent for instruction to Galileo—a friend of Joseph—as superior, thus dividing the members into opposite camps. Repeatedly investigated by papal commissions, Joseph was demoted; when the struggle within the institute persisted, the Piarists were suppressed. Only after Joseph’s death were they formally recognized as a religious community. His liturgical feast is celebrated on August 25.

ST. JOSEPH CALASANZ, Pray for us.

24/08/2026

23/08/2026

AUGUST 24 I FEAST OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW
Apostle

In St. John's Gospel, Bartholomew is known by the name Nathaniel (the liturgy does not always seem aware of this identity). He hailed from Cana in Galilee, was one of the first disciples called by the Lord. On that initial meeting Jesus uttered the glorious compliment: "Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile!" After the Resurrection he was favored by becoming one of the few apostles who witnessed the appearance of the risen Savior on the sea of Galilee (John 21:2). Following the Ascension he is said to have preached in Greater Armenia and to have been martyred there. While still alive, his skin was torn from his body. The Armenians honor him as the apostle of their nation. Concerning the fate of his relics, the Martyrology says: "His holy body was first taken to the island of Lipari (north of Sicily), then to Benevento, and finally to Rome on an island in the Tiber where it is honored by the faithful with pious devotion."

The Church of Armenia has a national tradition that St. Jude Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew visited the Armenians early in the first century and introduced Christianity among the worshippers of the god Ahura Mazda. The new faith spread throughout the land, and in 302 A.D., St. Gregory the Illuminator baptized the king of Armenia, Dertad the Great, along with many of his followers. Since Dertad was probably the first ruler to embrace Christianity for his nation, the Armenians proudly claim they were the first Christian State.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW, Pray for us.

23/08/2026

AUGUST 24 I MEMORIAL OF BL. VERONICA ANTAL
Virgin and Martry, Secular Franciscan

“This is the will if God; your sanctification” ( Thes, 4,3; cfr. Eph. 1,4).

Veronica was born to George and Eva Antal on December 07. 1935, in Boteşti, a village of Nisiporeşti. She was the first of the four children, with whom God was to bless this family of simple peasants, in the charming region of Moldova. The following day, December 08, Feast of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception, the child was brought to the Roman-Catholic Church in Hălăuceşti, as was the custom of that time, where she was baptized by the Parish Priest, Fr. Felix Rafaelli. She was given the name Veronica, in memory of one of her father’s sisters, who had died in her youth.

Veronica had hardly begun to pronounce her first word: “Mama” when her grandmother began to teach her very simple prayers in line with her age. According to the testimonies of relatives and of those who knew her in her tender childhood, Veronica was described as a person of robust physical constitution, sociable, pious and intelligent. She used to play with other children of the neighborhood, but never forget to join her parents and her grandmother for religious celebrations that took place in the lovely little Church of Nisiporeşti.

Veronica began to attend the primary school of the area when she was about seven. Here, she learned to read, to know her numbers and to discover the wonders of literature, history and geography. There seemed to be nothing extraordinary in her life up to this time, except that it was obvious she had a strong devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and to the Virgin Mary.

On completing the first four classes in the primary school, Veronica became more involved in the daily life of the family. She helped her mother in the household tasks, learnt how to spin wool and to make native costumes. She would also work in the fields with her family and with the neighbours.

When she was about sixteen years of age, Veronica joined the Church choir in Nisiporeşti and at the same time enrolled in the Marian Association, founded by St. Maxilmilian Kolbe and with other Franciscans, among whom Fr. Iosif Petru Mari, who was born in the same village as Veronica.

Around this time, too, Veronica began to think seriously about her future. She wanted to join the Convent of the Franciscan Sisters in Hălăuceşti, but her attempts to do this were destined to failure, since once the Communist Regime took over, all the Catholic Congregations in the country were suppressed and their convents closed.

“A little sister without a convent”

Unable to realize her dream of embracing the vocation to which she felt called by God, that of being a sister, Veronica did not lose hope and began to think how she could live out her calling. On the recommendation of her spiritual director, Fr. Alois Donea, Veronica became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis (Tertiary), making a private vow of Chastity. In order to be able to dedicate herself more fully to her spiritual life, she built a small cell alongside her home, where she used to withdraw as often as possible. She never missed going to Mass and receiving Holy Communion. If Mass was not celebrated in her village, as the Church was a branch of the Roman-Catholic Church of Hălăuceşti, she would get up in the morning at 4.00, in winter as well as in summer and, with a group of friends, walk the eight miles to Hălăuceşti in order to take part in the Liturgy and receive Holy Communion. This spiritual food gave her courage for her daily struggles and helped her progress in her spiritual life. She often let her friends know of her desire for heaven and her call to holiness, allowing nothing to get in the way of her goal. Besides participating in the Sacrifice of the Mass, Veronica also took part in the Hours of Adoration which were held every Thursday in the Church in Nisiporeşti. She used to pray the Rosary whenever possible, praying for the different needs of the Church. She also nourished her spiritual life by reading spitiual books.

Prayer and the love of God needs to be concretized in love of. one’s neighbour: Veronika did this by forgiving promptly those who committed some fault, visiting the sick and the elderly who lived alone, taking the children of exhausted mothers in her arms and

comforting them lovingly, teaching the children to say their prayers and preparing them for their First Holy Communion.

The years went by and Veronica’s faith became even deeper, a faith that would be sealed by her blood in a very short time.

In the evening of August 23, 1958, Veronica, accompanied by a group of friends, left for Hălăuceşti, where the Sacrament of Confirmation was to be administered the following day. Next day, she took part in the Liturgy, where with great solemnity, Monsignor Petru Pleşca conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on a large group of young people from that parish. “Veronica seemed pale and downcast” during the Liturgy, recounts one of her friends who accompanied her. Could she have had a premonition of what was to happen ? Only God knows!

Following the Liturgy, Veronica helped to arrange things in the sacristy, after which she went to have a meal with one of her friends from Hălăuceşti. Towards evening, her friends wanted to go home, but she told them to go on ahead, that she would follow them…

After some time, Veronica said goodbye to this friend and started out for Nisiporeşti. On the way, she put her trust in God and with her rosary in her hands, began the long trek home of eight kilometers, walking hurriedly. Half way home, she met the young man, Pavel Mocanu, who overcome by passion, accosted her and began making indecent proposals to her. Veronica tried to continue on her way, but he persisted in his outrageous design.

Dragging her into a cornfield near the fountain named “Vangheaua”, he began to wrestle with her. After a while, unable to satisfy his lust, he took out a knife and stabbed her 42 times, covering her body with wounds. She collapsed, inert.

Veronica’a body was found two days later by labourers on their way to work in the fields. She was face downwards, lifeless and covered in blood; her rosary clasped in her right hand and a cross of corn pods on her back. Surely the Virgin Mary loved Veronica in that she was born on the Feast of The Immaculate Conception; and Veronica loved the Mother of God, in that she died with her rosary in her hand.

After the police had come and the necessary research had been carried out, Veronica was taken home, where two doctors carried out an autopsy. One of the doctors who examined her could not refrain from exclaiming: “Happy the Mother that gave you birth! A virgin you were and you died, a virgin”. In this way he testified to the fact that her killer was unable to carry out his intention of ra**ng her.

News of Veronica’s death spread immediately both in her native village and to the surrounding areas, so that when her funeral took place on August 27, the Church of Nisiporeşti was crowded.

“St. Veronica”

This is what the faithful of Nisiporeşti and the surroundings call her.

Immediately following her death, the statement: “She lived as a saint and she died a saint” was on the lips of all. From that time, children, young people, adults and older people; persons of every social condition and of every religion, have not ceased to visit her tomb and the place where she was killed, confiding to her intercession their various problems. The results have never been slow in coming.

In 1980, Fr. Anton Demeter, who was assigned to the Roman-Catholic Parish of Barticeşti, in the vicinity of Nisiporeşti, tried to make known the life of this young Christian woman, who preferred to offer herself to Christ rather than lose her virginity. Thus, he began to collect a large number of testimonies from different members of the faithful of Nisiporeşti, as well as from those who had recourse to her and had tried to set aside for prayer, the place where she was born.

In 2003, following the spread of her reputation for holiness, and on the insistence of the faithful who had known her, Fr. Pătraşcu Damian, Vice-Postulator of the Cause, decided to undertake the Informative Process concerning the life, virtues, reputation, holiness and martyrdom of the Servant of God, Veronica Antal.

Thus, on November 25th, 2003, the introduction of the Cause already mentioned, took place in the Church of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady in Nisiporeşti, in presence of a large number of priests and of the faithful.

Since then and up to the present moment, a number of sessions have taken place in the Tribunal constituted for this Cause, during which a large number of testimonies have been heard.

The diocesan enquiry was closed on November 12, 2006 and the record of the Acts of the Process were sent to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, where the necessary enquiries leading to this young woman being recognized as a saint and presented as such to the world, will continue.

Until then, believers are invited to pray to God, our Father, so that our Mother Church will recognize the sanctity of the Servant of God, Veronica Antal, in the shortest delay possible.

BL. VERONICA ANTAL, Pray for us.

22/08/2026

AUGUST 23 I MEMORIAL OF ST. ROSE OF LIMA
Virgin and Secondary Patroness of the Philippines

Rose of Lima, a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic, was the "first blossom of sanctity that South America gave to the world." Hers was a life heroic in virtue and penance. She expiated the evils perpetrated by the conquerors of the land in their lust for gold. For many her life was a silent sermon of penance. Pope Clement X stated in the bull of canonization: "Since the discovery of Peru no missionary has arisen who effected a similar popular zeal for the practice of penance."

Already as a five-year-old child (born 1586), Rose vowed her innocence to God. While still a young girl, she practiced mortifications and fasts that exceeded ordinary discretion; during all of Lent she ate no bread, but subsisted on five citron seeds a day. In addition, she suffered repeated attacks from the devil, painful bodily ailments, and from her family, scoldings and calumnies. All this she accepted serenely, remarking that she was treated better than she deserved. For fifteen years she patiently endured the severest spiritual abandonment and aridity. In reward came heavenly joys, the comforting companionship of her holy guardian angel and of the Blessed Virgin. August 24, 1617, proved to be the day "on which the paradise of her heavenly Bridegroom unlocked itself to her."

ST. ROSE OF LIMA, Pray for us.

22/08/2026

UGUST 23 I MEMORIAL OF BL. BERNARD OF OFFIDA
Friar, Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

Blessed Bernard was born on November 7, 1604, as Dominic, the third of eight children of Menica and Joseph Peroni. The family was a poor farming family and by the age of seven Dominic was shepherding the family sheep.

He entered the Capuchin Order at 23 years of age, and received the name, Bernard. He sought to acquire all the most beautiful Franciscan virtues; by competing with those friars he considered the best. During his long life, he served as cook, infirmarian, quaestor, gardener, and porter. Through life's many misfortunes, Bernard cultivated a spiritual outlook that transformed every occasion into a prayer and spiritual opportunity.

He was beatified by Pope Pius VI on May 25, 1795.

BL. BERNARD OF OFFIDA, Pray for us.

21/08/2026

AUGUST 22 I MEMORIAL OF QUEENSHIP OF MARY

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary. The faithful, under the guidance of an unerring Catholic instinct, have ever recognized the queenly dignity of the Mother of "The King of kings and Lord of lords": the Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, Popes, down through the centuries, have given authoritative expression to this truth and the crowning testimony to this common belief is to be found clearly expressed in the wonders of art and in the profound teaching of the liturgy. In their turn theologians have shown the fitting nature of this title of Queen as applied to the Mother of God, since she was so closely associated with the redemptive work of her Son and is the Mediatrix of all graces. Pius XII, by his encyclical letter of October 11, 1954, granted the unanimous desire of the faithful and their pastors and instituted the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, giving sanction thus to a devotion that was already paid by the faithful throughout the world to the sovereign Mother of heaven and earth.

MARY, QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, Pray for us.

20/08/2026

AUGUST 21 I MEMORIAL OF ST. PIUS X
Pope and Secular Franciscan

Joseph Sarto was born in humble circumstances at Riese, a small village in Venetia, on June 2, 1835. He was successively curate, parish priest, bishop of Mantua, Patriarch of Venice — offices to which his keen intelligence, hard work, and great piety caused him to be quickly promoted. He was elected Pope on August 4, 1903, and took the name of Pius X. As chief pastor of the Church he displayed untiring self-sacrifice and great energy; he was an intrepid defender of the purity of Christian doctrine. He realized to the full the value of the liturgy as the prayer of the Church and the solid basis that it furnishes for the devotion of Christian people; he worked for the restoration of the worship of the Church, especially plainchant, so that Christian people, as he put it, might find beauty in their public prayer. He spared no effort to propagate the practice, so great an aid to holiness, of early, frequent and daily communion. He died on August 20, 1914, and was canonized on May 29, 1954.

It is the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Knock, Ireland, where Our Lady is said to have appeared on August 21, 1879, with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, a Lamb and cross on an altar at the gable wall of the parish church of the village of Knock in County Mayo and was witnessed by 15 people.

St. Pius X
The future Pope-Saint of the twentieth century was born at Riese in Venetia on June 2, 1835, his name, Joseph Sarto. After ordination at the age of twenty-three (by special dispensation), he labored for 17 years as a parish priest, then as bishop of Mantua, and in 1892 was advanced to the metropolitan see of Venice with the honorary title of patriarch. On August 4, 1903, he was elected Pope, "a man of God who knew the unhappiness of the world and the hardships of life, and in the greatness of his heart wanted to comfort everybody."

The primary aim of his pontificate Pius X announced in his first encyclical letter, viz., "to renew all things in Christ." Here we need but allude to his decree on early and frequent reception of holy Communion; his Motu Proprio on church music; his encouragement of daily Bible reading and the establishment of various Biblical institutes; his reorganization of the Roman ecclesiastical offices; his work on the codification of Canon Law; his incisive stand against Modernism, that "synthesis of all heresies." All these were means toward the realization of his main objective of renewing all things in Christ.

The outbreak of the first World War, practically on the date of the eleventh anniversary of his election to the See of Peter, was the blow that occasioned his death. Bronchitis developed within a few days, and on August 20, 1914, Pius X succumbed to "the last affliction that the Lord will visit on me." He had said in his will, "I was born poor, I have lived poor, I wish to die poor" — and no one questioned the truth of his words. His sanctity and his power to work miracles had already been recognized. Pius X was the first Pope canonized since St. Pius V in 1672.

ST. PIUS X, Pray for us.

19/08/2026

AUGUST 20 I MEMORIAL OF ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
Abbot and Doctor of the Church

Bernard, the second founder of the Cistercians, the Mellifluous Doctor, the apostle of the Crusades, the miracle-worker, the reconciler of kings, the leader of peoples, the counselor of popes! His sermons, from which there are many excerpts in the Breviary, are conspicuous for genuine emotion and spiritual unction. The celebrated Memorare is ascribed to him.

Bernard was born in 1090, the third son of an illustrious Burgundian family. At the age of twenty-two he entered the monastery of Citeaux (where the Cistercian Order had its beginning) and persuaded thirty other youths of noble rank to follow his example. Made abbot of Clairvaux (1115), he erected numerous abbeys where his spirit flourished. To his disciple, Bernard of Pisa, who later became Pope Eugene III, he dedicated his work De Consideratione. Bernard's influence upon the princes, the clergy, and the people of his age was most remarkable. By penitential practices he so exhausted his body that it could hardly sustain his soul, ever eager to praise and honor God.

ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, Pray for us.