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Church of the Annunciation Youth Group, 1007 Main Str, Ky 40461, Paris, KY (2026)

03/06/2025

St. Colette (1381-1447) was born in Picardy, France, the daughter of a poor carpenter who served the local Benedictine abbey. Her parents conceived her in their old age after praying to St. Nicholas for a child, naming Colette after him. She became well known for her faith and spiritual wisdom from a young age. After the death of her parents she joined the Third Order of St. Francis and became a hermit. She led a life of asceticism and solitude until a dream revealed that God willed her to reform the Poor Clares. She obeyed and joined the Poor Clares in 1406. Her mission of reformation was sanctioned by Benedict XIII of Avignon (the anti-pope) who appointed her superior of each of the convents she reformed. Despite resistance from within the Poor Clares, she successfully reformed several existing convents and founded 17 new ones dedicated to a stricter observance of the Poor Clares, known as the Colettines. She experienced visions and ecstasies of Christ's Passion, and even prophesied her own death. Through her life’s work, St. Colette’s reformation breathed new life into the Poor Clares and created a lasting model of spirituality. St. Colette's feast day is March 6th.

10/17/2024

St. Ignatius Of Antioch
St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 98-117) was a Syrian who became a disciple of St. John the Apostle. Tradition holds that he was the infant whom Jesus took in his arms, saying, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me" as recounted in Mark's Gospel. St. Ignatius was a pagan convert to Christianity and succeeded St. Peter the Apostle as the third bishop of Antioch, being ordained by St. Peter himself. He was an important Church Father of the Apostolic age, an ideal pastor, and a fearless soldier of Christ. He was tireless in supporting his flock against dangerous heresies and the terrors of the persecutions of the Roman Emperors. When Ignatius violated the imperial edict to worship false gods, he was arrested and led before Emperor Trajan. After boldly proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ, he was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts for public sport in the Roman Colosseum. On his journey from Syria to Rome he wrote many letters to his fellow Christians, encouraging them with his apostolic zeal and exhorting them to obey their bishops. He also pleaded that none try to obtain his release, as he was eager to lay down his life for Jesus, saying, “The only thing I ask of you is to allow me to offer the libation of my blood to God. I am the wheat of the Lord; may I be ground by the teeth of the beasts to become the immaculate bread of Christ.” He was devoured by lions in Rome in the early second century. St. Ignatius of Antioch is the first to have used the term "Catholic" Church, meaning "Universal." His feast day is October 17th.

09/27/2024

St. Vincent De Paul
St. Vincent de Paul (1581–1660) was born in France to a peasant farming family. As a child he grew up herding sheep, and showed such an aptitude for his studies that his father sold the family oxen to fund his seminary education. After his ordination in 1600, St. Vincent worked in Toulouse as a tutor to pay for his doctorate. In 1605, while traveling by sea, he was captured by Turkish pirates. He was taken to Tunis in Africa and sold into slavery four times before escaping in 1607 along with his master, whom he had coverted to the faith. St. Vincent then continued his studies in Rome, and afterwards returned to France. He served as a parish priest and ministered to the nobility; however, two life-changing encounters with destitute people inspired him to begin work among the poor and marginalized. He gathered the wealthy women of his parish to collect funds for missionary projects. From this group came the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. He also founded an Order of priests, the Vincentians, who, during a time of general laxity and ignorance among the clergy, devoted themselves to the Evangelical Councils while serving in small towns and villages. He committed himself to the education of priests and conducted many retreats for their spiritual formation. He also ministered to convicts suffering deplorable conditions in prison, and won many to the faith in addition to building them a hospital. St. Vincent renewed the faith of France during a time of spiritual crisis. For this he was named the patron of charitable works. He is also the patron of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, an organization dedicated to the service of the poor, now working in 132 countries. His feast day is September 27th.

09/25/2024

St. Cleophas
St. Cleophas (1st c.) was one of Jesus' seventy disciples, and one of the two disciples who were traveling along the road to Emmaus after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem, as recounted in Luke's Gospel. The resurrected Jesus appeared and walked along the road with St. Cleophas and his companion, explaining the events of his Passion and how they fulfilled the Holy Scriptures. According to one tradition, Cleophas (also known as Alphaeus), was a relative of Jesus; he was the brother of St. Joseph, and therefore was Jesus' uncle. Cleophas was the husband of St. Mary of Cleophas, and they had three sons we know by name: St. Simon, St. James the Less, and St. Jude. St. Cleophas, through his daughter Mary Salome, was also grandfather to St. James the Greater and St. John. Therefore three of his sons and two of his grandsons were among the Twelve Apostles. According to tradition, St. Cleophas was martyred by the Jewish authorities in the same home in which he received Jesus as a guest. His feast day is September 25th.

09/24/2024

St. Padre Pio Of Pietrelcina
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968) was born to peasant farmers in southern Italy. By the time he was 5 years old he practiced a life of penance and made the decision to give himself completely to God. He grew up working in the fields, and at the age of 19 joined the Capuchin Franciscan friars. His Franciscan spirituality was characterized by a life of poverty, love of nature, and charity to those in need, especially to those who were his "spiritual children." St. Padre Pio had many spiritual gifts and was a great miracle-worker. These were well-documented from multiple reliable sources and included bilocation, levitation, reading souls, and physical healing by touch. Word of his holiness spread and people both pious and curious flocked to see him, especially to have him hear their confession. He is the first priest known to have received the stigmata, for which he suffered suspicion and investigation. Because of the unusual supernatural phenomena surrounding his life, he is considered one of the great visionaries and mystics of the Church. Padre Pio died in 1968 at the age of 81. He was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002. Because of the many miracles he performed during his life, he is commonly invoked as a healing saint for various ailments. His feast day is September 23rd.

09/19/2024

St. Januarius
St. Januarius (d. 305 A.D.), also known as San Gennaro, was the Bishop of Benevento, Italy. Little is known of his early life. He was arrested and imprisoned for his faith while visiting other Christians in jail during the persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian. Many attempts were made to kill him, but one after another they failed. He was thrown into a fiery furnace, but he came out unscathed. He was then thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheater, but they did not attack. He was finally beheaded, and his blood was collected by Christians and kept in a sealed glass vial for veneration. The vial of blood is still kept today in the Naples cathedral, and it has continually demonstrated miraculous properties for which no scientific explanation has been offered. St. Januarius' blood liquefies and becomes fresh on particular occasions throughout the year, especially his feast day, for which the saint has become famous. This phenomenon has been occurring with regularity for centuries, and is one of the "blood miracles" that is historically well-documented among the relics of certain saints. He is the patron saint of blood banks and the city of Naples, Italy. St. Januarius's feast day is September 19th.

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09/17/2024

St. Hildegard Von Bingen
St. Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) was born to a large and noble German family. She began to have mystical visions at the age of three which continued throughout her life. Her parents, promising her to the service of God, sent her to be educated at the Benedictine Abbey by an anchoress when she was about eight years of age. At the age of fourteen she became a consecrated nun attached to the Abbey, where she lived a quiet life of prayer for many years. At the age of 38, after the anchoress' death, she was chosen as the new leader of a growing group of nuns. Hildegard led a remarkable and unusual life for a woman of her day. She was an avid composer of sacred music and liturgy, in addition to poems and plays. She also wrote heavily on theology, natural medicine, and natural science. At the age of 42, at the command of God, Hildegard began writing down what she saw in her visions. Her works were widely read, even by the Pope, and leaders around the world sought her council. Her fame as a mystic and prophetess grew, earning her the name "Sibyl of the Rhine." More nuns flocked to join her, causing Hildegard to establish a new monastery at Rupertsberg. She wrote proficiently on the harmony of created nature and man's need to live in balance with it, especially in virtue, morality, and the love of God, which led Pope Benedict XVI to declare her the fourth female Doctor of the Church in 2012 alongside Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, and Thérèse of Lisieux. Because her works were far ahead of her time she is regarded as a historical phenomenon. Hildegard of Bingen is considered the founder of scientific natural history in Germany. Her feast day is September 17th.

05/01/2024

St. Joseph The Worker
St. Joseph (1st c.) was born in Bethlehem in Judea and later settled in Nazareth. By Divine command he became the husband of the Virgin Mary and adoptive father to God Incarnate. We know from Scripture and Tradition that St. Joseph was a virtuous man and a carpenter by trade. It was he who was entrusted with the great mission to guard, protect, and provide for the temporal needs of God's most precious gifts, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, in the role of husband and father within the Holy Family. St. Joseph's mission continues from heaven as the patron saint of the Catholic Church. He is also the patron of many causes including fathers, laborers, and families. His feast days are: St. Joseph the Husband of Mary on March 19th, and St. Joseph the Worker on May 1st. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955 to emphasize the dignity, meaning, and value of human work in the eyes of God, and to give all laborers a model of virtue as well as a heavenly intercessor and protector.

02/04/2024

St. Blaise
Saint of the Day

St. Blaise (d. 316 A.D.) was born into a wealthy Christian family in Armenia. He was trained as a physician before becoming a priest, and was finally ordained a bishop. When a wave of Christian persecution began, God instructed St. Blaise to hide in a desert cave. While he was in hiding, birds miraculously brought him food and sick men came to him to be healed. The king's hunters eventually discovered his cave and found it surrounded by a myriad of wild animals who came to the saint to be blessed, with Blaise able to walk freely among them. Recognizing him as the local bishop, the hunters took Blaise into custody. As he went with them he continued to preach and perform miracles along the way: he healed a boy choking to death on a bone, and commanded a wolf to release a captured pig belonging to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman killed her pig to feed St. Blaise in prison. He was eventually martyred under the reign of Licinius, his body torn with wool combs before being beheaded. Blaise is known as the patron saint of throat ailments, physicians, woolcombers, and wild animals. His feast is commemorated with the Blessing of the Throats, and is celebrated on February 3rd.

01/26/2024

St. Timothy
SAINT OF THE DAY
St. Timothy (1st c.) was born in Galatia in Asia Minor, the son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother. Timothy was a convert of St. Paul the Apostle around the year 47 A.D. Timothy became a trusted friend and a beloved spiritual son to Paul, laboring faithfully alongside him in his apostolic work for many years. Paul mentions Timothy repeatedly in his letters and dispatched him on important missionary work to the local churches he founded. Timothy was ordained to the priesthood at the hands of St. Paul and was later made bishop of Ephesus. St. Timothy was stoned to death thirty years after St. Paul's martyrdom for having denounced the worship of the false goddess Diana. St. Timothy is the patron of intestinal and stomach problems, because Paul admonished him to ease his penance and drink a little wine for the sake of his health, instead of only water. His feast day is January 26.

01/24/2024

St. Francis de Sales
Saint of the Day

St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622) was born to a noble family in France. He enjoyed a privileged upbringing and education, earning a doctorate in law and theology. He was a well-liked and intelligent man, yet quiet and reserved. When struggling with thoughts of his possibly being predestined to eternal damnation, Francis went into a deep two-year depression. God healed him of this fear, and afterwards Francis consecrated himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He later became a priest, rejecting the lucrative career and advantageous marriage his father had prepared for him. As a priest, St. Francis became a prolific writer and preacher, and at the age of 35 was made bishop of the Calvinist stronghold in Geneva, Switzerland, at the height of the Protestant revolt against the Church. Through his gentleness, preaching skill, zeal for the faith, and his clear explanations of Catholic doctrine, he returned thousands of obstinate heretics to the true Faith. He also used sign language to convert the deaf. St. Francis de Sales is a Doctor of the Church, known especially for his writings on practical spiritual direction for lay people. He is the patron of teachers, the deaf, the Catholic press, confessors, educators, and authors. His feast day is January 24th.

Church of the Annunciation Youth Group

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