All Blessed Saints Day

Gazillions of souls float off to heaven (or sadly possibly hell) every minute of every day. Some take a pit stop in Purgatory first to get all spiffed up to meet the triune God in his unveiled glory. Some of these people are investigated back here in the material world and are started on the path to getting the title and award that is more prestigious than an Oscar, A Tony or a Grammy.

The title of Saint.

But before a Saint gets the St. in front of their name, chances are they will be beautified first and become a Blessed. Whether they are a Blessed or a Saint, by the grace of God they are in heaven and we can now with assurance ask for their prayers and smile knowing they are smiling down on us.

Here are some recent examples of recent Blesseds, upcoming Blesseds and those who should be Blesseds.

Most of the brief descriptions are taken directly from Wikipedia for the reason that this free online encyclopedia gives a pretty good description of who these Blesseds are. The purpose of this blog post is give you information and not to write an award winning essay. I’m just the editor afterall.

Recent Beatifications in the last 2 years

Due to the great pandemic of 2020 the first person to be beatified occurred in September.

Maria Velotti (November 16, 1826 -September 3, 1886)
Beatified: September 2020, Naples, Italy by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe
Feast day: September 2
Patronage: Suore Francescane Adoratrici della Santa Croce

She was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Suore Francescane Adoratrici della Santa Croce and a member in the Third Order of Saint Francis. Velotti also experienced several visions in her life such as visions of Jesus Christ and Francis of Assisi

Olinto Marella (June 14, 1882 – September 6, 1969)
Beatified: October 4, 2020, Bologna, Italy by Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi
Feast day: September 6

He was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who exercised his pastoral service in the Archdiocese of Bologna. Marella was a classmate of Pope John XXIII in Rome and the pope held him in high esteem and supported his pastoral initiatives.

Blessed Carlo Acutis (May 3, 1991 – October 12, 2006: Aged 15)
Beatified: Saturday, October 10 at 4 P.M, Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi by Pope Francis
Feast day: October 14
Patronage: Youth, Computer programmers

Young Carlo is Acutis, was born on May 3, 1991, would have been 30 years old this year.

Young Carlo is one of the newest Blesseds in the church.

Young Carlo seems to be one of the most trending heavenly citizens right now.

Young Carlo is the first millennial to be beatified by Catholic Church.

Young Carlo was passionate about Computers.

Young Carlo was passionate about the Eucharist.

Young Carlo was inspired by blessed James Alberione (April 4, 1884 – November 26, 1971)the founder of the Society of St. Paul, and of the Daughters of St. Paul to use the media to to evangelize and proclaim the Gospel.

So the result of all 3 ingredients led him to create a website listing all Eucharistic miracles in the history of the church.

Like some other young saints contracted a form of cancer which led to his death.

His wise words of life.

“Do not be afraid because with the Incarnation of Jesus, death becomes life, and there’s no need to escape:
in eternal life, something extraordinary awaits us.”

Blessed Carlo Acutis’ 30th birthday celebrated by parishes across world (catholicnewsagency.com)

A new Catholic youth center named after Carlo Acutis opened in Reggio Calabria at the Holy Family parish in Palmi.

The oratory, which includes a soccer field, was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting and blessing by Bishop Francesco Milito, who quoted St. John Bosco in his speech.

“In an oratory, three things can never be lacking: the sports field, the theater, and the church,” he said.

Blessed Michael Joseph McGivney(August 12, 1852 – August 14, 1890)
Beatified: October 31, 2020
Feast day: August 13
Patronage: Knights of Columbus

My friend Marshall was for a time a grand knight in the Knights of Columbus. My wife was a member of the female equivalent of the Knights, The Daughters of America. I inquired about possibly joining myself. I have been to the Knights museum in Connecticut a few times which is a fascinating walk into history. Fr. McGivney is the only American on this list. Come on USA, lets step up our game here.

The Knights of Columbus was started by Fr. McGivney. Wikipedia has a nice summary of why he started the Knights…

From his own experience, McGivney recognized the devastating effect on immigrant families of the untimely death of the father and wage earner. Many Catholics were still struggling to assimilate into the American economy. On March 29, 1882, while an assistant pastor at Saint Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus, with a small group of parishioners, as a mutual aid society, to provide financial assistance, in the event of the men’s deaths, to their widows and orphans. The organization developed as a fraternal society. McGivney was also known for his tireless work among his parishioners.

McGivney spent seven years at St. Mary’s, then became pastor of St. Thomas Church in Thomaston in 1884. He died from pneumonia at the age of 38 in Thomaston on the eve of the Assumption in 1890.

The Knights of Columbus was among the first groups to recruit blood donors, with formal efforts dating to 1937 during the Great Depression. As of 2013, the order has more than 1.8 million member families and 15,000 councils. During the 2012 fraternal year, the order donated $167 million and 70 million man-hours to charity.[8]
By 2020, the order reached 2 million member mark. During the 2019 fraternal year, the order donated $187 million and 77 million man-hours to charity.

Joan Roig i Diggle
Beatified: November 7, 2020, Sagrada Família, Barcelona, Spain by Cardinal Juan José Omella i Omella
Feast day: November 6
Patronage: Persecuted Christians, Catalonia

Joan Roig is just one of the many martyrs to give his life for his faith during the bloody persecution of Catholics during the Spanish Civil War. You will see several of these faith filled people during this article. He also joins Blessed Sandra in being another young person to die in the arms of Christ and have Him boost him up on a pedestal for all the church to see. He was only 19. Wikipedia gives us some more details about his remarkable young life.

He was a Spanish Roman Catholic and a member of the Federation of Young Christians of Catalonia Roig did his education in Barcelona before he moved to complete it under the La Salle Brothers and Piarists in El Masnou. He hoped to pursue law during his schooling but had to do work in warehouses in order to support his father who lost his job due to a financial situation in his workplace. He delivered Communion to the old and sick and was known for offering them comfort during dark times; this increased during the Spanish Civil War when it became uncertain as to the fate for priests and religious. Roig spoke out against communism which made him an opponent to the regime; he was arrested and killed soon after for his religious convictions. Pope Francis confirmed his beatification after determining that Roig had been killed in hatred for his faith.

Blessed Siméon Cardon and five other Cistercian monks
Beatified: April 17, 2021
Feast day: May 13

“In 1799, when French soldiers, in retreat from Naples, sacked churches and monasteries, these meek disciples of Christ resisted with heroic courage, unto death, to defend the Eucharist from desecration. May their example spur us to a greater commitment of fidelity to God, capable of transforming society and making it more just and fraternal.”-Pope Francis

Pope Francis applauds beatification of monks who died protecting the Eucharist (catholicnewsagency.com)

Blessed José María Gran Cirera & 9 Companions
Beatified: April 23, 2021 by Pope Francis celebrated in Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala
Feast day: June 4

He was a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, making his profession on September 8,1969. Blessed José was Ordained a priest in Valladolid, Spain on June 9,1972. Served as parish priest in Valencia, Spain. In 1975 he was sent to minister in Guatemala where he worked with the poorest people until murdered by the military and became a martyr.-–CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Blessed José María Gran Cirera

Blessed José Gregorio Hernández October 26, 1864 – June 29,1919)
Beatified: April 30,2021,Colegio La Salle La Colina, Caracas, Venezuela by Archbishop Aldo Giordano
Feast day: October 26
Patronage: Medical students, Diagnosticians, Doctors. Medical patients

When Venezuelans get sick it is typical for us to ask José Gregorio Hernández to intercede for us. From our youngest days, we are told about how this good and generous doctor showed special care for the poorest in our society. More than four million people have been forced to emigrate from Venezuela since the socialist-inspired revolution in 1999, escaping the precarious conditions induced by years-long political, economic and social strife. I left in 1994. Dr. Hernández is an integral part of the good I remember of my native land.

“I know how eagerly you have been waiting for so many years the moment when the church would confirm something in which you firmly believed: that the people’s doctor stands close to God,” Pope Francis said in a video message issued by the Vatican on the eve of the beatification. Confessing he had never met a Venezuelan “who, halfway through the conversation, did not finally say to me: ‘When will Gregorio be beatified?’” the pope added: “They carried it in their souls. Well, now this wish is being fulfilled.”
Who was the Venezuelan ‘doctor of the poor’ Pope Francis just beatified? | America Magazine

Rosario Angelo Livatino ( October 3, 1952 – September 21, 1990)
Beatified 9 May 2021, Agrigento Cathedral, Agrigento, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: 29 October
Patronage: Lawyers

Blessed Rosario Livatino was a Catholic judge brutally killed by the mafia in 1990.

“He was martyr of justice and faith. In his service to the community as an upright judge, he never allowed himself to be corrupted. He strove to judge, not to condemn, but to redeem. He always placed his work ‘under the protection of God;’ for this he became a witness of the Gospel until his heroic death. May his example be for everyone, especially magistrates, an incentive to be loyal defenders of the law and liberty.- Pope Francis

Rosario Livatino beatified in Sicily, honored as ‘martyr of justice and faith’ (catholicnewsagency.com)

Johann Baptist Jordan ( June 16, 1848 – September 8, 1918)
Beatified: 15 May 2021, Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome, Italy by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis
Feast day:21 July
Patronage:Salvatorians

He was a German Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Society of the Divine Savior, commonly called the Salvatorians.

María Pilar Gullón Yturriaga & 2 Companions
Beatified: June 11
Feast day: 29 May 2021 by Pope Francis

The eldest of four children born to Manuel Gullón and Pilar Yturriaga. Member of Catholic Action and the Daughters of Mary in the diocese of Astorga, Spain where she taught catechism to children and cared for the sick in their homes. A lifelong lay woman, she trained and served as a Red Cross nurse at the front in the Spanish Civil War. On 27 October 1936, she was imprisoned, abused, raped and ordered to renounce Christianity by the anti–Catholic militia; she refused.
CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Blessed María Pilar Gullón Yturriaga

They are some of the martyrs of the Spanish Civil War are the Catholic Church‘s term for the people killed by Republicans during the Spanish Civil War for their faith.^[1] More than 6,800 clergy and religious were killed in the Red Terror. As of October 2021, 2,050 Spanish martyrs have been beatified; 11 of them being canonized. For some 2,000 additional martyrs, the beatification process is underway.

Blessed Maria Laura Mainetti (born Teresina Elsa Mainetti; 20 August 1939 – 6 June 2000)
Beatified 6 June, 6 2021, Stadio Comunale, Chiavenna, Sondrio, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: June, 6
Major shrine: Collegiate Church of Saint Lawrence

Some kids can fully cooperate with evil. 21 years ago three girls led Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti on June 6, 2000 to a park in Chiavenna, Italy where they stabbed her to death in a Satanic ritual. They had intended to stab her 18 times to form the number 666 but got in one extra stab ruining their devilish number. As the misguided girls commited the grizzly act of murder Sister Maria like St. Stephen and Our Lord himself said “Lord, Forgive Them.” On June 6, 2021 Sr. Maria was beatified by Pope Francis as a martyr for the faith. What the kids intended for evil ended up failing as God can always turn into good what Satan intends for evil.

Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti: Nun stabbed to death by three teenage girls is beatified (catholicnewsagency.com)

Mamerto Esquiú (May 11, 1826 – January 10, 1883)
Beatified: September 4, 2021 Templo de San José, Piedra Blanca, Catamarca, Argentina by Cardinal Luis Héctor Villalba
Feast day: May 11
Patronage: Diocese of Catamarca

He was an Argentine Roman Catholic professed member from the Order of Friars Minor and the Bishop of Córdoba from 1880 until his death.

Blessed Stefan Wyszyński (August 3, 1901 – May 28, 1981)
Beatified September 12, 2021
Feast day: May 28
Patronage: Civitas Christiana, Persecuted Christians

He was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He has many proponents in the Vatican and in his native Poland, where he is well known for his heroic and principled stand against National Socialism and Communism, and because of his connections to Pope John Paul II (he played a key role in urging Cardinal Wojtyła to accept his election as pope).

Cardinal Wyszynski and Mother Czacka beatified in Poland (catholicnewsagency.com)

Blessed Countess Róża Czacka (also known under religious name of Elżbieta, born October 22, 1876 – died 15 May 15, 1961)
Beatified September 12, 2021, Temple of Divine Providence, Wilanów, Warsaw, Poland by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: May 19
Patronage: Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross

She was a Polish Roman Catholic professed religious who founded the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross.^[1]^[2] Czacka suffered an accident in her childhood that later led to her becoming blind after she turned 22 despite the numerous surgical interventions that were performed on her. The next decade saw Czacka travel throughout Europe hoping to learn about techniques that she could use to help the blind; she adapted Polish phonetics into the Braille alphabet that ended up becoming mandated in all schools for the blind since 1934.^[1] Czacka entered the Franciscan Third Order in 1917 before founding her own religious congregation in late 1918 based on ideas that she had formulated since at least 1915. Her work received approval from the apostolic nuncio Achille Ratti (the future Pope Pius XI) who lauded her efforts as an exceptional apostolate. In 1950 she retired her role as the Superior General for her order (having held the post since around 1923) due to her declining health.

Laski attracted not just the blind but the young and intelligentsia, inspired by her work. In many ways, Czacka was ahead of her time. Her approach to the disability of blindness was active, not passive. She refused to treat the blind as incapable of having any social role or of developing other abilities because of their disability. This underlay her philosophy of education and employment for the blind. At the same time, she also recognized that, even with their disability, the blind could open the eyes of others through spiritual solidarity by helping others recognize their spiritual blindness to God and as regards sin and things of the world.
–‘Through the Cross to Heaven’: The Life of Blessed Elżbieta Róża Czacka| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

Blessed Giovanni Remo Fornasini (Pianaccio, 23 February 1915 – San Martino di Caprara, 13 October 1944)
Beatified: September 26, 2021, Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast: October 13

He was an Italian Roman Catholic priest, resistance member and patriot in Bologna. He was murdered by a German Nazi Waffen SS soldier and was posthumously awarded Italy’s Gold Medal of Military Valour.

“A parish priest zealous in charity, he did not abandon his flock during the tragic period of the Second World War, but rather he defended it to the point of bloodshed. May his heroic witness help us to face life’s trials with fortitude.”- Pope Francis

Heroic Italian Catholic priest described as a ‘guardian angel’ in WWII is beatified (catholicnewsagency.com)

Gaetana Tolomeo (April 10, 1936 – January 24, 1997)
Beatified: October 3, 2021, Basilica di Maria Santissima Immacolata, Catanzaro, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: April 19

She was an Italian Roman Catholic. Tolomeo went through her entire life either confined to her bed or in a chair due to a progressive paralysis that rendered her disabled (she had suffered from this since her childhood to which no doctor could help alleviate). Throughout her life she gained a reputation for her piousness and the messages of the Gospel she sought to spread to others while a guest on a local radio station from 1994 until her death. Her time on the radio station marked her interest in reaching out for the conversion of sinners with an emphasis on reaching out to prostitutes or families in need.

Nuccia saw in her illness a way to participate in the Passion of Jesus. She alluded to this in her spiritual writings. The people that came to see Nuccia noticed that she always clasped a rosary in her hands. She also attended Eucharistic Adoration as often as possible. And she managed to become a part of Catholic Action, formed in the 19th century to counter anti-Catholicism. She turned her suffering into a successful radio ministry, and now she’ll be beatified (aleteia.org)

Sustained by divine grace, they embraced the cross of their infirmity, transforming their pain into praise of the Lord. Their sick bed became a spiritual reference point and a place of prayer and Christian growth for many people who found comfort and hope there.-Pope Francis

Mariantonia Samà (March 2, 1875 – May 27 1953)
Beatified: October 3, 2021, Basilica di Maria Santissima Immacolata, Catanzaro, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: May 27

Sama was born into a poor family in the Italian region of Calabria in 1875. At the age of 11, while returning home from washing clothes near a river, Sama drank from a nearby water puddle.

At home, she became immobile and subsequently experienced convulsions, which led many during that time to believe she was possessed by evil spirits, according to the official website of Sama’s sainthood cause.

After an unsuccessful exorcism at a Carthusian monastery, she only began to stand and showed signs of healing after a reliquary containing the remains of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian order, was placed before her.

However, her healing was short-lived after being afflicted with arthritis, causing her to be bedridden for the next 60 years. During those years, the people of her town rallied to take care of her after the death of her mother. The Congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart then took care of Sama until her death in 1953 at the age of 78.
–“Possessed” woman among five cleared for beatification – Matters India

Maria Llorença Llong (1463 – 21 December 1539)
Beatified: October 9, 2021, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Naples, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: October 21
Patronage: Capuchin Poor Clares, Ospedale degli Incurabili

She was a Spanish Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Capuchin Poor Clares. Llong founded the hospital of “Santa Maria del Popolo” in Naples where she relocated to (and where she was widowed) and which received numerous papal privileges from Pope Leo X and Pope Adrian VI.

Francesco Mottola(January 3, 1901 – June 29, 1969)
Beatified: October 10, 2021, Santuario di Santa Maria dell’Isola, Tropea, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: June 30
Patronage: Secular Institute of the Oblates of the Sacred Heart

He was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Secular Institute of the Oblates of the Sacred Heart.

Juan Elías Medina & 126 Companions
Beatified: October 16 in Cordoba, Spain
Feast day:

Mother:

As I write this, it seems my death sentence is being decided. Nevertheless, I write calmly. May God give you strength to receive this news. It is a joy to be able to offer a son to God, and if He so wishes, you are going to offer one. As I hope that we will see each other in heaven, pray often “My Lord, and my God,” and if you can, make a good confession, and thus we will live together forever in Glory.

Tell those who ask about me that they should pray a lot for my soul, which will need it a lot. To my siblings, that they be good and that they don’t stop [praying for me]. And above all, consider that your son dies content, and in this hour, more than ever, I love you.

Your son, Juan.-A martyr’s last letter to his mother (aleteia.org)

Maria Ripamonti (May 26, 1909 – July 4,1954)
Beatified: October 23, 2021, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Brescia, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast day: May 30

Youngest of four children in her family; her father‘s name was Ferdinando, and Maria was baptized when she was 4 days old. As a girl, she began working in a local spinning mill to help support her family. She was active in her parish, tended to children, worked with Catholic Action, and was a close spiritual student of the parish priest, Father Luigi Piatti, as she felt a call to religious life. She became a sister in the Ancelle della carità (Handmaids of Charity) in Brescia, Italy in 1932, taking the name Lucia dell’Immacolata, and making her final profession in 1938. Sister Lucia developed a devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Maria Crocifissa di Rosa, and assisted visiting priest conducting retreats and the Spiritual Exercises.-CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Blessed Maria Ripamonti

Blessed Sandra Sabattini (19 August 1961 – 2 May 1984) (aged 22)
Beatified: October 24, 2021, Cathedral of San Francesco, Rimini, Italy by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro
Feast:May 4
Patronage: Youth

One of the sad realities of Sandra’s life is that she died at the very young age of 22. One of the glorious things about her after life is that she joins Chiara Badano and Pier Giorgio Frassati in being one of the cool young person to become a blessed. Like Chiara she is a beautiful girl. Like Pier she dedicated her life to helping the poor and unfortunate.

The young woman “gave those who needed it hospitality without judgment, because she wanted to communicate the love of the Lord,” he added.

The young medical student had just stepped out of a vehicle on her way to a meeting of the Pope John XXIII Community when she and a friend were hit by a car. She was rushed to a hospital where she spent three days in a coma before dying on May 2, 1984.

Three days before the accident, Sabattini had written in her diary: “It’s not mine, this life that is developing, that is beating by a regular breath that is not mine, that is enlivened by a peaceful day that is not mine. There is nothing in this world that is yours.”

“Realize, Sandra!” the entry continued. “It is all a gift on which the ‘Giver’ can intervene when and how he wants. Take care of the gift given to you, make it more beautiful and full for when the time comes.”-This new blessed spent her short life loving the poor and marginalized (catholicnewsagency.com)

I look forward to getting to know this new wonderful young Blessed and feel blessed that such people exist. What a great God we serve.

Francisco Cástor Sojo López (March 28, 1881 –September 12 to September 13, 1936 & 3 Companions
Beatified: October 30, 2021 by Pope Francis
Feast day: September 13

He served and taught in colleges and seminaries in the Spanish cities of Toledo, Plasencia, Badajoz, Segovia, Astorga. In 1933 he was assigned to the seminary in Ciudad Real, Spain where he was serving when the Spanish Civil War broke out. On 12 September 1936, Father Francisco was seized by militiamen for the crime of being a priest, and murdered a few hours later.-CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Blessed Francisco Cástor Sojo López

These guys were some of the martyrs of the Spanish Civil War are the Catholic Church‘s term for the people killed by Republicans during the Spanish Civil War for their faith.^[1] More than 6,800 clergy and religious were killed in the Red Terror. As of October 2021, 2,050 Spanish martyrs have been beatified; 11 of them being canonized. For some 2,000 additional martyrs, the beatification process is underway.

Canonization

In the past year this is the only Saint to be Canonized. So I think she is worth a mention in this list.

Saint Margaret of Città di Castello (1287 – 12 April 1320)
Beatified: 19 October 1609, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Papal States by Pope Paul V
Canonization:24 April 2021, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City by Pope Franci
Feast day: Pro-life movements, Disabled people, Blind people
Major shrine: Chiesa di San Domenico, Città di Castello, Perugia, Italy:

She was an Italian Roman Catholic and professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic.^[1] Margaret had disabilities and became known for her deep faith and holiness. Her parents abandoned her in a local church due to her disabilities and the town’s poor took her in and assumed care for her. Nuns later offered her a home at their convent but soon came to detest her presence and cast her out prompting the town’s poor to once again take her in and care for her.^[2]^[3] But she met with Dominican friars and was accepted as a secular member in their third order; she started a school for children to teach them in the faith and often took care of children while their parents were out at work.^[4]^[1]^[5]

Margaret’s holiness was apparent to all in her life that people lobbied for her to be buried in the local church which was an honor reserved for few – this was a clear demonstration people believed in her holiness.