Short biographies of the five saints canonized Sunday (from Catholic News Agency):
Archbishop Zygmunt Szczesny Feliński was the founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary. He was the Archbishop of Warsaw and was committed to evangelization and support for the poor and defended the oppressed during the Russian occupation of Poland. For that, he was sentenced to 20 years in exile in Jaroslaw on the Volga. Pope Benedict said:
His gift of himself to God and man (was) full of confidence and love . . . (and) becomes a shining example for the entire Church.
Rafael Arnaiz Baron came from a wealthy family and was a bit “of a dreamer.” A Cistercian oblate, he died when he was 27 years old, and is considered one of the greatest mystics of the twentieth century. Pope Benedict held him up to the young of today who “are not satisfied with what they have.”
Father Francisco Coll y Guitard, a Dominican, founded the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation Blessed Virgin Mary. Through his preaching, the saint spread his love of the Word of God and the Sacrament of Reconciliation among all people, especially the young.
Father Damian of Molokai was the apostle to the lepers. He left Flanders, Belgium at the age of 23 to go on a mission to modern day Hawaii. Pope Benedict said:
Not without fear and loathing, Father Damian made the choice to go on the island of Molokai in the service of lepers who were there, abandoned by all. So he exposed himself to the disease of which they suffered. With them he felt at home. The servant of the Word became a suffering servant, leper with the lepers, during the last four years of his life.
To follow Christ, Father Damian not only left his homeland, but has also staked his health so he, as the word of Jesus announced in today’s Gospel tells us, received eternal life.
(He) teaches us to choose the good fight not those that lead to division, but those that gather us together in unity.
Sister Jeanne Jugan, St. Mary of the Cross was a French nun who founded the Little Sisters of the Poor. The order thrives today, taking care of the elderly all over the world. The Holy Father said that her ideals are
still valid today, given that many elderly people suffer from multiple poverty and loneliness, sometimes even being abandoned by their families.
Most significantly, Pope Benedict invited the faithful
to allow themselves to be attracted by the shining example of these saints, to be guided by their teachings so that our entire lives become a hymn of praise to God’s love.
