Saint Bonaventure-Doctor of The Church

Not much is known about the early life of Giovanni di Ritella, apart from the fact that he was born in the year 1221 in Italy. It is recorded that as a child he suffered from a mysterious ailment but upon praying to St. Francis of Assisi he was miraculously healed.

Perhaps it was this healing that drew the young Giovanni towards the lifestyle and the spirituality of the Franciscans. He joined the Roman Provence of the Franciscans it was around this time that he took the name Bonaventure he was then sent to study and finish his education in Paris. It was also in Paris that he forged a life long friendship with that great saint of the Church, Thomas Aquinas.

Bonaventure was a man of astute intelligence but also had within him that element of charisma that draws people towards himself not from a longing to be popular but because of the warmth he exuded to all he met. This goes towards explaining the title that Bonaventure became known by, that of the 'Seraphic Doctor' because of his kindly but also passionate personality.

See more at: http://faithofthefatherssaints.blogspot.com/2006/07/saint-bonaventure-doctor-of-church.html

Saint Benedict of Nursia

Saint Benedict has become well renowned as the father of the Monastic Rule, even though the spirit of monasticism began in the middle east many years before. Still once the monastic spirit reached Europe most Religious Orders in their infant years began their Charism under the guidance of the Benedictine Rule.

Not much is known about Benedicts early years but many sources site Nursia as the birth place of this great man of the Church. He was born approximately 480 and many believe that his parents may have been financially secure in that Benedict was able to read and would later attend school, which was unusual for the peasantry of that time. Legend also has it that Benedict was the brother to his equally holy twin sister, Scholastica.

Read more: http://faithofthefatherssaints.blogspot.com/2006/07/saint-benedict-of-nursia.html

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Memorial

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (also known as Aluigi Gonzaga; Luigi Gonzaga) was born in 1568 A.D. at the castle of Castiglione, Italy. His family was of nobility, and Aloysius' father was a compulsive gambler. He was the cousin of Saint Rudolph Acquaviva.

Aloysius had been trained to be a soldier and courtier from the age of four. He suffered from kidney disease, which he considered a blessing as it left him bed-ridden with time for prayer. While still a boy himself, he taught catechism to poor boys. He received his first Communion from Saint Charles Borromeo.

- Read more at: http://faithofthefatherssaints.blogspot.com/2012/06/saint-aloysius-gonzaga.html#sthash.6Uo2tTdK.dpuf

In Memoriam of Patrick W. Danahy

 Patrick W. Danahy Victim of 9/11

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Patrick W. Danahy was in his office on the 90th floor of Tower 2 in the World Trade Center. As he did every morning, Patrick called his home at 8:30AM, just before the attacks occurred, to tell his wife and girls that he loved them. It would be the last time any of them would hear his voice.

Patrick and his wife Mary, were expecting their third child, already having two girls at the time Alison 3, and Katie 2 . When they were discussing girls names for the third child, Mary had suggested Grace, although Patrick was somewhat hesitant. Mary explained that Our Lady of Grace was the patron saint of motorcyclists (which is true). "It'll have to be," he said. "She'll look out for me when I go out riding." Patrick loved motorcyles, cars (he had bought himself an old Porsche for his last birthday), and mountain bikes. He had participated in a couple of 100 mile bikeathons. He was a man who loved life, and especially his life with his girls.

Mary said that "his girls were his life. He'd do blocks and read books to them every night. He always had to rush home to his girls. He's outgoing, athletic, loved mountain biking, driving his Porsche and his motorcycle." His wife said, "he was the go-to guy. Friends from all over were always calling him, from London and upstate. He was a guy who everybody depended on to get things done."

Mary Danahy spoke to her husband by phone a few minutes before the attack began. She later spoke to a survivor who was with him that morning. "She attributed her being alive to him because he told her to get out quickly," she said.

Mary Danahy tries to help her girls cope. "My older one knows now, and is very angry and doesn't want me to leave her. She asked God for help. She said, 'We need our daddy.' "

Patrick Danahy grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson and in 1988 he graduated from Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. He was vice president for investor services at Fiduciary Trust. His parents, Frank and Mary Anne Danahy, lived in Kingston for years before moving to Connecticut. On the morning of September 11, 2001, along with 2,996 other innocent victims, Patrick W. Danahy was taken from his family by an act of pure hatred. There was no little Grace to protect him.

One month to the day after a terrorist piloted a plane into the South Tower of The World Trade Center , on October 11, 2001, Mary Danahy gave birth to the couple's third child, Grace.

WE SHALL NEVER FORGET