St. Urban I, Pope (230) This holy pope is believed to have been the same Urban who baptized Valerian, husband of St. Cecilia, Tiburtius, brother of Valerian, and Maximus, their gaoler, whom we honoured on April 14th.

St. Gregory VII, Pope (1085) Benedictine monk, he was elected Pope, and at once called upon priests to lay down their lives rather than betray God. He deposed the Emperor of Germany, Henry IV, who openly relapsed into simony, pretending to depose the Pope. Gregory died in exile.

"I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile." - St. Gregory VII

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat (1865) She was educated by her older brother Louis, who was a priest. In 1810 she founded the Society of the Sacred Heart dedicated to teaching young girls. Receiving papal approval of the Society in 1826, she founded 105 houses in many countries.

"As iron is fashioned by fire and on the anvil, so in the fire of suffering and under the weight of trials, our souls receive that form which our Lord desires them to have." - St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

"Your example, even more than your words, will be an eloquent lesson to the world." - St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

"God does not ask of us the perfection of tomorrow, nor even of tonight, but only of the present moment." - St. Madeline Sophie Barat

"Above all, get in the habit of thinking about God." - St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

Fifth Sunday after Easter "Ask, and you shall receive" "What is it, then, to ask in His name? It is to ask Him of whom the Lord says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." For if we ask in His name for anything that belongs to the way, that belongs to the truth, that

"The first condition of prayer made "in the Name of Jesus" is humility... the second condition, a boundless confidence in the merits of Jesus, which surpass all our poverty, misery, necessities, needs." - Fr. Gabriel

St. Philip Neri (1595) The Summa and the Bible were his only books. He founded the Congregation of the Priest of the Oratory, and a society for the care of the poor. He was inflamed with such love for God that the palpitations of his heart bent two of his ribs.

"Excessive sadness seldom springs from any other source than pride." - St. Philip Neri

"When a person puts himself in an occasion, saying, I shall not fall, it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall" - St. Philip Neri

"To begin and end well, devotion to our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God, is nothing less than indispensable." - St. Philip Neri

"If you desire perseverance, be devout to our Blessed Lady." - St. Philip Neri

"If you really wish to become a saint, never be defensive and always acknowledge yourself in your fault, even when what is alleged is untrue." - St. Philip Neri

"When the Lord intends to bestow a particular virtue on us, He often permits us first to be tempted by the opposite vice. Therefore, look upon every temptation as an invitation to grow in a particular virtue" - St. Philip Neri

"Sufferings are a kind of paradise to him who suffers with patience, while they are a hell to him who has no patience." - St. Philip Neri

Pope St. Eleutherius (185) St. Eleutherius governed the Church during the period that followed the persecution of the Emperor Commodus. After a pontificate lasting fifteen years, he was buried on the Vatican Hill near the body of St. Peter.

Rogation Days: The Lesser Litanies Due to the public calamities in the fifth century, St. Mamertus instituted a penitential procession on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day, to appease God's anger and to draw down His blessings on the fruits of the earth.