SAINT OF THE DAY -- Oct. 25 - Blessed Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão
October 25
Blessed Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão
(1739 - 1822)
Blessed Patron of Civil Construction and Women in Labor
Many miracles and gifts of divine origin are
attributed to Friar Galvao, among them bilocation, (appearing in two
places at the same time), telepathy, premonition and levitation.
He is
widely known in Brazil for the so-called Friar Galvao Pills, or tiny
papers with a prayer that can be swallowed. Nuns in the
Monastery of the Light make thousands of those and distribute them to
the faithful for free. Many believe they have healing powers.
He was beatified by the late Pope John Paul II
in 1998 after the Vatican officially recognized one of his miracles --
the 1990 healing of a 4-year-old girl considered to be incurable by
doctors. She was cured after her family prayed to Friar Galvao and gave
her the Friar Galvao Pills.
The second miracle required for
sainthood was recognized December 2006. In 1999, a mother and child
both survived after a high-risk birth that caused complications.
Vatican medical experts said the case was "scientifically inexplicable"
attributing the healing to prayers to Galvao and the pills.
Such stories are common. The nuns at Saint Galvão’s convent keep
a tally of the written testimonials of special graces received through
the saint’s intercession. The numbers for the years 1930 to 1990 are
as follows:
- 37,673 graces received
- 7,028 cures
- 2,702 safe births
- 332 kidney stones safely passed
- 123 conversions
Saint Galvão’s prodigious assistance from Heaven is not surprising to those familiar with his life.
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God’s plan in a person’s life often takes unexpected turns which become life-giving through cooperation with God’s grace.
Born
in Guarantingueta near São Paulo (Brazil), Antônio attended the Jesuit
seminary in Belem but later decided to become a Franciscan friar.
Invested in 1760, he made final profession the following year and was
ordained in 1762.
In São Paulo, he served as preacher, confessor
and porter. Within a few years he was appointed confessor to the
Recollects of St. Teresa, a group of nuns in that city. He and Sister
Helena Maria of the Holy Spirit founded a new community of sisters
under the patronage of Our Lady of the Conception of Divine Providence.
Sister Helena Maria’s premature death the next year left Father Antônio
responsible for the new congregation, especially for building a convent
and church adequate for their growing numbers.
He served as
novice master for the friars in Macacu and as guardian of St. Francis
Friary in São Paulo. He founded St. Clare Friary in Sorocaba. With the
permission of his provincial and the bishop, he spent his last days at
the "Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Luz," the convent of the sisters’
congregation he had helped establish.
He was beatified in Rome on October 25, 1998.
Comment:
Holy
women and men cannot help calling our attention to God, to God’s
creation and to all the people whom God loves. The lives of holy people
are so oriented toward God that this has become their definition of
"normal." Do people see my life or yours as a living sign of God’s
steadfast love? What might have to change for that to happen?
Quote:During
the beatification homily, Pope John Paul II quoted from the Second
Letter to Timothy (4:17), "The Lord stood by me and gave me strength to
proclaim the word fully," and then said that Antônio "fulfilled his
religious consecration by dedicating himself with love and devotion to
the afflicted, the suffering and the slaves of his era in Brazil." The
pope continued, "His authentically Franciscan faith, evangelically
lived and apostolically spent in serving his neighbor, will be an
encouragement to imitate this ‘man of peace and charity.’"
Prayer:
Galvao's pills contain this prayer:
"After the birth,
the Virgin remained intact
Mother of God,
intercede on our behalf."
(state intention)
Amen.
Source: American Catholic Organization
Many great miracles have been associated with
the Rosary throughout history. The tremendous power of the Rosary can
overcome any problem, be it small or large, personal or worldwide.
Miracles continue to the present day.
The Rosary is a powerful prayer!
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God bless you!
Learn to pray the Rosary--The Joyful Mysteries
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If you are a victim of domestic or sexual violence, please know that my husband and I pray for you every single night.
If you need immediate assistance, dial 911.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline:
1-800-799-SAFE OR (1-800-799-7233)
SIGNS OF AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
Do you:
feel afraid of your partner much of the time?
avoid certain topics fear of angering your partner?
feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?
believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated?
wonder if you’re the one who is crazy?
feel emotionally numb or helpless?
Does your partner:
- humiliate, criticize, or yell at you?
- treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see?
- ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments?
- blame you for his own abusive behavior?
- see you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?
Does your partner:
have a bad and unpredictable temper?
hurt you, or threaten to hurt or kill you?
threaten to take your children away or harm them?
threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
force you to have sex?
destroy your belongings?
Does your partner:
- act excessively jealous and possessive?
- control where you go or what you do?
- keep you from seeing your friends or family?
- limit your access to money, the phone, or the car?
- constantly check up on you?