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THE CRAB AND THE CROSS
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Catholics in Goa, India, believe an uncommon class of local crab, seen with a cross mark on its shell, is a descendant from a crab that St. Francis Xavier blesses 360 years ago. Tradition says that in February 1546, the Basque missionary lost his crucifix during a violent storm at sea. The next morning, as he paced on the shore, he saw that a crab approaching him was holding his cross. He knelt down, retrieved the cross and blessed the crab.
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH (4)
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Saint Josephine Bakhita is the patron against discrimination. She was a happy 9-year-old girl, playing with her friends outside her village in Sudan in 1869, when slave-traders kidnapped her. She never saw her parents or family again. She endured the horrors of slavery, being sold and resold, tortured and worked to exhaustion. When she was 14 her life took a turn for the better, because in 1874 she was sold to the family of an Italian diplomat. He brought her to Venice and he treated her well. When he and his wife went on business trips, they left their daughter and also Josephine in the hands of the Sisters in the convent. So Josephine learned about God and asked to be baptized. Some years later she became a nun herself. She became widely known outside the walls of her convent. People sought her wisdom and gentle, kind nature, especially during the harsh years of World War I and II. She died in 1948. Pope John Paul II declared her a saint in 2000.
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH (3)
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Karoli Lwanga was born in 1865 in Uganda. He was burned to death in 1886, because of his unwillingness to submit to the immoral demands and indecent acts of King Mwanga. While in prison, he tried to safeguard the faith of his friends, and encouraged and instructed them in the Catholic faith to protect them from the homosexual demands of the king. Pope Paul VI declared the 22 martyrs saints in October 1964.
Saint Karoli Lwanga is the patron of African youth and torture victims, not only in his country of birth Uganda, but in most of tropical Africa.
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH (2)
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Black Saint Monica is patron of troubled children's parents. Monica lived in North Africa in the 4th century and had a difficult marriage. Her husband drank too much, and he mother-in-law who lived with her in the house, was a nasty woman who always was nagging her. One of her sons, Augustine,was her biggest worry. For many years he was a thief, a lier, and didn't behave himself in no way. Monica prayed to God for 17 years that her son may change his life. People ran the other way when they saw her coming because of her constant request for prayers for her wayward son. One night Augustine told his mother that he was going to the harbor to say goodbye to a friend. Instead, he himself set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine's trick and decided to follow him. She didn't give up and finally she founs him in Milan. She met bishop Ambrose and learned that Augustine was on his way to become one of the greatest Christian theologians. He was a brilliant scholar and his behavior had changed completely. It was a happy day for Monica to see her son being baptized by bishop Ambrose. Monica's persistent hope for her son is seen in parents of every age and culture.
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH ( 1 )
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The first saint I want to mention in Black History month is Saint Martin de Porres, because he was sombody from our area. He was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579, as the illegitimate son of freed Negro-women with Indian background from Panama. At the age of 12 his mother sent him to a barber-surgeon to learn how to cut hair and also how to draw blood (a standard medical treatment in those days). He learned also to care for wounds and to prepare and administer medicines. After a few years he asked the Dominican friars to live in the monastery as a helper, and his superiors received him and encouraged him to become a religious brother. His days were filled with nursing the sick and caring for the poor, treating everybody regardslees of their sickness, their color, their race or status. His life was filled with extraordinary gifts such as bi-location, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures and a remarcable control over animals.
Pope John XXIII declared him a saint in 1962.
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