TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28
Blessed Mattia Nazzarei

Called “mother of charity” during her lifetime, Blessed Mattia was, like all the saints, very sensitive to the misfortunes of others. Immediately after her death, many miracles occurred near her remains, which were publicly displayed in the church. When the coffin was reopened in 1758, what had happened in 1536 happened again: the linen cloth, folded over several times, that wrapped the Blessed woman's body was soaked with a bloody fluid, as attested by the doctors as well as by the entire populace. The phenomenon continues to this day. 
Let us confidently address this heartfelt prayer to her:

O Blessed Mattia,
bless our lives,
and make it a garden of the Lord
in which the flowers of that love of God may grow
which set your life ablaze;
of that love of neighbor
for which you served for forty years
your monastery;
of that detachment from the world
who encouraged you to flee from home
to find Jesus more fully;
of that detachment from yourself
who made you like the grain
which bears fruit only by dying;
of that peace which is born
by a great “yes” to love
and by a great “no” to the things of this world.
Amen.

To learn more:
• Blessed Mattia Nazzarei of Matelica. Prayers and biographical notes

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31
Saint Catherine Labouré

Catherine Labouré was born near Châtillon (France) on May 2, 1806, into a family of seventeen children, seven of whom died at a very young age. Orphaned when her mother died when she was only nine, she soon had to take on the responsibility of running the household, while in her heart she cherished a deep desire to follow a religious vocation, which she had already felt on the day of her First Communion. On April 21, 1830, she joined the Daughters of Charity of Paris, founded through the charism of Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac. She had supernatural visions concerning Saint Vincent and, above all, Our Lady, who entrusted her with messages. In particular, Our Lady asked her to mint a “Miraculous Medal,” a dispenser of graces. No one except her superiors ever knew of the heavenly favors granted to Catherine. She lived in the greatest humility and absolute silence and served the poor for forty-six years at the Enghien hospice in Paris. She died on December 31, 1876; when her remains were exhumed, the hands that had touched Our Lady and the eyes that had seen her appeared remarkably well preserved.

To learn more:
• The Miraculous Medal
• A Month with the Miraculous Medal
• The Miraculous Medal and Catherine Labouré
• Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and Alfonso
You may also be interested in:
• Religious articles featuring the Miraculous Medal.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1
Mary Most Holy, Mother of God

“Let us begin the new year by placing ourselves under the maternal and loving gaze of Mary Most Holy, whom the liturgy celebrates today as the Mother of God. Let us thus resume our journey along the paths of time, entrusting our anxieties and torments to Her who can do all things. Mary looks at us with maternal tenderness, just as she looked at her Son Jesus. […] This is how Our Lady acts with us: she wants to hold us in her arms, to care for us as she cared for and loved her Son. The reassuring and comforting gaze of the Holy Virgin encourages us to ensure that this time, given to us by the Lord, is spent on our human and spiritual growth; that it is a time to smooth over hatred and divisions - there are many of them - a time for us all to feel more like brothers and sisters, a time to build rather than destroy, caring for one another and for creation. A time to foster growth, a time of peace” (Pope Francis).

To learn more:
• Pray, pray, pray (expanded edition)
• Pray, pray, pray

You may also be interested in:
• Painting of the Madonna with Child
• Painting of the Tree of Life
• Statue of the Madonna