It's August and time for a Saints update

Sorry; not the New Orleans Saints. We still have plenty of time for that. But as August wanes on how about an update on some Saints of the Church:

Today we honor a 3rd century Pope, Sixtus II who became the Pope in 257. He did not last long as the hostile environment in Rome against Christians would prove the end of Saint Sixtus. He was celebrating the sacred liturgy (yes that means the Catholic Mass, even 1800 years ago) when he was arrested by order of the Emperor Valerian. On the very same day of his arrest he was executed for being a Christian and the leader of the Church. Along with the Pope, four deacons were also executed. Sixtus was buried in the cemetary of St. Callistus.

It is important to note that the term Christian was used exclusively in this time period and was known to mean the Catholic Church. There were only Catholic Christians for the first 1,000 plus years of Christianity.

Also today the church gives us the celebration of St. Cajetan from the 15th-16th century. He founded a religious order known as the Clerks Regular of Rome. He was a devoted servant who preached earnest prayer and love of neighbor.

And tomorrow, although a Sunday, we would normally celebrate the example of St. Dominic. Born in Spain around 1170, he studied theology and made a canon of the church. He worked tirelessly against the Albigensian heresy through powerful preaching and good example. He founded the Order of Preachers also known as the Dominicans. He died in 1221.

So we celebrate our faith as the Saints keep marching in!