Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Norbert (1080-1134). Norbert was born at Xanten near Cologne about the year 1080. As a young cleric he resided at the court of the Archbishop of Cologne and then at that of the emperor where he allowed himself to be influenced by the spirit of the world. But he was won back by grace; caught by a storm during a journey on horseback he made up his mind to take his clerical obligations seriously. After ordination to the priesthood he devoted himself to itinerant preaching.

The Church celebrates the Memorial St. Boniface (c. 673-680-754). Boniface was a monk of Exeter in England. Boniface is one of the great figures of the Benedictine Order and of the monastic apostolate in the Middle Ages. Gregory II sent him to preach the Gospel in Germany. He evangelized Hesse, Saxony and Thuringia and became Archbishop of Mainz. He well earned the title of Apostle of Germany, and Catholic Germany in our own times still venerates him as its father in the faith. He was put to death by the Frisians at Dokkum in 754 during the last of his missionary journeys. The famous abbey of Fulda, where his body lies, has remained the national shrine of Catholic Germany.

The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Francis of Caracciolo (1563-1608). Three things made him stand out from his wealthy Neapolitan friends: he was powerfully drawn to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, he fasted every Saturday in honor of the Virgin Mary, and he had a generous love for the poor. When he was seriously ill at the age of twenty-two, he vowed that if he were cured he would devote himself to the service of God and his fellow men. He became a priest and in 1588 joined the order of Minor Clerks Regular. Francis instituted perpetual adoration as one of the works of his Order.