Among other saints and blessed, the liturgy celebrates the following on May 16 St. Simon StockHe was one of the first priors general of the Carmelite Order, who is known because the Virgin Mary, according to tradition, gave him the scapular of Carmel. It is also commemorated today, since the 14th, to the Passionist (see below) Italian saint Gemma Galgani. And yesterday Madrid celebrated its patron saint, saint Isidore the farmer.
On July 16, 1251, the Virgin Mary said to St. Simon Stock, who was Prior General of the Carmelite Order: "He who dies with it (the scapular) will not suffer eternal fire". Pope Pius XII pointed out: "It is not a matter of little importance, but of the attainment of eternal life in virtue of the promise made, according to tradition, by the Blessed Virgin".
Mary's maternal protection
"There are different traditions about the place where the vision of Our Lady with which the Lord graced St. Simon Stock supposedly took place. Aylesford, or else Cambridge, are usually proposed as privileged spaces with this supernatural apparition of the Virgin," notes the carmelite portal.
It also adds: "Although the historicity of the vision is not credible, the scapular has remained for all Carmelites as a sign of Mary's maternal protection and of their own commitment to follow Jesus Christ as their Mother, perfect models for all his disciples". Other references to the apparition of the Virgin and the scapular can be consulted, for example, here.
St. Gemma Galgani, stigmata on hands and feet
Santa Gema was one of the daughters of the apothecary Enrico Galgani and his wife Aurelia Landi, who died when she was only seven years old, explains the official biography. She was orphaned at the age of 18.
The young woman was characterized by her piety and her love for Christ and the Eucharist. She was one of the first stigmatized women of the 20th century. Three days a week, for at least three years, Gemma showed stigmata on her hands and feet, which then disappeared. She was also famous for her visions of her Guardian Angel.
At the age of 20, Gemma was miraculously cured of severe meningitis. Because of her poor health she was not accepted as a Passionist Sister, but she received the honors of the Order and was especially popular. Gemma probably died of tuberculosis in Lucca in 1903, at the age of 25. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1940. Since 1985 a relic of the saint's heart has been venerated in the Shrine of St. Gemma in Madrid.
San Isidro Labrador in Madrid
Madrid celebrated its patron saint, Saint Isidro Labrador, yesterday with a Campaign MassThe celebration was attended by a large number of families. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal José Cobo, Archbishop of Madrid, with his auxiliary bishops. Also concelebrating were Cardinal Baltazar Porras, Archbishop Emeritus of Caracas (Venezuela), and the Archbishop of Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela), Ulises Gutierrez, among others.
Cardinal Cobo explained that "no branch can bear fruit if it is separated from the vine", and encouraged "to continue building your communities and making them places and houses of hope for all our neighbors".
He also stressed that "we cannot be witnesses of the Gospel if we live divided by ideologies or selfishness". Precisely "San Isidro reminds us that true holiness does not divide, but unites". "Sow hope, sow unity," he said.
