St. Celestine
When the father of this Italian saint died, his good mother brought up her twelve children well, even though they were very poor. "Oh, if I could only have the joy of seeing one of you become a saint!" she use to say. Once when she asked as usual, "which one of you is going to become a saint?" little Peter (who was to become Pope Celestine) answered with all his heart, "Me, mama! I'll become a saint!" And he did.
When he was twenty, Peter became a hermit and spent his days praying and reading the Holy Bible. If he was not praying or reading, he would copy books or do some hard work so that the devil would not find him doing nothing, and tempt him. Because other hermits kept coming to him and begging him to guide them, he started a new Order.
Peter was an old monk, eighty-four years of age when he was made Pope. It came about in a very unusual way. For two years, there had been no Pope, because the Cardinals could not decide whom to choose. St. Peter sent them a message to decide quickly, for God was not pleased at the long delay. Then and there, they chose the holy old hermit himself! Poor Peter wept when he heard the news, but he sorrowfully accepted and took the name Celestine V.
He was Pope only about five months. Because he was so humble and simple, everyone took advantage of him. He could not say "no" to anyone, and soon matters were in great confusion. At last, the Saint decided that he had better give up his position as Pope. He did so and then threw himself at the feet of the Cardinals for not having been capable of governing the Church. What an impression his humility made on all of them!
St. Celestine hoped to live in one of his monasteries in peace. But the new Pope thought it would be safer to keep him where wicked people could not take advantage of him. The saint was put in a cell and died there. Yet he was cheerful and close to God. "You wanted a cell, Peter," he would repeat to himself, "and a cell you have." His feast day is May 19th.
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Dear Saint,
On this day of the feast of Pentacost, we earnestly pray for the Holy Pope. Fill him with the Holy Spirit that he may lead the Church like true and committed solider of Christ. Enable him to carry out his duties as successor of Peter with great strength and spirit. Empower him to spread the One True Faith all over the world, especially in Europe and America with zeal and power that they may experience the renewal of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit and turn away from worldliness and ant-Christ doctrines. Enkindle the spirit of missionary zeal among the clergy and the religious that they work as the body of Christ and proclaim the gospel as never before. Destroy the evil spirit within the Church and cleanse her of all the impurities of homosexual priests, disobedient cardinals, bishops and priests, unfaithful catholics, traitors of the Spirit so that she may gain the glory of forgiving sins, producing saints and saving souls for Christ. Amen.
Pope St. Celestine, Though you led a very humble life, you were very close to God even under very difficult situations. Please pray for us.
Pope St. Celestine, pray for Benedict XVI and pray for us, that we may grow in humility in your example.
i love st celestine i didnt know much about this saint until know.
happy saints day everyone!!
St. Celestine i ask your intercession to GOD the Father for my son and my family..., please pray for us... amen!!!
Thank you for the infomation..I really love the life of the saint and I want to know them..
I love the story about him saying he is going to be a saint. It is is inoncent and beautiful. St. Celestine, pray for us.
What a humility! St.Celestine pray for me and my family to put GOD first in everything we do.
I have been reading about Saints this one has really inspired me. I loved the story of Saint Celestine as a boy telling his mother he would be saint but it hurts to see the advantage of people taking advantage.
This is a beautiful story. I can feel his goodness just reading about him. It is wonderful how the Church protected him. Thank you.
it was very much touching and encouraging for me.thank u for enlightening me.
Amazing...Lovely story. St. Celestine pray for us.
Thank you for offering the Saint of the Day information! For a long time I have wished I could learn about these saints, without needing to find their biographies, which I simply don't have time to do.