The SaintCast - Catholic Saints on Call

Happy All Saints Day! We travel to Spain today to hear Brother Giles taking part in a centuries old custom. . . in a cemetery. The history of All Saints Day, and it's relationship to Halloween. Duped by an e-mail from Africa . . . . More than you ever wanted to know about Operating Room Music. We finish up our tribute to the Eight North American Martyrs, and preview a new book on Saints, Saints Behaving Badly. Visit the SQPN blog at SQPN.com to comment on the book, or any others. Music for this show. . . November, by Someday Company, from garageband.com, Levenah Rising from the album Samadhi, by Christopher of the Wolves, from Magnatune.com Saints Behaving Badly, by Thomas J. Craughwell. Links to North American martyrs - http://www.silk.net/RelEd/canadianmartyrs.htm#lalande

Happy St. Crispin's Day to all! SaintCast #29 profiles the North American Martyrs. In the first of 2 segments written by Kathy Couture, we look at the lives of the French Jesuits who left the comforts of home to evangelize in a hostile frontier, giving their lives in the process. We welcome the Technopriest to the SQPN line-up, and Fr. Bill Kessler makes an encore visit to the SaintCast. We caught up with him this last weekend to discuss Ignatius of Antioch, Hippolytus, and the early Church liturgy. And yes, another new segment. Well, a preview of a yet-to-be-named segment on Saint books. We welcome your suggestions, reviews, and comments on the SQPN news page at SQPN.com. Tom Serafin returns to discuss a planned boycott of EBAY to begin on All Saints Day, as the unlawful sale of holy relics continues on this site. A question on the identity of St. Anne, more Saints in the news, and listener feedback on this week's SaintCast. Songs from this episode . . . "Your Rock," by the Dusty Hughes at www.dustyhughes.com Flute music from Suzanne Teng, from her album Enchanted Wind available at Magnatune.com Other links. . .Rocco at catholiccomuter.blogspot.com

Four new Saints raised to the altars by Pope Benedict this past Sunday! An American, two Italians, and a Mexican archbishop were canonized Sunday, October 15th in Rome. We hear a bit about each of the new Saints and their missions. We introduce a new SaintCast segment, This Date in Saint History. Can you guess what happened on October 16, 1978? Audio feedback from our youngest listener yet on an early pope, and caretaker of the largest Christian catacombs in Rome, Pope St. Calixtus I. We then take you on a brief sound-seeing tour of the Catacombe di San Callisto south of Rome, with a tour by the Salesian cleric Fr. Richard. More listener feedback and education on St. Ignatius of Antioch and the early Christian liturgy, which bears a striking relationship to our Mass today. . . isn't that wonderful how it all works out that way? The Saints of the Week, a visit by the incorrupt heart of a French saint, and more on this week's SaintCast. Song credits. . . "Rain,Rain" by the Detonators at music.podshow.com, podcasts - www.gvonline.net

Today on the SaintCast we continue our homage to St. Francis, whose Feast Day we celebrated October 4th, by going on a sound-seeing tour of the Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli and the small chapel enclosed within, the Porziuncola, where Francis and his friars gathered and worshipped 800 years ago. Tom Serafin, the Relicman, pays a visit from sunny Los Angeles, to answer a listeners question about stones from Lourdes and relics. What was special about St. Francis's stigmata, and who is the only Saint to ever live in my Archdiocese? The answer to these questions and more are heard on St. Jeopardy. Four new Saints join the ranks of the elect this weekend in Rome. Stay tuned for more canonization news. Show notes at Saintcast.org Songs from this episode . . . "Roll Your Windows Down," by The Undisputed HeavyWeights at music.podshow.com

St. Francis as an animal and tree lover? Think again. Today we are honored to welcome to the SaintCast the Archbishop of Denver, Colorado, Charles J. Chaput, who is also a Capuchin Franciscan. Archbishop Chaput points to Francis as so much more -- a dynamic, charismatic leader and Church reformer of his time, who is a model for Church reform in all ages. He led by his humble example of following the Gospel "without gloss." He points to his Last Testament as particularly poignant written sentiments of Francis, read on the SaintCast today by Fr. Seraphim Beshoner, a Franciscan of the Third Order Regular. Franciscan music and more on today's special SaintCast in honor of the Feast of St. Francis. Feedback is welcome at 312.235.2278 or at [email protected]. Music by Johnny Proctor, "All Creatures of Our God and King," from soundclick.com. University of Notre Dame Liturgical Choir, http://www.nd.edu/~litchoir

In today's episode, we profile a Saint known for his works of charity. He shares a common love for living the Gospel and his love for the poor, with another important Saint whose Feast Day we celebrate this week. We'll hear bits of a old time radio drama from the 1940's on M. Vincennes. We learn of an alternative group of Saints for Horse lovers, and answer the last St. Jeopardy. . . Who is the patron Saint of Ravello, Italy? The calendar of Saints for the coming week, and more on this week's SaintCast! Stay tuned for an interview with a pre-eminent voice in the American Catholic Church, Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM, Cap., in honor of the Feast of St. Francis. . .

Today we talk about mystical levitation in the history of the Saints (many thanks to Joan Carroll Cruz and her book Mysteries, Marvels, and Miracles). What is it all about, who has had this gift, and what does it feel like? A listener in Lima, Peru, gives us some Spanish audiofeedback on St. Rose of Lima. In the e-mail segment we answer the question about why the Notre Dame University mascot is the Fighting Irish, and hear a suspiciously familiar-sounding theme song from an Australian Rules Football team, the Sydney Swans. Saints in the news include the miracle of St. Januarius, and news of a new possible miracle in Scotland. The first SaintCast produced with Ubercaster! We welcome your feedback on this new episode.

After a brief hiatus, the SaintCast returns with a tribute to the humble porter from Montreal, and Holy Cross Brother, Blessed Andre Bessette. We go over e-mail and audio feedback, including a question for Tom Serafin of the International Crusade for Holy Relics. We welcome a brief passage from the podcast "Meditations from Carmel," quoting St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. A new St. Jeopardy, a look at the Saints of the Week, and Paul is taken to task by a Brother of the Order of Hospitallers of St. John of God, all on this week's SaintCast.

Situated high above Lake Albano south of Rome, the hamlet of Castelgandolfo became the papal summer retreat under Urban VIII, the Barberini pope, and remains the possession of the popes today (it is extraterritorial). My son Chris and I traveled there for the blessing and Angelus greeting of Benedict XVI on our recent trip to Italy. This issue of the SaintCast takes you on a soundseeing tour of this day, and all of the excitement accompanying a papal audience there. Pictures on the website at Saintcast.org.

This week we profile a 20th century Carmelite Saint, and Jewish convert, who died in the Nazi concentration camps, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, or St. Edith Stein. We spent last weekend dropping our oldest child off at college, and we relate our first experiences with our daughter at the University of Notre Dame du Lac. St. Jeopardy returns with the answer to the Saint involved in the Galileo affair, and a new question. Who is the patron saint of businessmen? Terry Jones, of the Patron Saints website, answers this and more on this week's SaintCast.