The Saint of the Day for November 18 is St. Rose Philippine Duchesne.The whole Church celebrates today the dedication of the two great Roman basilicas of St. Peter at the Vatican and of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls. The basilica of St. Peter stands on the site of the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, where stood Nero's circus. It was here that St. Peter was executed. Recent excavations have shown that the present basilica which, in the seventeenth century replaced the ancient Constantinian basilica, was built over the tomb of St. Peter, just as the previous basilica. It was consecrated by Urban VIII on November 18, 1626. St. Paul-outside-the-Walls, situated at the other end of the city on the Ostian Way, is built near the place St. Paul was martyred. It was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1823 and was rebuilt in sumptuous fashion by Gregory XVI and Pius IX and consecrated by the latter on December 10, 1854. The celebration of the anniversary of these two dedications has been kept, nevertheless, on November 18.
St. Rose was born in Grenoble, France in 1769, and became a Visitation nun during the French Revolution. After her convent was closed during the reign of terror, she joined the Society of the Sacred Heart. She was sent to the Louisiana territory as a missionary and founded a boarding school for daughters of pioneers near St. Louis and opened the first free school west of Missouri. She also began a school for Indians. She died in 1882 in St. Charles, Missouri, and was canonized in 1988.
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