Today in the Byzantine Catholic liturgy we read the Gospel of the Samaritan woman where Jesus says (Jn.4:22), “Salvation is from the Jews.” But Jesus also makes clear to her that He is the Messiah, both for Jews and for Gentiles. The saints we celebrated this past week, whether they were originally Jews or Gentiles, all embraced Christ as their Messiah, just as we must do.
St. Mark the Evangelist (April 25) “was a disciple of St. Peter and the author of the second Gospel under the inspiration of the latter [and God]. He was martyred at Alexandria in 80 [Missal].” Traveled with St. Paul and mentioned in Acts. Of the four living creatures described in Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4,5,6, 14, 15, and 19, Mark is associated with the lion.
St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (April 28), born 1673, was a poor French priest and scholar with a particular devotion to Mary. He taught that complete dedication to Christ through Mary is the best way of serving Christ and of fighting the devil; his spirituality has been very influential. Spread devotion to the Rosary, and founded the Company of Mary and the Daughters of Divine Wisdom, the latter with the help of Bl. Marie-Louise Trichet, who led it.
St. George (April 23), “of an illustrious family, having reproached Diocletian for his cruelty, was subjected therefore to atrocious torments and was finally beheaded in 304. He is venerated as the patron of Christian soldiers, and is the Patron of England” among other countries. Read my previous piece for the famous story of George slaying a dragon.
Our Lady of Good Counsel (April 26) was a plaster-thin image that hung in the air miraculously suspended. Many miracles have occurred through prayers to Mary under this title. Our Lady of Montserrat (April 27): “In the year 808…three young shepherds having one night seen a great light descend from the sky, and heard melodious music in the air…The bailiff and the Bishop of Mauresa having repaired, with all these people, to the spot which they pointed out, saw likewise…after some search, they discovered the image of the Blessed Virgin.” St. Zita of Lucca (April 27) became a servant for a wealthy family and caused some controversy with her employers by frequently giving food to the poor. She was, however, eventually entrusted with the house keys. Attended daily Mass. Her reputation was such that Dante called Lucca “Santa Zita.”
St. Mary Salome (April 24) was a relative of the Blessed Virgin and mother of the apostles Sts. John and James. She asked Jesus (Matt.20:20ff) that “my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom,” and was a witness to the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Said to have evangelized in Italy. St. Mary of Cleophas (April 24), another relative of Our Lady’s and mother of several early Christians, including St. James the Less, is also identified at Jesus’s Crucifixion (Jn.19:25).
St. Peter Canisius (April 27), “born at Nimeguen in Holland, after brilliant studies at Cologne and Louvain, entered the Company of Jesus, of which he is one of the chief glories. The wisdom of his controversy, his eloquent preaching, his instructive writings (for example, the first catechism) caused him to be called the Hammer of Protestantism. He died at Fribourg in Switzerland in 1597 [Missal].”
St. Gianna Beretta Molla (April 28) was an athletic and pious physician, surgeon, and pediatrician. She married in 1955 and had several children. During her last pregnancy she could choose between an operation to save her own life but kill her baby, or her child’s life; she chose the latter, and died after childbirth. The baby grew up to be a physician too. St. Peter Chanel (April 28) was a French shepherd who became a priest and seminary teacher, then the first Christian missionary on the island of Fortuna, where cannibalism had recently been outlawed. A native priest-king whose children had converted had Peter martyred in 1841.
St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (April 24) “was at first ‘the Advocate of the poor.’ He then entered the Order of Friar[s] Minor, preached the Word of God, and was stabbed to death by Protestant soldiers in 1622 [Missal].” Read more about this lawyer turned preacher.
St. Simeon of Jerusalem (April 27): “Son of Cleophas and related to Jesus. Second bishop of Jerusalem. Tortured and executed in the persecutions of Trajan. Martyr.” St. Maughold (April 27) was a pirate-prince and thief converted and ordained by St. Patrick. Set sail in a wicker boat, and led by God to the Isle of Man, where he was a missionary bishop.
St. Paul of the Cross (April 28) “all his life had a burning love for Jesus. He founded the Congregation of Passionists. He and his brethren were preachers of ‘the mystery of the cross and of devotion to the Passion.’ He died in 1775 [Missal].” Visionary and mystic.
Sts. Cletus and Marcellinus (April 26): “Cletus, the third pope, was martyred under Domitian in 91. [Pope] St. Marcellinus was beheaded under Diocletian in 304.” Mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. Cletus was ordained by St. Peter. Pope St. Soter (April 22) “was martyred under Marcus Aurelius in 174, and [Pope] St. Caius was put to death in 296.” Soter inaugurated Easter as an annual Roman festival, while Caius expanded religious structures and laid down rules for bishops.
St. Adalbert of Prague (April 23) was a Bohemian noble who became bishop of Prague. Exiled more than once for his reforms, he evangelized near the Baltic Sea and was martyred by pagan priests with two companions. Pope St. Agapitus I (April 22) was Archdeacon of Rome, elected pope in 535. He tried to dissuade Emperor Justinian of Constantinople from invading Italy.
St. Valeria of Milan (April 28) was the wife and mother of saints; she was martyred in the 1st or 2nd century for giving burial to other Christians. St. Vitalis of Milan (April 28), her husband, was a Roman soldier martyred for ministering to and encouraging other martyrs, including St. Ursicinus of Ravenna. St. Wilfrid of York (April 24) was a 7th century English abbot who championed Roman liturgical practices. He founded monasteries, evangelized heathens, and had to struggle for years to retain his diocese.
St. Pedro de San Jose Betancur (April 25) was a poor shepherd from the Canary Islands who joined the Franciscans and opened a hospital in Guatemala. He founded the Bethlehemite Congregation and possibly started the tradition of posadas Nativity processions at Christmas (d.1667). St. Cyril of Turov (April 28) was a Greek Catholic Bible scholar and monk in 12th century Russia. A famed orator and preacher, he was a hermit on a pillar and then Bishop of Turov. Advised the prince and upheld the Greek tradition.
Bl. Helen del Cavalcanti (April 23) was a wife and mother in 15th century Italy. When her husband, a knight, died, she became an Augustinian tertiary, practiced silence, healed miraculously, had ecstasies, and served the poor. St. Anianus of Alexandria (April 25) was converted by and evangelized with St. Mark, and became the second bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, after Mark (d.c.86).
St. Richarius of Celles (April 26) was a pagan convert who founded the Abbey at Centula, France, and wisely advised King Dagobert (d.645). Bl. Noël Tenaud (April 27) was a French missionary martyred in Laos in 1961 with native catechist Bl. Joseph Outhay Phongphumi. Bl. Stephen of Nagyvarad (April 22) was a Transylvanian Franciscan friar who apostatized to Islam, then repented and was martyred in 1334. Bl. Stanislaw Kubista (April 26) was a Polish soldier who became a priest in the Society of the Divine Word martyred by Nazis in 1940. Bl. Luchesius (April 28) was a married grocer, money changer, and corn merchant; when all his children died, he became a Franciscan tertiary who had ecstasies and cared for the poor and sick (d.1260). Bl. Giles of Assisi (April 23), mystic and pilgrim, was one of the first companions of St. Francis, who reportedly called Giles “my knight of the Round Table.” St. Laurensô Nguyen Van Huong (April 27) was a 19th century Vietnamese priest flogged and martyred.
St. Paschasius Radbertus (April 26) was a French Benedictine theologian and abbot and author of the first treatise on the Eucharist. Bl. Jakov Varingez (April 27) was a Croatian Franciscan who had ecstasies and worked miracles (d.1496). Bl. Peter Armengol (April 27) was a brigand who converted, joined the Mercedarians, ransomed captives, and was tortured for this (d.1304). Bl. Wladyslaw Goral (April 26) was a Polish bishop martyred by Nazis in 1945. St. Enoder (April 27) was the 6th century grandson of Welsh King St. Brychan. St. William Firmatus (April 24) was a physician who gave away his wealth to become a hermit and pilgrim (d.1103). St. Didymus of Alexandria (April 28) saved St. Theodora from a house of prostitution by exchanging clothes with her; both were martyred in 304. St. Pamphilus of Sulmona (April 28) was a 7th century Italian bishop so charitable and holy that his priests complained he set too high a standard for them to follow. Bl. Osanna of Cattaro (April 27) was an Orthodox Montenegran who converted and became a Dominican anchoress, visionary, and spiritual guide (d.1565). St. Ibar of Meath (April 23) “is revered as a prominent Irish missionary, bishop, and a revered mentor to several significant figures in Irish Catholicism (d.c.500).
Bl. Osanna of Cattaro (April 27) was an Orthodox Montenegran who converted and became a Dominican anchoress, visionary, and spiritual guide (d.1565). St. Egbert of Rathemigisi (April 24) was a Northumbrian Benedictine monk who tried to prevent the English invasion of Ireland and who became a wandering bishop (d.729). St. Basileus of Amasea (April 26) was a bishop who attended the Council of Nicaea and was martyred. St. Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad (April 24) was a Swedish convert to Catholicism who worked in the U.S. and Rome and re-founded the Brigettine Order (d.1957). Bl. Robert Anderton (April 25) was an English convert and priest captured and martyred with his friend and fellow priest Bl. William Marsden in 1586 under Elizabeth I. St. Gioan Baotixta Ðinh Van Thành (April 28) was a lay Vietnamese catechist tortured and martyred in 1840 for refusing to apostatize. St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (April 24) survived the French Revolution and joined a religious order to rehabilitate at risk women (d.1868). St. Gerard of Toul (April 23) was a German bishop in France much respected by the emperor (d.994).
St. Giorgio di Suelli (April 23) was an Italian bishop and miracle-worker known for helping the poor (d.1117). Bl. Maria Gabriella Sagheddu (April 23) was a 20th century Trappist nun who offered her life for Christian unity. St. Giovanni Battista Piamarta (April 25) was a 19th century priest and teacher who founded the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Humble Servants of the Lord. St. Prudentius of Tarazona (April 28) was a 7th century Spanish cave hermit, evangelizer, bishop, and miracle worker. St. Opportuna of Montreuil (April 23) was a Norman abbess, sister of St. Chrodegang (d.770). St. Leonidas of Alexandria (April 22), philosopher, whose eldest son was the Church Father Origen, was martyred under Septimus Severus in 202. St. Franca Visalta (April 25) was a Cistercian abbess (d.1218). Bl. Nicolas Roland (April 27) founded the Sisters of the Infant Jesus to run schools (d.1678). St. Epipodius of Lyon (April 22) was arrested, tortured and killed in 178.
You can also read about Lucius of Laodicea, Apelles, Francis of Fabriano, Arwald, Altfried of Munster, Theodore of Sykeon, Senorina, Abel McAedh, and Adalberto of Ostrevant (April 22); Teresa Maria of the Cross, Adalbert III of Salzburg, Pusinna, Marolus of Milan, and Fortunatus and Felix of Vienne (April 23); Benedetto Menni, Ivo of Ramsey, Bova of Rheims, and Diarmaid of Armagh (April 24); Agathopodes and Philo, Jose Trinidad Rangel, Ermin of Lobbes, Stefano of Antioch, and Andres Sola Molist (April 25); Rafael Arnáiz Barón, Juli Padern, Trudpert, Dominic of Besians and Gregory, Alda of Siena, and Exuerantia of Troyes (April 26); John of Kathara, Asicus of Elphin, Adelelmus of Le Mans, and Liberalis of Treviso (April 27); and Jozef Cebula, Adalbero of Augsburg, Cronan of Roscrea, Benet of the Bridge, Artemius of Sens, and Arduin of Gallinaro (April 28).
Have a blessed week!
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Author: Catherine Salgado
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