Happy Sunday! This past Thursday we celebrated Jesus’s Ascension, when He gave His parting commands to His apostles and returned bodily into Heaven, the end of Christ’s earthly life. Jesus told His followers (Matt.28), “Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” That injunction to evangelize others is one that the saints we celebrated this past week took very seriously.
St. John at the Latin Gate (May 6) commemorates the attempted martyrdom of John the Apostle in Rome. John miraculously survived the cauldron of boiling oil and was exiled to Patmos.
“St. Philip [May 11], like Peter and Andrew, was of Bethsaida. He was crucified in Phrygia where he preached the Gospel in 87.”1 Questioned Jesus in Jn.14 and received the response, “Philip, he that seeth Me, seeth the Father also.” Also May 11: “St. James the Less was of Cana and a kinsman of our Lord. He wrote one of the Epistles of the New Testament. He was thrown from the terrace of the temple in 93.” St. Simon the Zealot (May 10) was a Galilean of the Jewish Zealot sect and one of Jesus’s 12 apostles. After Jesus’s Ascension he preached in Egypt, Cyrene, Mauritania, and Persia, where he was martyred.
Job (May 10): “Old Testament Patriarch. The man ‘simple and upright and fearing God and avoiding evil’ who figures in the canonical Old Testament Book of Job.” God allowed the devil to take everything and everyone away from Job, but he stayed faithful even in great sorrow and was rewarded for it. Prophet Isaias (May 9): “Eighth century BC Old Testament prophet. Killed at the order of King Manasses of Juda.” One of the greatest of the Jewish prophets, he is most famous for his prophecies regarding the coming Messiah.
The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel (May 8) was a vision to a bishop in which the archangel requested a church on Mt. Gargano. St. Acacius of Byzantium (May 8): “Christian centurion in the imperial Roman army stationed in Thrace. Tortured and executed in the persecutions of Diocletian. Several churches in Constantinople dedicated to him, including one dedicated by Constantine the Great. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.”
St. Damien de Veuster (May 10) was a Belgian priest who spent years ministering to lepers on the Hawaiian island and leper colony of Molokai. His huge improvements in standard of living there included houses, a church, a school and an orphanage. He died of leprosy in 1889. St. John of Avila (May 10) was a 16th century Spanish scholar who gave away his inheritance to be a priest. Intended to be a missionary, but his preaching was so successful in Spain he was convinced to stay. Briefly imprisoned, but later acquitted. He was influential as both a preacher and a theologian.
St. Stanislaus of Krakow (May 7) was a scholar who gave his wealth away. As bishop, he was known for his charity, preaching, and discipline. Stanislaw clashed with the king, even resurrecting a witness against the king, and finally excommunicated the monarch, who murdered him. St. Rose Venerini (May 7) was an Italian laywoman who gathered local women to pray. She founded a free preschool and eventually many schools, in spite of violent opposition. Founded the Venerini Sisters for this work (d.1728).
Pope St. Boniface IV (May 8) was a Benedictine monk and deacon under Gregory the Great. As pope, he converted the pagan Roman temple the Pantheon to a church, reformed clergy, encouraged the faith in England, and served during a famine (d.615). Our Lady of Luján (May 8) is a statue of Mary in Argentina; the wagon transporting it could not cross a river, indicating Mary’s desire for a shrine there, which is now a Basilica.
St. Flavia Domitilla of Terracina (May 7/12) was a married Roman noblewoman, a relative of emperors, who converted. Her husband was martyred in 96 and she was banished, and then martyred too. Her foster-sisters Theodora and Euphrosyna (May 12) were martyred also. Sts. Nereus, Achilleus, and Pancras (May 12): “Nereus and Achilleus were [soldiers and] servants of Flavia Domitilla, who was martyred with them in 98. St. Pancras was put to death at the age of fourteen in 304.” St. Dionysius of Asia, the latter’s uncle and guardian, is also remembered May 12. The first church in England was dedicated to Pancras.
St. Antoninus (May 10): “A Friar of the Dominican Order, St. Antoninus became Archbishop of Florence. He was famous for his austere life, charity and episcopal zeal. He died in 1459.” St. Comgall of Bangor (May 10) was an Irish priest and monastery founder. A friend of other prominent saints, his monastery attracted a king, among others (d.601).
St. Francis de Montmorency Laval (May 6) was from a distinguished French family and joined the Paris Foreign Mission Society. As vicar apostolic of New France (Canada), he did great administrative, evangelical, and educational work for the settlers and natives alike. First bishop of Quebec, he crushed the damaging alcohol trade in his diocese (d.1708). Bl. Imelda Lambertini (May 12), daughter of a count, was so pious she entered a convent as a young child. Received visions, was devoted to the Eucharist, and died of joy at age 11 in 1333 after miraculously receiving Communion.
Bl. Gisella of Ungarn (May 7) was the charitable wife of St. Stephen of Hungary and thus the first Queen of Hungary. Widowed, she entered a convent (d.c.1095). St. Mattheo Le Van Gam (May 11) was a Vietnamese husband and father. Crushed by his children’s martyrdom, he committed adultery, but repented and was forgiven by his wife. He assisted missionaries and seminarians and was martyred in 1847.
Bl. Thomas Pickering (May 9) was an English Benedictine who became a chaplain for Charles II’s Catholic wife, Queen Catherine of Braganza. He was accused and hanged in relation to the alleged “Popish Plot” in 1679. St. Beatus of Lungern (May 11), baptized by St. Barnabus and ordained by St. Peter, was a hermit in Switzerland and fought a dragon.
“The Roman Judge, St. Gordian [May 10], was martyred at Rome in 360. St. Epimachus suffered martyrdom at Alexandria in 250.” St. Francis of Girolamo (May 11) was from a large, pious Neapolitan family, and he taught other children catechism. Once grown, he was a scholar and priest renowned for his powerful preaching. Cared for prisoners and formed the Oratio della Missione (d.1716). St. Pachomius of Tabenna (May 9) was an Egyptian soldier who converted and became a hermit. He founded eleven religious houses with 7,000 monks and nuns, and is considered the founder of communal monasticism.
St. Epiphanius of Salamis (May 12) founded a monastery in Judea and became a bishop in Cyprus. A key theologian of the early Church and mediator for a schism caused by the heresy of Apollinarianism (d.403). Pope St. Benedict II (May 8) was a charitable priest and Bible scholar who became pope in 683. He restored churches, abolished imperial approval of papal elections, adopted Constantine’s sons, and fought heresy.
St. Evodius of Antioch (May 6) was one of Christ’s 72 disciples and a bishop, the first person to use the word Christian in writings. Bl. Albert of Bergamo (May 7) was a married Italian farmer who became a Dominican, pilgrim, and miracle worker (d.1279). St. John of Beverley (May 7) was an English Benedictine bishop who founded and retired to Inderawood Abbey in 717. Bl. Jan Eugeniusz Bajewski (May 7) was a Franciscan Conventual priest martyred by Nazis in 1941. St. Domitian of Huy (May 7) was a 6th century bishop in Belgium who fought heresy and converted pagans. St. Agostino Roscelli (May 7) was a shepherd who became a priest and founded the Institute of Sisters of the Immaculata (d.1902). St. Solange of Bourges (May 10) was a shepherdess and healer (especially of animals) over whom a star used to shine as she prayed; killed by a would-be rapist in 880. St. Calepodius of Rome (May 10) was a 3rd century priest drowned in the Tiber River for his faith.
St. Catald of Taranto (May 10) was a 7th century Irish teacher and pilgrim who became a bishop in Italy. St. Ignatius of Laconi (May 11) was a Sardinian peasant who became a Capuchin after near-death experiences, and was known for his charity and zeal. St. Banban the Wise (May 9) was a bishop in Ireland and nephew of St. Patrick. St. Mocius (May 11) was a 3rd century Macedonian priest and martyr. St. Gengulphus of Burgundy (May 11), an 8th century knight, was so grieved at his wife’s infidelity he became a hermit. Bl. Gjon Koda (May 11) was an Albanian Franciscan tortured and martyred by Communists in 1947. Bl. Karolina Gerhardinger (May 9) was a Bavarian teacher who organized a religious community to educate girls (d.1879). Bl. Stefan Grelewski (May 9) was a Polish priest and teacher martyred by Nazis in Dachau in 1942. Bl. Benincasa of Montepulciano (May 9) was a Servite hermit of inspiring holiness.
Bl. Alexandru Rusu (May 9) was a Romanian bishop martyred by Communists in 1963. Bl. Lucien Galan (May 12), a French missionary, and Bl. Thomas Khampheuane Inthirath, a Laotian native, were martyred in Laos in 1968. Sts. Casto of Calvi and Cassio (May 12) miraculously survived being burned by pagan priests; when the pagan temple collapsed on the pagans but not the Christian priests, the latter were stabbed. St. Richrudis of Marchiennes (May 12) was a 7th century Frankish noblewoman, wife, and mother; widowed, she became a Benedictine abbess. St. Ethelhard of Canterbury (May 12) was an English abbot who, as Archbishop of Canterbury, stood up to a meddlesome king (d.805). St. Germanus of Constantinople (May 12), a hymn-writer, opposed a heretic emperor as Patriarch of Constantinople. Bl. Jane of Portugal (May 12) was a princess who became a nun (d.1490).
St. Crispoldus (May 12) was an Italian bishop and miracle-worker martyred c.300 with Barontius. St. Ida of Nivelles (May 8) was a wife and mother of saints; widowed, she built a Benedictine double monastery. Bl. Marie-Catherine de Saint-Augustin (May 8) was a religious sister who helped found a hospital in Canada (d.1668). St. Victor Maurus (May 8) was a Roman soldier who, in old age, was basted in molten lead and martyred (d.c.303). Bl. Pierre I of Tarantasia (May 6) was one of the first Cistercian monks and an Archbishop (d.1140). Bl. Kazimierz Gostynski (May 6) was a Polish priest martyred by Nazis. Bl. Anthony Middleton (May 6) was an English priest martyred in 1590. St. Colman Mac Ui Cluasigh of Cork (May 6) was a 7th century Irish professor and prayerful poet who saved his students from plague.
Also celebrated this week were Ponzio of Barellis, Petronax of Brescia, Venerius of Milan, Lucius of Cyrene, Anna Rosa Gattorno, Maria Catalina Troiani, Bartholomew Pucci-Franceschi, and Edward Jones (May 6); Maurelius of Voghenza, Duje and martyrs, F.Paleari, Cenic, Miqael, Quadratus of Herbipolis, and Serenicus and Serenus (May 7); Ulrika Fransiska Nisch, Clara Fey, Metrone of Verona, Amatus Ronconi, Our Lady of Grace, A.Luis Rabata, and Angelo of Massaccio (May 8); Gregory of Ostia, Giuse Hien, Pedro of Alcobaca, Tudwg, and Brynoth (May 9); Nicholas Albergati, Amalarius of Metz, Aurelian of Limoges; Palmatius and Simplicius and families, Beatrix of Este, Ivan Merz, E.Rebuschini, Miro, and Frodoino (May 10); Mamertus of Vienne, Gregory Celli, John Rochester and J.Walworth, Criotan of Macreddin, Gautier di Esterp, and Anthimus of Rome (May 11); Candida Maria de Jesus, Crispoldus, Modoald of Trier, Dominic de la Calzada, Lucien Galan, Casto of Calvi& Cassio, Ejell Deda, Dede Malaj, Juan de Segalars, and Philip of Agira (May 12).
Have a blessed week!
Quotes in this piece are from the Latin Mass Missal or Catholicsaints.info
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Author: Catherine Salgado
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