St. Lawrence of Brindisi said, “The Angels in Heaven were created, to be servants of Christ; man was formed from the earth, in order to be the image of Christ.” And it is our duty to become like Christ so that others will indeed see His image in us, as the saints we celebrated this week did.
St. James the Greater (July 25) was the brother of St. John and one of the three apostles closest to Jesus (see the Transfiguration, the Agony in the Garden, and more). He “preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, and Spain. On his return to Jerusalem, Herod condemned him to death: he was beheaded in 42. His body was conveyed to Compostella in Spain, and is venerated by many pilgrims.”1 Sts. Anne (July 25) and Joachim (July 26) were the parents of Mother Mary and grandparents of Jesus Christ. They were already elderly when they miraculously conceived Mary, according to tradition, and they dedicated her to God in the Temple when she was a child.
St. Martha (July 29), “sister of Mary Magdalen and Lazarus, lived at Bethany a humble [and] active life. She often gave hospitality to [O]ur Lord. According to one account they ended their days at Marseilles [in France]—St. Lazarus as bishop, St. Mary Magdalene as anchoress, St. Martha as head of a small community of holy women.” Martha told Christ (Jn.11:27), “Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ the Son of the living God, who art come into this world.”
St. Christopher’s (July 25) name was originally Offero, from the 3rd century Roman Empire. A powerfully built man in quest of adventure, his life was changed when he met a hermit. Offero converted and took over the hermit’s job, carrying travelers across a river. Offero one day found himself carrying a small child whose weight almost crushed him. The Child revealed Himself as Jesus Christ, heavy from bearing the weight of the world. Christ baptized Offero, henceforth known as Christopher (Christ-bearer). Christopher was martyred and is one of the 14 Holy Helpers. St. Pantaleon (July 27), another of the 14 Holy Helpers, “a medical doctor at Nicomedia, and patron of doctors, was martyred during the persecution of Diocletian in 303.”
Sts. Nazarius and Celsus (July 28): “Nazarius and his disciple Celsus are two Milanese martyrs. They were beheaded in 67.” Pope St. Innocent I (July 28): “Having, like his contemporaries St. Jerome and St. Augustine, fought with his pen and his eloquence for the teaching of Christ, St. Innocent, the successor of St. Anastasius, died in 417.”
Pope St. Felix II (July 29) “opposed the [heretical] Arians, and was martyred under an heretical Emperor in 492.” Sts. Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrice (July 29) were siblings who “suffered martyrdom at Rome under Diocletian in 302.” Pope St. Victor I (July 28), the holy “successor of St. Eleutherius, was martyred under Septimus Severus in 199.” Pope St. Celestine I (July 27) advised clerics, fought heresy, reformed clergy, befriended Sts. Augustine and Cyril of Alexandria, and upheld the rights of the Church.
St. Titus Brandsma (July 26) was a Dutch farm boy who joined the Carmelites and became a journalist, speaker, and professor. He oversaw dozens of newspapers, vocally opposed Nazism, and was therefore abused, experimented on, and killed in Dachau. Pope Bl. Urban II(July 29) was a Carthusian monk who came to the papal office when an antipope controlled Rome. He fought simony, enforced clerical celibacy, supported the Christian reconquest of Spain, and preached the First Crusade.
St. Simeon Stylites (July 27) was a 5th century Syrian shepherd who became a monk and lived as a hermit on top of a column. He preached from the column and inspired other hermits to follow his example. The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus(July 27) were 3rd century Christian men who hid from Roman persecution in a cave, were found, and walled up alive with their dog. In 479, the wall was breached—and the young men all woke up! St. Samson of Dol (July 28), one of the greatest Welsh saints, was an abbot, evangelizer, hermit, miracle-worker, and bishop. He interceded with kings and died in 565.
King St. Olaf of Norway (July 29) assisted an English king against the invading Danes and returned to drive the Swedes and Danes from Norway and to evangelize his people. His strict rule sparked a rebellion among nobles who exiled and then killed him. St. Anrê the Catechist (July 26) was a young Vietnamese convert trained to be a catechist by missionary Alexandre de Rhodes. He was beaten, imprisoned, and martyred in 1644.
St. Nicanor the Deacon (July 28) was one of the original seven deacons (see Acts 6) chosen by the apostles, and a martyr. Among the original deacons are also Sts. Parmenas, Nicholas, Timon, and Prochorus. St. Alphonsa of India (July 28) was permanently disabled when young and always suffered from physical ailments. She gave an example of holy suffering among her fellow nuns, and after her death in 1946 many miracles occurred through her intercession.
St. Olympiad of Constantinople (July 25), widowed young, became a deaconess and leader of a religious congregation, used her fortune for charity, and befriended Sts. Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, and Gregory the Theologian. Advised the Patriarch of Constantinople (d.408). St. Parasceva of Rome (July 26), a scholar and evangelizer, moved the Roman emperor to halt persecution by miraculously surviving boiling oil, burning the emperor, and healing him. She later converted a governor by splitting a snake with the sign of the cross, but was finally martyred in the 2nd century.
King St. Olaus of Sweden (July 29) was martyred as a human sacrifice after refusing to offer pagan sacrifices during a famine. St. Euphrasia (July 25) was an Egyptian noble who spent her fortune freeing slaves and dedicated her life to God. Bl. Robert Nutter (July 26) was an English Dominican priest who was jailed for 15 years before being martyred in 1600 with Bl. Edward Thwing. St. Seraphia (July 29) sold herself into a voluntary slavery, converted her mistress, and was martyred in 119. St. Cugat del Valles (July 25) was a North African-born spiritual teacher martyred in 304 in Spain.
St. Ioannes Baptista Luo Tingyin (July 29) was a 19th century married Chinese convert and martyr. St. William of Saint-Brieuc (July 29) was a Breton bishop who opposed the powerful and started building a cathedral (d.1234). St. Lillian of Cordoba(July 27), wife of St. Felix, was martyred in 9th century Muslim-controlled Spain. St. Botwid of Sudermannland (July 28) was a convert and missionary murdered by an apostate. Bl. Antonio Lucci (July 25) was a Franciscan bishop, “Theologian, Professor, Writer, Apostle of Charity and Marian devotee” (d.1752).
Bl. Nevolo of Faenza (July 27) was a married cobbler who became a Franciscan and a Camaldolese hermit (d.1280). St. Jaime Hilario Barbal (July 28) was a Christian Brother martyred in the Spanish Civil War. Bl. John Ingram (July 26) was a Scottish priest tortured and martyred in 1594. Bl. Robert Sutton (July 27) was a Protestant minister who became a Catholic priest and was martyred in 1588. St. Bartholomea Capitanio (July 26) founded the Sisters of Charity of Lovere.
Also this week were Carmen of Jesus, Manuel Vázquez Alfalla, Pietro Corradini, Mieczyslawa Kowalska, Magnericus of Trier, John Soreth, Alexius Worstius, Dario Acosta Zurita, Nissen, Antonio of Olmedo, and Michel-Louis Brulard (July 25); William Ward, Camilla Gentili, Manuel Martín Sierra, Vincente Pinilla Ibáñez, Hugh of Atti, Pierre-Joseph le Groing, and Austindus (July 26); Mary Magdalene Martinengo, Hermippus, Nicomedia and Spanish Martyrs, Berthold of Garsten, William Davies, and Natalia (July 27); Pedro Poveda Castroverde, Michaël Kusuriya, Irene of Cappadocia, and David Carlos-Marañon (July 28); and José Calasanz Marqués, Luis Bertrán and companions, Juan Egozcuezábal Aldaz, Martha Wang, Beatrix of Valfleury, and Charles Ancel (July 29).
Have a blessed week!
Quotes without links are from the Latin Mass missal.
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Author: Catherine Salgado
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