Today is the second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday. On this day in particular, we remember Christ’s infinite mercy and beg Him to bestow it on us. We should strive not only to seek God‘s mercy ourselves, but to bring others to ask for it. That is something all the Saints we celebrated this past week did.
St. Benedict the Black (April 5) was an African slave born in Italy in 1524. Freed by his master, Benedict became a hermit and then a Franciscan lay brother. Though illiterate, he was elected the superior and then the novice master of the convent, but voluntarily chose to return to being a cook. Famed for his miracles, holiness, and skill as a confessor.
St. Brychan of Brycheiniog (April 6) was a 5th century Welsh king, a friend of St. Patrick. Brychan spread the faith in Wales. A stunning 24 of his children and others of his relatives are recognized as saints too. St. William of Eskilsoe (April 6) was a 12th century priest in Gaul (France) known for his austerities. Sent to Denmark to reform monasteries, and founded a monastery in Zeeland.
St. Isidore of Seville (April 4) was from a family of Spanish saints; he evangelized heretics and was a scholar in grammar, astronomy, geography, history, biography, and theology. “Isidore succeeded his brother as Archbishop of Seville. He was a master of ecclesiastical learning in Spain and a great Doctor of the Church. He died in 636 [Missal].”
St. Mary of Egypt (April 1) was a spoiled, 4th century rich girl who ran away to become a performer and prostitute. Arriving in Jerusalem and seeking customers at the church, an invisible force repelled her, and she was overcome with remorse. She became a hermit in the desert for half a century before being discovered by St. Zosimus (April 4), a monk and hermit who gave Communion to and later buried Mary.
St. Francisco Marto (April 4) was a young shepherd boy in the Portuguese town of Fatima in 1917 when he and his sister and cousin saw visions first of an angel, and then of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The visions and miracles of Our Lady of Fatima so impressed young Francisco that his desire was to die and go to heaven, which was fulfilled when he was only 11 years old. St. Francis of Paola (April 2) “founded the Order of Minims, whose name shows that they wished to be accounted the least in the household of God. Summoned to France, he died there in 1508 [Missal].” Originally a contemplative hermit, he was a miracle worker and prophet who rebuked royalty and defended the poor.
St. Vincent Ferrer (April 5): “A famous Dominican who gave luster to the Church by his preaching and miracles. He converted thousands of sinners and heretics. He died in 1419 [Missal].” St. Catherine of Palma (April 5) overcame a difficult childhood to become a religious sister (after being a servant). She “experienced numerous extraordinary phenomena and mystical encounters,” but besides her holy ecstasies she was also assaulted by demons. She died in Palma, Spain, in 1574.
St. John Baptist de La Salle (April 7) was a French priest and theologian who founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools. John gave his fortune to the poor, founded schools, and revolutionized education, including by dividing students into grades.
St. Joseph the Hymnographer (April 3) was the “most prolific of the Greek hymn writers.” A Sicilian who fled to Constantinople to escape Arab invasion, he was enslaved by pirates and later persecuted by iconoclast heretics (d.886). St. Pedro Calungsod (April 2), born in the Philippines c.1654, could “read, write and speak Visayan, Spanish, and Chamorro, paint, draw, sing, and worked as a carpenter.” As a teen catechist working with Jesuit missionaries, he was martyred by Mariana islands natives while defending a priest.
The Martyrs of Hadiab (April 6) were 120 Christians, both clergy and consecrated virgins, imprisoned for six months in horrible conditions in Seleucia (Mesopotamia). A pious rich woman, Jazdundocta, ministered to them. They were martyred in 345 for not worshipping the sun.
St. Juliana of Cornillon (April 5) was a Belgian orphan who grew up in and joined an Augustinian convent. A scholar and visionary, she is famous for working against various obstacles to have a feast for the Blessed Eucharist, now known as Corpus Christi (d.1258). St. Aleth of Dijon (April 4) was a married noblewoman and the mother of several saints, including Bernard of Clairvaux (d.1105). Pope St. Sixtus I (April 3) enacted liturgical decrees and was martyred in the 120s AD.
St. Henry Walpole (April 7) was a 16th century English convert and Jesuit chaplain to soldiers in Belgium. Arrested for covert ministry in England, he was tortured and martyred. Bl. Alexander Rawlins, another English priest, was martyred with him. Bl. Ralph Ashley (April 7) was an English cook at the French seminary for English priests who assisted Bl. Edward Oldcorne, a Jesuit priest who came to minister in England after a miraculous cure. They were martyred in 1607.
St. Plato (April 4) was a Greek monk and abbot persecuted for opposing the divorce and remarriage of the Byzantine emperor. Exiled by a later emperor, his holiness nonetheless impressed many, including one of his former enemies (d.813). St. Hugh of Grenoble (April 1) was a French bishop who retired to be a Benedictine monk. Ordered to resume his bishopric, he inspired many. Helped found the Carthusians (d.1132). His nephew St. Hugh of Bonnevaux, an abbot and exorcist, is also commemorated April 1.
St. Ethelburgh of Kent (April 5), daughter of King St. Ethelbert, married King Edwin of Northumbria. Widowed, she founded, entered, and led a convent (d.c.647). St. George of Mitylene (April 7) gave away his fortune to the poor and became a bishop in Greece, though he was eventually exiled for opposing Iconoclasm. “Noted for his humility and fasting, for his gifts of healing, and his work as an exorcist [d.816].”
Bl. Vilmos Apor (April 2) was a Hungarian bishop who helped persecuted Jews and was martyred in 1945 for his work of protecting women from brutal Russian Soviet soldiers. St. Derfel Gadarn (April 5) was a 6th century Welsh warrior royal, said to have been of King Arthur’s family, who became a monk and abbot. St. Gerald of Corbie (April 5) was a French Benedictine monk who, following a miraculous cure, was a pilgrim and then abbot of several religious houses. St. Gonval of Scotland (April 4) was an 8th century Scottish king renowned for his piety and dedication to the separation of Church and state. St. Irene of Thessalonica (April 5) was imprisoned in a brothel and then martyred in 304 because she and her sisters had a copy of the Scriptures. St. Eutychius of Constantinople (April 6) was a 6th century Patriarch of Constantinople who opposed the emperor’s heresy and was exiled, though later restored to his see. Bl. Anacleto González Flores (April 1) was a Mexican husband, father, writer, and lawyer tortured and martyred in 1927.
St. Catherine of Pallanza (April 6) was a 15th century Italian hermitess whose holiness gathered spiritual students around her. Bl. Lawrence Pak Chwi-deuk (April 3) was a Korean convert and catechist martyred for supporting his fellow persecuted Christians in 1799. St. Tigernach of Clogher (April 4) was an Irish monk and bishop who cast out demons. St. Galla of Rome (April 6) was a wealthy Roman widow who cared for the poor and founded a convent and hospital (d.c.550). St. Ebbe the Younger and her nuns (April 2) mutilated themselves to prevent Vikings from wanting to rape them, and were martyred by the Vikings for this. St. Hegesippus of Jerusalem (April 7) was a second century Jewish convert and researcher, considered the father of ecclesiastical history. St. Celsus of Armagh (April 1) was a reforming bishop and peacemaker in 12th century Ireland. Bl. Herman Joseph (April 7), son of St. Hildegund, was a Premonstratensian monk and mystic with a great devotion to Mother Mary (d.1241).
St. Liutberga of Thale (April 3) was a charitable noblewoman who became an anchoress and prophetess. St. John Payne (April 2) was an English priest exiled, tortured, and finally martyred in 1582. Bl. Mykolai Charnetskyi (April 2) was a Ukrainian Apostolic Exarch condemned to forced labor and martyred by the Communists in 1959. Bl. Gandulphus of Binasco (April 3) was a renowned 13th century Italian Franciscan preacher and miracle worker. St. Brenach of Carn-Engyle (April 7) was a 5th century Irish missionary to Wales. St. Melito of Sardis (April 1) was a 2nd century Lydian bishop and ecclesiastical writer. Bl. Abraham of Strelna (April 4) was a holy Moravian hermit and abbot (d.1232). St. Francisco Coll Guitart (April 2) was a 19th century Spanish priest who worked with the poor and sick and founded La Annunciata sisters.
St. Richard of Chichester (April 3) was chancellor at Oxford and later a reforming bishop (d.1253). St. Constantine of Scotland (April 2) was a king killed while fighting heathens. St. Ludovico Pavoni (April 1) founded the Sons of Mary Immaculate in 1825 to educate young people. St. Luigi Scrosoppi (April 3) was a 19th century priest and educator who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence. St. Tewdrig ap Teithfallt (April 1) was a Welsh king who became a hermit, and later died fighting off pagan Saxons. Bl. Gaetano Catanoso (April 4) was an Italian priest who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of St Veronica, Missionaries of the Holy Face in 1934. Bl. Juan Otazua y Madariaga (April 3) was a Trinitarian priest martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
You can also read about Enrico Alfieri, Giuseppe Girotti, Luis Padilla Gomez, Zofia Czeska-Maciejowska, Vinebault, Caidoc, and Nicolo of Noto (April 1); Abundius of Como, Eustace of Luxeuil, Mary Alvarado Cardozo, Appian of Caesarea, and Urban of Langres (April 2); John of Penna, Vulpian, and Tomi and Greece Martyrs (April 3); Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet, Ndue Serreqi, Thomas of Naples, and Theonas of Egypt (April 4); Maria Crescentia Hoss, Conrad of Saxony and Stephen, R.Monteolivo, Albert of Montecorvino, Claudius of Mesopotamia, and Ferbuta (April 5); Maria Karlowska, Zefirino Agostini, Philaret of Calabria, Pierina Morosini, Notkar Balbulus, Michele Rua, and Phaolô Lê Bao Tinh (April 6); and Mary Assunta, Ursuline of Parma, Albert of Tournai, Phero Nguyen Van Luu, and Finian Cam (April 7).
Have a blessed week!
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Author: Catherine Salgado
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