Saint of the Week Database for 2009
January 4th
ST. ADRIAN
(b. (?)/d. 710 A.D. – Feast Day, January 9th)
A native of Africa, St. Adrian was abbot of Nerida, Italy, near Naples, when Pope Vitalian offered him the see of Canterbury, England, occupied at moment by Bishop Urphard, whom Rome refused to recognize. Too mistrustful of himself to face such a mission, St. Adrian told the pope that Theodore of Tarsus was better fitted to fill the post. However, he agreed to accompany and help him with all his power. This arrangement was agreed to by the Roman pontiff, and the two envoys set off for England, going by way of France. There, suspected of being a political agent of the Eastern emperor, St. Adrian was arrested by Ebroin, mayor of Neustria (modern day Paris,) and Theodore alone was able to proceed on his way.
When, later, St. Adrian arrived in Great Britain, he found Theodore there, confirmed to his see, and was named by him abbot of the monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul at Canterbury. For more than thirty years he edified his abbey and the neighboring country by his teaching and saintliness. He himself undertook the teaching of Greek and Latin to his monks so that they might more easily understand and draw profit from the Scriptures.
His body was preserved from corruption for some centuries, and his tomb has reappeared during recent excavations of the Canterbury monastery.
Englebert/Howley
January 11th
ST. THEODOSIUS THE CENOBITE
(b. 423 A.D./d. 529 A.D. – Feast Day, January 11th)
Thus called to distinguish him from his namesake, St. Theodosius of Antioch, and to mark the kind of religious life which he advocated, St. Theodosius the Cenobite was born at Garissus in Cappadocia (modern day Turkey.) It was at Jerusalem that, at first hesitant between the eremitic (reclusive) life and the cenobitic (monastic), he finally opted for life in a community. With a few companions he retired into the caves in the environs of the Holy City. The first thing that he advised his followers was to think ceaselessly of death. For this purpose a grave in the ground, freshly dug, remained always open, beside which each in turn came to meditate. St. Theodosius set them an example of austerity by eating only vegetables and fruits. He passed thirty years, writes his biographer, without eating a morsel of bread.
His disciples becoming more and more numerous, he moved to Cathismus, not far from Bethlehem, and raised an immense monastery which finally sheltered a host of cenobites. It contained notably three great infirmaries for different classes of ailments, and four churches reserved respectively for the Greeks, Armenians, and Slavs who could all pray in their own tongue. The fourth church received penitents who were not yet “reconciled.”
St. Theodosius was about ninety when, because of his loyalty to the Catholic faith, he was exiled by the Emperor Anastasius, protector of the Eutychians (heretics.) But the death of this ruler soon put an end to his exile, and he returned to pass the last eleven years of his life in the midst of his monks. He died at the age of a hundred and five, full of infirmities which he would never pray God to deliver him.
Englebert/Howley
January 18th
ST. AGNES OF ROME
(b. 291 A.D./d. 304 A.D. – Feast Day, January 21st)
We possess little reliable data on this very celebrated saint. Some place her martyrdom about 254 A.D.; others under Diocletian, about 304 A.D.
St. Agnes was twelve when she was faced with sacrificing to the gods and renouncing her virginity. Neither threats nor promises could turn her. She was tortured. Those watching her torment wept. She, on the contrary, continued to appear happy. Several young men presented themselves, who wished to marry her. “It is an insult to my heavenly Spouse,” she said, “to try to please me. He shall have me for His own, who first chose me. Why, executioner, all this delay? May this body perish rather than delight the eyes of those that I refuse.”
According to the Latin tradition, St. Agnes was beheaded. According to the Greek tradition she was first sent into a house of ill repute, where her virtue was miraculously preserved; then she was thrown
onto a pyre.
Englebert/Howley
January 25th
ST. JULIAN OF LE MANS
(b. (?)/d. about 250 A.D. – Feast Day, January 27th)
In the story of the first bishop of Le Mans, France, what is authentic has not yet been disentangled from what is legend. Some identify him with Simon the Leper at whose house Our Lord was received; others say that he was of Roman origin and place his life in the 2nd century. They say he was made a bishop in Rome and came from there with Thuribius and Pavatius to evangelize the Cenomanni (a Celtic people of France.)
Having appeared before their capital (Le Mans,) he was refused entry and began to preach in the vicinity. Some inhabitants of the town having come to hear him, he learned from them that water was lacking in that place. Before their eyes, St. Julian made an abundant spring gush forth by planting his stick in the ground. This marvel was no sooner known than the city opened its gates to him and received him in triumph. He was given the greater part of a palace to turn into a church; this was the first cathedral of Le Mans.
St. Julian then undertook the conversion of the country lying between the Loire River and the left bank of the Seine River. In this region the Druids still ruled, and the fame of their wisdom and persistent opposition to the Roman conquerors rendered them very popular with the people and very dangerous to the new apostles. But by force of his zeal and because of the numerous miracles he accomplished, St. Julian triumphed over Druidism as he had over the Roman gods.
When he felt his strength declining, he entrusted Thuribius to continuance of his task and retired to Sarthe, to the place where today we find the village of Saint-Marceaux. And it is said to be there that
he died.
Englebert/Howley
February 1st
ST. AGATHA OF SICILY
(b. (?)/d. 251 A.D. – Feast Day, February 5th)
We do not possess any entirely reliable information about this martyr, who has been honored since the most ancient times and whose name has been included in the canon of the Mass.
Two cities in Sicily, Catania and Palermo, dispute the honor of her birth. Young, beautiful, and rich,
St. Agatha lived from childhood a life entirely consecrated to God.
In betrayal of the duties of his office, a greedy and shameless magistrate named Quinctianus profited by Decius’ edicts of persecution to attempt to abuse the virgin and to steal her fortune. He first delivered her to a matron charged with perverting her, who, however, failed. Then he made her appear before him on three occasions. The first time she was slapped in the face for having repelled the judge’s solicitations and affirmed her faith. The second, Quinctianus had her stretched on a wooden horse; the executioner ripped her flesh with iron hooks and was ordered to cut off her breasts. St. Agatha then said to the brutal magistrate: “Cruel man, have you forgotten your mother and the breast that nourished you, that you dare mutilate me in such a way?”
The third interrogation had no more success in changing her constancy. Fresh tortures were inflicted on her by rolling her, naked, on burning coals. Then a violent earthquake shook the town of Catania; a piece of wall broke off, crushing the judge’s assessor who was his friend; the judge himself fled, terrified. As for St. Agatha, having thanked God for his help, she gave a great cry and expired.
Englebert/Howley
February 8th
ST. EULALIA OF BARCELONA
(b. 290 A.D./d. 304 A.D. – Feast Day, February 12th)
St. Eulalia was born of Christian parents, and from her early youth burned with a desire to become a martyr. When the edicts of Diocletian and Maximianus were issued, she hastened to the tribunal and spontaneously confessed her faith. Scarcely fourteen years old, the prefect made her undergo divers tortures, and then finally burned her alive on a pyre.
That is all that the documentary sources tell of St. Eulalia, so highly honored in Spain.
However, scholars have begun a discussion not yet concluded. Certain of them claim that there were two girls of the same name; Eulalia of Barcelona and Eulalia of Mérida; others, that there was only one. However it may be, no one denies that, either at Barcelona or at Mérida, or in both these towns, a child martyr named Eulalia died in the above-mentioned circumstances.
Englebert/Howley
February 15th
ST. JULIANA OF NICOMEDIA
(b. (?)/d. 305 A.D. – Feast Day, February 16th)
Africanus, a pagan, the father of St. Juliana, promised his daughter to a young noble named Evilase. In order to gain time, St. Juliana said to her betrothed: “You must become prefect of Nicomedia before I consent to marry you.” When Evilase had been named prefect he came to St. Juliana, who said to him: “Now you must become a Christian for me to agree to be your wife.” In the suitor’s eyes this was an impossible condition. It was in vain that Africanus inflicted every kind of ill treatment upon his daughter. Weary of her opposition, he handed her over to Evilase, who as prefect called her before his tribunal and, to have done with the matter, had her beheaded.
Such is the biography which has been published of this martyr, but it is legendary. The only fact that is certain is that St. Juliana was put to death for the faith under Maximianus.
Englebert/Howley
February 22nd
ST. LEANDER OF SEVILLE
(b. 534 A.D./d. 600 A.D. – Feast Day, February 27th)
Born at Cartagena (Spain) in Andalusia about 534 A.D., brother of St. Florentina, St. Isidore, and St. Fulgentius, St. Leander early became a monk and was made bishop of Seville in 579 A.D. He founded a monastery there to which he brought the two sons of Leovigild, king of the Visigoths.
The latter, who was an Arian, unloosed against those who held to the Nicene Creed a persecution which turned into civil war. “We have reached the point,” wrote St. Leander, “where there is not a single free man in Spain.”
Of the two sons of Leovigild, one, Recared, had foresworn the Catholic faith; the other, Hermengild, had remained faithful to the lessons of his master. He even took it on himself to send St. Leander to Constantinople to ask the help of the Byzantine emperor. His father had him murdered and sent the bishop into exile.
After Leovigild’s death, Recared succeeded him, and St. Leander resumed his see. The bishop regained his influence over the new king who became a Catholic again. Then he convoked a national council
where the representatives of the clergy and of the people made a unanimous profession of the orthodoxy. It was declared unanimously that, under God, the bishop of Seville was responsible for this happy outcome.
Almost nothing remains of the writings of St. Leander, but several letters which St. Gregory the Great addressed to him have been preserved. They breathe affection and show how highly the pope esteemed his friend.
“My letter is very short,” he wrote to him. “Why am I so crushed beneath the weight of my duties that I write so little to the friend I love best in the world? I send you my books; read them carefully, and you will deplore the fact that I practice so ill what I seem to know so well.”
“I send you the pallium,” he wrote him on another occasion, “for your use at solemn Masses.” I ought at the same time to outline for you the rules of a holy life, but your virtues have forestalled my words and dispense me from saying anything more.”In other parts of their correspondence, the pope and the bishop, who both suffered from gout, mutually exhorted each other to consider this cruel ill as a heaven-sent favor and the best means of expiating their sins.
Englebert/Howley
March 1st
ST. CASIMIR OF POLAND
(b. 1458 A.D./d. 1484 A.D. – Feast Day, March 4th)
One of thirteen children who issued from the marriage of Casimir III, king of Poland, with Elisabeth of Austria, St. Casimir was third to come into the world, and was born on October 5th, 1458 A.D. He had as teacher John Dugloss, bishop of Lemberg, and although well endowed for study and applying himself conscientiously, he chiefly profited from the spiritual teaching of his virtuous master.
Very early he gave the impression of wanting to become a saint; indifferent to honors and to pleasure, watching attentively over his senses, meditating and weeping over the passion of Our Savior, seeking and finding happiness in prayer. Thanks to a discreet servant, he was able, without attracting too much attention, to practice the penances he preferred, such as sleeping on the floor at the foot of a comfortable bed, wearing a hair shirt, and passing the night kneeling at the church doors.
In 1471 A.D., discontented with their king Matthias, the Hungarian diet offered his crown to Prince Casimir, then aged thirteen. His father hastened to send him at the head of an army to take possession of the throne of Hungary. On arriving at the frontier, the young prince found himself face to face with the army of King Matthias. He concluded from this that the enterprise on which he had engaged was unjust, and most happy to renounce it, he retired for three months to the castle of Colzski, as much to avoid reappearing before this father as to expiate, he said, his own sins.
From 1479 to 1483 A.D., he had to govern Poland in the absence of Casimir III, then occupied in Lithuania. An attempt was made at this time to make him marry the daughter of the emperor of Germany. He refused in order to remain faithful to the vow of continence which he had taken. A few years earlier, the most learned doctors advised him to marry, assuring him that only marriage would cure a lingering illness; but he had opposed them.
St. Casimir died at the age of twenty-five years and six months on March 4th, 1484 A.D. At his wish, he was interred holding in his hand the hymn Omni die dic Mariae, which he had so many times recited during his life, in honor of the Blessed Virgin.
Englebert/Howley
March 8th
ST. EULOGIUS OF CORDOBA
(b. (?)/d. 859 A.D. – Feast Day, March 11th)
Cordoba, a capital of the Saracens in Spain, had at that time a population of half a million, and the Caliph Abd-er-Rahman II held the most brilliant court in Europe there. The Arabs allowed the Christians who had remained in the country to worship freely and on condition that heavy taxes were regularly paid.
However, in 850 A.D., there began a persecution of sorts which claimed several victims. The most illustrious was the priest St. Eulogius, which family was among the most substantial in Cordoba, and who himself had great influence.
He was a very pious and very learned man, burning with the desire to shed his blood for the faith. Imprisoned with some of the faithful, he passed the time of detention in exhorting them to martyrdom. Having left prison, he told of their glorious combat in a book entitled The Memorial of Saints. He also composed an Apology of the Martyrs, a justification of these heroes who were blamed by many for foolhardiness. The effect of these writings was profound, and many Christians were prevented by them from apostatizing.
When, towards the end of 858 A.D., the Episcopal see of Toledo became vacant, the faithful and clergy were unanimous in appointing St. Eulogius to it; but he never took possession, for he was arrested in the meantime with the virgin Leocritia or Lucretia. The maiden was a recently converted Moslem upon whom her family had heaped ill treatment to make her recant. Fearing to succumb, she had turned to
St. Eulogius, who had her hid at a friend’s house. Finally she was found and implicated in a lawsuit with her protector.
The latter would not plead guilty in any way. He offered to prove to his judges that the Prophet (Mohammed) was an imposter and to show them that Jesus Christ was the sole Savior of mankind. They refused to listen to him, and he was beheaded on Saturday, March 2nd, 859 A.D. Leocritia suffered the same fate the following Saturday, March 9th, 859 A.D.
Englebert/Howley
March 15th
ST. ABRAHAM OF EDESSA
(b. (?)/d. mid-4th century – Feast Day, March 16th)
Born near Edessa (Turkey) of a wealthy family, his parents betrothed him at an early age to a very rich girl and then compelled him to marry her. The wedding festivities lasted a week, but at the last moment St. Abraham fled and hid in a large building which he walled up except for a dormer-window, through which food could be passed to him. Soon, realizing he was lost to them, his relatives allowed him to live in peace the life of austerity and prayer which was his vocation.
After ten years, the bishop of Edessa drew him from his retreat against his will and, having ordained him priest, sent him to evangelize a pagan village called Beth-Kiduna, where no missionary had hitherto succeeded in making converts. St. Abraham built a church there and destroyed all of the idols he found. His zeal brought him every kind of ill treatment which he bore patiently, and by force of perseverance and good example, he ended by converting and baptizing the inhabitants of Beth-Kiduna to the last person. He prolonged his stay among them a year, to strengthen them in the faith; then, praying God to send them another and better pastor, he left them without farewell and returned to his hermitage.
He then immersed himself in his cell which he hoped never to leave again. But he was once more compelled to leave to go to the aid of a niece named Mary, who was living a life of sin in a town at two days’ journey. Disguised as a soldier, he succeeded in supping with her, making her ashamed of her conduct, and he had the happiness of persuading her to abandon her ways. In the desert Mary expiated her sins and arrived at sanctity.
St. Abraham survived his niece’s conversion and it believed that he died a septuagenarian towards the middle of the fourth century. All the town of Edessa thronged to his funeral, and those considered themselves the most fortunate who could carry off a shred of his hair shirt.
Englebert/Howley
March 22nd
ST. LEA OF ROME
(b. (?)/d. 384 A.D. – Feast Day, March 22nd)
The only information we possess on this pious matron comes from a letter of St. Jerome to St. Marcella. We learn from it that having lost her husband, St. Lea retired into a Roman monastery and later became its superior.
Not having to furnish his correspondent with the biographical details she already knew, St. Jerome confines himself to a fervent panegyric (elaborate praise) where he compare the actual fate of the departed with the presumed fate of a consul recently dead. This is how he expresses himself:
“Who will praise the blessed Lea as she deserves? She gave up painting her face and covering her head with shining pearls. Exchanging her rich attire for sackcloth, she ceased commanding others to obey all; she lived in a corner with a few sticks of furniture; passed her nights in prayer; instructed her companions by example rather than by protests and speeches; awaited her arrival in heaven to be rewarded for the virtues which she practiced on earth.”
“Thus it was that henceforth she enjoyed perfect felicity. In Abraham’s bosom where she is with Lazarus, she sees our consul, once clad in purple, and now arrayed in a shameful robe, asking in vain for a drop of water to quench his thirst. Although he went up to the capitol amid the applause of the populace, and his death put all the town into mourning, it is in vain that his wife impudently declares that he has gone to heaven and there occupies a great palace. The fact is that he is plunged into outer darkness, while Lea, who was willing to be thought a dolt here below, and has been received into the house of the Father, at the feast of the Lamb.”
“So too I beg you, with tears in my eyes, not to seek the favors of the world, but to renounce all that is of the flesh. In vain may one attempt to follow both the world and Jesus. Let us live in renunciation, for our bodies will very soon be dust nor will anything else last longer.”
Englebert/Howley
March 29th
ST. MARY OF EGYPT
(b. 344 A.D. (?)/d. 421 A.D. (?) – Feast Day, April 3rd)
According to a legend which was already known to St. Gregory the Great and to the Fathers of the second Council of Nicea, the following was, in short, the life of this penitent, as she related it to
St. Zosimus.
“I was born in Egypt. At twelve, leaving my parents’ house, I went to Alexandria where, for seventeen years, I gave myself up to a dissolute life. My perversity became such that meeting some young Lybians, who were going to Jerusalem to be present at the Exaltation of the Cross, I embarked with them to seduce them. I seduced them all to the last one. Arriving at the Holy City, I wished to take part in the feast and joined the crowd going into the temple, but I found it impossible to cross the threshold and I remained rooted to the spot. Light came to me that it was my crimes that prevented me from entering. Seeing an image of the Virgin Mary, I made this prayer: ‘O Mother of Him who died for sinners, let me too venerate the Holy Cross; then I will follow the way you show me.’ My prayer was granted. After the ceremony, I went to implore the Virgin Mary anew. ‘Cross Jordan,’ a voice told me, ‘and you will find peace.’ After receiving the sacraments of Confession and Communion, I crossed the Jordan, and pushed on to this place. Here I have been for forty-seven years, without meeting any human being, eating roots and herbs, only speaking with God. The first seventeen years of my solitude were filled with temptations and trials, but the Virgin succored me, and it is she who obtained for me the profound peace which I have since enjoyed.”
Having said this, St. Mary prayed St. Zosimus to come back on Holy Thursday of the following year to bring her the Eucharist. The monk kept the tryst. He came back a year later; but this time St. Mary was dead, her body lying on the sand. The aged hermit wished to bury her. He had just set to work when a lion appeared to help him; and it was the lion which, with his paws, dug and filled in the grave of
St. Mary of Egypt.
Englebert/Howley
April 5th
ST. WALTRUDE
(b. (?)/d. 866 A.D. – Feast Day, April 9th)
Born at Coulsore in Hainaut (Belgium,) St. Waltrude belonged to a family almost all of whose members were canonized. Married by her parents, St. Walbert and St. Bertilia, to Madelgaire, the future St. Vincent, she had four children by him: Landric, Dentlin, Aldetrude, and Madelberte. The first became a monk, perhaps even a bishop, and is honored on April 17th; the second died in infancy after baptism; the last two became nuns at the convent of Mauberge of which their aunt Aldegundis was abbess, and are honored respectively on February 25th and September 7th.
When all their children were vowed to the service of God, the couple separated. Leaving the court of the Merovingian kings, Madelgaire entered the abbey of Hautmont; on her part, St. Waltrude built on a hill, where afterwards rose the town of Mons, a convent which she ruled until her death. There she sometimes received visits from St. Aldegundis, her sister, and benefited by the spiritual direction of
St. Ghislain, abbot of Celles.
She endured many temptations of the devil, not to mention the memory of the delights of her secular life which came back to her, and the discouraging thoughts with which she was obsessed. Finally she found peace; heaven even sent her great consolations. Already during her marriage she had devoted her disposable income to the ransom of captives and the support of the unfortunate; her charity to the poor increased yet more as a nun; and God sometimes miraculously procured her the money she lacked to help them. He also accorded her the gift of healing sick children.
Formerly, the town of Mons (Belgium) celebrated not less than four annual feasts in honor of
St. Waltrude, its patroness.
Englebert/Howley
April 12th
ST. PATERNUS
(Circa 500 A.D. – Feast Day, April 15th)
It is known for certain that there was at Vannes (France,) at the end of the 5th or beginning of the 6th century, a holy bishop named Paternus. The rest of his biography is not very certain.
According to the ancient authors, he was born in Amorican Brittany of parents who separated the day following his birth; Gueana, his mother, continued to bring up her child; Petranus, the father, left to lead the religious life in Ireland. Having grown up, St. Paternus wished to follow in his father’s footsteps and with some companions embarked for England. Having settled in Cardigan, he built a monastery there of which he became the superior, a church which, since that time, was called Llan-Padern-Vaur – sanctuary of Paternus the Great. Then he went to visit his father in Ireland and reconciled two minor kings who were at war. Later he made the journey to the Holy Land and received Episcopal consecration from the hands of the patriarch of Jerusalem, and then returned to Llan-Padern-Vaur, which thenceforth became the seat of a bishopric. Twenty years later, St. Paternus was persuaded by King Caradoc to exchange this diocese for that of vanes. Thus he found himself once more in his native country. His fellow citizens persecuted him and, judging it good to get away, he betook himself to die among the Franks.
Englebert/Howley
April 19th
ST. EMMA
(b. (?)/d. about 1050 A.D. – Feast Day, April 19th)
The name of her father is not known. As for her mother, she was called Adela; temperamental and violent in character, she was descended, it was said, from the terrible Widukind whose defeat and baptism were celebrated, at the order of Pope Hadrian I, by three days of precessions throughout Christendom. St. Emma had a brother named Meinwerk, bishop of Paderborn (Germany.) Imad, the son born of her marriage with Count Ludger, also occupied the episcopal see of that town.
After being widowed, St. Emma consecrated to good works for the forty years she survived her husband. Her immense fortune was employed in support of the unfortunate, the construction of churches, and for other important foundations in the diocese of Bremen. She died about 1050 A.D. When later her tomb was opened, her body was found reduced to dust, with the exception of the right hand which was intact; it was deposited in the church of the abbey of St. Ludger (not her former husband) at Werden.
Englebert/Howley
April 26th
STS. THEODORA AND DIDYMUS
(b. (?)/d. 304 A.D. – Feast Day, April 28th)
Under the emperors Diocletian and Maximianus, Proculus, prefect of Alexandria, Egypt, had St. Theodora brought before him, and the following dialogue took place between them:
“Why, being free and of noble race, do you not wish to marry?”
“Because I have resolved to remain a virgin for the love of Christ.”
“You know that the will of the emperor is that virgins who refuse to sacrifice to the gods shall be condemned to dishonor.”
“If I am outraged it will be against my will; I will never voluntarily commit the least fault.”
“I have pity on your beauty; do not cover yourself with disgrace; do not make your family ashamed; do not oblige me to treat you as a slave to carry out the will of the emperors.”
After having in vain given her three days to reflect, the prefect had St. Theodora taken to a house of ill repute. As she was entering it, a Christian soldier named Didymus ran up, saying to her: “I have come the first, to save you. Exchange clothes with me and leave here under God’s protection.”
St. Theodora fled.
To the libertine who presented himself shortly afterwards, St. Didymus, lifting the virgin’s veil which covered his head, declared: “You see that the Lord has wished to favor both the virgin and the soldier; the virgin in saving her from your impure hands, and the soldier in delivering him to you to be led to martyrdom.”
Led before Proculus, St. Didymus openly rejoiced at having spared an innocent girl from dishonor and having himself been worthy to confess his faith. This double crime cost him his head and the burning of his body.
St. Ambrose affirms that in order not to leave her liberator to die alone, St. Theodora rejoined him before the tribunal and was beheaded with him.
Englebert/Howley
May 3rd
ST. ANGELUS
(b. 1185 A.D./d. 1222 A.D. – Feast Day, May 5th)
Of Jewish origin, St. Angelus was born at Jerusalem in 1185 A.D. He had a twin brother named John. Their mother had them baptized when she became a Christian, and after their parents’ death both entered the Carmelite order. At the age of twenty-six, St. Angelus was sent to Jerusalem for his ordination. Afterwards, he went about Palestine, working many miracles, for which he became celebrated. To escape his popularity, he withdrew into seclusion, until the day when God inspired him to depart for Italy. No writings confirm the tradition, evidenced in certain pictures, according to which he met St. Dominic and St. Francis in Rome at the Lateran Council. In Sicily, where his fame as a worker of wonders had followed him, he wished to convert a knight of Alicata named Berenger, who was scandalizing that district by his conduct, became enraged by his conviction, and had him massacred before the Church of St. James. St. Angelus was placed by Pope Honorius II among the martyrs.
Englebert/Howley
May 10th
ST. SOLANGE OF BOURGES
(b. (?)/d. 880 A.D. – Feast Day, May 10th)
This little shepherdess, born in the town of Villemont, France, three miles from Bourges, was one of those extraordinary beings on whom heaven showers its most beguiling gifts. She was lovable, hard-working, charitable, and moreover, marvelously beautiful.
Bernard de la Gothie, son of the count of Poitiers, was the victim of a violent passion for her, and he made her an offer of marriage. But the heart of the young girl was no longer free, having, she declared, taken the vow of virginity. In vain the young noble told her how miserable her refusal made him and enumerated the advantages which she was renouncing for herself and her family. So he resolved to abduct her, and he was carrying her off, when St. Solange struggled with such violence that she threw herself from his horse while crossing a stream. Insane with jealousy and furious at seeing his prey escaping him, the abductor followed the girl and cut off her head with a stroke of his sword.
The cult of the virgin martyr has remained popular in Berry. The Church of St. Martin at Villemont, where her head is preserved, has taken the name of St. Solange. At times of general calamity and during droughts in particular, this relic used to be taken in procession through the town of Bourges.
Englebert/Howley
May 17th
ST. JULIA
(Cir. 6th or 7th century – Feast Day, May 22nd)
It is believed that, taken at Carthage (Tunisia) during the Persian invasion of 616 A.D., St. Julia was then sold as a slave to an Eastern merchant. This man, who had business in the West, took her with him on his journey. At Capo Corso (Corsica) they encountered Vandal or Saracen pirates. It is not known what these corsairs did to the merchant, but they fastened St. Julia to a cross, where she died, following the example of our divine Master. Her body was transported to the island of Gorgona (Italy,) then to the Italian mainland. Later, Desiderius, king of the Lombards, gave her remains as a gift to one of his daughters, abbess of the Benedictines at Brescia. The remains were placed in the church there, which Pope Paul I came to consecrate in 763 A.D., and which became the center of devotion to St. Julia in Italy.
Englebert/Howley
June 7th
ST. OLIVIA OF PALERMO
(c. 9th century – Feast Day, June 10th)
St. Olivia is especially honored in the cities of Carthage, Tunisia, and Palermo, Italy. Even among the Mohammedans she is held in veneration; the great mosque of Tunis is called the Mosque of Olivia. Whoever speaks ill of the saint, say the Tunisian Moselms, is always punished by God.
Unfortunately, what is known of her seems legendary. It is said that she was a ravishing beauty and was perhaps thirteen when the Saracens seized her at Palermo and carried her off to Tunis. At first she was left in peace there, but when she began to work miracles and effect conversions, she was abandoned in a forest alone with the wild beasts. Some hunters found her and she succeeded in converting them. The exasperated Moslems then arrested her, and, after having tortured her in every way, they cut her head off. At that moment, St. Olivia’s soul was seen flying to heaven in the form of a white dove.
Englebert/Howley
June 14th
BL. MICHAELINA METELLI OF PESARO
(b. 1300 A.D./d. 1356 A.D. – Feast Day, June 19th)
A native of Pesaro, Italy, Michaelina Metelli was married at the age of twelve to Lord Malatesta of the dukes of Rimini. She became a widow at twenty, and shortly afterwards her only child died.
Meanwhile, a pilgrim named Siriana had passed through Pesaro, and she had installed herself at her home. Siriana was a Franciscan tertiary. Michaelina joined them as well, and helped by Siriana, from that time embraced the perfect life. She distributed her goods to the poor and, after St. Francis’ example, begged for her bread and sought humiliations. Great temptations awaited her in her new life, as well as many trials. One of the cruelest came from her family who, pretending to believe her mad, shut her up in a tower with irons on her feet, to cure her so that she might cause them no further embarrassment. Michaelina won over her jailers by her mildness and recovered her liberty. She put it to good use in redoubling her penances and prayers. She also devoted herself to the care of lepers, tending to them like beloved children and kissing their leprous sores, and sometimes, it is said, miraculously restoring them to health. Michaelina wanted to make use of her remaining strength to visit the Holy Land. She died returning from her pilgrimage, on the feast of the Holy Trinity, June 19th, 1356.
Englebert/Howley
June 21st
ST. ETHELREDA (AUDREY)
(b. 636 A.D./d. 679 A.D. – Feast Day, June 23rd)
Modern Catholic calendars mention on this day St. Felix. Unfortunately nothing is known of St. Felix, except that he is venerated as a martyr at Sutri (Tuscany, Italy.)
We are better informed on St. Ethelreda (Audrey,) whose name is found in all ancient calendars. She was very popular in former times and the English especially dedicated many churches to her. Born at Exning (Suffolk,) she was the daughter of Anna, king of East Anglia, and sister of Sts. Withburga, Sexburga, and Ehtelburga. Although it seems she had vowed her virginity to God, she was made to marry Prince Tonbert, with whom, nevertheless, she kept continence for the three years that their union lasted. Tonbert having died, she retired from the world to lead the life of prayer which was her vocation. Considerations of politics compelled her, however, to remarry to Egfrid, prince of Northumbria. The couple had vowed in the presence of St. Wilfrid, archbishop of York, their spiritual father, to live like brother and sister. Egfrid kept his word for a long time but later thought about breaking it. From then on, St. Wilfrid urged the princess Ethelreda to embrace the religious life once and for all. About 672 A.D., she founded two abbeys on the island of Ely, one for men, and the other for women, which she ruled until her death.
Her austerity was great; except upon the chief feasts she ate but once a day; she wore inconvenient and clumsy clothing; after matins she remained at prayer in the choir until morning. An abscess of the throat from which she suffered towards the end of her life has made her the patron of those
who suffer similar ills.
Englebert/Howley
June 28th
ST. BERTHA OF BLANGY
(b. circa 7th century/d. 725 A.D. – Feast Day, July 4th)
If a life of St. Bertha, not wholly legendary, is to be believed, she was born in Artois (France,) married to a noble of the Merovingnian court, and had several children. Widowed, she founded the abbey of Blangy, where she withdrew with two of her daughters, and it was to one of them that the rule of the monastery fell when St. Bertha resigned as abbess. She spent the rest of her days immured in a cell beside the abbey church. The ceremony of enclosure was very solemn; several bishops took part in it who, having blessed the cell, withdrew, confiding St. Bertha to the care of the angels. However, this cell was pierced by a window giving on to the altar, and it was opened each day to allow the saint to assist at Mass and to address a few edifying words to the community.
Englebert/Howley
July 5th
ST. FELICITAS OF ROME AND THE SEVEN BROTHER MARTYRS
(c. 2nd century – Feast Day, July 10th)
The first years of the reign of Marcus Aurelius were marked by all kinds of public calamities. Very superstitious, the Romans sought those responsible for these calamities in order to sacrifice them to the gods. As Tertullian wrote, speaking of this epoch, which was that of his childhood: “Were not the Christians the cause of all these disasters? If the Tiber inundated Rome, if the Nile did not inundate the countryside, if there were war, famine, or pestilence, a cry was immediately raised: ‘The Christians to the lions! Death to the Christians!’”
An ancient Passion places St. Felicitas and her sons among the number of the victims then chosen. St. Felicitas was a very pious widow, whose social situation placed her very much in the public eye of Rome. The pagan priests told the emperor that her example was most dangerous, that if she was not made to venerate the gods they would be so irritated that it would be impossible to appease them. The emperor charged the prefect Publius with obliging her to sacrifice. Publius summoned her and in a private conversation endeavored to solemnly reject her beliefs. Failing in this, he cited her to appear for regular trial in the forum of mars, together with her sons.
The sons of St. Felicitas were called: Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martial. All seven made admirable and supernatural replies to the magistrates whose duty it was to secure their apostasy. Their mother inspired them with her own faith: “Lift your eyes to heaven; look up, my children; there Christ awaits you; fight for your souls; stay firm in His love.” Since none of them gave way, the emperor condemned them all to death. Januarius perished under the blows of a whip loaded with lead; Felix and Philip were beaten to death with staves; Silvanus was thrown from a high rock; Alexander, Martial, and Silvanus were beheaded, as was also St. Felicitas.
This is, indeed, a good story. Certain historians, however, have contested its exactness. In their opinion, the author of the Passion, which we have summarized, was carried away by the story of the Machabee brothers and made the seven above-mentioned Christians into brothers and gave them St. Felicitas as a mother. There may be no bond of blood between these eight martyrs.
Englebert/Howley
July 12th
ST. CAMILLUS DE LELLIS
(b. 1550 A.D./d. 1616 A.D. – Feast Day, July 14th)
He was born at Bacchianico (kingdom of Naples, Italy,) of a noble family and lost his mother at the age of thirteen. In 1569 A.D., he enlisted with his father in the service of Venice; he was then almost six feet in height. Both fell ill and the father died; St. Camillus, who had contracted an incurable disease of the feet, presented himself at the Franciscan monastery of Aquila but was dismissed. Ill himself, he entered as infirmarian of the hospital of St. James at Rome, but his passion for gambling and his violent character soon resulted in his dismissal. He again enlisted in the Venetian army for three years, left for Corfu (Greece,) and fell ill on the eve of the battle of Lepanto. He then went into the pay of Spain; but the royal galleys were decommissioned, the crews were paid off, and St. Camillus soon found himself at Naples with no fortune but his equipment. He lost at cards his sword, his arquebuse, his powderhorn, his campaign cloak, and even his shirt. For a time he begged at the church doors. He then found employment as a cart driver in the service of the Capuchins of Manfredonia (Italy.) He was bringing back a barrel of wine on his donkey when, on February 2nd, 1575 A.D., an old monk accosted him and whispered a few words into his ear. This, with the grace of God, was all that was needed to convert him. From then on he tried on four occasions to become a Franciscan and each time met with failure. In the intervals he was infirmarian of the hospital of St. James at Rome.
It was there, in order to remedy the frightful state of sick people in the hospitals, St. Camillus thought in 1582 A.D. of founding the Ministers of the Sick. Encouraged by St. Philip Neri, he became a priest in 1584 A.D. Two years later, Pope Sixtus V approved his congregation; it became an order in 1591 A.D. and spread from Rome to Milan, Genoa, Florence, Messina, Palermo, Ferrara, and other places. Until the last, although afflicted with serious infirmities, St. Camillus cared for the sick; he loved them like children, seeing in them Christ suffering and abandoned. When a cardinal asked to see him while he was taking care of one of them, he said: “For the moment, I am with Our Lord; I will see His Excellency
when I have done.”
Englebert/Howley