Romæ Translátio córporis sancti Stéphani Protomártyris, quod, Pelágio Primo Summo Pontífice, e Constantinópoli ad Urbem allátum atque in sepúlcro sancti Lauréntii Mártyris in agro Veráno pósitum, ibídem magna piórum religióne cólitur.

At Rome, the translation of the body of St. Stephen protomartyr, which was brought from Constantinople to Rome by Pope Pelagius I, and laid in the sepulchre of the martyr St. Lawrence in the Agro Verano, where it is honoured with great devotion by the pious faithful.

560 ST DOMITIAN, BISHOP OF Maestricht

602 ST LIUDHARD, BISHOP

On the site of the present town of Château Gontier, in the diocese of Angers, and subsequently in the forest of Charnie, near the village of Saulges in Maine, they led a life of extreme self-abnegation as soli­taries. But, desirous though they were of remaining lost to the world, the fame of their sanctity began to attract visitors, who disturbed their solitude. So strongly did Serenicus feel the call to greater seclusion that he bade farewell to his brother, from whom he had never previously been parted, and struck out into the unknown region of Hyesmes, accompanied by a child whom he had baptized and who would not leave him. On a spot surrounded by boulders, situated over the river Sarthe and approached only by a narrow path, he determined to make his abode.

He was soon to discover that solitude was not for him. Disciples gathered round, and he became the head of a large community of monks, whom he taught to recite the full psalmody, consisting of the complete Roman use in addition to all the Benedictine offices. He continued to rule over the monastery he had founded until his death which occurred when he was very old, about the year 669.

717 St. John of Beverly John known for holiness preference for the contemplative life possessed the gift of healing many miracles are recounted in Bede's Ecclesiastical History the author of which he had ordained It was not just miracles that led to John's canonization. He led a life of remarkable holiness.

His exceptional abilities marked him out for preferment, and after the death of St Eata he was appointed bishop of Hexham. Whatever time he could spare from the duties of his office he devoted to heavenly contemplation, retiring for that purpose at stated periods to a cell beside the church of St Michael beyond the Tyne, near Hexham. Often he would be accompanied by some poor person, whom he would serve, and once he took with him a youth who seems to have suffered from a loathsome form of ringworm and who had never been able to speak. The bishop taught him to say “Géa”—the Anglo-Saxon equivalent for “Yes”. From this beginning he led him on to pronounce the letters of the alphabet and then to enunciate syllables and words. In this manner the youth gradually acquired the use of speech and was at the same time cured of the malady which disfigured him.

St. Stanislas, bishop of Cracow and martyr, who received the crown of martyrdom on the day following this.

THE cultist of St Stanislaus is widespread in Poland—especially in his episcopal city of Cracow, which honours him as principal patron and preserves the greater part of his relics in the cathedral. His biography, written some four hundred years after his death, by St Casimir’s tutor, the historian John Dlugosz, seems to be an uncritical compilation from various earlier writings and from oral tradition, for it contains several conflicting statements, besides a certain amount of matter which is obviously purely legendary.

Stanislaus Szczepanowski was born on July 26, 1030, at Szczepanow. He came of noble parents, who bad been childless for many years until this son was vouch­safed to them in answer to prayer. They devoted him from his birth to the service of God, and encouraged in every way the piety which he evinced from early childhood. He was educated at Gnesen and afterwards, we are told, “at the University of Paris”, which at that time had not yet come into existence. Even­tually he was ordained priest by Lampert Zula, bishop of Cracow, who gave him a canonry in the cathedral and subsequently appointed him his preacher and archdeacon. The eloquence of the young priest and his saintly example brought about a great reformation of morals amongst his penitents—clergy as well as laity flocking to him from all quarters for spiritual advice. Bishop Lampert wished to resign the episcopal office in his favour, but Stanislaus refused to consider the suggestion. However, upon Lampert’s death, he could not resist the will of the people seconded by an order from Pope Alexander II, and he was consecrated bishop in 1072. He proved himself a zealous apostle, indefatigable in preaching, strict in maintaining discipline, and regular in his visitations. His house was always crowded with the poor, and he kept a list of widows and other distressed persons to whom he systematically distributed gifts.

Poland at that epoch was ruled by Boleslaus II, a prince whose finer qualities were completely eclipsed by his unbridled lust and savage cruelty. Stanislaus alone ventured to beard the tyrant and to remonstrate with him at the scandal his conduct was causing. At first the king endeavoured to vindicate his behaviour, but when pressed more closely he made some show of repentance. The good effects of the admonition, however, soon wore off: Boleslaus relapsed into his evil ways. There were acts of rapacity and political injustice which brought him into conflict with the bishop and at length he perpetrated an outrage which caused general indignation. A certain nobleman had a wife who was very beautiful.  Upon this lady Boleslaus cast lustful eyes, and when she repelled his advances he caused her to be carried off by force and lodged in his palace. The Polish nobles called upon the archbishop of Gnesen and the court prelates to expostulate with the monarch. Fear of offending the king closed their lips, and the people openly accused them of conniving at the crime. St Stanislaus, when appealed to, had no such hesitation; he went again to Boleslaus and rebuked him for his sin. He closed his exhortation by reminding the prince that if he persisted in his evil courses he would bring upon himself the censure of the Church, with the sentence of excommunication.

The threat roused the king to fury. He declared that a man who could address his sovereign in such terms was more fit to be a swineherd than a shepherd of souls, and cut short the interview with threats. He first had recourse to slander—if we may believe a story related by the saint’s later historians. St Stanislaus, we are told, had bought some land for the Church from a certain Peter, who died soon after the transaction. It was suggested to the deceased man’s nephews that they should claim back the land on pretence that it had not been paid for. The case came up before Boleslaus: no witnesses for the defence were allowed to be heard and the verdict seemed a foregone conclusion, when, in answer to a dramatic appeal from St Stanislaus, the dead man appeared before the court in his grave-clothes and vindicated the bishop. If we can credit this story we are further asked to believe that the marvel produced no permanent change of heart in Boleslaus, whose barbarity had only increased with time.

At last, finding all remonstrance useless, Stanislaus launched against him a formal sentence of excommunication. The tyrant professed to disregard the ban, but when he entered the cathedral of Cracow he found that the services were at once suspended by order of the bishop. Furious with rage, he pursued the saint to the little chapel of St Michael outside the city, where he was celebrating Mass, and ordered some of his guards to enter and slay him. The men, however, returned, saying that they could not kill the saint as he was surrounded by a heavenly light. Upbraiding them for cowardice, the king himself entered the building and dispatched the bishop with his own hand. The guards then cut the body into pieces and scattered them abroad to be devoured by beasts of prey. Protected, it is said, by eagles, the sacred relics were rescued three days later by the cathedral canons and privately buried at the door of the chapel in which Stanislaus had been slain.

The above summarizes the story of the martyrdom of St Stanislaus as it is commonly told, Considerable discussion was caused in Poland by the publication in 1904 of an historical work by Professor Wojchiechowski in the course of which he maintained that Stanislaus had been guilty of treason, had plotted to dethrone his sovereign, and had therefore rightly been put to death. To this charge Pro­fessor Miodonski and others replied with vigour. But there seems no doubt that there were some political considerations behind the murder of St Stanislaus, though the whole business is very uncertain and obscure. It is not true that the action of Boleslaus led to an immediate rising of the people which drove him from Poland; but it certainly hastened his fall from power. Pope St Gregory VII laid the country under an interdict, and nearly two centuries later, in 1253, St Stanislaus was canonized by Pope Innocent IV.