Mary the Mother of Jesus
Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil
     Thursday Saints_of_this_Day May11 Quinto Idus Maji.  
  Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
R.  Deo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
May, the month of Mary 

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For the Son of man ... will repay every man for what he has done.


Feasts of Our Lady.html January to December    ICONS
   stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/  usccb.org  ewtn.com  St Patricks 05  11
domcentral.org/life/martyr Dec syriac   oca.org   glaubenszeugen.de/tage/kai/ 05 11
 Serbian   http://www.copticchurch.net  Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm  antiochian.org/AW-WomenSaints--wonderful icons
Lutheran Saints  One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm    stjohndc.org  God's Humourous Saints

Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List  Here
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

CAUSES OF SAINTS April  2016

 We are the defenders of true freedom.
  May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan.
  Campaign saves lives Shawn Carney Campaign Director www.40daysforlife.com , 
Please help save the unborn they are the future for the world

 It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa
 Saving babies, healing moms and dads, 'The Gospel of Life.

Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас! (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)

The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”,
showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

SS PHILIP AND JAMES (see May 1)

Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
 How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary  .

66 St Evellius of Pisa  counsellor to Nero convert upon witnessing patience of martyrs M (RM)
1st v. St Jason Departure of 1/70 disciples accompanied St. Paul Acts 17:9 ordained bishop by St. Paul
 330   CONSTANTINOPLE  was placed under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos
 600 St Asaph of Wales founded the church of Llanasa in Flintshire favorite pupil of Saint David B (RM)
603 St Comgall Abbot warrior as a young man priest founder he taught Saint Columban (AC)
 885 Sts Cyril and Methodius, Equals Apostles, Slavs Enlighteners discovered relics Clement, Pope
1049 St. Odilo of Cluny Benedictine Abbot austerities sold Church treasures to feed poor during famine
1156 Bl Peter the Venerable Cluny Abbot “the Venerable” holiness wisdom suggest Koran translate to Latin convert Muslims
1325 St Nikodim, Archbishop of Serbia, hegumen of Khilendaria monastery 1316 translated to Slavonic
1537 Bl. John of Rochester Carthusian martyr with Blessed James Walworth refused Oath of Supremacy
1672 St Joseph The Hieromartyr First Metropolitan of Astrakhan relics glorified by miracles
1716 St. Francis Jerome Jesuit miracles, attribute numerous cures to intercession of Saint Cyrus (Jan 31)
1781 Saint Ignatius of Laconi Capuchin questor for 40 years as a child  found daily at church doors before dawn waiting in prayer to be opened levitation in prayer gifts of prophecy and miracles of healing

May 11 – Madonna di San Luca (Bologna, Italy) – Nuestra Señora de la Paz (Antipolo, Philippines)
Because Mary is our mother, she teaches us how to love
Because Mary is our mother, devotion to her teaches us to be authentic sons and daughters: to love truly, without limit; to be simple, without the complications which come from selfishly thinking only about ourselves; to be happy, knowing that nothing can destroy our hope.
"The beginning of the way, at the end of which you will find yourself completely carried away by love for Jesus, is a trusting love for Mary." I wrote that many years ago, in the introduction to a short book on the Rosary, and since then I have often experienced the truth of those words.  Saint José Maria Escriva
In Christ is Passing By www.escrivaworks.org

Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

May 11 - Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Philippines, 1626)     
  The Philippines is a Predominantly Marian Country
On March 25, 1626, Don Juan Niño de Tabora left the shores of Mexico aboard the galleon El Almirante, to make a voyage to the Philippines. On this trip, Governor Tabora brought along the brown image of our Blessed Virgin Mother. For three months, the El Almirante safely braved the dangers of the stormy seas and a fire aboard the ship, arriving in the ports of Manila on July 18, 1626. Governor Tabora, realizing that the galleon's safe and successful journey was due to the presence of the image of the Blessed Virgin on board the ship, called for the solemn celebration of the image's arrival. Amidst pageantry and fireworks, the religious procession started from the Church of San Ignacio, the Jesuit Church in Intramuros, up to the Manila Catholic Cathedral, which became the first house of the Blessed Virgin's image. It is said that because of the events surrounding the safe voyage of the El Almirante, the Blessed Virgin was named Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buenviaje.  

A Filipino once wrote: "The Philippines is a predominantly Marian country. Everywhere there are tangible expressions of the great commitment of our people to the Mother of God. It can be argued that the devotion to Our Lady was a decisive factor in the rapid spread of Christianity in the Philippines. As early as the 17th century, the Filipinos, with their emotional temperament, rapidly earned the love of Our Lady, and this opened the way for the general acceptance of the truths of the Catholic faith."
Adapted from a passage by: J. Riou, S.J., in The Devotion to Our Lady in the Philippines
(Le culte de la Sainte Vierge aux Philippines, in Maria - etudes sur la Vierge Marie - Tome V).
May 11 - PENTECOST

The Holy Spirit is the Uncreated “Immaculate Conception”
In Lourdes, Bernadette asked the Virgin Mary her name and she replied: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
By her luminous words, Mary expressed that she was not only conceived immaculately but that she actually was the Immaculate Conception.
It is like the difference between something white and whiteness itself, or something perfect and perfection.
(...) The Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate Conception. (...) The third person of the Trinity is not embodied as we all know and our word “spouse” is insufficient to express the relationship between the Immaculate and the Holy Spirit. It can be said that the Immaculate Conception is in a sense “the incarnation of the Holy Spirit.”
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
MAY 11  330   Constantinople was placed under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos
"The goodness of one man spread and infected many others with holiness, including many of his kinsmen." 
603 Saint Comgall
Constantine prepared for the new task with fasting and prayer
With help of his brother Methodius disciples Gorazd, Clement, Sava, Naum and Angelyar.
He devised a Slavonic alphabet and translated the books which were necessary for the celebration of the divine services:
the Gospel, Epistles, Psalter, and collected services, into the Slavic tongue.
This occurred in the year 863. --  885 Sts Cyril and Methodius
He was, it is said, 'a lamb when he talks and a lion when he preaches.'
In search of sinners he penetrated into prisons brothels galleys
continued his missions in hamlets back lanes street corners converted 20 Turkish prisoners on a Spanish galley. 
1716 Saint Francis Jerome
"We shall pray to God, that He will turn away the plagues from us, and preserve us from all ill,
from hail and drought, fire and pestilence, and from the fury of our enemies; to give us favorable seasons,
 fertile land , good weather and health, that we may have peace and tranquility, and obtain pardon for our sins."
Thus, out of that night of fire and storm came the custom of Rogationtide
solémnes ante Ascensiónem Dómini triduánas in ea urbe Litanías instítuit -- 475  St. Mamertius Archbishop of Vienne
  66 St Evellius of Pisa  counsellor to Nero convert upon witnessing patience of martyrs M (RM)
1st v. St Jason Departure of one of the 70 disciples accompanied St. Paul Acts 17:9 ordained bishop by St. Paul over Tarsus God performed through him many miracles and signs
 251 St Anastasius VII Martyr convert to Christ tribune in the Roman army martyred w/family & servants
 295 St Mocius a presbyter in Macedonia in the city of Amphipolis miracles from God created Christians from pagans seeing them
 300 St. Anastasius VI of Lérida (AC) Patron saint of Lerida, Spain
 303 St Anthimus Priest and martyr of Rome led the Church in Rome converting many
 304 St Sisinius, Diocletius, & Florentius stoned to death at the same time as the better known Roman priest, Anthimus  304 St Maximus Martyr of Rome with Bassus and Fabius
 305 St. Otimus Departure of the Priest martyred God revealed many miracles in Church where he was buried after persecutions ceased
 330   CONSTANTINOPLE  was placed under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos
 420 St Principia of Rome one of the holy women a Roman virginV (AC)
 475 St Mamertius Archbishop of Vienne originator of the penitential practice of abrogation days known for his learning
 485 St Possessor of Verdun Bishop Franks, Vandals, Goths, and others affected his flock  B (AC)
5th v. St. Tudy Abbot eremetic native of Brittany disciple of St. Brioc preached in Cornwall
       Bl Julian Cesarello de Valle venerated there OFM (AC)
 600 St Asaph of Wales founded the church of Llanasa in Flintshire favorite pupil of Saint David B (RM)
  603 St Comgall Abbot warrior as a young man priest founder he taught Saint Columban (AC)
7th v. St Lua of Killaloe founder refuge on Friar's Island, County Tipperary pilgrim's destination even in the 20th century gave name to ancient town of Killaloe (Church of Lua)
  646 St Sophronius Relics were buried in the Far Caves of the Kiev Caves monastery
 678 St. Walbert father of Saints Waldetrudis and Alegundis and husband of St. Bertilia
       St Credan a hogherder lived exemplary he was esteemed a saint (AC)
 760 St. Gangulphus Martyred; hermit prominent in Burgundian courtier until retiring a recluse
 866 St Fremund of Dunstable  Anglo-Saxon hermit relics many miracles are recorded M (AC)
 885 Sts Cyril and Methodius, Equals of the Apostles, Enlighteners of the Slavs miraculously discovered the relics of the hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome
  994 St Majolus Benedictine abbot abbey of Cluny friend of emperors and popes
 994 ST MAJOLUS, OR MAYEUL, ABBOT OF CLUNY
1000 St Illuminatus of San Severino Benedictine monk of the abbey of San Mariano  OSB (RM)
1010 St Ansfrid of Utrecht knight in service of Emperors Otto III and Henry II  built convent of Thorn OSB B (AC)
1049 St. Odilo of Cluny Benedictine Abbot beloved throughout Europe for deep austerities concern for poor sold Church treasures to feed poor during famine
1070 St. Walter Augustinian abbot for thirty-eight years of L'Esterp famed as confessor  had an ardent zeal for souls:  Walter is repeatedly referred to by the chroniclers of that age as a man of outstanding holiness, whose undertakings were marvellously blessed by Heaven
1156 Bl Peter the Venerable Abbot of Cluny “the Venerable” owing to his holiness and wisdom suggestion the Koran be  translated into Latin to assist conversions of Muslims
1230 Illuminatus disciple of Saint Francis of Assisi OFM (AC)
1279 Bl Albert of Bergamo Dominican tertiary pious farmer miracle worker to benefit others
1300 Bl Vivaldus nursed Bartholomew for twenty years, OFM Tert. (AC)
1325 St Nikodim, Archbishop of Serbia, hegumen of Khilendaria monastery; bishop in 1316 translated into Slavonic ordered use in Serbia the Typikon (Ustav) of Saint Sava the Sanctified, of Jerusalem; wonderworking relics
1378 Pope Gabriel IV Departure of, the 86th. Patriarch of Alexandria.
1426 Bl Benincasa of Montechiello Servite hermit OSM (AC)
1490 Bl Aloysius Rabata Carmelite friar of Randazzo monastery Sicily OC (AC)
1505 BD LADISLAUS OF GIELNIOW
1537  Bl. John of Rochester Carthusian martyr of England with Blessed James Walworth refused the Oath of Supremacy
1672 St Joseph The Hieromartyr First Metropolitan of Astrakhan relics glorified by miracles
1716 St. Francis Jerome famous Jesuit preacher credited with miracles, attributing numerous cures to the intercession of Saint Cyrus (Jan 31) From the outset his preaching attracted huge congregations and was rewarded by such excellent results that he was set to train other missionaries. In the provinces he conducted at least 100 missions, but the people of Naples would never allow him to be long absent from their city. Wherever he went, men and women hung upon his lips and crowded to his confessional; and it was confidently asserted that at least four hundred hardened sinners were annually reclaimed through his efforts. He would visit the prisons, the hospitals and even the galleys, in one of which—a Spanish one—he brought to the faith twenty Turkish prisoners. Moreover, he did not hesitate to track down sinners to the very haunts of vice, in which it sometimes happened that he was very roughly handled. Often he would preach in the streets—occasionally on the spur of the moment.
1771 Bl Christesia from Egrisi west Georgia withdrew to the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit - Gareji Wilderness bright light appeared before him to light the way
1781 Saint Ignatius of Laconi Capuchin questor 40 years as child  found daily at church doors before dawn waiting in prayer to be opened levitation in prayer gifts of prophecy miracles of healing (AC)
1847 Bl. Matthew Gam Vietnamese martyr transported Catholic priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society from Singapore to Vietnam
May 11 - Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil Jesus Will Reign Through Mary (V)
My heart has dictated with special joy all that I have written to show that the Blessed Virgin Mary has been unknown up till now. This is one of the reasons why Jesus Christ is not known as He should be.
If the knowledge and the reign of Jesus Christ will certainly come into the world, it can only be a necessary consequence of the knowledge and the reign of the Blessed Virgin,
who gave Jesus to the world the first time and will establish His reign in the world the second time.
Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort Treatise on True Devotion of the Virgin Mary #13

May 11 – Our Lady of Aparecida, patroness of Brazil  
 
The day fishermen caught a statue in their net 
 The national shrine of Our Lady in Aparecida, Sao Paulo (Brazil), is the country’s principle shrine, with 7 million pilgrims each year visiting from all over the world. The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is the second largest basilica in the world and Our Lady of Aparecida also is the patron saint of Brazil.
The story goes that in October of 1717, three fishermen, accustomed to cast their nets in the waters of the Paraiba River, hauled in a decapitated statue. The three cast their net again and they brought in a head that, at first glance, seemed to belong to the statue of a Black Madonna that turned out to be Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Tradition tells that once it was put back together, the Virgin aparecida ("who appeared" without explanation) became incredibly heavy, making it impossible to move.
Our Lady of Aparecida is the patron saint of future mothers and newborns, rivers and seas. Aparecida is, among other things, where a workers pilgrimage that takes place every year on the national holiday of Brazil—September 7th. Indeed, Our Lady of Aparecida is in the heart of every Brazilian.
MDN Team  See: www.marypages.com
 
1055-1057 Pope Victor II  granted ST WALTER OF L’ESTERP special faculties for dealing with penitents—including the right to excommunicate and to restore to communion so great was his reputation for converting sinners.
 1055-157 Pope Victor II  With untiring zeal he combated, like his predecessor, against simony and clerical concubinage. Being well supported by the emperor, he often succeeded where Leo IX had failed. On Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 1055, he held a large synod at Florence, in presence of the emperor and 120 bishops, where former decrees against simony and incontinence were confirmed and several offending bishops deposed. To King Ferdinand of Spain he sent messengers with threats of excommunication if he should continue in his refusal to acknowledge Henry III as Roman Emperor. Ferdinand submitted to the papal demands. Before the emperor returned to Germany he transferred to the pope the duchies of Spoleto and Camerino. Early in 1056 Victor II sent Hildebrand back to France to resume his labours against simony and concubinage, which he had begun under Leo IX. He appointed the archbishops Raimbaud of Arles and Pontius of Aix papal legates to battle against the same vices in Southern France.


66 Saint Evellius of Pisa  counsellor to Nero convert upon witnessing patience of martyrs M (RM)
Ibídem sancti Evéllii Mártyris, qui, cum esset de família Nerónis, ad passiónem sancti Torpétis in Christum crédidit, pro quo et decollátus est.
       In the same place, St. Evelius, martyr, who belonged to the household of Nero.  By witnessing the martyrdom of St. Torpes, he also believed in Christ, and for him was beheaded.
Saint Evellius, reportedly a counsellor to Nero, converted to Christianity upon witnessing the patience of the martyrs. He was himself martyred at Pisa, Italy (Benedictines).
Departure of St. Jason, one of the Seventy disciples accompanied St. Paul Acts 17:9) ordained bishop by St. Paul over Tarsus God performed through him many miracles and signs
On this day St. Jason, one of the seventy disciples who were chosen by the Lord, departed. He ministered with the disciples before the passion of the Savior, and performed many signs and wonders. Then he was supported by the grace and power on the day of Pentecost.

He was born in Tarsus, and was the first to believe from this city. He accompanied St. Paul on his evangelical missions, and journeyed with him to many countries. He was arrested with St. Paul and Silas in Thesalonica, and when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. (Acts 17:9)
He was ordained bishop by St. Paul over Tarsus where he shepherded the church of Christ with the best of care. He preached the Gospel also in the city of Korkiras, many believed on his hands and he baptized them. He built for them a church in the name of St. Stephen the Archdeacon.
When the Governor of the city knew about this, he arrested him and imprisoned him. He met seven thieves in the prison, taught them the faith and baptized them. They confessed their faith in the Lord Christ openly before the Governor who put them in a caldron filled with tar and sulphur, they departed and were granted the crown of martyrdom.
Then, the Governor brought St. Jason from the prison, and tortured him with much torture but he was not harmed. The daughter of the Governor watched this torture from her window and she believed in the Lord Christ, the God of St. Jason. She took off her jewelry and ornaments and distributed them among the poor, and confessed that she was Christian and believed in the God of Jason. Her father became angry, he threw her in prison, and ordered to throw arrows at her. She gave up her pure spirit in the hand of Christ whom she loved.
The Governor sent St. Jason to one of the islands to be tortured there. He took a boat with some soldiers to this island, and God drowned them all and saved St. Jason, who continued to teach and preach for many years until another Governor was installed. The new Governor brought him and the Christians who were with him, and tortured them much. When the Governor saw that his torture did not harm their bodies, he and all those in his city also believed in the Lord Christ Who only Has the power to protect His chosen one. The Saint baptized them all, taught them the commandments of the Gospel, and built for them churches.
God performed through him many miracles and signs. He departed in a good old age. May his prayers be with us. Amen.
251 St. Anastasius VII Martyr convert to Christ tribune in the Roman army martyred w/family & servants Theopista, Esodes, Aradius, Calistus, Felix, Euphemia und Primitiva
He was a tribune in the Roman army in the reign of Decius.
Forced to torture Christians as part of the imperial persecution of the faithful, Anastasius was impressed by their courage and loyalty. He became a convert, and when his Christian faith was discovered he and his family, as well as all of his servants, were beheaded.
Anastasius and Companions MM (RM) Died 251. We honor two SS Anastasius today. This one was a tribune in the army of Emperor Decius. He converted to Christianity upon witnessing the courage of the martyrs he tortured to death in his capacity as tribune. A few days after his conversion, he was arrested and beheaded with all his family and servants. Their relics now lie in Camerino, Italy (Benedictines).
295 Saint Mocius a presbyter in Macedonia in the city of Amphipolis miracles from God created Christians from pagans seeing them
Mokios  Orthodoxe Kirche: 11. Mai  Katholische Kirche: 13. Mai
Mokios_and_Argyros_of_Seleuneia
During a persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), St Mocius exhorted pagans assembled for the pagan festival of Dionysus (Bacchus), to abandon iniquity and the vile customs, which accompanied this celebration. He urged them to repent and be converted to the Lord Jesus Christ, and be cleansed through holy Baptism.
The saint was brought to trial before the governor of Laodicea.

When threatened with torture, he replied, "My death for Christ is a great accomplishment for me." St Mocius was subjected to torture, which he bore with marvelous endurance, and did not cease to denounce the idol-worshippers.
Taken to the pagan temple of Dionysus, the saint shattered the idols when he called upon Jesus Christ.

After this he was put into a red-hot oven, where he remained unharmed, but the flames coming out of the oven scorched the governor.
Again the commander subjected St Mocius to fierce torture, which he endured with the help of God. He was given to wild beasts to be eaten, but they did not touch him. The lions lay down at his feet. The people, seeing such miracles, urged that the saint be set free. The governor ordered the saint to be sent to the city of Perinth, and from there to Byzantium, where St Mocius was executed.

Before his death he gave thanks to the Lord for giving him the strength to persevere to the very end. His last words were, "Lord, receive my spirit in peace." Then he was beheaded. St Mocius died about the year 295. Emperor Constantine built a church in honor of the hieromartyr Mocius and transferred his holy passion-bearing relics into it.

Mokios  Orthodoxe Kirche: 11. Mai  Katholische Kirche: 13. Mai
Mokios lebte unter Kaiser Diokletian (284-305) in Amphipolis (Mazedonien). Während eines Dionysosfestes rief er die Heiden auf, sich zu bekehren. Er wurde daraufhin gefangengenommen und gefoltert. Da er alle Folterungen unbeschadet überstand, sandte ihn der Gouverneur nach Konstantinopel. Hier wurde Mokios um 295 (oder 304) geköpft. Kaiser Konstantin ließ eine Kirche zu seiner Ehre erbauen und seine Gebeine dort beisetzen.
303 St. Anthimus Priest rescued by an angel then martyr of Rome led the Church in Rome converting many
Romæ, via Salária, natális beáti Anthimi Presbyteri, qui, post virtútum  et prædicatiónis insígnia, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, in Tíberim præcipitátus, et ab Angelo exínde eréptus, oratório próprio restitútus est; deínde, cápite punítus, victor migrávit ad cælos.
     At Rome, on the Salarian Way, the birthday of blessed Anthimus, priest, who, after having distinguished himself by his virtues and preaching, was cast into the Tiber during the persecution of Diocletian.  He was rescued by an angel and restored to his oratory.  Afterwards he was beheaded, and went victoriously to heaven.
Anthimus is not well known. He is reported to have led the Church in Rome, converting many. One of his converts, a Roman prefect, brought Anthimus to the attention of the authorities. He was arrested and condemned to death by drowning. Miraculously saved, Anthimus escaped briefly but was recaptured and beheaded.
Saint Anthimus, a Roman priest, is said to have converted the pagan husband of a Christian matron named Lucina, who was well-known for her charity to imprisoned Christians. Saint Anthimus was thrown into the Tiber, miraculously rescued by an angel, later recaptured, and beheaded (Benedictines).
304 Sisinius, Diocletius, & Florentius stoned to death at the same time as the better known Roman priest, Saint Anthimus MM (RM)
Auximi, in Picéno, sanctórum Mártyrum Sisínii Diáconi, Dioclétii et Floréntii, discipulórum sancti Anthimi Presbyteri; qui, sub Diocletiáno, lapídibus óbruti, martyrium complevérunt.
      At Osimo in Piceno, the holy martyrs Sisinius, a deacon, Diocletius and Florentius, disciples of the priest St. Anthimus, whose martyrdom was completed under Diocletian by their being stoned.
 Died at Osimo, near Ancona, Italy. These three suffered martyrdom under Diocletian. They were stoned to death at the same time as the better known Roman priest, Saint Anthimus (Benedictines).
304 St. Maximus Martyr of Rome with Bassus and Fabius
Item Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Máximi, Bassi et Fábii; qui sub Diocletiáno, via Salária, cæsi sunt.
      Also at Rome, on the Salarian Way, the holy martyrs Maximus, Bassus, and Fabius, who were put to death during the reign of Diocletian.
 No details of their sufferings under Emperor Diocletian are available
Maximus, Bassus, and Fabius MM (RM) Died 304. Romans martryed under Diocletian (Benedictines).
305 St. Otimus Departure of the Priest martyred; God revealed many miracles in Church where he was buried after persecutions ceased
On this day also, St. Otimus the priest was martyred. He was born in Fowwa, and because of his righteousness, he was ordained a priest for his city. He taught and confirmed the faithful in the faith. Afterwards, he moved to mount Ansena. When Emperor Diocletian incited the persecution against the Christians, the account of this Saint reached Arianus the governor of Ansena. He brought him and offered him to worship the idols, and the Saint did not hearken to his orders. He tortured him much, but the Lord strengthened him. When the Governor became weary of his torturing, he ordered him to be burned. He was burned and received the crown of martyrdom.

His body was taken by a God fearing priest, who shrouded the body and hid it in a place until the end of the time of persecution. They built him a church where God revealed many miracles. It is believed that his body still exists in the city of Kalabsha near El-Santa. May his prayers be with us. Amen.
330 CONSTANTINOPLE  was placed under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos
In 324 the holy Emperor Constantine (May 21) decided that the imperial capital had to be closer to the Eastern provinces, and yet have direct communication with the West. The city of Byzantium fulfilled these requirements, and on November 8, 324 the site of the new capital was consecrated.
Tradition tells us that the Emperor was tracing the boundaries of the city with a spear, when his courtiers became astonished by the magnitude of the new dimensions of the capital. "Lord," they asked, "how long will you keep going?"
Constantine replied, "I shall keep going until the one who walks ahead of me stops."

Then they understood that the emperor was being guided by some divine power. There is an iconographic sketch by Rallis Kopsides showing an angel of the Lord going before St Constantine as he traces the new boundaries of the city.
Construction of the main buildings was begun in 325, and pagan monuments from Rome, Athens, and other cities were used to beautify the new capital. The need for the new city is partially explained by the changing requirements of government, the Germanic invasion of the West, and commercial benefits, but the new city was also to be a Christian capital. For this, a new foundation was required.
In 330, the work had progressed to the point where it was possible for Constantine to dedicate the new capital. The dedication took place on May 11, followed by forty days of joyous celebration. Christian Constantinople was placed under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, and overshadowed pagan Byzantium.
St Constantine was the first Emperor to submit voluntarily to Christ, and Constantinople became the symbol of a Christian Empire which lasted for a thousand years.
300 St. Anastasius VI of Lérida (AC) Patron saint of Lerida, Spain
Cameríni sanctórum Mártyrum Anastásii et Sociórum; qui, in persecutióne Décii, sub Antíocho Prǽside, cæsi sunt.
    At Camerino, the holy martyrs Anastasius and his companions who were killed in the persecution of Decius, under the governor Antiochus.
Patron saint of Lerida, Spain. Anastasius' life is not documented, though he could have been any one of the martyred men of that name venerated by the Church.
Leridans, however, believe that their patron was born in the city.
Anastasius of Lérida (AC)  The people of Lérida, Spain, insist that their patron was a native of this Catalonian town. It is, however, unknown with which of the many Anastasii martyrs he should be identified (Benedictines). Saint Anastasius represented as young man hung on a gibbet pierced with arrows. He is venerated at Lérida, Spain (Roeder).
420 Saint Principia of Rome one of the holy women a Roman virginV (AC)
Saint Principia was one of the holy women, a Roman virgin, who surrounded Saint Marcella(Died August 410. Saint Marcella met Saint Athanasius when she was a child).
 475  St. Mamertius Archbishop of Vienne originator of the penitential practice of abrogation days known for his learning
Viénnæ, in Gállia, sancti Mamérti Epíscopi, qui, ob imminéntem cladem, solémnes ante Ascensiónem Dómini triduánas in ea urbe Litanías instítuit; quem ritum póstea universális Ecclésia recípiens comprobávit.
            At Vienne in France, St. Mamertus, bishop, who, to avert an impending calamity, instituted in that city the three days' Litanies immediately before the Ascension of our Lord.  This rite was afterwards received and approved by the universal Church.



From Lives of the Saintes by Alban Butler
AD 477 ST. MAMMERTUS, CONFESSOR, ARCHBISHOP OF VIENNE. MAY XI.
From a homily of St. Avitus, his disciple, on the institution of the Rogation days, t. 2; Op. Sirmond, p
136, and from St. Sidonius Apollinaris 1 .7, ep. I, p. 1014; l. 5, ep. 14.  See Ceillier, 1. 15,  p. 23. Rivet,
 Hist. Litter Fr. t. 2, p. 480.
ST. MAMMERTUS, archbishop of Vienne in Dauphine, in which see he succeeded Simplicius in the fifth age, was a prelate renowned in the church for his sanctity, learning, and miracles.  He instituted in his diocese the fasts and supplications called the Rogations, on the following occasion.
Almighty God, to punish the sins of the people, visited them with wars and other public calamities, and awaked them from their spiritual lethargy by the terrors of earthquakes, fires, and ravenous wild beasts, which last were sometimes seen, in the very market-places of cities; such was the desolate state to which the country was reduced. These evils the impious ascribed to blind chance; but religious and prudent persons considered them as tokens of the divine anger, which threatened them with entire destruction, unless they strove effectually to avert it by sincere repentance. Amidst these scourges, St. Mamertus received a token of the divine mercy.  A terrible fire happened in the city of Vienne, which baffled the efforts of men; but by the prayers of the good bishop, the fire on a sudden went out. This miracle strongly affected the minds of the people. The holy prelate took this opportunity to make them sensible of the necessity and efficacy of devout prayer, and to improve their salutary dispositions to sincere compunction and penance, and a through amendment of life.   On Easter-night, a second great fire happened, which alarmed the city more than ever.  The zealous pastor had recourse to his usual arms, and poured forth his prayers with many tears, lying prostrate before the altar till the flames were extinguished in a manner which his successor, St. Avitus, calls miraculous.  During this second conflagration, the archbishop formed a pious design of Instituting an annual fast and supplication of three days, in which all the faithful should join, with sincere compunction of heart, to appease the divine indignation by fasting, prayers, tears, and the confession of sins. The church of Auvergne, of which St. Sidonius was bishop, adopted this pious institution before the year 475, as appears by the letter of St. Sidonius, quoted above; and it became in a short time a universal practice.  We have two sermons of St. Mammertus, one on the Rogations, the other on the repentance of the Ninevites, being the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth among the discourses which bear the name of Eusebius of Einisa.  It is clear from the homily of St. Avitus, On the Rogations, that St. Mammertus regulated the psalms to be sung, and the rite to be observed on the three rogation days. The ancient mass and lessons appointed for them in Gaul are found in the ancient Gallican liturgy, published by Mabillon. St. Mammertus younger brother, Mammertus Claudian, who is celebrated by St. Sidonius Apollinaris as the greatest scholar of his age, but was much more commendable for his modesty and virtue, being a priest, governed the affairs of his diocese under him.  He was author or the hymn, Pange lingua gloriosi praelium certaminis, and other elegant works.  He died about the year 474.   Our saint survived him three years, dying in 477, and is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology.

 Under temporal afflictions we are to remember that God chastises, us in this life only in mercy: by these visits be desires to cure the disorderly attachments of our souls, and to compel us to acknowledge that he is our only salvation, comfort and strength, and to seek him with our whole hearts to neglect human precautions and remedies against temporal evils, would be to tempt God: but so to rely on the means of human prudence as not to have recourse to God by earnest prayer, is to refuse to acknowledge our dependence upon him, and to deprive ourselves of his blessing, which alone can give success even to natural means. St. Mammertus shows that prayer on these occasions must be accompanied with compunction, penance, and alms deeds.
    We must begin to implore the divine mercy by renouncing sin as the greatest of evils, the cause of all the chastisements which are inflicted on us, and an evil of an order infinitely superior to all other calamities, in so much that it is really the only evil we ought truly to fear.  Can we hope that God will hear our prayers if we only ask of him what will entertain in us the kingdom of the devil: not his grace, but the things of this world, and the objects of our irregular passions?   Such petitions are not prayers, but inordinate desires. Have we not reason to fear that ours are often such if we cry to God with tears when any temporal calamity threatens us; but are insensible to the miseries of our souls, and cold and remiss under spiritual dangers?  If we seek first the kingdom of God and its justice all other things will be given to us.

 
475 ST MAMERTUS, BISHOP OF VIENNE his institution of the penitential processions on what we now call the Rogation Days, the three days preceding the feast of the Ascension

WE do not know much about the life of St Mamertus. He was the elder brother of Claudian, the poet, author of De statu animae, whom he ordained priest, and both brothers seem to have enjoyed a deserved reputation for learning as well as piety. In 463 trouble arose in connection with the consecration of a bishop to the see of Die, which Pope St Leo I not long before had transferred from the province of Vienne to that of Arles. It was complained to Pope St Hilarus that Mamertus, without justification, had consecrated a new bishop for Die. A council of bishops was held at Arles to inquire into the matter and a report was sent to Rome. Though Hilarus wrote rather severely and declared that Mamertus deserved to be deposed for his usurpation, no change was, in fact, made, and the new bishop of Die was allowed to retain his see after confirmation from Arles. Somewhat later than this we learn that Mamertus translated to Vienne the remains of the martyr Ferreolus, who had been put to death in that part of the country a century or two earlier. But that which more than anything else has made the name of St Mamertus well known in ecclesiastical history is his institution of the penitential processions on what we now call the Rogation Days, the three days preceding the feast of the Ascension. These are the Litaniae Snores, which in the time of Pope St Leo III (795—816) were adopted in Rome itself, Frankish influence, under the Emperor Charlemagne, thus making itself felt throughout the whole of western Christendom.
That St Mamertus was the real author of the Rogation processions is proved by an abundance of early testimony. We have a letter addressed to him by St Sidonius Apollinaris, in which he speaks of these supplications which the bishop had instituted and which had proved so efficacious a remedy in the panic which had seized upon the populace. He enlarges at the same time on the courage this shepherd of his people had shown by standing his ground when others were taking to flight. St Avitus, who himself became bishop of Vienne only fifteen years after Mamertus’s death, and who as a child had received baptism at his hands, preached a homily, still preserved to us, on one of the occasions when the Rogation processions came round.
From him we learn in some detail of the tribulations with which the country had been afflicted at the time of their institution. He speaks of earthquake, of repeated conflagrations and of the wild deer taking refuge in the busy haunts of men. Very naturally, according to the ideas of the period, St Mamertus had interpreted these calamities as the judgement of God upon the sins of the people, and the remedy he proposed was entirely of a penitential character. He obliged all to fast, and to join in a long procession of young and old during which many psalms were sung. The example set at Vienne was almost immediately followed in other parts of France, and in time became universal in the West. At the first Council of Orleans, held in 511, the twenty-seventh decree prescribes that all churches are to celebrate these Rogation days before the feast of the Ascension. A strict fast is to be kept on all three days as in the time of Lent, and no work is to be done, even by those of servile condition, in order that they may be free to be present in church and take part in the processions in particular all clerics who absent themselves from these offices are to be punished as the bishop may direct. From the writings of contemporaries, or of such historians as St Gregory of Tours, it is clear that Mamertus was looked upon not only as a holy and self-sacrificing pastor of souls, but also as a leader who possessed both tact and courage. St Avitus in his homily is full of admiration for the sound judgement he displayed in reconciling both the secular officials and the people to an observance which imposed so heavy a tax upon their good will.
In the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, nearly all the early references to St Mamertus will be found collected. As to the Rogation Days, see K. A. Kellner, Heortology, pp. 189—594 but Edmund Bishop does well to point out (Liturgica Historica, pp. 128—130) that we must be on our guard against attaching to the word “litanies” as used in connection with the Rogations, the meaning which it bears now. “So far as I can read”, he says, “there is no indication whatever that litanies were at the first institution sung on these three days at all.” “In a word” he adds, “so far as the original testimonies go, the substance of the devotion of the Rogations was psalm-singing, with, perhaps, the prayers or collects which in some quarters accompanied the singing of psalms.” Cf. also Abbot Cabrol’s article “Litanies”, in DAC., as well as what has previously been said herein under February 2 (Candlemas) and April 25 (St Mark).
France, from 461 until his death, the originator of the penitential practice of abrogation days. This practice is marked by processions and Psalms for the three days preceding the feast of the Ascension. Mamertius, also listed as Mamertus, was known for his learning.

475 Mamertus of Vienne B (RM) (also known as Mamertius, Mammertus)  Mamertus of Vienne was responsible for the litanies and processions that once marked the Rogation days of spring, the three days before Ascension Day when solemn intercession was made for God's blessing on the crops and other fruit of the earth. "Bless all farmers in all their labors, and grant such seasonable weather that they may gather the fruits of the earth and ever rejoice in Your goodness, to the praise of Your holy Name."
Mamertus, the elder brother of the poet Claudian, lived in France, was known for his erudition, and was bishop of Vienne from 461 to 475. In 463, he was censured by Rome for consecrating, without the authority to do so, a new bishop of Die, which had been transferred to the jurisdiction of Arles; but no papal action seems to have been taken in the matter.
During his episcopate the Goths invaded Gaul. The countryside never seemed free from the perils of the enemy, as well as from natural dangers of pestilence, forest fires, and prowling wolves and bears, and when every night brought its unknown fears and each day was threatened with calamity.
During this period of catastrophe, Mamertus spent his days prostrate before the altar beseeching God to help his stricken people and tirelessly visiting his flock to comfort them in their distress. As a result of his prolonged vigils, he conceived the idea of an annual procession and litany, called a Rogation, to take place every spring, in which the whole community would together intercede with God to have mercy on His people and to bless their crops throughout the year.
He made this decision one Easter night as he watched before the altar, when there came through the windows of the darkened church the lurid reflection of flames from a fresh fire threatening to overwhelm Vienne. In that hour of fearful conflagration, for it was the worst of all the fires the village had known, he prayed to God to have pity. When he next preached to his flock, he set forth his plan.
"We shall pray to God," he said, "that He will turn away the plagues from us, and preserve us from all ill, from hail and drought, fire and pestilence, and from the fury of our enemies; to give us favorable seasons, that our land may be fertile, good weather and good health, and that we may have peace and tranquility, and obtain pardon for our sins."
Thus, out of that night of fire and storm came the custom of Rogationtide (Benedictines, Delaney, Gill).
In art, Saint Mamertius is shown as an archbishop walking in a procession with a lighted candle because he was the originator of Rogation Days (Roeder).
485 Possessor of Verdun Bishop Franks, Vandals, Goths, and others affected his flock  B (AC)
Possessor, magistrate of Verdun, was consecrated its bishop in 470. He and his flock were greatly affected by the barbarian invasions as they passed through in waves: Franks, Vandals, Goths, and other (Benedictines).
5th v. St. Tudy 5th century Abbot eremetic native of Brittany disciple of St. Brioc preached in Cornwall
also called Tegwin and Tudinus. A native of Brittany, France, he became a disciple of St. Brioc and embraced the eremetical life. Eventually, he served as abbot of a community of monks near Landevennec, Brittany. Later, he journeyed to England and preached in Cornwall.
Blessed Julian Cesarello de Valle venerated there OFM (AC)
cultus approved in 1910. Not much is known of Julian except that he was born and died in Valle in Istria, where he is venerated (Benedictines).
600 Asaph of Wales founded the church of Llanasa in Flintshire favorite pupil of Saint David, virtues and miracles B (RM) feast day formerly on May 1.
7th v.    ST ASAPH, BISHOP
WHEN St Kentigern returned to Glasgow from Llanelwy in Denbighshire (if indeed he was ever there), he is said to have left that monastery in charge of St Asaph. Of this Asaph very little is known, though there is evidence that he was an important person in North Wales, cousin of St Deiniol and St Tysilio and grandson of Pabo Post Prydyn, “the prop of Pictland”. When the Normans developed an episcopal see at Llanelwy, St Asaph was claimed as the successor of its first bishop, St Kentigern, and the see has ever since been known by his name. The second recorded bishop of the diocese of St Asaph was Geoffrey of Monmouth, in whose History of the Kings of Britain there is no mention of Llanelwy or any ancient see there. What, if anything, Asaph actually had to do with Llanelwy is not certainly known: Llanasa in Flintshire may have been the principal scene of his activity. The Red Book of Asaph, said to have been originally compiled early in the four­teenth century, refers to “the charm of his conversation, the symmetry, vigour and grace of his body, the holiness and virtue of his heart, and the witness of his miracles”.
Unexpectedly enough, St Asaph’s name figures in the Roman Martyrology on May 1, where “Elwy” is stated to be in England. His feast is observed to-day in the diocese of Menevia. The Bollandists, in their brief account of this saint (Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i, p. 84) draw mainly on the legends in the Aberdeen Breviary. See A. P. Forbes, KSS., pp. 271—272; LBS., vol. i, pp. 177—185; and A. W. Wade-Evans, Welsh Christian Origins (1934), pp. 191—194.

The small town of Saint Asaph in northern Wales was once the scene of a busy and thriving monastery of Llanelwy founded by Saint Kentigern of Scotland by the riverside. Kentigern was probably built it after returning from a visit to Saint David. With him was Asaph, his favorite pupil, whom he left behind at Llanelwy as abbot to consolidate his work. Others say that it was Saint Asaph who founded the abbey after having been trained by Kentigern--the truth is shrouded by time. There is, however, certainty that Saint Asaph founded the church of Llanasa in Flintshire.
An interesting account exists of Llanelwy's establishment. "There were assembled in this monastery no fewer than 995 brethren, who all lived under monastic discipline, serving God in great continence." A third of these, who were illiterate, tilled the ground and herded the cattle; a third were occupied with domestic tasks inside the monastery; and the remainder, who were educated men, said the daily offices and performed other religious duties.
A distinctive feature was its unbroken continuity of worship, for, like the Sleepless Ones, the monks of Llanelwy divided themselves into groups and maintained an unceasing vigil. "When one company had finished the divine service in the church, another presently entered, and began it anew; and these having ended, a third immediately succeeded them." So that by this means prayer was offered up in the church without intermission, and the praises of God were ever in their mouths."
Among them, we are told, "was one named Asaph, more particularly illustrious for his descent and his beauty, who from his childhood shone forth brightly, both with virtues and miracles. He daily endeavored to imitate his master, Saint Kentigern, in all sanctity and abstinence; and to him the man of God bore ever a special affection, insomuch that to his prudence he committed the care of the monastery." A later medieval writer penned about Asaph's "charm of manners, grace of body, holiness of heart, and witness of miracles." Still little is actually known about him.
The story has been handed down to us that one bitter night in winter when Kentigern, as was his custom, had been standing in the cold river reciting from the Psalter, and had crawled back to his cell, frozen and exhausted, Asaph ran to fetch hot coals to warm him. Finding no pan, however, and being in great haste, fearing that the shivering abbot might die, he raked the glowing coals into the skirt of his monk's habit, and ran with them, at great risk and discomfort, and cast them on the hearth of the saint.
That story is typical of his spirit, for he was devoted both to his master and to the welfare of his monks. We are not surprised that Kentigern, with every confidence, left the monastery in his care. Under Asaph's leadership it flourished, and when Asaph was made bishop, it became the seat of his diocese. The goodness of one man spread and infected many others with holiness, including many of his kinsmen, e.g., Deiniol (September 11) and Tysilo (November 8). Today on the banks of the River Elwy stands the cathedral that bears his name (Attwater, Benedictines, Gill).
603 Comgall Abbot ; warrior as a young man, priest, founder, he taught Saint Columban (AC)
603 ST COMGALL, ABBOT OF BANGOR
ST COMGALL, one of the founders of Irish monasticism, was born in Ulster about the year 517, and spent some years under the direction of St Fintan in the monastery of Cluain Eidnech or Cloneenagh at the foot of the Slieve Bloom range. He was ordained priest by a certain Bishop Lugid, who is said to have deterred him from dedicating himself to missionary work in Britain. For a time he retired to an island in Lough Erne where he and some companions practised such austerities that seven of them died of hunger and cold. In response to the remonstrances of Bishop Lugid, Comgall relaxed his rule for his disciples, though not for himself. Emerging from his retreat, he founded the great abbey of Bennchor, or Bangor, which became the largest and most famous monastery in Ireland. No less than three thousand monks are said to have lived under the government of St Comgall at Bangor and in its daughter houses.
The holiest men of the age sought the friendship of the Abbot of Bangor and great saints owed their training to him—notably St Columban, who afterwards carried the tradition of Bangor to France and Italy. St Comgall seems to have carried out his early missionary aspirations by accompanying St Colmcille on an expedition to Inverness, where they preached the Gospel to a Pictish chieftain called Brude, and he is stated to have founded a monastery in a place called the Land of Heth (Tiree). St Comgall continued to rule Bangor until his death, although during the last years of his life he endured terrible sufferings, apparently as the result of his great austerities. He also became totally deaf. He died in 603, and his feast is kept throughout Ireland.
A curious alphabetical hymn in honour of the saint (“Hymnus sancti Comgalli abbatis nostri”) occurs in the Bangor Antiphonary. The D stanza runs thus:
Doctus in Dei legibus: divinis dictionibus,
Ditatus sanctis opibus, Deo semper placentibus,
Dedicatus in moribus Dei Stephanus hagius
Docebat sic et caeteros Dicta docta operibus.
The date of this manuscript can be accurately fixed as between A.D. 680 and 691. One living word of St Comgall’s seems to have been preserved in a gloss upon the Félire of Oengus; in reference to the death of his confessor, he remarked: “My soul-friend has died and I am headless, and ye, too, are headless, for a man without a soul-friend is a body without a head”.
There is a Latin life of St Comgall which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, and also in C. Plummer’s VSH., vol. ii, pp. 3—21. The rule attributed to St Comgall, or what purports to be a metrical version of it, has been edited by J. Strachan in the periodical Eriu, vol. (1904), pp. 191—208. See also J. Ryan, Irish Monasticism (1931), and Dom Gougaud, Christianity in Celtic Lands (1933), in both of which works many references to St Comgall and his monks will be found in the index. In Forbes, KSS., there is a lengthy account of St Comgall (pp. 308—31) drawn largely from the legends of the Aberdeen Breviary. See also Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lii (1934), pp. 343—356. For the hymn referred to, see Henry Bradshaw Society publications, vol. ii (1895), pp. 6—19 and notes.

Born in Ulster, Ireland, c. 517; died at Bangor, Ireland, in 603; some list his feast as May 10. It is said that Comgall was a warrior as a young man, but that he studied under Saint Fintan at Cluain Eidnech Monastery, was ordained a priest before he was 40, and with several companions became a hermit in Lough Erne. The rule he imposed was so severe that seven of them died.
He left the island and founded a monastery at Bangor (Bennchor) on the south shore of Lake Belfast, where he taught Saint Columban and a band of monks who evangelized Central Europe. Two other of his monks actively evangelized Scotland, Saint Moluag of Lismore in Argyll and Saint Maelrubha of Applecross in Ross. In time, it became the most famous monastery in Ireland, and Comgall is reported to have ruled over some 8,000 monks there and in houses founded from Bangor. Bangor was one of the principal religious centers of Ireland until it was destroyed by the Danes in 823.
Comgall went to Scotland for a time, where he lived in a monastery on the island of Tiree. He also accompanied Saint Columba on a missionary trip to Inverness to evangelize the Picts. There he founded a monastery at Land of Heth. The manuscript called the Bangor Antiphonary, written there less than a century after Saint Comgall's death, contains a long hymn in his praise. Comgall died after years of suffering resultant from his austerities (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney).
In art, Saint Comgall's emblem is a fish. Usually he is portrayed as an abbot holding a stone, to whom an angel brings a fish (Roeder).
7th v. Saint Lua of Killaloe founder His refuge on Friar's Island, County Tipperary a pilgrim's destination even in the 20th century gave his name to the ancient town of Killaloe (Church of Lua) (AC) Died 7th century
Saint Lua gave his name to the ancient town of Killaloe (Church of Lua). He is said to have been born of noble parents in Limerick, and educated at Bangor and Clonard. He founded a church and school on the River Shannon, where one of his pupils was the future Bishop Flannan, who succeeded Lua as abbot.
His refuge on Friar's Island, County Tipperary, was a pilgrim's destination even in the 20th century--until a power dam raised the level of the Shannon in 1929 and submerged the island. Lua's chapel had been removed, its stones numbered, and reassembled on the former site of Brian Boru's palace overlooking the Shannon.
A legend relates that the horse's hoof-prints in the rock of Friar's Island were those of Saint Patrick's beast--left when the apostle of Ireland was forced to leap one-eighth of a mile from one shore to the other to escape hostile pagans. His charger rose to the challenge and landed with such force on the island that his hoof prints sank deep into the rock (D'Arcy, Montague).
646 Saint Sophronius Relics were buried in the Far Caves of the Kiev Caves monastery. In the Canon to the monks of the Far Caves the saint's solitary ascetical struggles are mentioned. He was deemed worthy to hear angels singing. The memory of St Sophronius is also celebrated on March 11.
646 Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem From his youth he was distinguished for his piety and his love for classical studies proficient in philosophy of monasticism
Born in Damascus around 560. From his youth he was distinguished for his piety and his love for classical studies. He was especially proficient in philosophy, and so he was known as Sophronius the Wise.
The future hierarch, however, sought the true philosophy of monasticism, and conversations with the desert-dwellers.

He arrived in Jerusalem at the monastery of St Theodosius, and there he became close with the hieromonk John Moschus, becoming his spiritual son and submitting himself to him in obedience. They visited several monasteries, writing down the lives and spiritual wisdom of the ascetics they met. From these notes emerged their renowned book, the LEIMONARION or SPIRITUAL MEADOW, which was highly esteemed at the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
To save themselves from the devastating incursions of the Persians, Sts John and Sophronius left Palestine and went to Antioch, and from there they went to Egypt. In Egypt, St Sophronius became seriously ill. During this time he decided to become a monk and was tonsured by St John Moschus.
After St Sophronius recovered his health, they both decided to remain in Alexandria. There they were received by the holy Patriarch John the Merciful (November 12), to whom they rendered great aid in the struggle against the Monophysite heresy. At Alexandria St Sophronius had an affliction of the eyes, and he turned with prayer and faith to the holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John (January 31), and he received healing in a church named for them. In gratitude, St Sophronius then wrote the Lives of these holy Unmercenaries.
When the barbarians began to threaten Alexandria, Patriarch John, accompanied by Sts Sophronius and John Moschus, set out for Constantinople, but he died along the way. Sts John Moschus and Sophronius then set out for Rome with eighteen other monks. St John Moschus died at Rome. His body was taken to Jerusalem by St Sophronius and buried at the monastery of St Theodosius.
In the year 628, Patriarch Zacharias of Jerusalem (609-633) returned from his captivity in Persia. After his death, the patriarchal throne was occupied for two years by St Modestus (December 18). After the death of St Modestus, St Sophronius was chosen Patriarch.
St Sophronius toiled much for the welfare of the Jerusalem Church as its primate (634-644).  Toward the end of his life, St Sophronius and his flock lived through a two year siege of Jerusalem by the Moslems. Worn down by hunger, the Christians finally agreed to open the city gates, on the condition that the enemy spare the holy places. But this condition was not fulfilled, and St Sophronius died in grief over the desecration of the Christian holy places.
Written works by Patriarch Sophronius have come down to us in the area of dogmatics, and likewise his "Excursus on the Liturgy," the Life of St Mary of Egypt (April 1), and also about 950 troparia and stikheras from Pascha to the Ascension.  While still a hieromonk, St Sophronius reviewed and made corrections to the Rule of the monastery of St Sava the Sanctified (December 5).
The saint's three Odes Canons for the Holy Forty Day Great Fast are included in the the contemporary Lenten Triodion.
678 St. Walbert  vow of continence; father of Saints Waldetrudis and Alegundis and husband of St. Bertilia
Duke of Lorraine, France count of Hainault Belgium also called Vaubert. He was the father of Saints Waldetrudis and Alegundis and husband of St. Bertilia.
Walbert of Hainault (AC) (also known as Vaubert). Walbert, duke of Lorraine and count of Hainhault, is someone about whom we need to know more. He was the husband of Saint Bertilia, with whom he took a vow of continence. He is also the father of Saints Waldetrudis, the mother of four more saints, and Aldegundis (Benedictines).
Saint Credan a hogherder lived exemplary he was esteemed a saint (AC)
(also known as Credus, Credanus)
Evidence of the existence of this obscure saint from Cornwall can be found in Counties Moyne and Wicklow in Ireland, as well as in the church of Sancreed, which he founded. According to Roscarrock, he "killed by misfortune his own father, with which he was so moved as abandoning the world he became a hogherd, and lived so exemplary as he was after esteemed a saint" (Farmer).
760 St. Gangulphus Martyred hermit prominent in Burgundian courtier until retiring a recluse
Varénnis, in Gállia, sancti Gangúlfi Mártyris.  At Varennes in France, St. Gangulphus, martyr
760 ST GENGULF, OR GENGOUL
ST GENGULF was a Burgundian knight, so greatly beloved by Pepin the Short, at that time mayor of the palace, that he used to sleep in the great man’s tent during his campaigns. Gengulf is said to have been married to a woman of rank in whom for a long time he trusted, but she proved scandalously unfaithful to him. Finding remonstrances and appeals useless, he quietly withdrew from her to a castle of his at Avallon (the birthplace of St Hugh of Lincoln, between Auxerre and Autun), after making suitable provision for her maintenance. There he spent his time in penitential exercises and his money in alms. He died—so the legend avers—from a wound inflicted by his wife’s lover who, at her instigation, broke in upon him one night to murder him as he lay in bed. The fame of St Gengulf afterwards spread to Holland, Belgium and Savoy as the result of the distribution of his relics and the miracles with which he was credited.
The short biography printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, seems to be largely fabulous; it has been critically edited by W. Levison in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. vii, pp. 142 seq. The famous nun Hroswitha of Gandersheim, at the close of the tenth century, wrote an account of the martyrdom in elegiac verse (see Winterfeld’s edition of her works, 1902, pp. 32 seq.). The cultus of St Gengulf was widespread both in France and Germany.  For the folk-lore which has gathered round his name see Bächtold-Stäubli, Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, vol. iii, pp. 289—290.

He was a Burgundian of France, who was prominent in the court until retiring to become a recluse. He was slain by a lover of his wife.
Gangulphus of Burgundy M (RM) (also known as Gengoul, Gangulf). Saint Gangulf was a Burgundian courtier, who retired to live the life of a hermit and was killed by his wife's paramour (Benedictines). In art, Gangulf is pictured as a Burgundian knight with a fountain springing under his sword. He holds a shield with a cross.
He may also hold the spear with which he was murdered. He is invoked by husbands unhappily married (Roeder).
866 Fremund of Dunstable  Anglo-Saxon hermit relics many miracles are recorded M (AC)
An unreliable, possibly fictitious account, relates that Fremund was related to King Offa of Mercia and King Edmund of East Anglia. Although Fremund was an Anglo-Saxon hermit, he was a possible claimant to the throne of Mercia. Therefore, he was killed by his kinsman Oswy with the help of the Danish invaders who had also murdered King Edmund. He is honored as a martyr. His relics were first enshrined at at Offchurch in Warwickshire and later (1212) translated to Dunstable, where many miracles are recorded. Cropredy in Oxonshire also claimed his relics. His feast is recorded in three medieval calendars including that of Syon Abbey (Benedictines, Farmer).
885 Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equals of the Apostles, Enlighteners of the Slavs miraculously discovered the relics of the hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome
Orthodoxe Kirche: 14. Februar und 11.Mai (mit Methodius) Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 14. Februar (mit Methodius)

St Methodius came from an illustrious and pious family living in the Greek city of Thessalonica. St Methodius was the oldest of seven brothers, St Constantine [Cyril was his monastic name] was the youngest. At first St Methodius was in the military and was governor in one of the Slavic principalities dependent on the Byzantine Empire, probably Bulgaria, which made it possible for him to learn the Slavic language.
After living there for about ten years, St Methodius later received monastic tonsure at one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus (Asia Minor).

St Constantine distinguished himself by his great aptitude, and he studied with the emperor Michael under the finest teachers in Constantinople, including St Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople (February 6). St Constantine studied all the sciences of his time, and also knew several languages. He also studied the works of St Gregory the Theologian. Because of his keen mind and penetrating intellect, St Constantine was called "Philosopher" (wise). Upon the completion of his education, St Constantine was ordained to the holy priesthood and was apppriest
Discovered there, he returned to Constantinople, where he was appointed as instructor in philosophy. The young Constantine's wisdom and faith were so great that he won a debate with Ananias, the leader of the heretical iconclasts . After this victory Constantine was sent by the emperor to discuss the Holy Trinity with the Saracens, and again he gained the victory. When he returned, St Constantine went to his brother St Methodius on Olympus, spending his time in unceasing prayer and reading the works of the holy Fathers.
The emperor soon summoned both of the holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to preach the Gospel to the Khazars. Along the way they stayed in the city of Korsun, making preparations for their missionary activity. There the holy brothers miraculously discovered the relics of the hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome (November 25).

There in Korsun St Constantine found a Gospel and Psalter written in Russian letters [i.e. Slavonic], and a man speaking the Slavic tongue, and he learned from this man how to read and speak this language. After this, the holy brothers went to the Khazars, where they won a debate with Jews and Moslems by preaching the Gospel. On the way home, the brothers again visited Korsun and, taking up the relics of St Clement, they returned to Constantinople. St Constantine remained in the capital, but St Methodius was made igumen of the small Polychronion monastery near Mount Olympus, where he lived a life of asceticism as before.  Soon messengers came to the emperor from the Moravian prince Rostislav, who was under pressure from German bishops, with a request to send teachers to Moravia who would be able to preach in the Slavic tongue. The emperor summoned St Constantine and said to him, "You must go there, but it would be better if no one knows about this."

St Constantine prepared for the new task with fasting and prayer. With the help of his brother St Methodius and the disciples Gorazd, Clement, Sava, Naum and Angelyar, he devised a Slavonic alphabet and translated the books which were necessary for the celebration of the divine services: the Gospel, Epistles, Psalter, and collected services, into the Slavic tongue. This occurred in the year 863.
    After completing the translation, the holy brothers went to Moravia, where they were received with great honor, and they began to teach the services in the Slavic language. This aroused the malice of the German bishops, who celebrated divine services in the Moravian churches in Latin. They rose up against the holy brothers, convinced that divine services must be done in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin.
St Constantine said, "You only recognize three languages in which God may be glorified. But David sang, 'Praise the Lord, all nations, praise the Lord all peoples (Ps 116/117:1).' And the Gospel of St Matthew (28:18) says, 'Go and teach all nations....'" The German bishops were humiliated, but they became bitter and complained to Rome.
The holy brothers were summoned to Rome for a decision on this matter. Taking with them the relics of St Clement, Sts Constantine and Methodius set off to Rome. Knowing that the holy brothers were bringing these relics with them, Pope Adrian met them along the way with his clergy. The holy brothers were greeted with honor, the Pope gave permission to have divine services in the Slavonic language, and he ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in the Latin churches, and to serve the Liturgy in the Slavonic language.
At Rome St Constantine fell ill, and the Lord revealed to him his approaching death. He was tonsured into the monastic schema with the name of Cyril. On February 14, 869, fifty days after receiving the schema, St Cyril died at the age of forty-two.
St Cyril commanded his brother St Methodius to continue with their task of enlightening the Slavic peoples with the light of the true Faith. St Methodius entreated the Pope to send the body of his brother for burial in their native land, but the Pope ordered the relics of St Cyril to be placed in the church of St Clement, where miracles began to occur from them.

After the death of St Cyril, the Pope sent St Methodius to Pannonia, after consecrating him as Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, on the ancient throne of St Andronicus (July 30). In Pannonia St Methodius and his disciples continued to distribute services books written in the Slavonic language. This again aroused the wrath of the German bishops. They arrested and tried St Methodius, who was sent in chains to Swabia, where he endured many sufferings for two and a half years.

After being set free by order of Pope John VIII of Rome, and restored to his archdiocese, St Methodius continued to preach the Gospel among the Slavs. He baptized the Czech prince Borivoi and his wife Ludmilla (September 16), and also one of the Polish princes. The German bishops began to persecute the saint for a third time, because he did not accept the erroneous teaching about the procession of the Holy Spirit from both the Father and the Son. St Methodius was summoned to Rome, but he justified himself before the Pope, and preserved the Orthodox teaching in its purity, and was sent again to the capital of Moravia, Velehrad.

Here in the remaining years of his life St Methodius, assisted by two of his former pupils, translated the entire Old Testament into Slavonic, except for the Book of Maccabbees, and even the Nomocanon (Rule of the holy Fathers) and Paterikon (book of the holy Fathers).
Sensing the nearness of death, St Methodius designated one of his students, Gorazd, as a worthy successor to himself. The holy bishop predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 when he was about sixty years old. The saint's burial service was chanted in three languages, Slavonic, Greek, and Latin. He was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad.
Cyrillus von Saloniki  
Orthodoxe Kirche: 14. Februar und 11.Mai (mit Methodius) Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 14. Februar (mit Methodius)
Kyrillos
Ikonenzentrum Saweljew Cyrillus wurde um 826 in Saloniki in Griechenland geboren. Er hieß eigentlich Konstantinos, den Namen Cyrillos nahme er erst kurz vor seinem Tode an. Gemeinsam mit seinem Bruder Methodius wurde er von seinem Lehrer Patriarch Photios um 860 an das Schwarze Meer gesandt, um unter den Slawen zu missionieren (vgl. auch Niederlegung des Kleides in Blacherna).
862 wurde ihnen auf Wunsch des Fürsten Rotislaw Mähren als Missionsgebiet zugewiesen. Hier führten sie die slawische Sprache ein und Cyrillus entwickelte eigene Schriftzeichen für die slawische Sprache (allerdings nicht die erst später entstandene kyrillische Schrift). Er übersetzte auch die Bibel ins Slawische. Cyrillus wurde so zum Begründer der slawischen Literatur. Papst Hadrian sagte den Brüdern 868 die Anerkennung des Slawischen als liturgische Sprache zu. Cyrillus starb kurz darauf am 14.2.869 in Rom.
994 ST MAJOLUS, OR MAYEUL, ABBOT OF CLUNY
PROVENCE in the early part of the tenth century suffered terribly from the incursions of the Saracens, and St Majolus, who at an early age was left heir to large estates near Riez, was obliged to take refuge with relatives who lived at Mâcon, in Burgundy. There he received the tonsure and a canonry from his uncle Bishop Berno, by whom he was afterwards sent to Lyons to study philosophy under a celebrated master, Antony, abbot of L’Isle Barbe. Upon his return to Mâcon he was made archdeacon, although he was still young, and when the see of Besançon fell vacant he was selected to fill it. To avoid being forcibly consecrated to a dignity for which he felt himself unfitted, he fled to the abbey of Cluny, to which his father had been a benefactor. There he received the habit and was appointed by Abbot Aymard librarian and procurator. In this double capacity he not only had direction of the studies and care of the treasury, but he also conducted all important business outside the monastery. In the course of the various journeys he was obliged to make, he won golden opinions for his humility and wisdom. As St Berno,*[* Berno was not then an uncommon name, and it may be well to point out that Berno, abbot of Cluny, was quite a different person from the Berno, bishop of Mâcon, mentioned before.]
The first abbot of Cluny, had chosen St Odo to be his coadjutor, and St Odo in his turn had selected Aymard, so Aymard, when he lost his sight, raised St Majolus to the dignity of joint abbot.
His wisdom and virtue gained him the respect of the great men of the age. The Emperor Otto the Great placed entire confidence in him and gave him supervision over all the monasteries in Germany and other parts of the empire. The Empress St Adelaide and her son Otto II had no less esteem for the holy abbot, who succeeded in reconciling them when they were at variance. By virtue of the privileges bestowed upon the congregation of which he was the head, Majolus was able to reform a great number of monasteries, many of which adopted the Cluniac life. Otto II was anxious that he should be chosen pope, but could not overcome his opposition; to all that could be urged he replied that he knew how little fitted he was to fill so high an office and how different his manners were from those of the Romans.
A man of great scholarship, he did much to foster learning. Three years before his death he appointed St Odilo his coadjutor, and from that time gave himself up to the exercises of penance and contemplation. He could not, however, disregard the express request of Hugh Capet King of France, that he would undertake a journey to settle reforms in the abbey of St Denis, near Paris. On the way thither he fell ill and died at the abbey of Souvigny on May 11, 994. At his funeral in the church of St Peter at Souvigny, the king of France himself was present.
There is abundant material for the life of St Majolus. Three separate biographies of early date are printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, a compendious account of which is furnished in BHL., nn. 5577—5587. Upon the complicated problem of the relations of these lives a valuable note was contributed by L. Traube to the Neues Archlv. . . ., vol. xvii (1892), pp. 402—407. See also J. H. Pignot, Histoire de l’Ordre de Cluny, vol. i, pp. 236—303 E. Sackur, Die Cluniacenser, vol. i, pp. 205—256; S. Hilpisch, Geschichte des Ben. Mönchtums, pp. 570 seq. A hymn written by St Odilo on St Majolus has been printed by Dom G. Morin in the Revue Bénédictine, vol. xxxviii (1926), pp. 56—57. See also Zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum, vol. ii, pp. 171-173.
994 St. Majolus Benedictine  bishop of Besancon abbot abbey of Cluny friend of emperors and popes refused the Papal See
Apud Silviníacum, in Gállia, deposítio sancti Majóli, Abbátis Cluniacénsis, cujus vita sanctis méritis fuit præclára.
        At Souvigny in France, the death of St. Maieul, abbot of Cluny, whose life was distinguished for merits and sanctity.
 Also called Maieul.



ST. MAIEUL IN LATIN, MAJOLUS, C. ABBOT OF CLUNI.
AVIGNON, where this great personage was born, of a very rich and illustrious family, about the year 906, being exposed to the incursions of the Saracens Maieul after the death of his parents, retired to Macon, to a nobleman who was his relation. There he received the tonsure and Bernon, the bishop, gave him a canonry in his cathedral, in hopes of fixing him in his diocese.   Antony, abbot of L’ Isle Barbe at that time taught philosophy with great reputation at Lyons.  Maieul went thither; but while he pursued his studies he dedicated a considerable part of his time every day to his devotions and though by his progress in learning he raised the admiration of all who knew him, it was principally in the school of virtue that he everyday outdid himself.
           His higher studies he completed at Macon, and was, when yet young, raised to the dignity of archdeacon. The archiepiscopal see of Besançon soon after falling vacant the prince clergy, and people unanimously chose Maieul to fill it. To escape this danger he fled to Cluni and there made his monastic profession about the year 942.  The abbot Aimard appointed him library-keeper and apocrisiarius, to the first of which charges was annexed the care of the studies, to the second that of the treasury and of all important affair’s out of the monastery. As St Berno the first abbot of Cluni had chosen St Ode his coadjutor and St Odo Aimard, so Aimard, in 948, raised St. Maieul to the dignity of joint abbot with him, though he survived to the year 965.   His extraordinary merit and virtue gained hint the respect and esteem of all the princes of that age. The emperor Otho the Great placed an entire confidence in him, and gave him the superintendence over all the monasteries in his dominions. The empress St. Alice, and her son Otho II., had no less regard for him; and by him, when they were at variance, a happy reconciliation was effected.  They conspired to have him raised to the pope Dom; but could by no means overcome his opposition. To all that could be urged, he replied:     He knew how far he was from being possessed of the essential qualifications for that exalted station also how opposite his manners were to those of the Romans."
    St. Maieul was very learned, and a great encourager of all useful studies.  Three years before his death he appointed St. Odilo his coadjutor, in 991, not in 998, as D’Achery, who published the act of his election, imagined.   It is signed by S. Maieul, by Rudolph, king of Burgundy, several archbishops, bishops, secular lords, and one hundred anti seven-ty-seven monks.    From that time, the saint gave himself up entirely to the exercises of penance and contemplation.  He could not, however, decline, at the earnest request of Hugh Capet, king of France, to undertake a journey to settle a reformation in the abbey of St. Denys, near Paris.  He fell sick on the road at the monastery of Souvigni, two leagues from Moulin’s, and there died on the 11th of May, in 991. His remains were buried there, in the church of St. Peter; King Hugh honored the ceremony with his presence, and enriched his tomb with many presents.  An altar was erected there soon after, according to the manner of canonizing saints in those days.  He is named in the Roman Martyrology on this day.   His life is written by Syrus, a monk of Cluni, who dedicated this work to St. Odilo. It is given genuine by Mabillon, Actor Bened t 7.  Aldebald a monk of the same house added a preface amid some trifling digressions, while St. Odilo was still abbot.  Two short lives of this saint were compiled soon after, which see in the continuators of Bollandus, with ancient relations of miracles wrought it his tomb.     See Biblioth. Cluniac. p. 620; Hist Litter, de la France, t. 6 p. 498, et t. 7, p. 409.

He was born at Avignon, France. A Saracen invasion in the region of his estate near Rietz forced him to go to Macon, Burgundy, and then to Lyons, where he received the rank of arch-deacon and then became bishop of Besancon. In order to escape from this position, Majolus entered the Benedictine abbey of Cluny.
He became abbot there in 965. and he reformed monastic institutions for Emperor Otto the Great. He supposedly refused positions of honor, including the papacy. Majolus mediated a dispute between Empress St. Adelaide and her son, Otto II. In 991, Majolus named St. Odilo his coadjutor and retired to a life of prayer.

He died on the way to reform St. Denis Abbey, near Paris, at the request of King Hugh Capet.

Majolus of Cluny, OSB Abbot (RM) (also known as Maieul, Mayeule) Born at Avignon, France, c. 906; died at Souvigny, on May 11, 994.
Invading Saracens forced Saint Majolus to flee his large estates near Rietz to relatives at Mâcon. His uncle, Bishop Berno, gave him a canonry and then sent Saint Majolus to study at Lyons under Abbot Antony l'Isle Barbe. Upon his return and while still very young, he was chosen to be archdeacon of Mâcon.

He was offered the bishopric of Besançon, but declined in order to join the monks of Cluny.

In 954, shortly after his profession, he was named abbot-coadjutor to the blind abbot, Saint Aymard. In 965, he succeeded as head of the Cluniac congregation, which grew and spread through Western Europe during his tenure. Emperor Otto the Great entrusted the monasteries of Germany to him and Majolus reformed many of them.
Majolus was a man of distinguished presence, devoted to learning and the monastic life, and a peace-maker: He settled a disagreement between Empress Saint Adelaide and her son, Emperor Otto II. Once Majolus was captured by Saracens as he crossed the Saint Bernard Pass, and ransomed by the monks of Cluny for a thousand pounds of silver. Majolus, friend of emperors and popes, was several times offered and refused to be made pope, preferring to remain a monk. In 991, he appointed Saint Odilo as his coadjutor and devoted himself to prayer and penance. He died while on his way to make a visitation of the abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris at the request of King Hugh Capet (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Gill).
1000 Illuminatus of San Severino Benedictine monk of the abbey of San Mariano  OSB (RM)
A Benedictine monk of the abbey of San Mariano in his home town of San Severino in the Marches of Ancona (Benedictines).
1010 Ansfrid of Utrecht knight in service of Emperors Otto III and Henry II  built convent of Thorn OSB B (AC)
(also known as Ansfridus)  feast day formerly May 3.
1010 ST ANSFRID, BISHOP OF UTRECHT
IN early life St Ansfrid was a warrior, noted for his success in suppressing brigands and pirates, and for this reason high in the favour of the Emperors Otto III and Henry II. He was count of Brabant and when the see of Utrecht fell vacant at the death of Bishop Baldwin the emperor suggested that he should be appointed to succeed him. In spite of his opposition he was consecrated bishop in 994. He founded a convent for nuns at Thorn near Roermond and the abbey of Hohorst, or Heiligenberg, to which he retired when blindness came upon him. It was there also he died. At the time of his burial a number of citizens of Utrecht came to Heiligenberg; seizing their opportunity when the people of the neighbourhood were busily engaged in extinguishing a conflagration which had broken out at that moment (perhaps not accidentally) they took possession of the venerated remains and carried them off. When the Heiligen monks discovered their loss, a fierce pursuit was on the point of taking place, but the Abbess of Thorn by her prayerful entreaties succeeded in preventing the threatened rescue by force of arms. St Ansfrid accordingly was peacefully interred in his own episcopal cathedral at Utrecht.
What is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i, as a fragmentary life of St Ansfrid is in reality merely an extract from the De diversitate temporum of the Benedictine monk Albert of St Symphorian at Metz. He was a contemporary who wrote in 1022, and though he does not tell us very much, the substance of what he says is trustworthy.

Count Ansfridus of Brabant was a knight in the service of Emperors Otto III and Henry II. In 992, he built the convent of Thorn for his daughter and wife, and wanted to become a monk himself.
His plans were foiled when he was appointed archbishop of Utrecht. In that role, he founded the Benedictine abbey of Hohorst (Heiligenberg). It was not until he was afflicted with blindness that he could realize his dream of becoming a monk. He died in Heiligenberg Abbey (Benedictines).
1049  St. Odilo of Cluny Benedictine Abbot beloved throughout Europe for deep austerities concem for poor sold Church treasures to feed poor during famine
b.  962 A member of a noble family in Auvergne, France, he entered the Benedictine monastery of Cluny about 990 and received election as abbot in 994. He was beloved and respected throughout Europe for his deep austerities and his concem for the poor.
In 1006, he even sold treasures of the Church to feed the poor during a famine. Through his efforts, the monasteries belonging to Cluny increased from thirty seven to sixty five. He also helped bring about the Truce of God and the feast of All Soul’s Day, and was a trusted advisor to popes and kings.
He was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the Incarnation. Fulbert of Chartres called him Archangelus Monachorum, Archangel of Monks. Odilo died on January 1 while touring his monasteries.
Majolus of Cluny, OSB Abbot (RM) also known as Maieul, Mayeule)  Born at Avignon, France, c. 906; died at Souvigny, on May 11, 994. Invading Saracens forced Saint Majolus to flee his large estates near Rietz to relatives at Mâcon. His uncle, Bishop Berno, gave him a canonry and then sent Saint Majolus to study at Lyons under Abbot Antony l'Isle Barbe. Upon his return and while still very young, he was chosen to be archdeacon of Mâcon. He was offered the bishopric of Besançon, but declined in order to join the monks of Cluny. In 954, shortly after his profession, he was named abbot-coadjutor to the blind abbot, Saint Aymard. In 965, he succeeded as head of the Cluniac congregation, which grew and spread through Western Europe during his tenure. Emperor Otto the Great entrusted the monasteries of Germany to him and Majolus reformed many of them. Majolus was a man of distinguished presence, devoted to learning and the monastic life, and a peace-maker: He settled a disagreement between Empress Saint Adelaide and her son, Emperor Otto II. Once Majolus was captured by Saracens as he crossed the Saint Bernard Pass, and ransomed by the monks of Cluny for a thousand pounds of silver. Majolus, friend of emperors and popes, was several times offered and refused to be made pope, preferring to remain a monk. In 991, he appointed Saint Odilo as his coadjutor and devoted himself to prayer and penance. He died while on his way to make a visitation of the abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris at the request of King Hugh Capet (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Gill).
1070 St. Walter Augustinian abbot for thirty-eight years of L'Esterp famed as confessor also gentle
in the region of Limousin France
1070 ST WALTER OF L’ESTERP, ABBOT had an ardent zeal for souls:  Walter is repeatedly referred to by the chroniclers of that age as a man of outstanding holiness, whose undertakings were marvellously blessed by Heaven
ST WALTER (Gautier) was born at the castle of Conflans on the Vienne, the chief seat of his family, which was one of the foremost in Aquitaine. For his education he was sent to the Augustinian canons at Dorat where he had Bd Israel as his master and where he received the habit. The ill-will of an unreasonable superior led him to retire to Conflans, but he was soon afterwards elected abbot of L’Esterp, a position he held for thirty-eight years. He had an ardent zeal for souls, and his influence spread far beyond the walls of his monastery. So great was his reputation for converting sinners that Pope Victor II granted him special faculties for dealing with penitents—including the right to excommunicate and to restore to communion. For the last seven years of his life he was blind, but he continued his activities until his death.
His biographer tells us that while yet a young monk St Walter made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in the course of which journey rumour seems to have credited him with some remarkable miracles. Driven to land on a desolate shore, he and his companions had nothing to eat, but a strange bird flew over them and dropped at his feet a fish which was so large that Walter by himself could not even lift it from the ground. This gentle saint’s compassion for human infirmity and error was unbounded; and when his companions, absorbed in external tasks, forgot that a day was Friday and had prepared a meal of meat, he not only allowed them to eat it, saying that they might Count on the indulgence of the great St Martin whose feast it was, but he set them the example by partaking of it himself. One of the company, scandalized and rigorist, hotly denounced this concession, but immediately after lost the whole sum of money he was carrying in his purse, a calamity which the writer treats as a divine rebuke to his self-righteousness. What is certain is that Abbot Walter is repeatedly referred to by the chroniclers of that age as a man of outstanding holiness, whose undertakings were marvellously blessed by Heaven.
The biography, ascribed to the famous Bishop Marbod, who was a contemporary, is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii.
He was born to a noble family in Conflans Castle in Aquitaine, and studied under the Augustinians at Dorat, where he entered a monastery. Then when he returned to Conflans Castle, he was elected the abbot of L'Esterp. He held the post for thirty-eight years and was famed as a confessor.
Walter of L'Esterp, OSA Abbot (AC). Walter was abbot of L'Esterp Abbey in Limousin, France for 38 years until his death. Even when he went blind in 1062, the saint's fellow-monks begged him to continue in office. So wise were his judgments that Pope Victor II granted the abbot the power even to excommunicate those whom he considered were insufficiently penitent for their sins.
Yet he was also gentle. One day the monks of L'Esterp to a man forgot that it was Friday and cooked meat for their midday meal. When they remembered the rule about abstaining from meat on the day that Christ was crucified, they were horrified. Walter told them that they would be forgiven. To show that he genuinely believed this, he himself sat down and ate some meat, which relieved them greatly (Benedictines, Bentley).
1156 Bl. Peter the Venerable Abbot of Cluny “the Venerable” owing to his holiness and wisdom suggestion the Koran be translated into Latin to assist conversions of Muslims
Also known as Peter of Montboissier and called “the Venerable” owing to his holiness and wisdom. Born into a French noble family, he entered the Congregation of Cluny and held a number of posts in several houses until his election in 1122 as eighth abbot of Cluny.
Peter brought a variety of reforms to the educational system of the order and to its finances, using two general chapters to win approval of his constitution. His support of education caused a controversy with his friend St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who desired the monastic life to be of prayer and labor:
On behalf of his order, Peter traveled extensively, going six times to Rome and to England and Spain.
In between these journeys, Peter retired to a hermitage to pray and study. To assist the conversions of Muslims, Peter made the then unprecedented suggestion that the Koran be translated into Latin.
He also authored treatises against the heretical priest Peter de Bruys and the Jews, as well as poems and sermons; his writings reveal a deep knowledge of Scripture. Peter also gave sanctuary to Peter Ahelard after his condemnation by the Council of Sens in 1140. While never formally canonized, he has long been venerated as a blessed.
1230 Illuminatus disciple of Saint Francis of Assisi OFM (AC)Apud Septempedános, in Picéno, sancti Illumináti Confessóris.
    At San Severino in Piceno, St. Illuminatus, confessor.
 This saint is often confused with Illuminatus of San Severino Benedictine monk. He is said to have been a disciple of Saint Francis of Assisi (Benedictines).
1279 Bl. Albert of Bergamo Dominican tertiary pious farmer miracle worker to benefit others
1279 BD ALBERT OF BERGAMO
BD ALBERT OF BERGAMO was a peasant farmer who lived an exemplary life amongst his neighbours in the Valle d’Ogna and became a Dominican tertiary. Though married he had no children, and he had much to bear from a shrewish wife, as well as from other relations who resented his liberality to the poor. In later life he went on pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem and is said to have visited Compostela eight times, always supporting himself on the way by the work of his hands. Eventually he settled in Cremona, where he became closely associated with another holy man, Bd Homobonus, and where he died in the year 1279. He was famous in Cremona for his miracles. Some of the wonders which he is said to have worked in his lifetime are certainly of a very remarkable and unusual character. For example, in the Short Lives of Dominican Saints, edited by Fr John Proctor, o.p., we read:
“One day he was carrying a barrel of wine to the house of a poor woman, when it accidentally slipped from his shoulder and broke to pieces on the road. ‘King of Glory, come to my assistance’, exclaimed the holy man, according to his wont in all difficulties. Then he gathered up the broken pieces of wood, adjusted them in their proper places, and collected the spilt wine in his hands so that not a drop was lost.”
In the Prato edition of the Opera Omnia of Pope Benedict XIV, vol. vi (1842), pp. 35—36, will be found a summary of the evidence presented to establish the fact of the immemorial cultus paid to Bd Albert of Bergamo. The documents submitted at that time were printed for the Congregation of Rites, and the decree of confirmation is dated May 9, 1748. See also the Année Dominicaine (1891), pp. 375—385. A short notice of Bd Albert will also be found in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii.

Albert was a farmer living near Bergamo, Italy, where he became a Dominican Third Order member. Married, he was a champion of the poor in his hometown of Ogna. Sometime in his adult life, Albert went on a pilgrimage to the famous shrine at Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
He also visited Rome and Jerusalem, perilous journeys in his era. After his pilgrimages, Albert settled in Cremona, Italy, where he became known for his piety and for his many miraculous works to benefit others.
1300 Blessed Vivaldus nursed Bartholomew for twenty years, OFM Tert. (AC)
(also known as Ubaldo, Gualdo); cultus confirmed in 1909.
1300     BD VIVALDO
VIVALDO, or Ubaldo, was a disciple and fellow townsman of Bd Bartolo of San Gemignano whom he nursed for twenty years through a particularly distressing form of leprosy. Afterwards he lived as a solitary inside a hollow chestnut-tree at Montajone, in Tuscany. One day as a huntsman was seeking game in the mountains, his hounds discovered the hermit, who was kneeling in his retreat in an attitude of prayer, but was quite dead. It is stated that at the moment his soul passed to God the bells of Montajone began ringing of themselves and never ceased pealing until the huntsman came in with the news of the discovery of the body. Bd Vivaldo had been attached to the third order of St Francis, and the Observants built a convent on the site where he had lived and died.
The brief account printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i, seems to contain all that has been recorded of Bd Vivaldo. The decree by which Pope Pius X confirmed his cultus may be read in the Analecta Ecclesiastica for 1908, p. 145, but it adds nothing material to the facts mentioned above. Neither is anything further to be learnt from the article of Father Ghilardi in the Miscellanea Storica della Valdelsa, vol. xi (1903), pp. 38—42.

The Franciscan tertiary Vivaldus is a saint in my books. He did not abandon his role model and friend Blessed Bartholomew Buonpedoni (twenty years ministering to the lepers of his region) when the latter contracted leprosy. Instead he nursed his companion for twenty years (Benedictines).
1325 Sainted Nikodim, Archbishop of Serbia, was hegumen of the Khilendaria monastery elevated to the dignity of bishop in 1316 translated into the Slavonic language and ordered into use in Serbia the Typikon (Ustav) of Saint Sava the Sanctified, of Jerusalem  wonderworking relics
Especially noteworthy is this, that in the year 1319 he translated into the Slavonic language and ordered into use in Serbia the Typikon (Ustav) of Saint Sava the Sanctified, of Jerusalem.
Sainted Nikodim died in the year 1325.
St Nicodemus, Archbishop of Pec  (May 11)  SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
This great hierarch was a Serb by birth. He lived in asceticism on the Holy Mountain, and was abbot of Hilandar. After the death of Sava the Third, he was chosen as archbishop of `all the Serbian lands and those bordering the sea', in 1317. He crowned King Milutin in 1321. He also translated the Jerusalem Typikon* into Serbian. In the Preface of this book he says: `Almighty God, who knows our weak-nesses, will give us spiritual strength, but only if we first make an effort.' He sincerely loved the ascetic life, and laboured to deepen it in the land of Serbia. He laboured tirelessly to uproot the Bogomil heresy and confirm the Orthodox faith. He entered into rest in the Lord in 1325 and his wonderworking relics are preserved in the monastery at Pec.
*A Typikon is a book of rubrics for the ordering of church services and of monastic life -Translator. 
 SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net* "The Prologue from Ochrid", by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic-Lazarica Press-Birmingham 1985 4 Book Edition-Translated by Mother Maria-Dates based on old church calendar
1378 Pope Gabriel IV Departure of, the 86th. Patriarch of Alexandria.
On this day also of the year 1094 A.M. (April 1378 A.D.), Pope Gabriel the fourth, the 86th Patriarch, departed. He was the abbot of the monastery of El-Moharrak. He sat on the apostolic throne on the 11th day of Tubah, 1086 A.M. (January 6th, 1370 A.D.).
He was a great scholar and righteous ascetic. During his time, in the year 1370 A.D., a great light appeared during the night which looked like a day light and lingered until dawn. In 1371 A.D., there was a great flood in the river Nile valley which threatened to drown all the land.
He was contemporary of El-Sultan Shabaan and El-Sultan Ali Ebn-Shabaan El Mansour. He sat on the throne for 8 years, three months, and twenty two days. He was buried beside Simeon the shoe maker.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.
1426 Blessed Benincasa of Montechiello Servite hermit OSM (AC)
1426 BD BENINCASA
BD BENINCASA, a member of one of the great Florentine families, entered the Servite Order at a very early age and when twenty-five was permitted to embrace the life of a hermit on the mountain of Montagnata, near Siena. There he gave himself up to prayer, but was greatly tried by diabolical assaults. Through a little window he gave spiritual advice to the men who resorted to him—with women he would have no dealings—and healed the sick by the sign of the cross or by holy water. Realizing, however, that the Devil was tempting him to pride, he retired to another spot much more difficult of access. His death is said to have been announced to the people in the plain by the spontaneous ringing of the church bells and by a light which streamed from his cave.
An account of Bd Benincasa is given in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vii, supplement. This is almost entirely based on Father A. Giani, Annales Ordinis Servorum. In the seven­teenth century the local veneration of Bd Benincasa at Montechielo, where he was buried, seems almost to have died out. This was explained at the time by the fact that a rumour was in circulation that his authentic relics had been stolen. The cultus was, however, officially sanctioned in 1829. There is a short life by L. Raffaelli (1927).

Born in Florence, Italy, 1376; cultus confirmed in 1829. Blessed Benincasa joined the Servites at Montepulciano and spent the rest of his life as a hermit, first at Montagnata near Siena and later in the almost inaccessible cave of Montechiello (Benedictines).
1490 Blessed Aloysius Rabata Carmelite friar of Randazzo monastery Sicily OC (AC)
Born c. 1430 cultus confirmed by Gregory XVI. Blessed Aloysius was a. He died, though not immediately, from a blow on the head from an assailant whom he refused to bring to justice (Benedictines).
1490 BD ALOYSIUS RABATA
FEW incidents seem to have marked the life of Bd Aloysius Rabata. Admitted to the Carmelite Order as a young man at Trapani, in Sicily, he was afterwards prior of the friary at Randazzo. He lived on bread and water and was remarkable for his humility, his patience and his zeal for souls. As superior he insisted upon performing such tasks as road-mending and begging for alms. He took the sins of his penitents so much to heart that when a poor man confessed to a theft for which he was unable to make restitution, his ghostly father himself approached the injured party and with tears continued to implore forgiveness until it was granted. He died from the after-effects of a blow on the head inflicted by a scoundrel whom he refused to bring to justice; he would not even disclose the identity of the perpetrator of the outrage.
A tolerably full notice is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii. It is mainly derived from the materials which were collected in 1533 and 1573 with a view to canonization, which never took place. The cultus was confirmed in the nineteenth century under Pope Gregory XVI.
1505     BD LADISLAUS OF GIELNIOW
ONE of the principal patrons of Poland, Galicia and Lithuania is Bd Ladislaus of Gielniow, a Pole born in the year 1440, who, after being educated in the University of Warsaw, entered the Franciscan convent of the strict observance founded in that city by St John Capistran. He was several times elected provincial and drew up a revised constitution which received the approbation of the general chapter held in Urbino in 1498. At the request of Duke Alexander, Ladislaus sent out a picked body of friars to evangelize Lithuania. Before they started he warned them that the example of personal holiness must always precede the preaching of the gospel. The mission was greatly blessed: not only were thousands of pagans baptized, but many schismatics were reconciled. Bd Ladislaus himself was an ardent missioner and a man of great eloquence, and when he became guardian at Warsaw he was in great request as a preacher. He delivered sermons in every part of Poland, and wrote both in Latin and in Polish; he also composed hymns which were sung by the people at evening services. His favourite topic was the Passion and his best-loved text, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”.
In 1498 Poland was in great danger: the Tartars had made a league with the Turks and were advancing with an army of 70,000 men. Ladislaus called upon the panic-stricken population to pray and to put their trust in God, who alone could deliver them. The invading army was encamped between the Pruth and the Dniester when suddenly the waters of both rose up in flood, inundating the country. This was followed by an intense frost and then by a blinding snowstorm. Thousands of the enemy’s men and horses were drowned, thousands more perished of cold, and the miserable remnant was easily defeated and almost exterminated by the Wallachian Prince Stephen. The victory was generally ascribed to the prayers of Bd Ladislaus, whose prestige was enormously enhanced. His brethren often beheld him raised from the ground in ecstasy and on the Good Friday before his death, as he was preaching to an immense congregation, he was seen to be lifted into the air and to hang there as though crucified. Afterwards when he slowly sank to the ground he was so weak that he had to be carried to the convent infirmary, where he died a month later, mourned by the whole city. He was beatified in 1586.
A very ample life, published in Latin by the Franciscan Father Vincent Morawski, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, has been reprinted in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i. There is also a brief account by Fr Leon in his Aureole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iv, pp. 335—337. The Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche mentions two modern writers, C. Bogdalski and K. Kantak, who in recent works dealing with the Franciscan missions in Poland have specially called attention to Bd Ladislaus. These books, however, arc written in Polish.
1537  Bl. John of Rochester Carthusian martyr of England with Blessed James Walworth refused the Oath of Supremacy
1535-1540 THE ENGLISH CARTHUSIAN MARTYRS, WITH BB. RICHARD REYNOLDS AND JOHN HAILE
To the Carthusian Order belongs the honour of having furnished the first martyr of the Tudor persecution in the person of JOHN HOUGHTON, prior of the London Charterhouse. After him, on the same day and at the same place, were martyred two other Carthusian priors, as well as JOHN HAILE, vicar of Isleworth, and a Bridgettine monk named RICHARD REYNOLDS.
John Houghton, who was a native of Essex and a graduate of Cambridge University, had been a secular priest for four years when he entered the London Charterhouse. There he spent twenty years of religious life, being conspicuous even amongst his austere brethren for his mortification, his patience and his humility. Maurice Chauncy, a fellow monk, has left us an edifying record of his heroic virtues, together with an interesting description of his person and bearing. He was short of stature, we read, graceful, venerable of countenance, modest in demeanour and winning of speech. In spite of his ardent desire to remain hidden, he was marked out for preferment, and was elected prior of the Charterhouse of Beauvale, in Nottinghamshire. Upon the death of John Batmanson a few months later, he was recalled by the unanimous vote of the brethren to become prior of the London Charterhouse, and shortly afterwards he was nominated visitor of the English province of the order.
In the summer of 1533 a royal proclamation was issued ordering the adhesion by oath of every person over the age of sixteen to the Act of Succession, which recognized Anne Boleyn as the lawful queen and her children as heirs to the throne. The cloistered monks of the Charterhouse may well have thought that, as politics were outside their province, the edict did not affect them. For about eight months they actually seem to have remained unmolested. Their great reputation, however, and the influence they wielded as directors of souls then decided King Henry and his officials to demand their assent. Royal commissioners accordingly presented themselves at the Charterhouse and questioned the superiors.In his reply, the prior, whilst disclaiming any desire or intention of interfering with the king’s affairs, admitted that he could not see how the marriage with Catherine of Aragon, properly solemnized as it had been, and for so many years unquestioned, could suddenly have become invalid. On the strength of this remark he was summarily arrested and imprisoned in the Tower with his procurator, HUMPHREY MIDDLEMORE. A month later, in deference to the decision of learned and devout men who deemed that the succession to the throne was not a cause for which they should sacrifice their lives, the two prisoners agreed to take the oath with the added proviso, “as far as the law of God permits”. Thereupon they were allowed to return to the Charterhouse, where, after a little hesitation on the part of several of the monks, the whole community made the required declaration in its modified form. During the short period of peace which followed, Houghton was under no illusion as to his future; the night before his release from the Tower it had been revealed to him in a dream that he would return within a twelvemonth and would end his days in prison.
On February i of the following year there came into force another act of Parliament—much more far-reaching than the Act of Succession. It was called the Act of Supremacy and declared it to be high treason to deny that the King was the sole and supreme head of the Church in England. That this was a very different thing from a question of mere temporal succession to the English throne, Prior Houghton fully realized. Summoning his spiritual sons to the chapter-house, he warned them that they would probably all be shortly faced with the alternative between death and apostasy. He then declared a solemn triduum, during which they were to prepare for the approaching trial; and on the third day, while their prior was celebrating the holy Mysteries, there came “a soft whisper of air, which some perceived with their bodily senses, while all experienced its sweet influence upon their hearts”.
John Houghton determined to make a personal appeal to Thomas Cromwell, the king’s chief secretary, in the hope of obtaining exemption from the oath of supremacy, or at least a mitigation of it. He took with him two priors who had come to London to consult him about the affairs of their monasteries: they were ROBERT LAWRENCE, a London monk, Houghton’s successor at Beauvale, and AUGUSTINE WEBSTER, trained at Sheen, but now prior of the charterhouse in the Isle of Axholme. Cromwell, who was aware that King Henry was greatly incensed against the Carthusians, received them roughly, and summarily cutting short Prior Houghton’s opening remarks, ordered them all three to be committed to the Tower, although Lawrence and Webster had not opened their lips. An interrogatory at the Rolls three weeks later was followed by a visit to the Tower of Cromwell himself and the king’s commissaries, bearing with them a copy of the oath. By this time the priors had been joined in their captivity by Richard Reynolds, a distinguished and learned Bridgettine monk from the monastery of Syon, whose singular holiness was reflected in the angelic beauty of his countenance. Cardinal Pole, who was his intimate friend, declared that he was the only religious in England well versed in the three languages “in which all liberal learning is comprised”. Called upon to take the oath, the prisoners said they would do so if they might add the saving clause “as far as the law of God allows”. “I admit of no condition”, was Cromwell’s reply. “Whether the law of God permits or not, you must take the oath without reservation.” This they absolutely refused to do, and they were accordingly committed for trial.
When, on April 29, they came before the court at Westminster Hall, they were accused of denying that Henry VIII was supreme head on earth of the Church of England. To this charge they made no defence, but the jury showed the utmost reluctance to condemn them, only consenting to declare them guilty of high treason when Cromwell appeared in person and terrified them into submission. Sentence of death was then passed upon the four monks and upon an aged secular priest, John Haile, vicar of Isleworth, who was accused of uttering slanderous words against the king, the queen and the council. Their execution was fixed to take place at Tyburn on May 4, every expedient being adopted to degrade them in the eyes of the populace. They were dragged to the scaffold, lying on their backs on hurdles, still wearing their habits—a thing hitherto unheard of in a Christian country. Arrived at the foot of the gallows, Bd John Houghton embraced his executioner, who craved his forgiveness, and having testified that he was suffering for conscience because he was unwilling to deny a doctrine of the Church, he met his death with the utmost fortitude. After being strung up, he was cut down and disembowelled while still alive. In fact he was conscious and still able to speak when his heart was torn out. The rest of the martyrs showed the same courage. All refused a pardon proffered at the last moment at the price of acknowledging the king’s supremacy. Special efforts had been made to break down the constancy of Bd RICHARD REYNOLDS, who, as he was the last to be executed, was obliged to witness the barbarities inflicted on his companions. Their remains were parboiled, divided, and exposed in various parts of the city, an arm of Bd John Houghton being posted over the chief entrance of his monastery.
On the very day of the execution of the priors, one of the commissaries visited the Charterhouse to interrogate and examine the three monks who had taken over the government, namely, HUMPHREY MIDDLEMORE, WILLIAM EXMEW, the late prior’s confessor, and SEBASTIAN NEWDIGATE, once a favourite courtier in the palace of Henry VIII. Their replies were deemed unsatisfactory and three weeks later they were committed to the Marshalsea prison, where for over a fortnight they were chained to columns by the neck and feet, unable to sit or lie down, and never released for a moment. Newdigate had a special trial to undergo, for King Henry came to the prison in disguise and tried to win him over. All three came up for trial on June iz, were convicted of high treason, and were executed on June 19.
No further executions took place for some time, but the monks were not left to themselves. Resident commissioners were placed over them, their books were taken away, and in the words of Maurice Chauncy, “they never knew what it was to be free from vexation for a single hour “. A monk from Sheen, who had taken the oath of supremacy, was placed over them as prior, whilst several of the most resolute of the monks were sent to other houses. Amongst these were two priests, JOHN ROCHESTER and WILLIAM WALWORTH, who were transferred to Hull. In consequence of an imprudent letter which the former addressed from there to the Duke of Norfolk, he and his brother monk were arrested, tried at York, condemned and executed on May ii, 1537, two years after the death of Bd John Houghton.
In the meantime the constant pressure brought to bear upon the London community had been gradually breaking down the constancy of the majority, and on May 18, 1537, nineteen of the monks, besides the prior, consented to take the oath. There still, however, remained a heroic minority of ten who continued staunch. Three of them were priests—THOMAS JOHNSON, RICHARD BEER and THOMAS GREEN or Greenwood; one was a deacon, JOHN DAVY, and the rest were the lay brothers ROBERT SALT, WILLIAM GREENWOOD, THOMAS REDING, THOMAS SCRYVEN, WALTER PIERSON and WILLIAM HORN. They were imprisoned in the Marshalsea, tied to posts and left to starve to death. For a time they were kept alive by the heroism of Sir Thomas More’s adopted daughter, Margaret Clement, who, after bribing the gaoler, obtained access to the prison in the disguise of a milkmaid and fed the prisoners by placing food in their mouths. The warder, however, became alarmed when the king expressed surprise that the captives were still alive, and Margaret was refused admission. One after the other the monks died of neglect and starvation, until only William Horn remained. He was removed to the Tower, where he was treated with less inhumanity, but three years later he was attainted, condemned for denying the royal supremacy, and executed at Tyburn on August 4, 1540. He was the last of the eighteen who make up the roll of the English Carthusian martyrs.
A general feast of these martyrs is kept to-day in the archdiocese of Westminster and by the Carthusians. Bd John Houghton is celebrated in the diocese of Brentwood, BB. John Rochester and William Walworth in Leeds and Middlesbrough, Bd Richard Reynolds separately in Westminster (May 14), Bd John Haile in Brentwood (May 21), and BB. Sebastian Newdigate and Humphrey Middlemore in Birmingham (June 19).
Apart from the state papers in Record Office and elsewhere, all of which are calendared in the Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic the Reign of Henry VIII, our principal authority is the narrative of Dom Maurice Chauncy, Historia aliquot nostri saeculi Martyrum. Fr Van Ortroy, in the Analecta Bollandiana, vols. vi, xiv, and xxii, has studied the slight variations in the different recensions of Chauncy’s work. The story is also retold with supplementary details by L. Hendriks, The London Charterhouse (1889), and by V. Doreau, Henri VIII et les Martyrs de la Chartreuse (1890). See also Fr. John Morris, s.j., Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, vol. i, pp. 3—29; Camm, LEM., vol. i, pp. 5—46; and E. M. Thompson, The Carthusian Order in England (1930). The same writer contributes an introduction to an unpublished manuscript of Chauncy’s, Brevis et fidelis narratio, edited by G. W. S. Curtis (1935). For Bd Richard Reynolds see A. Hamilton, The Angel of Syon (1905) and M. J. R. Fletcher, The Story of . . . Syon Abbey (1933). D. B. Christie, While the World Revolves (1932), is a popular account of Bd John Houghton. There is an admirable brief summary in R. W. Chambers, Thomas More (1935), pp. 320—332.
He was born in Terling, Essex, and became a monk in the London Charterhouse. John was implicated in Blessed James Walworth’s correspondence with the duke of Norfolk. He and James refused to take the Oath of Supremacy and were martyred at York and beatified in 1886.
Blessed James Walworth & John Rochester, O. Cart. MM (AC) Died York, England, 1537; beatified in 1886. James Walworth and John Rochester were Carthusian monks of the London Charterhouse. Together they were hanged in chains at York at the command of King Henry VIII. Rochester was born at Terling, Essex (Benedictines).
1672 Joseph The Hieromartyr First Metropolitan of Astrakhan relics glorified by miracles
Joseph  was born at Astrakhan in 1579. After becoming a monk, St Joseph was made Archimandrite of the Astrakhan Trinity monastery at the age of fifty-two.
In 1656 he was at Moscow, after which he was chosen to be Metropolitan of Astrakhan. On May 11, 1672, during an uprising of the townspeople, St Joseph suffered martyrdom at Astrakhan. This sad event was recorded in detail by two eyewitnesses, priests of the Astrakhan cathedral, Cyril and Peter.
The priests took the body of the martyr, dressed it in bishop's vestments, and placed it in a prepared grave. On the following day, after serving a Panikhida, the saint's body was taken to a chapel, and it remained unburied for nine days. The relics of the holy hierarch were placed into the grave, and were soon glorified by miracles.
St Joseph was glorified at the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in April 1918.
1716 St. Francis Jerome famous Jesuit preacher credited with miracles, attributing numerous cures to the intercession of Saint Cyrus (Jan 31) From the outset his preaching attracted huge congregations and was rewarded by such excellent results that he was set to train other missionaries. In the provinces he conducted at least 100 missions, but the people of Naples would never allow him to be long absent from their city. Wherever he went, men and women hung upon his lips and crowded to his confessional; and it was confidently asserted that at least four hundred hardened sinners were annually reclaimed through his efforts. He would visit the prisons, the hospitals and even the galleys, in one of which—a Spanish one—he brought to the faith twenty Turkish prisoners. Moreover, he did not hesitate to track down sinners to the very haunts of vice, in which it sometimes happened that he was very roughly handled. Often he would preach in the streets—occasionally on the spur of the moment.
Neápoli, in Campánia, sancti Francísci de Hierónymo, in Tarentínæ diœcésis óppido Cryptaleárum orti, Sacerdótis e Societáte Jesu et Confessóris, exímiæ in salúte animárum procuránda caritátis et patiéntiæ viri; quem Gregórius Papa Décimus sextus in Sanctórum cánonem rétulit.
        At Naples in Campania, St. Francis of Jerome, priest of the Society of Jesus, and confessor.  He was born in the town of Grottaglia, in the diocese of Taranto.  Having been a man of great patience and zeal for the salvation of souls, he was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI.
From the Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
A D 1716   SAINT FRANCIS DI GIROLAMO, C.
  From his life written by Father Longaro degli Oddi, S.J., according to the original documents used in the process of his beatification, entitled Vira del B. Francesco di Girolano; Roma, 1806.  The following abridgment of that edifying work is taken from the English translation published in London, and now for the first time included in ”Butlers Lives of the Saints” [SUPPL EMEXT   TO  SADLIER'S EDITION

In that part of the kingdom of Naples which is commonly called Terra d’Otranto, a small village near Taranto gave birth, to St. Francis di Girolamo.  This event, which was destined to exorcise so important an influence over the world in these latter times, took place upon the 17th of December, 1612. His parents, John Leonard di Girolamo and Gentilesca Gravina were distinguished less by the honorable station which they occupied in society, than by their virtues and the excellent education they gave to their children eleven in number, of whom Francis was the eldest.
     But not wily was virtue thus the inheritance of our saint and as it were the natural growth of his soul but it sprung up therein with energy that early developed rich qualities of the soil it occupied.  A judgment beyond his years, a sweet submission and obedience to his parents, a virginal modesty, and an ardent love of prayer and retirement, marked the childhood of the saint, and betokened his future greatness and sanctity.  At a proper age the holy youth was admitted to the sacraments of' Penance and the Eucharist from which moment his hunger and thirst for this sacred banquet constantly increased, drew him, to its participation as often as possible, and nourished in him that love for our Lord, which kept him ever in communion with the Spouse of souls. His pious parents wore careful to cultivate the extraordinary talents with which God had blessed him, by procuring him early instruction. He was taught the rudiments of the Latin tongue, which he acquired with surprising facility and so quickly did he learn, and so correctly retain, the truths of religion, that already, in his tender years, he commenced his apostolic, career, by teaching the children of his  own age their Catechism. When he was sixteen years of age, his parents, ever watchful over his interests, sent him to Taranto, that he might study philosophy and theology in the schools of the Society of Jesus. Here his exemplary conduct won for him the esteem and affection of his venerable archbishop, who, more and more persuaded of his worthiness, advanced him successively to the minor orders, sub deaconship and deaconship. With the consent of his parents he went to Naples, in order to acquire the canon and civil law, and at the same time that he prosecuted the study of theology.  But what Francis had most at heart-to complete the dedication of himself to God-occupied his first thoughts on arriving at Naples. Wherefore, procuring dimissorial letters from his archbishop, and a dispensation from the pope, on account of his age, he received priest's orders from the hands of Don Sanchez de Herrera, bishop of Possuoli.  Deeply penetrated with a sense of the awful responsibility he had assumed, and the exalted dignity with which he was invested, Francis, although pure and holy and studious before, became now more watchful, fervent, and assiduous, and dreaded lest the shadow of imperfection should obscure for a moment the virginal purity of his soul.  And though he lived in the world as one not belonging to the world, still he was now anxious to quit it entirely, and to betake himself to some solitude far removed from its dissipations and the breath of its polluted atmosphere, where he might have full leisure to attend to his advancement in learning and sanctity.   Heaven granted the wish of its favored servant. A prefect's post became vacant in the College of Nobles of the Society of Jesus.    Francis applied for, and obtained it. The youths who wore submitted to his care, were not slow to discover that a saint had been set over them. His countenance arid demeanor, his amiable manners and sweet and pious conversation, the austerities and mortifications which all his efforts did not entirely conceal, soon manifested the exalted degree of perfection which he had attained.
  After five years' residence there, in the situation of prefect, our saint, in his twenty-eighth year, felt a sudden and strong inclination to enter the Society. Indeed, he had all the qualifications requisite to become a member, and though the idea presented itself to him for the first time, his mind was prepared to receive it with avidity', from the sentiments which he had long cherished, and which his education among the Jesuits, and his long connection since with the order, had considerably strengthened. But now an obstacle arose, which it cost the saint no little pains to overcome.  This was his fathers opposition to the step. He wrote Francis a long and vehement letter, full of pathetic remonstrance’s, which the saint so affectionately and eloquently answered, as at least to subdue  his reluctance, and induce him to acquiesce in the will of God.  Thus all difficulties being removed, on the eve of the Visitation of Our Lady, in the year 1670 being then in his twenty-eighth year he repaired to the house of probation to perform his novitiate.  No sooner did Francis find himself self-admitted among the novices, and hearing the sacred habit, than his soul burst into lively effusions of gratitude and with such zeal did he apply himself to the duties now imposed upon him, that the master of the novices soon perceived what an acquisition the Society had made.   A more fervent, mortified, and obedient novice than Francis, never was found.  He scrupulously complied with the minutest and most irksome ordinances.  Being of a meek and affable disposition, he won the hearts of others by his amiable conduct; and, being appointed to preside over the lay-novices, his exalted virtues and profound spirituality speedily wrought a beneficial change in their dispositions. Armed at all points, and strengthened against every assailant, he issued from the first year of his novitiate, exulting like a giant, to run the career of apostolic virtue.  He was sent to Leece, together with the celebrated Father Agnello Bruno, and during three years, these holy missionaries traversed every city and village in the two provinces of Terra d'Otranto, and in that of Apulia, preaching, and converting, wherever they went, an infinite number of sinners.  It used to be said of them, "Father Bruno and Father Girolano seem not mere mortals, but angels sent expressly to save souls." In 1674, our saint was recalled to Naples, in order to finish his course of scholastic theology, previous to his being solemnly professed.   When his studies were completed he was, in 1675, by a special disposition of Providence, appointed to the church called the Gesu Nuovo, where he commenced the labors of that apostolic career, which he continued for forty years, without intermission, unto the close of his earthly pilgrimage.  For the first three years, indeed, his only fixed duty was to give the invitation to communion, as is the custom in that church, on the third Sunday of every month; which task, however, is arduous enough to discourage any but a most zealous laborer.  Yet, even this and the other incessant works of charity in which he spent these three years, could not satisfy the cravings of our saint's zeal.   Wherefore, on the news reaching him that the mission of Japan was once more to be opened, he importuned the superiors, by letters dispatched to Rome, to let him have a part in this glorious enterprise, so that he might slake, in some degree, the burning thirst which devoured him.  For his desire had ever been to die for the faith, yet was he content to linger out a painful life, amidst the thorns of martyrdom, even though it should be denied him to pluck the rose he so much coveted.     The answer came, precise and peremptory.    He was to consider Naples as his India, and to perfect the sacrifice he had made of himself to God, by the surrender of his inclinations.
Thenceforward he looked upon Naples as that province in the vineyard of our Lord, which the divine husbandman wished him to exclusively cultivate.  Such was the sovereign will of God, manifested in the command of his superiors, and in which our humble saint acquiesced without hesitation; nor was that Providence, which rules events, slow in carrying its purpose into effect.  The superiors, in 1678, confided the whole mission to Francis.  Here it may be proper to describe the duties such a charge imposed.
    First, to watch over and maintain the fervor of a pious congregation, who assisted at all the processions, and were the right arm of the missionary secondly, to preach every Sunday and festival-day during the year, in the squares or other frequented parts of the city; and this not only in Naples but also in other towns and provinces of the kingdom.
    And thirdly, to give the monthly invitations to communion.  Our saint undertook the first of these obligations with an ardor only surpassed by the success which attended his efforts.   He reformed all abuses, and excluded every imperfection that could retard the spiritual advancement of his scholars.  He introduced, or established among them, the custom of frequenting the sacraments every Sunday, and on all the festivals of our Lady, and the practice of mental as well as vocal prayer, and of public penance and humiliation.  The law of the Gospel he was careful to instil into them by frequent exhortations, and he gave efficacy to his precepts by his example. But as the members of this confraternity were destined to be his partners and coadjutors in the apostolic ministry, he was, above all, assiduous in kindling and keeping alive the flames of zeal in their breasts; so that they became his zealous and indefatigable assistants.  Besides this, he chose seventy-two of the most efficient and capable, with whom he held counsel twice a month, and sent them into the heart of the city, to spy out the evil that existed, and learn what souls stood most in need of ghostly and bodily succor.   The vigilance he exercised over all, extended to each in particular.   With marvelous dexterity he practiced what St. Basil calls the insinuating arts of grace.  His charity also and forbearance were unbounded: in sickness he never abandoned them a moment, but continued his affectionate attentions to the last.  Another practice, to which he had recourse, to promote piety, was the visit to the seven churches, in commemoration of our Redeemer's seven journeys. This was performed in the following manner: a procession, carrying the crucifix, chanted the litanies as they went, and at every church where they stopped, Francis delivered an impressive exhortation.  The devotion terminated with a renewal of the oblation each one made of himself, to our Lord Jesus and our Lady, with vows of perpetual fidelity.
  The second duty, of preaching in public, embraced a much more extensive range, and required a proportionally greater degree of toil. When the Sunday came, he first spent two hours in mental prayer, then said Mass, and afterwards recited the Canonical Hours, bareheaded and kneeling, either in his room, or in the church before the Blessed Sacrament.  His private devotions being satisfied, he spent the rest of the morning in the Confessional, or with his congregation. At the appointed hour the saint and his companions went into the streets in procession, and then, distributing themselves in divers parts, began to preach to the people.  Francis usually mounted a stage, near or opposite to the dancers or mountebanks, who either slunk away at his approach, or vainly strove, through rage and spite, to distract the attention of the audience, who were fascinated by his eloquence.       After the discourse, he would kneel at the root of the cross, and scourge his shoulders with the discipline: then once more he betook himself to the Confessional, where he remained till the doors or the church wore closed.  Still his ardor longed for more extensive occupation; and, with the approbation of the superiors, and concurrence of his companions, he repeated the missionary labors on holidays, during the week as well as Sundays.
   The third duty annexed to his charge was the invitation to communion. For nine days preceding the third Sunday of every month he went about the principal streets, along with a few companions; by ringing a little bell, he gave notice of the approaching day of communion; and, to excite the attention of his hearers, recited, in a loud voice, some short, but sententious maxim or admonition from Holy Writ.  Thus he continued all the morning until dinner-hour and after noon resumed his task with never-wearying zeal till nightfall.
   In the suburbs, also, of Naples, he performed this laborious duty; nor is it easy to conceive the pains and privations it cost him; how, under the scorching sun, or pouring rain, he journeyed through marshes, over rocks, oft times to the peril of life and limb, and always on foot, until, in his latter days, he was constrained to ride.  When the day arrived, and from fifteen to twenty thousand communicants appeared, Francis used his strenuous efforts to keep order among them. The troops of men and women who came from the adjoining towns and villages, he received at the door, and placed in their respective posts.  The children, crowned with flowers, were welcomed by him with tears of joy; but it was in imparting to them the life-giving food that his soul overflowed with tenderness and the love of Jesus beamed from his countenance, and thrilled in the fervid expressions with which he excited their devotion.  Such were the labors of our saint's mission, and such the manner he discharged them.   On the feast of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady, in the year 1682, Francis made his solemn profession; on which occasion he manifested that humility which distinguished him, by falling on his knees in public, and kissing the feet of the superior, thanking him aloud for admitting so unworthy a member into the society.
   Before we enter further into the detail of his apostolic career, it may not be improper lo give some notions of that quality whereby he wrought so many wonders, his extraordinary eloquence. His voice was loud and sonorous, and was heard distinctly at a great distance; and the style of his preaching was copious, simple, and impressive.   No one ever knew the human passions better, or swayed them with more tact and delicacy.  Sometimes he stole upon his hearers with an insinuating grace that charmed them almost unconsciously into persuasion; at other times, he would pour out such a volley of arguments sustained by suitable quotations from Scripture, or the fathers, and illustrated by all the images of a lively fancy, so as to overpower all opposition, and force conviction on the most stubborn.  His descriptions were forcible and graphic; his pathetic appeals were sum to draw tears, and his energy astounded and terrified.  Indeed, he was accustomed to speak with so much vehemence, as occasionally to bring blood to his lips: he often talked himself hoarse, and till his palate was parched; and once, in the midst of an animated invective against sins, he dropped down suddenly and swooned away. The method he ordinarily pursued in his discourses, was first to paint the enormous malice of sin and the terrors of the Divine judgments, in colors so striking as to raise self-indignation and alarm in sinners
         Then, changing his tons with a master skill, he dwelt upon the sweetness and mildness of Jesus Christ, so as to make despair give way to hope, and the most hardened melt into compunction. This moment he seized, to make an appeal so tender and so overpowering as to cause his hearers to bend their knees before the image of their crucified Lord, and implore, in tears, and sobs, and broken accents, forgiveness and reconciliation. It was usual for him to subjoin, at the conclusion, some striking example of God's chastisements or favors, whereby his audience might carry away a deeper and livelier impression of the truths he had just been inculcating.  His eloquence, however, was less the result of any natural talent, than of his ardent love of God and zeal for his service.   When he was to preach, he used to note down a few words his arguments, authorities, and examples; into at the foot of the crucifix, he prepared himself to treat on his affairs with men, by communing with God.  Thence, like another Moses, he descended all on fire from his colloquy with the Deity; and it seemed as if God himself often inspired him with expressions of supernatural efficacy.
   It was matter of surprise to all who knew him, how he could possibly' go through so many labors, which were more than sufficient to occupy five missionaries, and far beyond the natural strength of his weak constitution and emaciated frame; so that it was not unreasonably thought, that to prolong such exertions for the space of forty years, he must have been supported by a miracle.    He was in constant attendance on the hospitals, prisons, and galleys, besides the sick in their houses, and ministering to the spiritual necessities of monasteries, asylums, confraternities, and schools.
  The consequence of these labors was the amendment of numberless sinners; the conversion of several Turkish infidels to the faith of Jesus Christ; and the introduction of a surprising regularity of manner in those habitual abodes of wretchedness and vice-the galleys and the prisons.  His zeal also reclaimed the soldiery from a state of the greatest disorder to the most edifying piety.   Still, however, his ardor, which knew no bounds, thirsted for more fruit accordingly he used to go and preach, during the night, in the very hotbeds and receptacles of vice, that sinners might be awed into repentance  by the novelty and solemnity of this warning, at the hour when they least apprehended interruption. Once our saint, being in prayer in his chamber, felt a sudden inspiration to go out and preach, which, by the advice of his superiors, he obeyed.  For some time, he wandered in the dark-he knew not whither, till he came to the corner of a street, where he began to preach on the necessity of immediate correspondence with the divine grace; and having finished, returned home, satisfied with having complied with his duty, though ignorant to what purpose, or with what fruit. The next meriting, however, a young woman came to him to confession and, with signs of the bitterest compunction, told him that when in company the evening before with her paramour, her attention was suddenly arrested by his voice in the street, denouncing God's vengeance against unrepentant and procrastinating sinners, which so terrified her that she began to exhort her partner in guilt to break off their unlawful intercourse.   To this, however, he would by no means consent, and even laughed at and derided the holy man's threats when, to her horror, she beheld their awful fulfilment.
For the man suddenly ceasing to speak, she found him a breathless corpse his soul having taken its flight to God's tribunal, while the words of blasphemy were yet upon his lips. Plunged into the greatest alarm  by this catastrophe, she implored pardon of God, with sighs and tears, and now came to affect her reconciliation, and to expiate her past scandals by a life of penance.
   Francis had to experience many mortifying contradictions. Yielding to excite the compunction of sinners, that they openly declared their offences and inflicted severe chastisements upon themselves, so that sometimes I was necessary to restrain their ardor. Nor was this a transient effect, but a durable benefit;  hence followed many conversions of sinners, who for ten, twenty, or thirty, or even fifty years, had thrown off the yoke of religion.   Indeed, Francis possessed a wonderful tact in bringing back sinners to duty, as the following examples will show.
  A certain man had not been to the sacraments for five-and-twenty years at length, admonished more than once in a dream to have recourse to our saint, he obeyed, to his own great happiness and the glory of Our Lady, to whose mercy he was indebted for the admonition. Another, commencing his confession, was asked by the saint, how long it was since he had last made it; whereat he burst into tears, and besought the holy man not to dismiss him, for that he was a great sinner; but he, bidding him not be discouraged, asked him if it was ten, twenty, or fifty years”; Fifty," said he, exactly, further, have I kept aloof from God.”'   Kept aloof from God ?" repeated Francis,  why should you avoid so tender a parent-a Saviour, who has poured out the last drop of his blood for you? Nay, rather turn and meet him who has been running after you so long." And the man confessed with sincerity and compunction all the crimes he had committed, and thence forward led a virtuous life.  An inveterate sinner was once dying, without giving any sign of hope, or manifesting a wish to repent.  After Francis had urged him long in vain to confide in the mercies of God, suddenly changing his tone, he thus addressed him.  “Do you think that God incurs any obligation, if you accept his offer of Paradise; or that he must needs mourn if you prefer hell?”  How many princes and nobles are lost, whom God suffers to perish; and do you suppose God cares more for you?  If you will be damned, be so; `” and he turned away from him.  This sudden and impressive address wrought a wonderful change in the dying man, who in an agony of grief and alarm besought the saint not to abandon him. He then confessed his sins, with every demonstration of sincere contrition, and expected full of hope.  Indeed, no heart, however hardened, could withstand the exhortations of the holy man.  A young man once threw himself at the feet of the saint, exclaiming:" Father, behold here, not a human being, but a very demon: a soul abandoned to despair.  Many years ago, a confessor denied me absolution ; I have never since confessed, never heard mass, never entered a church, or even as much as recited a Hail Mary, or made die sign of the cross.  Alas, I have even gone so far in wickedness as to league myself with Satan, and to have recourse to his aid, through those who are skilled in the black art.  Can I, after such a life, presume to hope dare I ask for mercy?"  “Why not, my son?" replied Francis it is true thy crimes are great, yet doth the mercy of God surpass their magnitude was it not for sinners that Jesus Christ died?  There is yet pardon for thee, if thou wilt seek it earnestly, and fervently, and set about reforming instantly thy life."  These consoling words revived the sinner, long dead in iniquity, and gave to God a persevering penitent.
  Still more remarkable is the following occurrence, which the saint was accustomed to relate in his public sermons.  One day a young man presented himself before him, with a grave and devout our " Father," said he, "1 am come to declare to you the wonders of God's mercy in my regard, and to beseech you both to return him thanks for his signal favors, and to counsel me how I may best profit by them.  Many years have elapsed since I was addicted to a certain vice, which struck such deep root bite my soul, that God permitted my reason to be clouded, and my heart to be changed, so that I fancied myself a beast. In this persuasion I stripped myself of clothing, and wandered through the fields, and crawled along the ground, exposed to the sun and rain, the frost and the snow, in company with the irrational animals, partaking their food, and imitating their cries.  After a year of this life it pleased God to take compassion on me, and to restore me to my reason. Words cannot describe the confusion and shame I felt. I clearly perceived that it had been a punishment of my sins. I made the best confession I was able, as soon as I could, and have lived ever since, by God's grace, up to his divine laws. What think you-hath he not used unparalleled mercy towards me?" Our saint, embracing him, said: "In very deed doth the sinner become like the brute beast, that hath no understanding."   He approved his present conduct, confirmed his sentiments, and comforted him by the assurance that God would never withdraw his grace from him, so long as he was faithful to his resolutions.
  An assassin, who had been hired to murder some persons, passing a crowd to whom the saint was preaching, stopped on his road, saying within himself, Perhaps he whom I seek is among this multitude." Whereupon he stood to observe, and could not help bearing the discourse of the preacher, and hearing, was, as it were, spell-bound to the spot.  When suddenly these words caught his ear-" Thousands bewail past sins, and dost thou, wretched sinner meditate new crimes? Unhappy creature, whom neither the arm of God outstretched to launch his thunderbolts, nor hell opening beneath thy feet to swallow thee, can deter from thy wickedness!"  His guilty conscience smote him, his heart turned away from evil, he confessed his enormities, and from a murderer became a saint.  A youth of disordered life was so moved by another sermon of Francis that overcoming every human respect, he cast himself in public at the foot of the crucifix, and exclaimed-" Father, I am lost: for nearly twenty years I have not been to a confessor;" and so saying, wept bitterly, and lashed himself with the discipline.  Then, accompanying he confraternity to the Gesu Nuovo, he sought Francis, who embraced him like a tender father, and exhorted him to have confidence in God, with whom he was instrumental in reconciling him. The young man not only forsook his former vicious habits, but exhibited a model of repentance, and persevered in an exemplary life.  But if, on the one hand, the happiest results were experienced by all who attended to his counsels, on the other, grievous chastisements often befell those who neglected or despised his warnings.  A youth of depraved conduct had the effrontery to laugh at and deride his remonstrance’s, and even dared to heap abuse upon him.  Francis bore all meekly in imitation of our Blessed Savior, " who when he was reviled, did not revile ;" but God would not suffer such a crime to go unpunished, for shortly after the young man perished miserably in a riot.  But it is now time to take a rapid view of his labors out of Naples.
  The fame of his great achievements in this city occasioned earnest solicitations to be made, that the fields of his exertions might be extended to the provinces.   But Naples was by no means willing to surrender its apostle, even for a short time and the intervention of several distinguished persons were requisite to affect the desired object.  In upwards of a hundred missions, which Francis undertook in consequence, he traversed all the provinces of the kingdom, with the exception of the Calabria’s.     Incredible were the hardships and privations he encountered,-the difficulties and obstacles he surmounted in the execution of this work of charity.  Wherever he went, the clergy and most respectable inhabitants came out to meet him, and gave him an honorable reception. Without however losing a moment, the indefatigable servant of God commenced his career by an introductory discourse, and an invocation of the tutelary saint and guardian angels of the place.  At daybreak he celebrated mass, and spent the remainder of the morning in manner somewhat similar to that already described, in speaking of his missions in Naples.  It was an edifying and affecting sight, to witness the communion of the children, and the procession of penitent’s through the streets. But when at length he came to give the concluding discourse, and to repeat his farewell admonitions, then was it that the fruit of his exertions was perceptible. The seed of grace, which had struck deep root, gave signs of vigorous growth and duration for when he exhorted the people to perseverance, with one voice they promised to preserve inviolably their engagements; and when he imparted his last blessing, with his customary" adieu, to meet again in Paradise," no words can describe, no imagination is able to conceive, the emotions of the multitude.
  Not always, however, did Francis meet with such consoling encouragement to his zeal. The devil, raging to behold so many souls redeemed from his snares by the active charity of the holy man, spared no pains to molest and baffle him, by raising against him hosts of enemies, who threw discredit upon his conduct, fomented suspicions and jealousies, and waged war against him by every possible art that bad passions or his own malignant spirit could suggest. Hence it not unfrequently happened that he experienced insults instead of welcome, on his arrival at places where calumnies had beforehand been industriously spread.  Sometimes he found no attention paid to his exhortations yet, finally, his invincible forbearance and persevering charity, his saintly demeanor-itself a confutation of his calumniators-triumphed over all opposition.  Few details respecting these memorable missions have been recorded, but some, preserved by the testimony of eye-witnesses, have been rescued from the oblivion of time.
  When the holy man was on his way to Capita, the carriage stuck in a deep ditch, and resisted all the efforts of the driver to extricate it.  Whereupon, after the manner of this class of persons, he began to curse and swear. "0 my son," cried the saint, " blaspheme not, for God's sake." " Why, father," said the man, "would not a saint swear in such an infernal hobble, with nobody near, nor a chance of any one's coming to assist us?" "Have patience," rejoined the holy man; and as he was yet speaking, two robust young men, turning the corner of the road, volunteered their services and relieved the travelers from their difficulty  after which, without waiting to be thanked, they disappeared.  Wherever he went he reconciled enemies, converted sinners, besides performing many prodigies.  He had to contend against obstacles of another description, he applied to Monsignor Capece, bishop of Cheti, a capital town of the Abruzzi, for leave to preach there. "Certainly," replied the bishop; "but, Father Francis,you must be forewarned ours is a sensible and cultivated city, accustomed and able to weigh well the force of reason ; and therefore you will at once perceive that certain addresses to the senses, such as the exposition of the crucifix, or images of the Virgin and other saints,-things admirable in themselves, would here be quite out of place, and calculated to do more harm than good." "our lordship's wishes shall assuredly be attended to," said the humble saint, "till such time at least as you yourself shall deem it proper to recall them."
  Not long after this the prelate felt an acute pain, for which he could not account but as his conscience troubled him, he sent word to the saint, that in regard to the subject of their conversation he might use his discretion.
    The bishop had himself more than one occasion of witnessing the fruit which the practices he was disposed to condemn invariably produced; and Francis knew so well how to employ them, that the mission of Cheti succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectations. With the like fruit did Francis perform the missions in various other towns, working conversions and prodigies too numerous to be here mentioned.  It would be superfluous to enlarge upon the particular virtues of our saint; his public life being rather the subject of this history. Yet are we unwilling to pass over, unnoticed, his great and fervent love of Jesus Christ.  Especially he honored and worshipped him in his divine infancy, his sacred passion, and his adorable sacrament.  When he meditated upon these mysteries, he was always absorbed and penetrated with love; and when he approached the sacrament of the altar, his countenance glowed, as though he stood before a fire.  Nothing provoked his indignation, or drew down his severe rebuke, so much as disrespect towards the blessed Eucharist. He removed many abuses: he would not suffer any levity in the church; and once-reproved a lady of quality who had remained seated during the consecration, in like manner be was tenderly devoted to our blessed Lady. 
     For twenty-two years he preached a sermon in her praise and honor every week. To youth especially, it was his custom to recommend this devotion as the surest preservation of innocence, and the best remedy after sin: saying that one could hardly be saved who felt no devotion towards the Mother of God.  Mary was his counsellor in doubt, his comfort in toil, his strength in all his enterprises, his refuge in danger and distress. He experienced an inexpressible delight whenever he recited the rosary of our tender Mother.  He was likewise particularly devoted to his angel guardian, to St. Francis Xavier, and St. Januarius.  His charity, humility, purity, and obedience, were never surpassed; nor did God withhold from him those gifts with which he is pleased at times to favor his chosen servants.
  Our saint was favored with the foreknowledge of his dissolution. On the death of his brother he observed, "A year hence we shall meet;" and while he was still in health, taking leave of the nuns of St. Mary del Divinn Amore-" My dear daughters," said he, "this is the last time I shall ever address you.    Do not forget me in your prayers; adieu till we meet in Paradise."    When he was sick, the festival of St. Cyr drawing near, "1 shall not live to see it," he exclaimed.  And finally, when the physician that attended him paid him his last visit, he thanked hint for his attentions, and said:-" We shall never see each other again on this side of the grave, for Monday will be the last day of my life."
  During the month of March, 1715, at the beginning of Lent, he was, for the third time, giving the retreat to the students of the noble college, when suddenly he felt a racking fever assail his limbs, insomuch that he was obliged to be carried home.  In a few days, however, it was somewhat subdued; and, though weak, he resumed his usual labors.   Still his health declined, and towards December his constitution appeared quite broken down. Anxious to preserve so valuable a life, the superior sent him to take the mineral waters of Pozzuoli.  But he experienced not the smallest benefit; and in March, 1718, on his return to Naples, he took up his abode in the infirmary.    The agonies he suffered are not to be expressed; and yet a murmur never escaped him.    "Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who consoles us in all tribulation," was his constant exclamation.  When someone approached to sympathize with him, the heroic man crossed his hands on his breast, saying: "Crescant in mills millia." He was told of the great good he had achieved.  “Nothing, nothing," he cried, “"the fault I have most to apprehend is my slothfulness."
  Death now began to hasten on apace; wherefore, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, making a general confession, he received the viaticum; and six days later was anointed.  All night long he gave vent to the fullness of his heart in such expressions as the following—“Let us Bless the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; let us praise and exalt Him forever.  Great is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain."  Then kissing the wounds of his crucified Saviour, he cried out, weeping, "Remember, dear Jesus, that this soul has cost the ransom of every drop of thy precious blood." And when the infirmarian entreated him to pray rather with his heart than his lips, by reason of the distress which speaking occasioned him: "Ah, my dear brother," said he-, whatsoever we think, of or say of so great a God, his greatness is beyond all thought and expression." Then fixing ins eyes upon an image of our Lady :-" Ah, Mary," said he,” my dearest mother, thou hast ever cherished me like a loving parent, though I have been thy too, too unworthy child.    Complete now the measure of thy mercies in my regard, by obtaining for me the love of thy divine Son."   Then, as though at the gate of Paradise, he exclaimed, " "how great is the house of the Lord!   Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, 0 Lord; for ever and ever shall they sing thy praise.   Ye holy angels, why delay ye?  Open the gates of Justice.  Entering therein, I will praise the Lord."
  His malady, however, continued for some days longer.  Although he had repeatedly expressed a wish to be left alone, it was impossible to keep away numbers, who pressed to see him for the last time, to kiss his hand, and to receive his farewell blessing.  With an amiable sweetness, he welcomed them all and seeing their sorrow, said -" Weep not; I go to heaven, where I shall remember you, and am better able to assist you." But what sunshine so serene is not occasionally clouded, what sea so calm as never to be ruffled by a storm.?   It pleased God to enhance our saint's virtue by submitting it to a dreadful trial.   The frame of the holy man shook under the severity of the struggle.   With a loud cry he called upon the Almighty, the eternal Son, our Lady, and all the saints, to save him.   Being asked the cause of this fearful commotion, “I am fighting, “he exclaimed, "fighting! Pray for God's sake that I may not perish." Then, as if rebuking the evil spirit, he cried-" No, it shall never be.  Be gone! I have no part with you."
His countenance at last brightening, he repeated softly, "`Tis well,'tis well!" and so saying, chanted the Magnificat and Te Deum. He was anxious to receive the holy sacrament; but the superior did not judge it advisable, as he had lately been to communion; and the humble saint acquiesced.  He now fell into his agony; the recommendation of a departing soul was recited; and, amidst the tears of his brethren, Francis di Girolamo expired, about mid-day, on Monday, the 11th of May, 1716, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and the forty-sixth of his religious life, having spent forty years in the labors of an apostolic career,
  Although, from a motive of prudence, the superior had forbidden the bell to be tolled, to announce his death, there needed no sound to convey the intelligence through the city; it was read in every countenance, and spread so rapidly, that in a short time the Gesu Nuovo was filled with an immense concourse of people of all classes.   The infirmarian being desirous of keeping some relic of so holy a man, before he laid him out in the sacerdotal habit, pared off a piece of the hard skin of the sole of his foot.     But the pious theft soon became apparent, though he had used every effort to conceal it ; for the blood began to flow so freely from the wound, as not merely to stain the linen, but to fill a vial holding three or four ounces  which portion being preserved, retained during three months its ruddiness and liquidity, and wrought many cures.
  In the evening the body was carried into the church that the office might be chanted, and a detachment of Swiss guards was hardly sufficient to protect it from the indiscreet devotion of the crowd.    Indeed, three psalms had scarcely been sung, before they broke through all restraint, and pressed inwards the body, eager to carry away some relic, especially to dip their handkerchiefs in the blood, which still streamed from the wound already mentioned. At length, the body was removed into a side-chapel, where it was secured against further violence by iron railing, through which, at the same time, it was visible to all.   Still it was impossible to refuse the prayer of several devout persons, to be permitted to approach and kiss the hand of the saint, and at night some artists were admitted to take likenesses and effigies of him.   A throng of supplicates crowded to the church next morning, and implored the saint to deliver them from their evils and distempers.  Nor were they disappointed.  Many cures took place on the spot, and the church again arid again echoed with the cry of  “A miracle, a miracle !"  Three days the body was left thus exposed, and the fourth was buried in a leaden coffin.   On the 3d of July, 1736, leave being obtained, the coffin of our saint was disinterred, arid the body was found moldered into dust, which was carefully collected, deposited in another coffin of wood lined with brass, and translated from the common cemetery to the chapel of Saint Ignatius.  Numerous miracles quickly spread the fame of his holiness throughout Italy.   He was scarcely dead, when the most prudent and virtuous individuals gave him the title of saint: and cardinal Orsini, afterwards Benedict XIII., who was singularly devoted to him, preached his panegyric in the cathedral of Benevento.   Not long after his decease, the city of Naples, joined by Benevento, Nola, and several others, petitioned the Congregation of Rites to have him beatified; and the juridical process of his virtues and miracles was drawn up, and sent to Rome by Cardinal Pignatelli, in conjunction with other cardinals, nobles, and magistrates of the kingdom.  After the requisite preliminaries, a decree declaring his heroic virtues was published by Benedict XIII., on the 2d of May, 1758.   His miracles were approved by another, of Pius VII., dated the 9th of February, 1806, and finally the definitive decree of his beatification was issued by the same pontiff, on the feast of St. Joseph in the same year.     He was subsequently canonized by Gregory XVI., on Trinity Sunday, 26th May, 1839.
  The martyr sheds his blood but once, and is exalted forever; then what reward will be prepared for the missionary, who, while he burns to die for the faith, is yet content to live for the greater honor and glory of God, and the profit of his neighbor?  He, therefore, who would imbibe the spirit of zeal, and learn the arts of wisdom necessary in directing souls, should study and contemplate the career of that extraordinary man whose virtues and achievements are the subject of the sketch we here present.

1716 ST FRANCIS DI GIROLAMO
A BOUNDLESS zeal for the conversion of sinners and a tender love for the poor, the sick and the oppressed were the outstanding characteristics of St Francis di Girolamo, the eloquent Jesuit missioner whom the inhabitants of the Two Sicilies venerate to this day as, in a special sense, the apostle of Naples. The eldest of a family of eleven, he was born in 1642 at Grottaglie, near Taranto. After he had made his first communion, at the age of twelve, he was received into the house of some secular priests in the neighbourhood who lived a community life. The good fathers were not slow to perceive that their young charge was no ordinary boy from leaving him in charge of their church they promoted him to teaching the catechism, and he received the tonsure when he was barely sixteen. With a view to learning canon and civil law, he went to Naples in the company of a brother who desired to study under an eminent painter. In 1666 Francis was ordained priest, for which a dispensation had to be obtained as he was not yet twenty-four. For the next five years he taught at Naples in the Jesuit Collegio dei Nobili. The impression he made there upon his pupils may be gauged from the fact that the boys habitually spoke of him among themselves as “the holy priest”. At the age of twenty-eight, having overcome the opposition of his parents, he entered the Society of Jesus.
During the first year of novitiate Francis was subjected to exceptionally severe tests by his superiors, who were so completely satisfied that at its close they sent him to help the celebrated preacher Father Agnello Bruno in his mission work. From 1671 till 1674, the two priests laboured untiringly and with great success, mainly amongst the peasants of the province of Otranto. At the close of that mission Francis was recalled to Naples where he completed his theological studies and was professed. He was now appointed preacher at the Neapolitan church known as the Gesu Nuovo. It was his ardent desire to be sent to Japan, when there was talk of attempting a new missionary effort in that land which had ruthlessly exterminated every Christian teacher who landed on its shores, but he was told by his superiors that he must regard the kingdom of Naples as his India and Japan. It was, indeed, to be the scene of his untiring activities for the remaining forty years of his life.
From the outset his preaching attracted huge congregations and was rewarded by such excellent results that he was set to train other missionaries. In the provinces he conducted at least 100 missions, but the people of Naples would never allow him to be long absent from their city. Wherever he went, men and women hung upon his lips and crowded to his confessional; and it was confidently asserted that at least four hundred hardened sinners were annually reclaimed through his efforts. He would visit the prisons, the hospitals and even the galleys, in one of which—a Spanish one—he brought to the faith twenty Turkish prisoners. Moreover, he did not hesitate to track down sinners to the very haunts of vice, in which it sometimes happened that he was very roughly handled. Often he would preach in the streets—occasionally on the spur of the moment. Once, in the middle of a stormy night, he felt irresistibly moved to turn out and preach in the dark in an apparently deserted part of the town. The following day there came to his confessional a young woman who had been living a sinful life, but had been conscience-stricken when through her open window she had heard his stirring appeal of the previous evening. Amid his numerous penitents of all classes, perhaps the most remarkable was a woman, French by birth, called Mary Alvira Cassier. She had murdered her father and had afterwards served in the Spanish army, disguised as a man. Under the direction of St Francis she not only was brought to penitence, but attained to a high degree of holiness.
The effects of the preaching of the holy Jesuit were enhanced by his reputation as a wonder-worker, but he consistently disclaimed any extraordinary powers, attributing the numerous cures which attended his ministrations to the intercession of St Cyrus (January 31), for whom he had a special veneration. St Francis di Girolamo died at the age of seventy-four, after much suffering, and his remains were interred in the Jesuit church of Naples where they still lie. He was canonized in 1839.
There is a valuable report drawn up by the saint himself to acquaint his superiors with the more striking manifestations of God’s grace during fifteen years of his missionary labours. These “Brevi Notizie” have been printed by Father Boero in his book S. Francesco di Girolamo e le sue Missioni (1882). We have also two Italian lives written by fellow Jesuits who had known the saint intimately; that by Stradiotti appeared in 1719, and that by Bagnati in 1725. Among more modern contributions, the Vita di San Francesco di Girolamo, by Father degli Oddi, has been perhaps the most widely circulated, but J. Bach’s Histoire de S. François de Geronimo (1867), is the most complete. See further the convenient Raccolta di Avvenimenti singolari e Documenti autentici, collected by Canon Alfonso Muzzarelli (1806), as well as the life by C. de Bonis. In English there is a biography by A. M. Clarke which appeared in the “Quarterly Series” in 1891, and an admirable article by the Bollandist Father Van Ortroy in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Also known as Francis de Geronimo. Born near Taranto, Italy, he was ordained in 1666 and became a Jesuit in 1670. Francis Jerome was famous as a preacher. He was canonized in 1839.

Francis di Girolama, SJ (RM) (also known as Francis Jerome) Born at Grottaglie, near Taranto, Italy, in 1642; died 1716; canonized in 1839. Francis was the oldest of 11 children. Once he had received his first communion at age 12, he was received into the house of some secular priests. Recognizing his intelligence, the fathers promoted him to teaching catechism, and he received the tonsure at 16.

He accompanied one of his brothers to Naples. While his brother wanted to study under an eminent painter, Francis went learn canon and civil law.

In 1666, he was ordained a priest under a special dispensation because he was under 24. He taught in the Jesuit Collegio dei Nobili for five years. At 28, having persuaded his family to consent, he entered the Society of Jesus. During his first year of novitiate, he was severely tested by his superiors, but he received their complete approval by the time he finished, and they sent to help the preacher Father Agnello Bruno in his mission work. For three years the two worked tirelessly and with great success, primarily among the peasants in the province of Otranto.

Francis was then recalled to Naples, finished his theological studies, and was professed.

He was appointed preacher at the church known as the Gesu Nuovo in Naples. From the start, he attracted huge crowds. He was commissioned to train other missionaries and conducted at least one hundred missions in the provinces. His very effective preaching was marked by brevity and vigor: He was, it is said, 'a lamb when he talks and a lion when he preaches.' In search of sinners he penetrated into prisons, the brothels, and the galleys, and continued his missions in hamlets, back lanes, and at street corners. He converted 20 Turkish prisoners on a Spanish galley.
One of his most interesting penitents was a Frenchwoman, Mary Alvira Cassier. She had murdered her father and served in the Spanish army, impersonating a man. Under Francis, she repented and became very devout.
He rescued many children from dangerous surroundings, opened a charitable pawnshop, and organized an association of workingmen to help the Jesuit fathers in their work.

Although Francis was credited with miracles, he disclaimed that they were due to his own powers, attributing numerous cures to the intercession of Saint Cyrus, for whom he had a special devotion. He died at age 74, after a painful illness, and at his funeral all the poor of Naples thronged around his coffin.
His remains were interred in the Jesuit Church of Naples (Attwater, Benedictines, Walsh, White).
1771 Blessed Christesia from Egrisi in western Georgia withdrew to the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness bright light appeared before him to light the way
Blessed Christesia’s family was from Egrisi in western Georgia.  From his youth Christesia longed for the divine services and the solitary life, but he was forced by his master to marry, and by this marriage he begot a son. Later, when both his wife and son had died, his master insisted that he marry again, but the pious Christesia would not heed his master’s order. Instead he related the order to his spiritual father, who advised him to depart from the world and journey to the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. Deeply inspired by his spiritual father’s counsel, Christesia abandoned his possessions and his life in the world and withdrew to the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness.

The holy father spent many years in humble service to the Lord. He was assigned to gather firewood and bring water for the monastery, and he performed these tasks obediently and in perfect meekness. Every day he walked over four miles to fill a pitcher with water and then carried it to a small hut nearby. He hung the pitcher at the entrance to make it visible from a distance, and travelers who passed by would come to quench their thirst.

He also kept a small vegetable garden to feed the passers-by. Every Saturday he prepared kolio (a dish of wheat and honey traditionally offered to commemorate the departed) and divided it in three parts: one part commemorated the family and loved ones of those who had donated the wheat and honey; the second, the deceased fathers of the monastery; and the last, all departed Orthodox Christians.

It always disturbed St. Christesia to see his brothers and sisters at odds with one another, so when he heard that two people were quarreling, he would go and reconcile them. “My children!” he would say, “If you do not heed my words, I will leave in sorrow, and the devil, who is always resistant to peace, will rejoice and send more tribulations upon you. I came to you hungry, and I will depart hungry!” His words warmed the hearts of those whom he counseled and helped them to be reconciled with one another.

One hot evening after Vespers, St. Christesia set off on foot for a certain village. He left during twilight, and when night fell the sky was without a moon and extraordinarily dark. Before long it became difficult to walk any farther, so St. Christesia stopped to pray, and a bright light appeared before him to light the way. The divine light guided him all through the night, until he reached the village of Sartichala.

St. Christesia’s cell was poor and cramped. He slept on a bed of wooden planks that he covered in sheepskin, and instead of a pillow he rested his head on a stone. The pious ascetic wore a sheepskin coat and sandals made of bark. Whatever he received he gave to the poor. Having placed complete trust in God, he would not permit himself to worry about the morrow, nor did he bother to store up food or supplies for the harsh winter months.
Father Christesia was already advanced in age when he was tonsured a monk and given the new name Christopher. He reposed peacefully in 1771, at the age of eighty.
1781 Saint Ignatius of Laconi Capuchin questor for 40 years as a child  found daily at church doors before dawn waiting in prayer to be opened levitation in prayer gifts of prophecy and miracles of healing (AC)

Cálari, in Sardínia, sancti Ignátii a Lacóni, Confessóris, ex Ordine Minórum Capuccinórum, humilitáte, caritáte et miráculis præclári; quem Pius Papa Duodécimus Sanctórum honóribus decorávit.
              At Cagliari in Sardinia, St. Ignatius of Laconi, confessor, of the Minor Order of Capuchins, distinguished for his humility, charity and miracles.  He was accorded the honour of canonization by Pope Pius XII.
 1781 ST IGNATIUS OF LACONI
LACONI is beautifully situated a little south of the middle of the island of Sardinia. Two hundred and fifty years ago it was little more than a large village, with narrow winding streets between the peasant cottages, adjoining the park and mansion of the local nobleman, the Marquis of Laconi. Living in the Via Prezzu was a man named Matthew Cadello Peis, who was married to Ann Mary Sanna Casu. They were respectable people, very hard-working and very poor, and they had three sons and six daughters. One who knew them personally said they were “a household of saints”; that, no doubt, must not be taken too literally; but one of the children, the second born, was in fact to be raised to the Church’s altars.
This boy was born on December 17, 1701. He was christened Francis Ignatius Vincent, and was known at home by his last name. Little is known of his early years, except that he was a “child of the fields”, early becoming acquainted with hard work on his father’s land. Physically, Vincent was delicate and his healthy life failed to strengthen him; all the witnesses speak of his being thin and pale. It was precisely this poor health that was the occasion of his seriously determining to “enter religion”. Vincent’s mother is said to have promised her son to St Francis of Assisi at birth, and she certainly used to speak to him of one day wearing the habit of Il Poverello. Accordingly when, being about seventeen or eighteen years old, he was taken seriously ill, he offered himself to St Francis should he recover. But on regaining his health, his father was unwilling to part with him: “We did not promise to do anything in a hurry”, said the prudent Matthew. “To-day or to-morrow, this year or later on, it all comes to the same thing. There’s no need to keep your promise at once.” But on an autumn day in 1721 something happened to strengthen Vincent’s determination. He was riding out to look at his father’s cattle when, at a rather dangerous part of the road, his horse bolted. Vincent lost control altogether and thought he would certainly be killed; but for no apparent reason the horse pulled up suddenly, and then jogged on quietly as before. In this the young man saw the finger of God.
A few days later, in spite of his father’s expostulations, Vincent made his way to Buoncammino, near Cagliari, and there asked to be admitted to the Capuchin branch of the Order of Friars Minor. After some delay he was clothed in the habit of St Francis, as Brother Ignatius, at St Benedict’s friary. It was one of those beautiful homely little houses of friars such as are still to be found in parts of Italy.
At first Brother Ignatius got on well, under the eye of a sympathetic and discerning novice-master. But his successor in office was less understanding: he suspected Brother Ignatius of insincerity, and was of the opinion that he was not physically strong enough for Franciscan life. As the end of his novitiate approached it looked as if Brother Ignatius would be rejected for profession, but he redoubled his efforts to carry out all he was called on to do: and so at the end of 1722 he was allowed to make his vows. Brother Ignatius was specially attached to St Benedict’s; but after profession he was sent for short periods to other neighbouring houses, the bigger friary, St Antony’s, at Buoncammino, Cagliari, Iglesias. It was at the last-named place that rumours of wonders began to be associated with the young laybrother, and when he was sent out to collect alms people not only gave to him but asked him to come again. Near the village of Sant’ Antioco there is a hillock called to this day Brother Ignatius’s Hill, though why is not known. From Iglesias he was sent back to Cagliari, where for fifteen years he worked in the weaving-shed. The life of a laybrother is likely in any case to be uneventful, and during this period practically nothing is known of Brother Ignatius beyond his steady progress in the love of God.
Then came a change which gave him opportunity more widely to extend this love in terms of his human fellows. He was already a “friar”; he had now to be a “brother” as well. A man of solitude and silence, working quietly within monastery walls, he had to go out into the world, travel around on foot, and commend himself and his mission to all and sundry. In 1741 he was sent out from St Antony’s at Buoncammino to quest for alms, and that proved to be the chief external occupation of the remaining forty years of his life. It is easy enough to dress up a “begging son of St Francis” in a spurious romanticism: the reality is rather different. You are liable to have the door slammed in your face, to be assailed with abuse; you are at the mercy of the weather and the miles no less than of the moods and whims of men and women. Brother Ignatius made of this humbling task a real apostolate: he was consulted by those in difficulties, he visited the sick and reproved sinners and taught the ignorant, enemies were reconciled, he took back alms to support his brethren, and God was glorified. For people loved Brother Ignatius. And outstandingly children loved him and he loved them. More than one happy mother claimed that her barrenness had been taken away through the prayers of Ignatius of Laconi.
A Capuchiness, who well remembered him coming to her home when she was seven years old, recorded that St Ignatius was of medium height, with slight features, his hair and beard white. He carried a forked stick and was upright in his gait, easy in manner, and “gentle and caressing with children”. His simplicity was truly Franciscan, and the measuredness of his speech reflected the serene calm of his mind. His daily activity was sufficiently trying, but the solitude he lacked then he found at night, when contemplation of divine things often reduced sleep to a few hours, and that on a shake-down bed with a log for pillow.
There is the testimony of an onlooker, Brother Francis Mary of Iglesias, for St Ignatius being lifted from the ground in prayer, and the account bears the stamp of accuracy: “Then it was time for the night office”, it ends, “and at the sound of the bell Brother Ignatius slowly moved down to the ground and went into choir with the others.” Numerous marvels are attributed to him, and attested in the process of beatification. Many of them were cures of ill-health, so much so that Father Emmanuel of Iglesias and others said that Brother Ignatius seemed to be the general medical practitioner of the whole neighbourhood, and the laybrother had often to protest that “I am not a doctor. What can I do?” What he did was to recommend some simple remedy, to exhort to trust in God, or to pray, “If it be God’s will, may you be healed”.
There was in Cagliari a rich and unscrupulous money-lender, named Franchino, at whose house St Ignatius deliberately never called in his quest for alms. Regarding this as a public slight, Franchino complained to the father guardian of St Antony’s, who, not knowing the reason for the omission, told Brother Ignatius to remedy it. He obeyed without argument, and came back from Franchino’s house with a sack full of food. This he brought to the guardian and poured out at his feet—when it was seen to be dripping with blood. “What is the meaning of this?” asked the guardian in astonishment. “Father guardian”, explained Brother Ignatius “this is the blood of the poor. And that is why I ask for nothing from that house.”
From the early spring of 1781, when he was in his eightieth year, the health of St Ignatius began seriously to fail, and he visited his beloved sister Mary Agnes, a Poor Clare, telling her it was the last time they would meet on earth. He took to his bed, and on May 11, at the hour of our Lord’s agony on the cross, he put his hands together, murmured, “It is the Agony!” and died. St Ignatius of Laconi was canonized in 1951.
A Vita del Ven. Fra Ignazio da Laconi, by F. Sequi, was published at Cagliari in 1870. Another, by Father G. de Dominicis, in 1929, was based on documents of the process and local research. Another, by R. Branca, appeared at Turin in 1932. The official biography, published in 1940, was written by Father Samuel of Chiaramonte and gathers ins convenient form all that is of general interest about St Ignatius; but the work is somewhat verbose, spun out and repetitive for English taste. A German Protestant minister, Joseph Fues, who was in Sardinia in 1773—76, published a series of descriptive letters (Leipzig, 1780) which contain very valuable contemporary information about Ignatius; they were translated into Italian in 1899. A life in French by Father Majella was published in Belgium in 1946.

Born in Laconi, Sardinia, in 1701; died at Cagliari, Italy, in 1781; canonized in 1951; feast day formerly May 12.  Vincent Peis' parents were of modest means, but his was not a modest devotion to God. In fact, his childlike devotion was so remarkable that he would be found daily at the church doors before dawn, waiting in prayer, for them to be opened.    
Saint Ignatius
With some difficulty he was received into the Capuchin branch of the Franciscan Order at Buoncammino (near Cagliari) in 1722 as a lay-brother, taking the name Ignatius. He passed his life doing mundane tasks and, at age 40 (1741), was entrusted with the work of questor, that is, begging for his convent at Cagliari. This office, which was his occupation for 40 years, gave him an opportunity to exercise his gentle love of children, the poor, and the sick. He travelled about on foot in all kinds of weather, meeting with refusals and contradictions but he never gave up.
   An unusual legend tells us that he would never beg alms from an unscrupulous moneylender, who complained of this neglect. The local guardian ordered Ignatius to call upon him. The saint returned with a sack of food, but when it was opened, it dripped with blood. More reliable accounts tell of his levitation in prayer and miracles of healing wrought through his intercession.
  Though he was illiterate, he loved to listen to the Gospels, especially the Passion accounts, and was favored with the gifts of prophecy and miracles. He would pass whole hours in prayer before the tabernacle. The particulars about his Christ-centered life that have survived show a determined, gentle character like those in the Little Flowers of Saint Francis. A contemporary portrait of the saint at Cagliari confirms a written description of him as medium height with slight features, a white beard and hair, upright in gait, and easy in manner (Attwater, Benedictines, Farmer)

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven:  only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
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THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 2

Give to the King thy judgment, O God: and thy mercy to the Queen, His Mother.

In thy hand are life and salvation: perpetual joy and glorious eternity.

Sprinkle my heart with thy sweetness: make me forget the miseries of this life.

Draw me after thee by the bands of thy mercy: and with the bandages of thy grace and loving kindness heal my pain.

Stir up in me a desire for Heaven: and inebriate my soul with the joy of Paradise.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.
The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary
My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian. 
In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.
Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; “A very Holy Man of God.”
Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
  Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN
America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World
August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation
by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgences  Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.
The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi. 
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi. 
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.
As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens.  These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.
Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Islam is a religion of peace.  As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail.  There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.
Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray!  God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

Father John Corapi is what has commonly been called a late vocation. In other words, he came to the priesthood other than a young man. He was 44 years old when he was ordained. From small town boy to the Vietnam era US Army, from successful businessman in Las Vegas and Hollywood to drug addicted and homeless, to religious life and ordination to the priesthood by Pope John Paul II, to a life as a preacher of the Gospel who has reached millions with the simple message that God's Name is Mercy!

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.
Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12). 
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

About Father John Corapi.
Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .
The pillars of father's preaching are basically:
Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary 
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

The angel appears to Saint Monica
This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

***
MIRACLES:
Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890
MARTYRDOM:
Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936
Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945
HEROIC VIRTUE:

Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991
Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973
Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853
Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896
Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912
Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919
Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims
CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico.
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church.
Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries.
Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958.
* * *
The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of:
- Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944);
- Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980);
- Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967);
- Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898);
- Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937);
- Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953);
- Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976);
- Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953)
October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

MARTYRDOM
- Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937;

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).
March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

– Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940);
– Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906);
– Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967);
– Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799);
HEROIC VIRTUE

– Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978);
– Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892);
– Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844);
– Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914);
– Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982);
– Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860);
– Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959);
– Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978).

April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope:

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
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