Solemnity of Corpus Christi – The Most Holy Body ad Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ +2021 – celebrated today in many countries, where Thursday was not a Holy Day
Panna Mária,/ Blessed Virgin Mary, Pozba, Nové Zámky, Nitra, Slovakia 1512 –Second Sunday after Feast of the Ascension:
In 1512, the Pauline Fathers built a Marian Shrine, in the southwest Slovakian Town of Vel’ké Lovce. In the 1700s is was a popular place of pilgrimage. One day in those years, shepherds and pilgrims, observed a white dove bathing in a spring in the woods five miles away, outside the village of Pozba. The story circulated that a shepherd’s blind daughter regained her sight after washing her eyes with the dove’s bathwater. The landowner made fun of this, wondering if the spring could help his blind horse. It did, but he went blind instead. A sick girl saw the Virgin, wearing a white dress and blue sash, in a pear tree and was immediately cured. From the wood of this tree, a Pietà was carved, still venerated in a Chapel by the spring, which hosts annual pilgrimages on Pentecost Sunday and on 15 September, Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
St Norbert (c 1080-1134) (Optional Memorial) Bishop, Confessor, Founder of the Premonstratensian or theNorbertine Canons and Sisters, “Defender of the Eucharist” and “Apostle of the Eucharist,” Exorcist, Reformer, Preacher His amazing life: https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/06/saint-of-the-day-6-june-st-norbert/
St Agobard of Lyon St Alexander of Fiesole St Alexander of Noyon St Amantius of Noyon St Anoub of Skete St Artemius of Rome St Bazalota of Abyssinia St Bertrand of Aquileia (1258– 1350) Bishop St Candida of Rome St Ceratius of Grenoble St Claudius of Besançon St Cocca St Colmán of Orkney Bl Daniel of Bergamo St Euphemia of Abyssinia St Eustorgius II of Milan Bl Falco of La Cava Bl Gilbert of Neufontaines St Grazia of Germagno St Gudwall Bl Gundisalvus of Azebeyro St Hilarion the Younger
St Paulina of Rome St Phêrô Dung St Phêrô Thuan St Rafael Guízar y Valencia St Vincent of Bevagna St Vinh-Son Duong — Marytrs of Tarsus: A group of 20 martyrs who were killed together during the persecutions of Diocletian. They were martyred in Tarsus (in modern Turkey).
Mercedarian Fathers of Avignon: Several Mercedarians from the Santa Maria convent of Avignon, France who worked with plague victims in that city and died of the disease themselves. They died in Avignon, France of plague and are remembered together today for their great charity and commitment to their people.
Quote/s of the Day – 5 June – The Memorial of St Boniface (c 672-754) “The Apostle of Germany” – Martyr
“Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us wait upon God’s strengthening aid and say to Him: ‘O Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations.’”
St Boniface (c 672-754) “The Apostle of Germany” – Martyr
Saint of the Day – 5 June – Blessed Ferdinand of Portugal (1402-1443) “The Holy Prince.” Blessed Ferdinand spent as much time as he could in adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament especially during the Easter Triduum when his habit was to be constantly in adoration, from Holy Thursday to Easter. He was the youngest of the “Illustrious Generation” of 15th-century Portuguese Princes of the House of Aviz and lay Master of the Knightly Order of Aviz. Born on 29 September 1402 at Santarem, Portugal and died on 5 June 1443 (aged 40) in prison in Fez, Morocco of maltreatment by the Moors – for this reason some call him a Martyr. Also known as Ferdinand the Prince, “Saint Prince” or the “Constant Prince.”
Ferdinand was born in Santarém on 29 September 1402, the Feast of St Michael, a Saint to whom he would remain affectionately attached. He had a complicated birth and would remain a sickly child throughout much of his youth. Relatively sheltered because of his illnesses, Ferdinand had a quiet and very pious upbringing, a favourite of his English mother, from whom he acquired a preference for the Sarum Rite of Salisbury in the religious Liturgy of Holy Mass. Bodily weakness did not hinder his growth in spirit and even in his boyhood and youth, he gave evidence of remarkable qualities of soul and intellect. With great strength of character and a keen sense of justice and order, he combined an innocence, gentleness, and charity which excited the wonder of the Royal Court.
Ferdinand had a special predilection for prayer and for the ceremonies and devotions of the Church, especially time in adoration before our lord in the Blessed Sacrament. After his fourteenth year, he recited daily, the canonical hours, rising at midnight for Matins. Always severe with himself, he was abstemious in his diet and fasted on Saturdays and on the eves of the Feasts of the Church. He cared for the spiritual, as well as the corporal, necessities of his domestics, while his solicitude for the poor and oppressed was unbounded. His generosity towards the Monasteries was impelled by his desire to share in their prayers and good works. He had himself enrolled for the same reason in all the pious Congregations of the Kingdom.
He was one of five sons, his mother being, Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and his father, King John I, known in history for his victories over the Moors and in particular, for his conquest of Ceuta, a powerful Moorish stronghold and his establishment of an episcopal see within its walls. Upon the death of his father in 1433, his brother, Edward (Duarte) ascended the throne, while he himself received but a small inheritance. It was then that he was induced to accept the Grand-Mastership of the Knightly Order of Aviz, in order that he might be better able to help the poor. As he was not a cleric, his brother, the King, obtained for him the necessary Papal dispensation. The fame of his charity went abroad, and Pope Eugene IV, through the Papal Legate, offered him the Cardinal’s hat. This he refused, not wishing, as he declared, to burden his conscience.
Though living a life of great sanctity in the midst of the Court, Ferdinand was not a mere recluse. He was also a man of action and in his boyhood, his soul was stirred by the heroic campaign against the Moors. His mother, the Queen, had nurtured the martial spirit of her sons, and it is even said that on her deathbed, she gave them each a sword, charging them to use it in defence of widows, orphans and their country and, in particular, against unbelievers. An opportunity soon presented itself. In 1437 Edward planned an expedition against the Moors in Africa and placed his brothers Henry and Ferdinand, in command. They set sail on 22 August 1437 and four days later, arrived at Ceuta. During the voyage, Ferdinand became dangerously ill, in consequence of an abcess and fever which he had concealed before the departure, in order not to delay the fleet. Through some mismanagement, the Portuguese numbered only 6000 men, instead of 14,000, as ordered by the King. Though advised to wait for reinforcements, the two Princes, impatient for the fray, advanced towards Tangiers, to which they lay siege. Ferdinand recovered slowly but was not able to take part in the first battle.
The Portuguese fought bravely against great odds but were finally compelled to make terms with the enemy, agreeing to restore Ceuta in return for a safe passage to their vessels. The Moors likewise demanded that one of the Princes be delivered into their hands as a hostage for the delivery of the City. Ferdinand offered himself for the dangerous post and, with a few faithful followers,, including João Alvarez, his Secretary and later his Biographer, began a painful captivity which ended only, with his death.
He was first brought to Arsilla by Salà ben Salà, the Moorish Ameer. In spite of sickness and bodily sufferings, he continued all his devotions and showed great charity towards his Christian fellow-captives. Henry at first repaired to Ceuta, where he was joined by his brother John. Realising that it would be difficult to obtain the Royal consent to the restoration of the fortress, they proposed to exchange their brother for the son of Salà ben Salà, whom Henry held as a hostage. The Moor scornfully rejected the proposal, and both returned to Portugal to devise means of setting the Prince free. Though his position was perilous in the extreme, the Portuguese Cortes refused to surrender Ceuta, not only on account of the treachery of the Moors but because the place had cost them so dearly and might serve as a point of departure for future conquests. It was resolved to ransom him if possible. Salà ben Salà refused all offers, his purpose being to recover his former seat of government.
Scenes from Ferdinand’s captivity and death in Fez (from the Bollandist’s Acta Sanctorum, 1695). The only known depiction of Ferdinand with a saint’s halo.
Various attempts were made to free the Prince, but all proved futile and only served to make his lot more unbearable. On 25 May, 1438, he was sent to Fez and handed over to the cruel Lazurac, the King’s vizier. He was first condemned to a dark dungeon and, after some months of imprisonment, was compelled to work like a slave in the royal gardens and stables. Amid insult and misery, Ferdinand never lost patience. Though often urged to seek safety in flight, he refused to abandon his companions and grieved more for their sufferings, of which he considered himself the cause, than for his own. His treatment of his persecutors was respectful and dignified, but he would not descend to flattery to obtain any alleviation of his sufferings. During the last fifteen months of his life, he was confined alone in a dark dungeon with a block of wood for his pillow and the stone floor for a bed. He spent most of his time in prayer and in preparation for death, which his rapidly failing health warned him, was near at hand. In May, 1443, he was stricken with the fatal disease to which he finally succumbed. His persecutors refused to change his loathsome abode, although they allowed a physician and a few faithful friends to attend him.
On the evening of 5 June, after making a general confession and a profession of faith, he peacefully gave up his soul to God. aged just 40. During the day he had confided to his Confessor, who frequently visited him, that the Blessed Virgin with St John and the Archangel Michael had appeared to him in a vision. Lazurac ordered the body of the Prince to be opened and the vital organs removed and then caused it to be suspended head downwards for four days on the walls of Fez. Nevertheless, he was compelled to pay tribute to the constancy, innocence and spirit of prayer of his royal victim. Of Ferdinand’s companions, four shortly afterwards followed him to the grave, one joined the ranks of the Moors and the others regained their liberty after Lazurac’s death. One of the latter, João Alvarez, his Secretary and Biographer, carried his heart to Portugal in 1451 and in 1473, his body was brought to Portugal, and laid to rest in the Royal Vault at Batalha Monastery amid imposing ceremonies.
Effigy of Ferdinand the Holy Prince in the Monument of the Discoveries, in Lisbon,
Prince Ferdinand has ever been held in great veneration by the Portuguese on account of his saintly life and devotion to the country. Miracles were wrought at his intercession and in 1470, he was Beatified by Paul II.
Beata Vergine dell’Aiuto, / Our Lady of Help, Bobbio, Piacenza, Emilia Romagna, Italy 15th century – 5 June :
In the 1400s, Adriano Repetino had a vineyard in fields of Corgnate outside Bobbio, on the road to the hub of Piacenza. He built a wall along the road,and in it, a niche, with an image of Mary seated with the Child, who held a bouquet with one hand and raised the other in blessing. In the summer of 1472, the image became a focus of local devotion – there were miracles and the picture was seen to change its appearance. After an investigation, Church authorities decided the site merited a Chapel. Adriano Repetino donated some property and the building was dedicated to the Annunciation of Maria. On 5 June 1611, miracles resumed. The picture was found covered in sweat. Cures and other miracles multiplied. The Bishop named the wonder-working image the “Blessed Virgin of Help.” A larger, finer Church, begun in 1621, was finally consecrated on 13 July 1738 and construction continued into the 1800s. Built over the old, the newer Shrine houses the Madonna of Help’s processional Statue, modelled on the miraculous fresco in the old Shrine below.
In thanks for her protection during World War II, the Town of Bobbio named the Madonna of Help its principal Patron in 1947, when the image was officially Crowned. In 1970 Pope Paul VI elevated the Church to the rank of Basilica Minor.
St Adalar of Erfurt Bl Adalbert Radiouski Bl Adam Arakawa St Austrebertus of Vienne St Claudius of Egypt and Companions St Ðaminh Huyen St Ðaminh Toai St Dorotheus of Tyre St Elleher St Eoban of Utrecht St Eutichius of Como St Evasius of Africa St Felix of Fritzlar Blessed Ferdinand of Portugal (1402-1443) “The Holy Prince” St Franco of Assergi St Genesius, Count of Clermont St Gregory of Lilybaeum St Gundekar St Hadulph St Luke Loan Bl Meinwerk of Paderborn St Privatus of Africa St Sanctius of Córdoba St Tudno of Caernarvon St Waccar
Martyrs of Caesarea: A group of Christians who converted together, were imprisoned together, tortured together, and martyred together. We know nothing more about them but their names – Cyria, Marcia, Valeria and Zenaides. Died Caesarea, Palestine, date unknown.
Martyrs of Egypt: A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Galerius Maximian. The only other information was have is three of their names – Apollonius, Marcian and Nicanor. Died in Egypt, date unknown.
Martyrs of Perugia: A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Decius. We know little more than their names – Cyriacus, Faustinus, Florentius, Julian and Marcellinus. Died beheaded in 250 in Perugia, Italy
Martyrs of Rome: 26 Christians martyred together. We have no details about them but their names – Candida, Castula, Fappa, Felician, Felicitas (2 of), Felicula, Fortunatus, Gagus, Gregor, Hilarius, Ingenuus, Juliana, Martialis, Maurus, Mustilus, Nicander, Prima, Rogata, Rutianus, Sacrinus, Saturnin, Secundian, Secundus, Urbicus, Victurus. Died • Rome, Italy, date unknown • relics transferred to Antwerp, Belgium, date unknown.
Saint of the Day – 4 June – Blessed Pacificus of Cerano OFM (c 1424-1482) Priest of the Order of the Friars, renowned Preacher, called the “very famous apostolic orator,” Writer of spiritual works. Born as Pacifico Ramati in c 1424 at Cerano, Novara, Lombardy, Italy and died on 14 June 1482 in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy of natural causes. He was considered by scholars to be “outstanding for doctrine and holiness, the care and protection of his homeland.” Patronage – Cerano, Italy. Also known as – Pacifico Ramati, Pacificus of Ceredano, Pacificus Ramota.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In Sassari, blessed Pacifico Ramati, priest of the Order of Minors, who preached in defense of Christians and died in the Lord.”
A native of Cerano in the Province of Novara, Pacifico Ramati was orphaned at an early age and welcomed in the Monastery of St Lorenzo dei Benedettini were he was educated by the Superior in all necessary studies and in love of God and neighbour.
On the death of the Superior, his benefactor, he chose to remain in the religious state but preferring the Franciscan Order of Minors, thus entering the famous Observants Convent of St Nazario della Costa, already the cradle of future Saints of the Order.
After being Ordained as a Priest and having excelled in his studies, he was sent to the Sorbonne in Paris, where he obtained his doctorate. He returned to Italy and dedicated himself to preaching with fervour and competence, so as to be considered another St Bernardine and nicknamed the “very famous apostolic orator.”
He fought the religious ignorance of both the faithful and the clergy, especially in matters of penance. Pacificus became very active against religious ignorance and wrote the “Summa Pacifica,” a dissertation written in Italian and named after him ,as the Summa Pacifica which elaborates on the proper method of hearing Confessions. It was published in 1474 in the vernacular in order to reach as many as possible. The work was also published in Latin at Venice on two occasions first in 1501 and then in 1513.
His work took place in particular in Piedmont and Lombardy and in Cerano where he often returned and where he had a Chapel built to the Madonna to increase her devotion.
In 1471 Pope Sixtus IV sent him on a special mission to Sardinia and then a second time in 1480 during the Arab invasion of Mohammed II, with the task of organising a special Crusade against the Turks.
After two years of fruitful missionary efforts, on 4 June 1482, he died in Sassari consumed by apostolic labours. Fulfilling his wishes, his body was buried in the Franciscan Church in Cerano and some of his relics were given to the Parish Church as Patron of the Town. He was immediately honoured as a Saint and Pope Benedict XIV approved the cult on 12 May 1746.
Virgen María Sembradora / Virgin Mary the Planter, Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 4 June :
She is a great sower in the world of the best Seed, that of her Son. She was chosen to be the door of that great Seed that has changed the colour and flavour of all things and peoples of this world, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. A planter of the Gospel as a woman in her home, in that family of Nazareth where Jesus grew in wisdom and truth. She sowed silence around her Son, a silence of listening, of following, of accepting God’s will. But she also sowed commitment to the need of Elizabeth her relative and at that wedding in Cana. She again put seeds of the Kingdom at the foot of the Cross, welcoming that disconsolate disciple, becoming a Mother to him and to us all. Her seeds of unity, affection and advice in the midst of the community bore fruit … Today she continues to plant all this in our hearts to love her Son Jesus and God our Father who chose her as His Masterpiece.
The image of Virgen Maria Sembradora / Virgin Mary the Planter is housed in the Parish “San Carlos Borromeo” in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Virgin carries in her right hand the Seed of the Word, planting it in the hearts of the faithful.
A Novena is begun on 25 May and on 4 June every year, the Statue is carried out in procession.
St Aldegrin of Baume St Alexander of Verona St Alonio Bl Antoni Zawistowski St Aretius of Rome Bl Boniface of Villers St Breaca of Cornwall St Buriana of Cornwall St Christa of Sicily St Clateus of Brescia St Cornelius McConchailleach St Croidan St Cyrinus of Aquileia St Dacian of Rome St Degan St Edfrith of Lindisfarne St Elsiar of Lavedan St Ernin of Cluain
St Francis Caracciolo CRM (1563-1608) Priest, Co-Founder of the Congregation of the Clerics Regular Minor with Venerable John Augustine (1551-1587) the “Adorno Fathers,” Confessor, Apostle of the Eucharistic Adoration. His body was given enough preparation for a long journey to Naples. Truly, God has left His own sign on him. When the body was lanced, the blood spouted a red and scented fluid and his vital organs were uncorrupted. Around his heart were printed the words of the Psalm: “The zeal of your house consumes me” (Ps 69:10). Wow!: https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/04/saint-of-the-day-4-june-saint-francis-caracciolo-crm-1563-1608/
Bl Francis Ronci Bl Margaret of Vau-le-Duc St Medan Bl Menda Isategui St Metrophanes of Byzantium St Nennoc St Nicolo of Sardinia St Optatus of Milevis Blessed Pacificus of Cerano OFM (c 1424-1482) Priest of the Order of the Friars Minor of St Francis St Petroc of Cornwall St Quirinus of Croatia St Quirinus of Tivoli St Rutilus of Sabaria Saturnina of Arras Bl Stanislaw Kostka Starowieyski St Trano of Sardinia St St Walter of Fontenelle Walter of Serviliano — Martyrs of Cilicia – 13 saints: A group of 13 Christians who were martyred together. The only details about them that have survived are their names – • Cama• Christa• Crescentia• Eiagonus• Expergentus• Fortunus• Italius • Jucundian• Julia• Momna• Philip• Rustulus• Saturnin They were martyred in in Cilicia, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey), date unknown
Martyrs of Nyon – 41 saints: A group of 41 Christians martyred together for refusing to sacrifice to imperial Roman idols. We know the names of some but no other details. • Amatus• Attalus• Camasus• Cirinus• Dinocus• Ebustus• Euticus• Eutychius • Fortunius• Galdunus• Julia• Quirinus• Rusticus• Saturnina• Saturninus • Silvius• Uinnita• Zoticus Martyred by being beheaded in Noviodunum (modern Nyon, Switzerland).
Saint of the Day – 3 June – Saint Kevin of Glendalough (c 498-618) Priest, Founder and first Abbot of the Glendalough Monastery in County Wicklow, Ireland, Hermit, Ascetic and Mystic, scholar, Spiritual Adviser, miracle-worker., he possessed a miraculous affinity with animals and nature. Born in c 498 as Coemgen which means “fair-begotten”, or “of noble birth” at the Fort of the White Fountain, Leinster, Ireland and died on 3 June 618 of natural causes. Patronages – blackbirds, Archdiocese of Dublin, Glendalough. Also known as – Kevin of Glen da locha, Caoimhghin, Coemgen, Coemgenus, Comegen, Keivin. Glendalough, or the Glen of two Lakes, is one of the most important sites of monastic ruins in Ireland. Before the arrival of St Kevin this glen would have been desolate and remote, ideal for a secluded retreat.
Kevin (like St Columba) was of noble birth, the son of Coemlog and Coemell of Leinster. He was born in c 498 at the Fort of the White Fountain and Baptised by Saint Cronan of Roscrea. He became a pupil of Saint Petroc of Cornwall, who had come to Leinster about 492. He was Ordained by Bishop Lugidus and, following his Ordination, he moved to Glendalough in order to live a life of contemplation and prayer. He lived as a Hermit in a partially man made cave, now known as St Kevin’s Bed, to which he was led, in the account of his Vita, by an angel.
St Kevin’s Bed can best be described as a man-made cave cut in the rock face very close to the edge of the mountain. It overlooks the upper lake from a height of about 0 metres. The approach to the cave is very difficult, with access to it through a rectangular space and a short passageway 1 metre high and les than that in width. The inner or main part of the cave is just 1.5 metres wide and less than 31 metre high. It is reasonable to assume that the cave could only have been used as a sleeping place and would have been impossible for an adult to stand upright in, so it is quite likely that St Kevin only used it as his bed, or a place for pious prayer or meditation.
There is a legend which claims that St Laurence O’Toole used the “bed” as he frequently made penitential visits to Glendalough, especially during the season of Lent.
Kevin lived the life of a hermit there with an extraordinary closeness to nature. His companions were the animals and birds all around him. He lived as a Hermit for seven years wearing only animal skins, sleeping on stones and eating very sparingly.
He went barefoot and spent his time in prayer. Disciples were soon attracted to Kevin and a further settlement enclosed by a wall, called Kevin’s Cell, was established nearer the lakeshore. By 540 Saint Kevin’s fame as a teacher and holy man had spread far and wide. Many people came to seek his help and guidance. In time, Glendalough grew into a renowned seminary of saints and scholars and the parent of several other Monasteries.
In 544, Kevin went to the Hill of Uisneach in County Westmeath to visit the holy Abbots, Sts Columba, Comgall and Cannich and to establish a brotherly league of communication with them. He then proceeded to Clonmacnoise, where St Cieran had died three days before. Having firmly established his community, he retired into solitude for four years and only returned to Glendalough at the earnest entreaty of his Monks. Until his death in 618, Kevin presided over his Monastery in Glendalough, living his life by fasting, praying and teaching. St Kevin is one of the Patron Saints of the diocese of Dublin.
He belonged to the second order of Irish saints. Eventually, Glendalough, with its seven Churches, became one of the chief pilgrimage destinations in Ireland.
Kevin of Glendalough was Canonised by St Pope Pius X on 9 December 1903 (cultus confirmation).
You were privileged to live in the Age of Saints, O Father Kevin being Baptised by one Saint, taught by another and buried by a third. Pray to God that He will raise up saints in our day to help, support and guide us into the Way of salvation. (A troparion to St Kevin)
Madonna della Lettera / Our Lady of the Letter (Messina, Sicily, Italy) 1693 – Patron of Messina, Palmi (Reggio Calabria) and of Finale (Palermo) – 3 June and 9 January:
According to tradition, Saint Paul arrived in Messina to preach the Gospel and the population welcomed him with enthusiasm, thus obtaining many conversions. In 42, when Paul was about to return to Palestine, some Messinesi asked to accompany him in order to get to know Our Lady in person. So a delegation of Messinesi went to Palestine with a missive, in which many fellow citizens converted to the faith of Christ, professed their faith and asked for the protection of Mary.
Mary welcomed them and, in response to the letter, sent back a letter of her, written in Hebrew, rolled up and tied with a lock of her hair. The delegation returned to Messina on 8 September 42 carrying the important letter. In it, Mary praised their faith, mentioning that their devotion pleased her and assured them of her perpetual prayers and protection.
The lock of hair is kept in the Cathedral of Messina and exposed on the day of Corpus Christi set in the tree of a small galleon built in silver, which represents one of the examples of the protection of the Lady for Messina. (see image below)
The cult of Our Lady of the Letter, however, only became established in 1716, the year in which the Monk Gregorio Arena brought a translation of the letter of Mary from Arabic into Messina. Since then, the City of Messina has celebrated the festival on 3 June with a crowded procession of the silvery litter of Our Lady. The tradition of the names Letterio and Letteria (abbreviations, respectively Lillo and Lilla) derives from the cult of Our Lady of the Letter, spread above all in Messina and the Province.
The text of the letter delivered to the Messina delegation reads:
“Most humble servant of God, Mother of Jesus crucified, of the tribe of Judah, of the lineage of David, good health to all the Messinese and Blessing of God the Father Almighty. It is clear to us, through public instrument, that all of you with great faith, have sent Legates and Ambassadors, confessing that Our Son, begotten of God, is God and man and that after his Resurrection, ascended into heave. Having known the way of truth through the preaching of Paul, the chosen Apostle for whom we bless you and your city and, of which, we want to be its perpetual protector.
(From Jerusalem 3 June year 42 of Our Son. Indiction 1 moon XXVII) “
The phrase VOS ET IPSAM CIVITATEM BENEDICIMUS(“We bless you and your City”) is now written in large letters at the base of the Statue of Our Lady on the extreme arm of the Port of Messina. It should be noted that the text of the letter has an inconsistency in the date, since at that time Christian dating did not yet exist.
The devotion in Palmi (Reggio Calabria): – In 1575 an epidemic of plague broke out in Messina which caused the death of over 40,000 people. The citizens of Palmi welcomed those who fled the Peloritan City and also, through its sailors, sent aid of various kinds of food and oil. After the calamity, the City of Messina wanted to donate one of the hairs of Our Lady that were brought to the Sicilian City to the ecclesial authorities of Palmi, as a sign of gratitude for the help given. In 1582 a reliquary containing a Holy Hair of the Virgin arrived at the Marina di Palmi. From that moment, veneration towards Our Lady with the title “of the Holy Letter” began also in the people of Palmese and her Effigy carved in dark wood and enclosed in a silver mantle, similar to that venerated in the Peloritan City, was adopted.
Martyrs of Uganda (Memorial) – 22 saints: Twenty-two (22) young Ugandan converts martyred in the persecutions of King Mwanga. They are – • Achileo Kiwanuka • Adolofu Mukasa Ludigo • Ambrosio Kibuuka • Anatoli Kiriggwajjo • Anderea Kaggwa • Antanansio Bazzekuketta • Bruno Sserunkuuma • Charles Lwanga • Denis Ssebuggwawo • Gonzaga Gonza • Gyavire • James Buzabaliao • John Maria Muzeyi • Joseph Mukasa • Kizito • Lukka Baanabakintu • Matiya Mulumba • Mbaga Tuzinde • Mugagga • Mukasa Kiriwawanvu • Nowa Mawaggali • Ponsiano Ngondwe They were Canonised on 18 October 1964 by Pope Paul VI at Rome, Italy. The Lives and Martyrdom of the Ugandan Martyrs: https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/03/saints-of-the-day-3-june-uganda-martyrs-or-st-charles-lwanga-companions/
Bl Adam of Guglionesi St Albert of Como St Athanasius of Traiannos St Auditus of Braga Bl Beatrice Bicchieri St Caecilius of Carthage
St Charles Lwanga & Companions (see the Martyrs of Uganda above)
Bl Charles-René Collas du Bignon St Clotilde of France St Conus of Lucania St Cronan the Tanner St Davinus of Lucca Bl Diego Oddi Bl Francis Ingleby St Gausmarus of Savigny St Genesius of Clermont St Glunshallaich St Hilary of Carcassone St Isaac of Córdoba
St Laurentinus of Arezzo St Liphardus of Orléans St Morand of Cluny St Moses of Arabia St Oliva of Anagni St Paula of Nicomedia St Pergentinus of Arezzo St Phaolô Vu Van Duong St Urbicius — Dominicans Martyred in China
Martyrs of Africa – 156 saints: 156 Christians martyred together in Africa, date unknown; the only other information to survive are some of their names – • Abidianus• Demetria• Donatus• Gagus• Januaria• Juliana• Nepor• Papocinicus• Quirinus• Quirus Martyrs of Byzantium – 5 saints: A group of Christians, possibly related by marriage, who were martyred together. They were – • Claudius• Dionysius• Hypatius• Lucillian• Paul They were Martyred in 273 in Byzantium.
Martyrs of Rome – 8 saints: A group of Christians martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – • Amasius• Emerita• Erasmus• Lucianus• Orasus• Satuaucnus• Septiminus• Servulus They were Martyred in Rome, Italy, date unknown.
Martyrs of Rome – 86 saints: 85+ Christians martyred together in Rome, Italy, date unknown. The only details that have survived are some of their names – • Apinus • Apronus • Aurelius • Avidus • Cassianus • Criscens • Cyprus • Domitius • Donata • Donatus • Emeritus • Extricatus • Exuperia • Faustina • Felicitas • Felix • Flavia • Florus • Fortunata • Fortunatus • Fructus • Gagia • Gagus • Gallicia • Gorgonia • Honorata • Januaria • Januarius • Justa • Justus • Libosus • Luca • Lucia • Matrona • Matura • Mesomus • Metuana • Nabor • Neptunalis • Obercus • Paula • Peter • Pompanus • Possemus • Prisca • Procula • Publius • Quintus • Rogatian • Romanus • Rufina • Saturnin • Saturnus • Secundus • Severa • Severus • Sextus • Silvana • Silvanus • Sinereus • Tertula • Titonia • Toga • Urban • Valeria • Veneria • Veranus • Victor • Victoria • Victorinus • Victuria • Victurina • Virianus • Weneria • Zetula. They were Martyred in Rome date unknown.
Saint of the Day – 2 June – Saint Nicholas Peregrinus the Pilgrim (1075-1094) Confessor. Born in 1075 in Greece and died in 1094 in Trani, Italy of natural causes, aged 19 years old, just fifteen days after his arrival, having travelled from Taranto and before that from Otranto. Also known as – Nicholas the Pilgrim, Nicola Pellegrino di Trani. Patronage – Trani, Italy. Th name Nicholas derives from the Greek Nikòlaos and means “winner of the people.”
The Cathedral of Trani is his living memory, a memory of extraordinary harmony. Nicola il Pellegrino is the Patron Saint of the Apulian City – the Church built in 1097 is dedicated to him. Nicholas came from Greece and moved to Puglia, he travelled through it in its entirety. The chronicles report that he uttered a single, insistent invocation: “Kyrie Eleison”. He died in Trani in 1094. Since then, the miracles fro the veneration at his tomb, have been endless.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In Trani in Puglia, Saint Nicholas, who, a pilgrim born in Greece, travelled the whole region carrying a Crucifix and repeating without interruption ‘Kyrie, eléison.'”
Nicholas was born in Steiri in Boeotia, Greece, where his solitary life as a shepherd led him to contemplative spirituality. He developed a desire to warn others of their dire need of th great love and mercy of God. He desired to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Sites and on his way, to try to impress upon all, the need for repentance, prayer and supplication to God for His mercy. He developed the constant repetition of the phrase “Kyrie, eléison” – “Lord, have mercy.”
He attracted and gathered around him the young boys giving them small gifts and making them repeat his invocation. After his death numerous miracles blossomed; four years later in 1098 in the Roman Synod, the Bishop of Trani stood up and asked the Assembly that the venerable Nicholas be entered in the catalogue of saints for the merits he had in life and for the miracles that occurred post-mortem.
Pope Urban II issued a ‘Brief’ which authorised the Bishop of Trani, after appropriate reflection, to act as he considered most appropriate. The Bishop returned to Trani and Canonised Nicholas by the decree of Pope Urban II in 1098 and, after having erected a new Basilica, he deposited the body of the saint there.
His feast day is honoured each year, with great piety and celebration, by Holy Mass and a procession through the City of Trani.
Madonna delle Lacrime / Madonna of the Tears, Ponte Nossa, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy , 1511 – 2 June:
In the territory of Ponte Nossa known as Campo Lungo there was a small Oratory dedicated to the Seven Martyr Brothers and the Madonna which had a fresco on the facade by Giacomo Borlone de Buschis depicting the Crucifixion with the Madonna and St John.
On 2 June 1511 , some shepherdesses of the town staring at the picture, saw Mary’s face change, open and close her left eye until tears of blood appeared o her cheek. Among them was a girl from the Bonelli de Ferrari family, who wiped away her tears with her apron. The Virgin said:
“To the first who will pass this way, you will make my apparition kown and you will report that the Blessed Virgin told you so, who she orders that a Church be built in her honour where she will give many graces.”
The young women made the miracle public and showed the blood left on the young woman’s apron as a testimony. Tradition tells of other miraculous facts, such as the story of a soldier who mocked the young girls by questioning what they had reported and who whe he remounted his horse, suddenly found himself blind and his horse too, struck by the ‘wrath of God.’ The punishment made him repent and asking forgiveness from God and the Madonna, he regained the gift of sight. The testimony of the miracle and what happened after, were then collected by the notary Guerinoni of Gorno and put in writing. The construction of the new Church had the authorisation to begin construction as early as 10 June of the same year.
The building was finished in 1533, was built in Lombard Romanesque style next to the existing Church. It was Consecrated with the rite of dedication to Santa Maria Annunziata on 19 April 1575 by the co-adjutor of theBbishop Federico Corner and elevated to Parish in 1583. The miraculous fresco was inserted as a side Altarpiece . The previous church was then demolished in 1716 in order to make room for the new sacristy of the complex.
Although the exterior of the Sanctuary appears austere, the interior is full of treasures and frescoes. The frescoe below depicts the blinded soldier begging forgiveness. The Altar of the Madonna delle Lacrime (Our Lady of Tears) was embellished in the seventeenth century with small twisted alabaster columns accompanied by a plague in memory of the graces received and a special prayer to the Virgin.
Hanging from the ceiling of the nave, on the right side, in front of the Altar of the Virgin there is a crocodile. There is no written documentation referring to the true reason for the presence of a crocodile inside the Church. The first citation of it presence is deducible from a document dated 24 January 1594 by Bishop Federico Corner who asked for its immediate removal: “In the Church of the Madonna’s oratory, remove that crocodile skin under the roof, for it is indecent .” This order, however, was eluded by the then Parish Priest, Don Celso Lotteri, who declared – “It would be a huge mistake to remove it because, if on one hand, the skin of a sea monster is indecent in a sacred place, on the other hand, it is a real display of a miracle and a very material votive proving a true miracle and grace obtained through the invocation of Santa Maria dei Campi by some villagers who were miraculously preserved from the jaws of that voracious monster.”
The testimony of this miracle remains only oral, handed down by the faithful. It would seem, that in Rimini a merchant who was travelling to sell his wares, found himself facing a ferocious crocodile. He entrusted his prayers to the Madonna di Campolungo and thus, managed to hit the monster in the throat, killing it (as shown in the third fresco on the right wall in the upper part.) However, it appears, that there are many legends about the crocodile and although they differ slightly in detail, the main focus always remains the same, the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary!
In the 19th century, the figure of Mary was solemnly crowned with a diadem of gold and precious jewels. An annual procssion is held each year in honour of Our Lady of Tears.
St Pope Eugene I, St Evasius Bl Giovanni de Barthulono Bl Guy of Acqui St Honorata St Humatus St John de Ortega St Joseph Tien St Nicholas Peregrinus the Pilgrim (1075-1094) Confessor St Photinus of Lyons St Rogate Bl Sadoc of Sandomierz St Stephen of Sweden — Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne: A group of 48 Christians from the areas of Vienne and Lyon, France, who were attacked by a pagan mob, arrested and tried for their faith, and murdered in the persecutions of Marcus Aurelius. A letter describing their fate, possibly written by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, was sent to the churches in the Middle East. Only a few names and details of their lives have survived; some of them have separate entries on this date – • Alexander of Vienne • Attalus of Pergamos • Biblis of Lyons • Blandina the Slave • Cominus of Lugdunum • Epagathus of Lugdunum • Maturus the Novice • Photinus of Lyons • Ponticus of Lugdunum • Sanctius of Vienne • Vettius of Lugdunum They were martyred in assorted ways on on various during 177.
Martyrs of Sandomierz: A group of 49 Dominicans, some of whom received the habit from Saint Dominic de Guzman himself. They worked separately and together to bring the faith and establish the Dominican Order in Poland, basing their operations in and around Sandomierz. In 1260 they were all martyred by the Tartars as they were singing the Salve Regina at Compline; the custom of singing the Salve Regina at the deathbed of Dominicans stems from this incident. We know a few details about a few of the martyrs, but most survive only as names – • Zadok• Andrea, chaplain• James, novice master• Malachi, convent preacher • Paul, vicar• Peter, guardian of the garden• Simone, penitentiaryfriars • Abel, Barnabas, Bartholomew, Clemente, Elia, John, Luke, Matthew, Philip deacons• Giuseppe, Joachim, Stefanosub-deacons• Abraham, Basil, Moses, Taddeoclerics• Aaron, Benedict, David, Dominico, Mattia, Mauro, Michele, Onofrio, Timothyprofessed students• Christopher, Donato, Feliciano, Gervasio, Gordian, John, Mark, Medardo, Valentinonovices• Daniele, Isaiah, Macario, Raffaele, Tobialay brothers• Cyril, tailor• Jeremiah, shoemaker • Thomas, organist They were martyred in 1260 at Sandomierz, Poland and Beatified on 18 October 1807 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmation).
Quote/s of the Day – 1 June – “Month of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus” – The Memorial of St Justin Martyr (c 100-165) Father of the Church
“Let it be understood, that those who are not found living as He taught, are NOT Christian- even though they profess with the lips, the teaching of Christ.”
“As by the Word of God, Jesus our Saviour was made Flesh and had both Flesh and Blood for our salvation, so also the food, which has been blessed by the word of the prayer, instituted by Him, is both the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Incarnate.”
“By examining the tongue of the patient, physicians find out, the diseases of the body and philosophers, the diseases of the mind.”
“Love is like the air we breathe, it isn’t always seen but it is heard, felt and needed.”
“You can kill us but you cannot do us any real harm.”
Saint of the Day – 1 June – Blessed Teobaldo Roggeri (c 1100-1150) Layman, Shoemaker, Porter, Apostle of the poor and needy, Penitent, Pilgrim Born in c 1100 in Vico, Liguria, Piedmont, Italy and died in 1150 of natural causes. Patronages – the Diocese of Alba, against fever, against sterility, Church cleaners, Cobblers, Porters, Shoemakers, Tradespeople. Also known as Theobald of Vico, Theobald of Alba, Teobaldo of Alba, Theobald Roggeris. The liturgical feast commonly occurs on 1 June but is also celebrated on 1 February with the “Feast of Remembrance” which opens with the nocturnal sound of the bells with which we remember the miracle of the bells which rang alone, without aid, when the tomb of our saint was re-discovered late at night on 31 January 1429.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In Alba in Piedmont, Blessed Teobaldo, who, driven by love for poverty, gave all his possessions to a widow and became a porter out of a spirit of humility, to carry the burdens of others on himself.”
Teobaldo Roggeri was born in the Ligurian region to nobles from Piedmont. The careful reading and attentiveness to the Gospel caused him to abandon his noble status in favour of a simple and austere life. He was orphaned of both his parents during his childhood, so he set off for Alba in 1112 where he became an apprentice to a shoemaker.
Teobaldo worked as a cobbler and proved to be quite skilled in his trade which prompted the master, to hope in vain, that Teobaldo would wed his daughter, Virida and continue the business after his death. However, the apprentice instead made a private vow to remain chaste.
Teobaldo also worked as a porter and spent time transporting sacks of grain from place to place as part of his job. His master died in 1122 after a decade of working with Teobaldo. This prompted him to embark on a solemn pilgrimage – with a bundle and a staff – to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain and he later returned to Alba to resume his work. He used his meager income to help the poor of his region and he often slept outside the local Church, until it would be opened to admit him to spend further time before Our Lord in the Tabernacle.
On one occasion the owner of the shoe store where he worked, asked that he take a sack of wheat to the mill to be ground into flour. He agreed but gave handful after handful to the poor people that he encountered along the path, to the point, where no more wheat remained. He lacked the courage to face the woman back at the store and refused to go back without something to return, so he filled the bag with sand and left it on the woman’s doorstep before running off. The woman found flour in the bag though later learned of what had happened. This began the tale of the “Miracle of the Flour” and happened not long before his death.
Repenting of having reacted with an indignant jerk to an offense received, he wanted to atone for all his remaining life and began to sleep on the bare stone of the steps of the Church of St Lorenzo, where he also began to serve as a Sacristan in the hours free from deliveries.
Teobado died in 1150 after contracting a serious illness while visiting the widow of his cobbler master, where he died under her roof. At his request ,he was buried in an unmarked patch of ground between the two Churches of San Lorenzo and San Silvestro. His grave became a place of pilgrimage and miracles. After several decades, his grave grew obscure and was overgrown and lost. His remains were rediscovered late in the evening of 21 January 1429, almost by inspiration, by the Bishop of Alba, Alerino Rambaudi;. The Church bells rang out on their own during the night pf 31 January 1429 in celebration of the discovery. This miracle is remembered by the marble plaque inserted on the wall. by the Bishop himself in the Chapel dedicated to the saint, in the Alba Cathedral, where the remains were later transferred. This discovery reignited the memory of this humble and holy man, servant of all and the miracles began again at his tomb. Blessed Teobald was Beatified in 1841 by Pope Gregory XVI (cultus confirmation).
Madonna delle Grazie / Our Lady of Grace, Leini, Torino, Piedmont, Italy (1630) – 1 June:
13 km from Turin, a short distance from the highway to Ivrea, stands a famous Sanctuary. From impeccable evidence and documents, the Madonna appeared to a humble deaf-mute, placing the Rosary around his neck.
For 3 years, since 1627, a famine had ravaged the town of Leini and the surrounding areas followed by the Black Plague, reducing the town to a handful of families. On 1 June 1630, a farmworker, of the Regina family, deaf and dumb from birth, when returning from the fields stopped before the image of the Virgin and implored her: “… save Leini, Mary, Holy Mother, hear our prayer, save us …” She appeared to him with a smile in answer to his prayer and placed a Rosary around his neck. His tongue loosed and from his mouth came a Hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Virgin. The first voice he ever heard was the Blessed Mother who told him: “… Go, announce, that in my honour a Church should be built in this place and I will ask my Son to stop the plague … “
He began running through the desolate streets shouting the news of the miracle and announcing that the plague had ceased, that the Blessed Virgin prayed for Leini. The few survivors heard the wonders of the miracle and joined with him in the Rosary prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. From that day the plague stopped, the sick were healed,and the survivors were thankful for the wonderful grace that the Virgin had given them. She had asked that they build a Sanctuary and the townspeople fulfilled their solemn promises. An inscription has been affixed on the front facade: “Sacellum hoc BM Gratiarum Virgini Matri against pestiferam emu to majoribus dicatum year 1630.”
The Church has become a famous pilgrimage destination where it is possible to admire inside, a gallery where numerous ex-votos accumulated over the years are collected. The structure was built immediately after the plague of the seventeenth century, to obtain protection from the Blessed Virgin, thanks to the people of Leini.
The Apparition and the Consecration of the Sanctuary are celebrated each year on 1 June and 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption, respectively.
Bl Arnald Arench Bl Arnold of Geertruidenberg St Atto of Oca St Candida of Whitchurch St Caprasius of Lérins St Clarus of Aquitaine St Claudius of Vienne Bl Conrad of Hesse St Conrad of Trier St Crescentinus St Cronan of Lismore St Damian of Scotland St Dionysius of Ruthenia St Donatus of Lucania St Felinus of Perugia Bl Ferdinand Ayala St Firmus St Fortunatus of Spoleto Bl Gaius Xeymon St Gaudentius of Ossero St Giuse Túc St Gratian of Perugia Bl Herculanus of Piegare St Iñigo of Oña St Ischryrion and Companions Bl James of Strepar St Jean-Baptiste-Ignace-Pierre Vernoy de Montjournal
Bl John Pelingotto Bl John Storey St Juventius Bl Leo Tanaka St Melosa St Pamphilus of Alexandria St Peter of Pisa St Porphyrius of Alexandria St Proculus of Bologna St Proculus the Soldier St Ronan St Secundus of Amelia St Seleucus of Alexandria St Simeon of Syracuse St Telga of Denbighshire St Thecla of Antioch Blessed Teobaldo Roggeri (c 1100-1150) Layman St Thespesius of Cappadocia St Wistan of Evesham St Zosimus of Antioch — Martyrs of Alexandria – 5 saints: A group five of imperial Roman soldiers assigned to guard a group of Egyptian Christians who were imprisoned for their faith in the persecutions of Decius. During their trial, they encouraged the prisoners not to apostatize. This exposed them as Christians, were promptly arrested and executed. Martyrs. Their names are – Ammon, Ingen, Ptolomy, Theophilis and Zeno. They were beheaded in 249 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Caesarea – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Galerius. We know little more about them than the name – Paul, Valens and Valerius. They diedf in 309 at Caesarea, Palestine.
Martyrs of Lycopolis – 6 saints: Five foot soldiers and their commander who were martyred for their faith by order of the imperial Roman prefect Arriano during the persecutions of Decius. In Lycopolis, Egypt.
Martyrs of Rome – 6 saints: A group of spiritual students of Saint Justin Martyr who died with him and about whom we know nothing else but their names – Carito, Caritone, Evelpisto, Ierace, Liberiano and Peone. In Rome, Italy.
Saint of the Day – 23 May – St Guibertus of Gorze (892-962) Monk , Hermit, Founder of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre, of Gemblou at Namur , Belgium. Born in the Lorraine region of France in 892 and died on 23 May 962 at Gorze Abbey in France of natural causes. Also known as – Guibertus of Gembloux, Guibert. Wibert.
An aristocrat from Lotharingia who had participated in several military campaigns, Guibertus withdrew as a Hermit on family property in Gembloux inherited from his father.
In 936, Guibertus was assisted in the erection of a Monastery and the selection of its Monks by Erluin (died 987), who had resigned a Canonry to become a Monk. Some of Guibertus’ relatives challenged the legality of the monastic foundation, on the grounds that the Monastery was built on land of the Imperial fisc, which had been given in fee to Guibertus’ ancestors and could not be alienated without imperial authority. Emperor Otto I summoned Guibert and Erluin to his Court but was so favourably impressed with the manner in which they defended their undertaking, that on 20 September 946, he issued an imperial decree approving the foundation of Gemblacum and granting it various privileges.
After his stay at Gorze Abbey in Lorraine, he came back with the Rule of Saint Benedict for his Monastery of Gembloux and appointed his friend Erluin the first Abbot of Gembloux, while he himself became a Monk at Gorze Abbey near Metz. The Moastery was dedicated to Saint Peter and the Martyr, Saint Exuperius. He returned twice to Gembloux. The first time was in 954, when the Hungarians threatened to pillage the Monastery. Guibertus not only saved it from harm but also converted some Hungarians to Christianity. The second time was in 957, when his brother-in-law, Heribrand of Mawolt, had seized the revenues of the Monastery. Guibertus persuaded Heribrand to leave the possessions of the Monastery unmolested in the future.
The Monks were active in missionary work among the Hungarians and Slavs who stayed behind in the Duchy of Brabant after the invasion of 954.
When Guibertus died, the Monks of Gembloux came to collect the body of their Founder from the Abbey of Gorze where he had died. After having buried his body, they exhumed it and treated the body with salt and aromatics to prevent decomposition during its transport to the Abbey of Gembloux.
Virgen de Gracia / Virgin of Grace, Aés, Puente Viesgo, Pas-Miera, Cantabria, Spain (1575) – 23 May:
On 23 May, 1575, as widow María Saínz de Quijano prayed the rosary while watching sheep on Hediilla Mountain, she saw the Virgin appear :
“with such great splendour that I didn’t dare look at Her Majesty and she said I should ask the Curate of the town to build a Chapel in that spot and lace an image of the Virgin of Grace and one of St Lawrence, in the ew Chapel.“
To Maria’s objection that people wuld not believe her, the Virgin answered that she would make them believe. When the woman started to get up, she found she could not and stayed there, calling for her daughter Juana. Some neighbours passing bym found Juana, who carried her mother home on her back. María asked Juana to get the local Priest. She told him what had happened and he then told his superior, the Vicar of the valley, who dismissed it with a laugh, saying the shepherdess must have been dreaming. A few days later the Vicar passed through that place with his servant, who said, “Sir, they say the Virgin recently appeared to a woman in this spot.” The Vicar laughed again and was suddenly blinded. The servant led him home. In fear and remorse, the Vicar dictated a letter to the Archbishop, asking him to order construction of the Chapel so that he would regain his sight.
The Archbishop ordered workers to began cutting wood for construction. They cut some from high on the mountain and some from lower down, at the apparition site. But they couldn’t move the wood from the heights, although they moved that from the lower site easily.
Carmen González Echegaray, citing records in the National Archives of Spain, doesn’t say whether the Viosionary and the Vicar recovered but presumably they were among the first to receive the graces of the Virgin of Aés.
The Chapel has been rebuilt and renovated several times over the centuries, most recently in 1993. An annual procession to the mountain Shrine outside the village of Aés on 23 May, the apparition anniversary, draws participants from the entire valley. There are no acceptable images of the Chapel or the procession available.
St Basileus of Braga St Desiderius of Langres St Epitacius of Tuy St Euphebius of Naples St Euphrosyne of Polotsk St Eutychius of Valcastoria St Florentius of Valcastoria St Goban Gobhnena St Guibertus of Gorze (892-962) Monk, Hemit Bl Ivo of Chartres St Jane Antide Thouret
Bl Wincenty Matuszewski — Martyrs of Béziers: 20 Mercedarian friars murdered by Huguenots for being Catholic. Martyrs. 1562 at the Mercedarian convent at Béziers, France.
Martyrs of Cappadocia: A group of Christians tortured and martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian and Galerius. Their names and the details of their lives have not come down to us. They were crushed to death in c.303 in Cappadocia (in modern Turkey).
Martyrs of Carthage: When a civil revolt erupted in Carthage in 259 during a period of persecution by Valerian, the procurator Solon blamed it on the Christians, and began a persecution of them. We know the names and a few details about 8 of these martyrs – Donatian, Flavian, Julian, Lucius, Montanus, Primolus, Rhenus and Victorius. They were beheaded in 259 at Carthage (modern Tunis, Tunisia).
Martyrs of Mesopotamia: A group of Christians martyred in Mesopotamia in persecutions by imperial Roman authorities. Their names and the details of their lives have not come down to us. They were suffocated over a slow fire in Mesopotamia.
Martyrs of North Africa: A group of 19 Christians martyred together in the persecutions of the Arian Vandal King Hunneric for refusing to deny the Trinity. We know little more than a few of their names – Dionysius, Julian, Lucius, Paul and Quintian. c 430.
Saint of the Day – 22 May – Saint Humility of Faenza (c 1226–1310) Wife, Mother, Nun – a founder of Vallumbrosan convents and is considered the Founder of the Vallumbrosan Nuns, Wife, Mother Widow, Recluse, spiritual adviser, spiritual writer. Born in 1226 at Faenza, Italy as Rosanna Negusanti and died on 22 May 1310 at Florence, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Rosanna, Humilitas, Umiltà. Patronage- Faenza. Her body is incorrupt.
The Roman Martyrolog states pf her todzy: “In Florence, blessed Umiltà (Rosanna), who, with her husband’s consent, lived for twelve years as a recluse. Aat the request of the Bishop, she then built a Monastery of which she became Abbess and which she associated with the Order of Vallombrosa.”
An Altarpiece as a hagiographic Polyptych icon of St Humility painted between 1335-1340
Her ‘Life’ was written by the contemporary Monk Biagio in c 1330, is contained in the cod. 271 of the Riccardiana Library of Florence; also there is a second ‘Life’ in the cod. 1563 of the same Library. But many other texts of the following centuries, up to the Acts of the Congregation of Rites of 1720, report news concerning her, both as a person, for the writings, for the apostolic processes and for the foundations of ,onasteries connected to her.
Rosanna Negusanti, daughter of the nobles Elimonte and Richelda, was born in Faenza in 1226, the year of the death of the Seraphic Francis of Assisi, 1226.
In 1241 at the age of 15, she lost her father and the following year at 16 she married the nobleman named Ugoletto dei Caccianemici (died 1256). They had two children, but their happiness was very brief for both children died as soon as they were Baptise. At this time too, her mother, Richelda also died.
But the young woman, she was 24, without becoming discouraged and giving in to despair or distracting herself with the joys of the world, together with her husband Ugoletto decided to retire to religious life, both entering the cloisters of the rectory of St Perpetua. ; Iit was not uncommon in the Middle Ages to witness choices of this kind between two Christian spouses. And on this occasion Rosanna Negusanti changes her name to Humility; after having miraculously recovered from a serious illness.
Here she lived for twelve years, purifying and elevating her spirit with prayers and fasting, alternating them with advice that she gave to those who turned to her for help. Her example attracted some young women from Faenza who asked to build cells near hers and to live under her guidance.
And so in 1266 on the advice of Bishop Petrella, Humility agreed to become the spiritual guide of the new nuns, gathered in the old Monastery of Malta in Vallombrosa, which from then on would be called St Maria Novella. Humility was now 40 years old, she returned to being a mother full of goodness, wisdom and energy, becoming the guide for the new daughters, directing them on the path of holiness.
Fifteen years passed, putting into practice all the virtues of the Rule of St Benedict and the Vallombrosan Constitutions of St John Gualberto. When she was 55, in 1281, Mother Humilitybegan to build a new spiritual home for the young Florentine girls, whose life was shaken by the struggles between Whites and Blacks, the warring factions in the region. A Cchurch was erected in Florence, in honour of St John the Apostle Evangelist, had as Architect Giovanni Pisano and as Decorator the famous Buffalmacco. It was Consecrated in 1297 by the Bishop Francesco Monaldeschi.
Mother Humility with her spiritual daughters
Despite being very sick and elderly, Sister Humilty kept personal contacts with Faenza and Rome to give continuity to the two Monasteries, until after six months of suffering, at the age of 84, she ceased to live in Florence and on 22 May 1310 she entered life.
After a year on 6 June 1311, her body was exhumed and although it was buried in the bare earth, under the floor of the Church, it was incorrupt. She was dressed in precious clothes and from then on, she had an uninterrupted cult. Her body was later transferred to the Monasteries of St Caterina, of St Antonio (1529), of San Salvi (1534), in the 19th century to that of the Spirito Santo of Varlungo near Florence. Finally, in 1972, in the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Bagno a Ripoli, near Florence, where it is still preserved as perfect as it was in 1310.
The incorrupt body of St Humility
The spirituality of St Humility can be seen from the few writings that have come down to us, they are a living expression of profound humility and fervent love for God and neighbour. Her cult is very ancient, perhaps it even dates back to the solemn ‘elevation’ of the relics in 1311, in which a Mass of its own was granted. In 1317, the Bishops gathered in Avignon, granted particular indulgences to her cult.
On 27 January 1720, the Congregation of Rites with Pope Benedict XIII confirmed the ancient cult, having their own Mass celebrated on 22 May and she was formally Canonised on 27 January 1720 by Pope Clement XI. She was declared Co-Patroness of Faenza in 1942. Altars were dedicated to her in the two Monasteries she founded of the Vallombrosana Congregation .
Beata Vergine di San Luca, Bologna, Italy / The Blessed Virgin of Saint Luke, Bologna – 22 May, Saturday before the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord:. The Blessed Virgin of St Luke is the Patron Saint of Bologna.
A Greek holy man named Theocles Kmnia, praying before this icon in the Church of St Sophia in Constantinople, saw an inscription on it: “This work made by St Luke, Chancellor of Christ, must be taken to the Church of St Luke on Guardia Mountain and installed on its Altar.”
Without knowing the mountain’s location, he pleaded with the clergy of St Sophia until they agreed to let him take the image there. For some time he travelled without finding anyone who knew of such a place. Finally, in Rome, he met the Bolognese Ambassador, who knew that two sisters, Azzolina and Beatrice Guezi, had retired to a life of prayer on Lookout Mountain, Monte della Guardia, outside Bologna and, had built a Chapel on the hill dedicated to St Luke. Supplied by the Ambassador with a horse, a servant and letters of recommendation to the leaders of Bologna, Theocles carried the icon there. On 8 May 1160, the Bishop of Bologna led it in procession to the sisters’ hermitage on Monte della Guardia. At this point, the story moves from legend to documented history. In 1192, another holy woman, Angelica di Caicle, retired to the mountain with the intention of building a bigger Church there. On 15 May 1194, the Bishop of Bologna ,laid the first stone. In 1249, Dominican sisters settled there. The image was carried in procession to Bologna on 4 April, 1302, during Charles de Valois’ invasion and again on 5 July 1433, after months of damaging rain. The rain’s end is commemorated in an annual procession from the Sanctuary to Bologna, which since 1476 has taken place on the Saturday before the Feast of Christ’s Ascension (always a Thursday).
The holy icon remains in Bologna for a week, returning to the Basilica Sanctuary on Ascension Sunday. It was ceremonially Crowned 5 April 1653 by the Archbishop and in 1857 by Blessed Pope Pius IX. Today the procession continues when pilgrims remove their shoes and begin the 3,796 meter (about 2 1/2 miles) climb up the longest uninterrupted portico in the world. to reach the Sanctuary and beg of our Holy Mother, intercession to her Son, for all their needs. Today, the highly veerated image is protected by a glass cover, see below.
St Boethian of Pierrepont St Castus the Martyr St Conall of Inniscoel Bl Diego de Baja Bl Dionisio Senmartin St Emilius the Martyr St Faustinus the Martyr St Francisco Salinas Sánchez St Fulgencio of Otricoli Bl Fulk of Castrofurli Bl Giacomo Soler Bl Giusto Samper St Helen of Auxerre
St Humility of Faenza (c 1226–1310) Wife, Mother, Nun – a founder of Vallumbrosan convents, and is considered the Founder of the Vallumbrosan Nuns
St Lupo of Limoges St Marcian of Ravenna St Margaret of Hulme Bl Pedro of the Assumption St Quiteria St Romanus of Subiaco St Timothy the Martyr St Venustus the Martyr — Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Francisco Salinas Sánchez • Blessed José Quintas Durán
Saint of the Day – 21 May – Blessed Pietro Parenzo (Died 1199) Layman Martyr, Husband, Mayor of Orvieto, Reformer. Born in the 12th century in Rome, Italy and died by being hit in the head with a hammer by Patarine heretic kidnappers on 21 May 1199 in a hut just outside Orvieto, Italy. After he was unconscious, others of the gang of kidnappers stabbed his body numerous times with knives and swords. Patronage – Orvieto, Italy.
This is the only image we have of Blessed Pietro. It is a detail from the Pietà with Sts Faustinus and Peter Parenzo (ca. 1504) by Luca Signorelli, Cappellina dei Corpi Santi, Duomo, Orvieto – see the complete mage below,.
Born to the Italian nobility – we know he had brothers and was married at one point but nothing else survives of his education or his life before his appointment to the administration of Orvieto. He served in the Court of Pope Innocent III.
During the late 12th century, the Orvietan bishopric underwent an economic crisis that resulted from the burden of defending the vast possessions it had amassed during the previous half century. Around that time, the Cathar heresy appeared in the City. It was also a City seriously divided by the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. This situation prompted the Papacy to support the Bishop of Orvieto more actively.
To help re-establish civil order, Pope Innocent III chose Pietro Parenzo, a member of a noble Roman family, to take charge of the City. He had been born in Rome, the son of Lord Giovanni Paranzo and his wife, Odolina, at an unknown date. His father had served as a Senator in 1157 and later as a Judge in the city in 1162. Little else is known of his earlier life, other than he was a man who had gained great respect in the City.
Pietro arrived in the City in February 1199, (it seems he left his wife in the safety of Rome), having the support of the Catholics in the City, despite their long tradition of independence. He immediately established a strict regime to take control of the civil situation.
At Easter of the same year, 1199, Pietro returned to Rome to brief His Holiness on his efforts. He also confided to him that his life was in danger. Pope Innocent lauded his good work and encouraged him to continue with caution but he also made a point of hearing the young man’s confession. Before saying good-bye to his wife and mother, Pietro made out his will.
His Holiness gave Pietro two goals: -strengthen the faith by fighting heresy and make peace between the different parties. Mayor Parenzo decided, that the best strategy, was to get tough with troublemakers, so the first thing he did on arriving in Orvieto, was to abolish the traditional carnival games, on the grounds that these sports were often used as a ruse to commit homicide.
Such law-and-order efforts cheered the Town’s Catholics but incensed the Cathari. To spite the Mayor and to flex their muscles, they came to the carnival festivities brandishing swords and other weapons and they started fights with people at random. Riots ensued.
Into this melee of flying sharp steel rode Pietro without receiving a scratch. Identifying the culprits, he authorised the destruction of their families’ towers—symbols of power in medieval Italy—and their palaces. Many people cheered, while the heretics seethed.
In all his efforts, Pietro worked closely with the repentant Bishop Ricardo, even living in His Excellency’s palace. At the time the good of the Church was the good of the state and vice versa, so this arrangement was not remarkable. Together they announced an amnesty program – Return to the Church by a certain date and all will be forgiven. Ignore the deadline, however, and face stiff fines.
Pietro also exacted a form of bail to ensure good behaviour on the part of some citizens. While the amounts were fair and did deter crime, he now had even more enemies and these began to plot his death.
A huge crowd greeted Pietro’s return on 1 May 1199. He told the people that if he were to die, it would be to defend the holy Catholic faith. On 21 May 1199, nearly three weeks later, a traitorous servant named Radulfo let the heretics into the Bishop’s Palace. They captured Pietro as he was undressing for bed, beat him and smuggled him out of the City to a house in the countryside. His captors offered him a deal – repeal the rules restricting their efforts, repay the fines and sureties he had exacted, resign his position and give their religious beliefs preferential treatment. Pietro agreed to return the fines out of his own funds but he had pledged to defend the faith and so refused to support them in their heresy. Enraged, one of his captors bashed his head with a hammer. The blood excited his captors, who fell on him in a demonic frenzy. Those who couldn’t land blows tore hair from his head. They dumped his corpse by a tree and fled.
Six Monks found Pietro’s body at dawn the next day. The whole City poured down the hill, weeping piteously at the gruesome sight. The Bishop and other clergy accompanied his remains back into the City with great pomp and buried him in the Cathedral. His death prompted a great reaction against the Cathari. Nonetheless, it was not until the late 1260s that the heresy was eradicated.
Orvieto Cathedral
For the miracles that occurred on his Tomb, even just to invoke him, Pietro Parenzo was immediately venerated as a Martyr and a sant, not only in Orvieto but also in the Cities of Arezzo and Florence; various pilgrimages were organised to the Tomb and the pilgrims themselves, directed to Rome, stopped in Orvieto to pray at his Tomb. During the Middle Ages his Tomb attracted pilgrims by the millions. While his cause never went through the formal Canonisation process, Pope Leo XIII approved his cult on 16 March 1879 when he Beatified Pietro.
Pietro defied popular opinion, and the right thing and stood with the true faith and the Church against all opposition. The challenges that confronted Blessed Pietro are the same ones we encounter in our age. Help us to see, Lord, how you would have us imitate Saint Pietro’s constancy and fidelity to You and Your holy Church. Give us courage, strength, patience, stay with us and guide us through the mire in which we are sinkng!
Nostra Signora degli Angeli / Our Lady of the Angels, Arcola, Italy (1556) – 21 May:
Going up the streets of the Village of Arcola, in the direction of Baccano, you reach the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Angels, built in the place where the miraculous apparition of the Virgin took place, on 21 May 1556, in that year, it was the second day of Pentecost.
After Mass, whilst praying the Rosary on their farm, in Carbonara, the five Fiamberti sisters – Barbara, Camilla, Elisabetta, Catarinetta and Angela, in the company of their parents and brothers – saw a majestic Lady appear above a rosemary bush, shining brighter than the sun, dressed in white and flanked by two Angels.
The celestial image, raising her hand and with a sweet voice told them “go, beloved ones, tell the people to pray and do penance and tell the good villagers to build a temple in this place in my honour.” In the year 1558, the now underground Chapel was built in the sacred place; a large Church was completed above it at the end of the century, while the current Church is the work of the second half of the eighteenth century.
The Sanctuary immediately became a pilgrimage destination and the subject of bequests and donations. On the walls at the sides of the main altar there are two large frescoes by the Arculian painter Luigi Agretti, representing the Apparition of the Madonna degli Angeli and the Solemn Coronation which took place on 16 May 1910.
Under the altar floor there is the Chapel, a place of the Apparition of the Virgin of the Angels. The interior is somewhat rich in polychrome marbles that decorate the floor and walls, while stuccos and paintings adorn the ceiling. Above the Altar of precious marble, in a niche, there is the simulacrum of the Virgin of the Angels, work created in 1624 by the sculptor Battista Orsolini of Carrara. The minor aisles have two chapels dedicated one to the Madonna del Rosario, the other to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of the Holy Cross. In the Chapel of the Rosary, there is a painting by the La Spezia painter Andrea Podenzana, year 1688.
Chapel of the apparition under the main altar of the sanctuary
Martyrs of the Mexican Revolution (Optional Memorial): The 1917 Mexican constitution was pointedly anti-clerical and anti-Church, and its adoption instituted years of violent religious persecution including expulsion of foreign priests, closing of parochial schools and the murders of several priests and lay leaders who work to minister to the faithful and support religious freedom. 25 of them who died at different times and places but all as a result of this persecution were celebrated together. They each have separate memorials but are also remembered as a group.
• Saint Agustin Caloca Cortes • Saint Atilano Cruz Alvarado • Saint Cristobal Magallanes Jara • Saint David Galván-Bermúdez • Saint David Roldán-Lara • Saint David Uribe-Velasco • Saint Jenaro Sánchez DelGadillo • Saint Jesús Méndez-Montoya • Saint Jose Isabel Flores Varela
• Saint José María Robles Hurtado • Saint Julio álvarez Mendoza • Saint Justino Orona Madrigal • Saint Luis Batiz Sainz • Saint Manuel Moralez • Saint Margarito Flores-García • Saint Mateo Correa-Magallanes • Saint Miguel de la Mora • Saint Pedro de Jesús Maldonado-Lucero
• Saint Salvador Lara Puente • Saint Toribio Romo González • Saint Tranquilino Ubiarco Robles
Canonised: 21 May 2000 by Pope John Paul II — St Adalric of Bèze Bl Adilio Daronch St Ageranus of Bèze St Ansuinus of Bèze St Antiochus of Caesarea Philippi
The first video is from the author of a Biography of Blessed Franz. His life of “Conscientious Objection” is very appropriate for the times we find ourselves in right now! The second video contains an interview and details of the Film made about Blessed Franz “A Hidden Life.”
St Genesius of Bèze St Godric of Finchale Bl Hemming of Åbo St Hospitius of Cap-Saint-Hospice Bl Hyacinth-Marie Cormier St Isberga of Aire Bl Jean Mopinot Bl Lucio del Rio St Mancio of Évora Bl Manuel Gómez González St Nicostratus of Caesarea Philippi Blessed Pietro Parenzo (Died 1199) Layman Martyr St Polieuctus of Caesarea St Polius of Mauretania St Restituta of Corsica St Rodron of Bèze St Secundinus of Cordova St Secundus of Alexandria St Serapion the Sindonite St Sifrard of Bèze Bl Silao St Synesius St Theobald of Vienne St Theopompus St Timothy of Mauretania St Valens of Auxerre St Vales St Victorius of Caesarea — Martyrs of Egypt: Large number of bishops, priests, deacons and lay people banished when the Arian heretics seized the diocese of Alexandria, Egypt in 357 and drove out Saint Athanasius and other orthodox Christians. Many were old, many infirm and many, many died of abuse and privations while on the road and in the wilderness. Very few survived to return to their homes in 361 when Julian the Apostate recalled all Christians and then many of those later died in the persecutions of Julian.
Martyrs of Pentecost in Alexandria: An unspecified number of Christian clerics and lay people who, on Pentecost in 338, were rounded up by order of the Arian bishop and emperor Constantius and were either killed, or exiled, for refusing to accept Arian teachings. 339 in Alexandria, Egypt.
One Minute Reflection – 20 May – “Mary’s Month” – Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11, Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11, John 17:20-26 and the Memorial of Blessed Columba of Rieti OP (1467- 1501)
“That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me and I in thee; that they also may be one in us. ” – John 17:21
REFLECTION – “The body of Christ’s Church, harmonious result of the coming together of His saints from the beginning of time, reaches its perfectly balanced and integral constitution, in the union of the children of God, the firstborn whose names are written in heaven ( cf Lk 10,20)… Our Saviour-God Himself shows us the indissoluble and indivisible character of union with Himself, when He says to the Apostles: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me; you in me and I in you” (Jn 10,38; 14,20). And He spells this out even more clearly by adding: “I have given them the glory you gave me, that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one.” And again: “That the love with which you have loved me may be in them and that I also may be in them”…
How marvellous this inexpressible condescension of the love God bears for us, He who is the friend of man! (Wsd 1,6). That which He is. by nature with regard to His Father, He grants us to be, by adoption and grace in His own regard… The glory given to the Son by the Father, the Son in His turn gives to us through divine grace. Even better: just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him, so will the Son of God be in us and we in the Son through grace, if we desire it. Having once become like us, through the flesh, He has made us sharers of His divinity and incorporates us all in Him. In addition, the divinity in which we participate by this communion, is not divisible into separate parts but, it necessarily follows, that we too, once we have become inseparable from it in truth, are inseparable from the one Spirit, making up one body with Christ. ” – St Symeon the New Theologian (c 949-1022), Greek Monk – Ethics 1, 6-8
PRAYER – God of mercy, You have filled us with the hope of resurrection by restoring man to his original dignity. May we who relive this mystery each year come to share it in perpetual love. May the Mother of Our Lord stand with us as we gaze upward to her Son and may the prayer of Bl essed Columba, be a support in our troubles. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
Saint of the Day – 20 May – Blessed Columba of Rieti OP (1467- 1501) religious Sister of the Third Order of St Dominic, Mystic, Apostle of the poor, renowned for her spiritual counsel, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and fantastic miracles were attributed to her. Born on 2 February 1467 at Rieti, Umbria, Italy as Angelella Guardagnoli and died on 20 May 1501 at Perugia, Italy of natural causes. Patronages – Against sorcery, against temptation, Perugia, Italy. Also known as – Angelella Guardagnoli, Colomba of Rieti.
Columba was the daughter of a poor family in the Umbrian city of Rieti. When she was born, angels gathered around her house, singing and during her Baptism, a dove flew down to the font. From then on, no-one referred to her as Angelella but as Columba , which means “dove”.
From infancy Columba led a supernatural life. She strewed her little bed with thorns and from an old sieve ,plaited a hair-shirt. As a small girl, Columba learned to spin and sew, repairing the clothes of the local Dominican Friars. She was educated by Dominican nuns. The Holy Eucharist formed her one desire and almost her sole nourishment. Hunger, thirst, sleep and the other needs of nature, not only never tormented her but she lived unconscious of them.
As a teenager, she prayed to discern her vocation in life and received a vision of Christ on a Throne surrounded by Saints. She took this as a sign to dedicate herself to God and so, she made a private vow of chastity and spent her time in prayer. When it was revealed that her parents had arranged a marriage for her, she cut off her hair and sent it to her suitor as a way of letting him know, where her real interest lay.
Columba became a Dominican Tertiary at age 19. She was given to ecstasies, during one of which, her spirit toured the Holy Land. She was much sought after as a spiritual counselor. Citizens from the City of Narni, tried to kidnap her so she could be their miracle worker but she escaped.
Upon an interior prompting that she should leave Rieti, Columba wandered away, having no concept of where she was going. Along the way she was arrested in Foligno as a vagrant. The Bishop there ordered her to go to Perugia and to found a Third Order Convent, which she did but only against the strong objections of the citizens of Foligno and Rieti, who wanted her for their own needs.
She worked with the poor extensively in Perugia, so much so, that her sanctity reportedly incensed Lucrezia Borgia for years. At one point Borgia had even issued a complaint accusing Columba of practising magic. On the other hand, Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia’s father, held Columba in high regard. He consulted her and she ordered him to repent of his sins.
If Columba’s reception of Holy Communion was delayed by but one hour, she fainted from exhaustion and her life seemed in danger. Her Confessor, fearing some delusion, asked her how she was able to live on the Blessed Sacrament alone. “When I receive this heavenly food,” she replied, “I feel so satisfied in soul and body that all desire for earthly food vanishes and I have a horror of it. I hope that before this year is over, God will give you a sign which will remove your doubts.” On Christmas-day, as this Priest finished his first Mass, he felt an unknown refreshment of soul. When he had said his third Mass, this heavenly love had reached such a height, that he felt it impossible to touch food and so remained fasting throughout the day. This was revealed to Columba, who said, “I rejoice, Father, that you have received my heavenly food and now know, by experience, how I can be satisfied by the Bread of angels alone!”
Columba spent eleven years as Prioress in Perugia, dying on 2 May 1501, at the age of 34. At the moment of her death, her friend and fellow Dominican Tertiary, Blessed Osanna of Mantua (1493-1565), saw Columba’s soul as a “radiance rising to heaven.”
The whole City attended her funeral, which was paid for by the City administrators.
She was Beatified on 25 February 1625 by Pope Urban VIII and her Feast day is celebrated within the Dominican Order on the anniversary of her death. As Patron of Perugia, she is highly venerated and Statues of her abound in the region.
Santa Maria delle Grazie / Holy Mary of the Graces in Stia, Arezzo, Italy (1428) – 20 May:
It was the year 1428 and Mona Giovanna one day, taking advantage of a moment of clear weather, left her cottage to dedicate herself to the work in the fields. Suddenly, she was surprised by a strong storm and, unable to return to her home, she found a refuge in a cavern covered with tree trunks, located above a white boulder. Having reached the shelter, Giovanna began to pray. Suddenly she was enveloped in a light of exceptional splendour and a celestial figure of a woman of extraordinary majesty and beauty appeared to her, placing her foot on the white boulder. Giovanna felt and understood that the Lady was the Mother of God. The Virgin spoke to her maternally saying:
“If the people want to remove many great punishments and misfortunes, they will, in my honour, build here, a Church in the place chosen by myrself and once it is built, that they pay homage and veneration to my Son and I, with constant prayers.
The place where Giovanna had taken refuge continued to shine with a very bright light, when a shepherd, Pietro Campodonico, approaching saw the miracle in person. Shortly after Giovanna repeated the narration to Messer Luca, Parish Priest of Stia, who was quick to believe her, knowing Giovanna’s goodness and simplicity. Immediately he went in procession with the Parishioners to the place where the miracle had happened. Feelings of religious piety awoke in all the people of the countryside, spreading not only in the nearby parishes but in the entire Casentino valley, up to the Cities of Arezzo, Florence and Siena. The construction of the Church, begun by the unanimous will of authority (including “Messer Luca lo Pievano” from Stia and Conte Neri from Porciano) and by the people, with the offerings and gifts left by the devotees. It was completed on 8 September 1432. In September 1474 a sudden fire totally destroyed the building with all the furnishings and images. The Church was immediately rebuilt, assisted by the offerings of the faithful. In 1490 the building was already rebuilt as we now see it – the Sanctuary was called from the beginning Santa Maria delle Grazie:.
On 20 May of each year the faithful of the neighbouring areas come in procession to celebrate the feast of the apparition. The Church is an elegant edifice of Florentine architecture, preceded by a portico on the left of the facade, a three-light sailed bell tower in sandstone. The interior consists of a single nave with a large presbytery. Two carved stone Altars lean against the side walls, of which the one on the left of the XV century is remarkable, finely carved. On the left wall there is an octagonal stone pulpit, supported by two shelves. The presbytery, a work of artistic value of the XVI century, square in shape, is framed in the façade by two pillars and a stone archivolt, decorated with raised foliage, finely worked and is enclosed inside by a stone cornice, decorated with a series of 30 enamelled terracotta cherub heads, interspersed with 5 coats of arms of the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital. In the pendentives are the cylindrical reliefs of the 4 Evangelists, also in glazed terracotta.
Image above the high Altar
Both the reliefs and the glazed frieze are works of Robbian art, from Andrea’s workshop (1435-1528), to refer to the beginning of the XVII century. In the underlying rooms, in the shape of a rib, there are two large Robbians depicting the apparition of the Madonna to Blessed Giovanna and to the crib, on the right and left. Under the Robbiane school there is an inlaid wooden seat from the 15th century. In the centre of the presbytery, the high Altar, in worked marble, rises above the boulder where the Virgin appeared.
St Bernadine of Siena OFM (1380-1444) (Optional Memorial) “Apostle of the Most Holy Name of Jesus,” Priest of the Order of St Francis, Missionary, Preacher, known as the “Apostle of Italy,” the “Star of Tuscany,” and the “Second Paul.” Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2017/05/20/saint-of-the-day-20-may-st-bernardine-of-siena/
St Abercius Bl Albert of Bologna St Alexander of Edessa St Althryda St Anastasius of Brescia St Aquila of Egypt Bl Arnaldo Serra and Companions St Asterius of Edessa St Austregisilus of Bourges St Basilla of Rome St Baudelius of Nîmes St Codrato Blessed Columba of Rieti OP (1467- 1501) Mystic
St Plautilla of Rome St Protasius Chong Kuk-bo St Rafaél García Torres St Talaleo of Egea St Thalalaeus of Edessa St Theodore of Pavia St Tomás Valera González
Saint of the Day – 19 May – Blessed Augustine Novello OSA (1240– 1309) Priest and Friar of the Order of St Augustine, miracle-worker, Prior General of the Order, Reformer of the Constitutions, Professor of Canon and Civil Law. Born in 1240 at Taormina, Sicily as Matteo da Termini and died on 19 May 1309 at San Leonardo, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Augustine of Taormina, Agostino Novello, Augustine Novellus, Matthew of Taormina, Matteo de’ Termini.
Matteo’s parents, of a noble family originally from Catalonia in Spain, educated him most carefully and had him instructed in all the then known sciences. At the University of Bologna, he earned a Doctorate in Civil and Canon Law and became a Professor of law. He worked in the Chancery of the Kingdom of Sicily at the Court of King Manfred of Sicily.
In this capacity, Matteo accompanied the King in the war against Charles I of Anjou, who disputed Manfred’s right to the Crown of Sicily. In the battle at Benevento, in which Manfred was killed and his army routed, Matteo was wounded and thought to be dead and so, was left on the battlefield among the corpse. Regaining consciousness, Matteo was able to somehow reach his home, however, disillusioned with the world and with the evanescence of all earthly glory, he determined, thenceforth, to forsake all worldly honours and dignities.
Following this decision, Matteo asked for admission as a lay brother into the Order of St Augustine and was received in a Convent in Sicily. There he took the name Augustine/Agostino and there, he would live unknown to the world, far from his home and his people, devoted to exercises of piety. He lived there tranquilly until an unforeseen incident brought him once more before the world.
The title to some property belonging to the Convent was claimed by a local Bishop. The Augustinians were represented by a learned lawyer of Siena, Giacomo Pallares, who recognised Augutine as a former colleague. Pallares, lost no time in informing the Ecclesiastical authorities of Augustine’s identity, advising them, to no longer keep such a wealth of learning, in obscurity.
Child falling from a balcony. saved by Bl Augustine
When Blessed Clement of Osimo, General of the Order, heard of this, he compelled Augustine, under obedience, to receive Holy Orders and brought him to Rome, where he reformed the Constitutions of the Order, Pope Nicholas IV appointed him, as his Confessor and Grand Penitentiary, a position which he accepted, again only under obedience.
Child falling from its cradle, caught by Bl Augutine
Augustine was elected Prior General in 1298. Despite his attempts to refuse this position he was ordered by the Pope to accept. In 1300 he resigned from office and spent the remaining ten years of his life at the Hermitage of San Leonardo al Lago.
Knight falling into a ravine, saved by Bl Augustine
In his retreat and retrement near Siena, Augustine not only dedicated himself to the practice of the virtues proper to the religious state. He also ministered to the people of the surrounding villages ,as well as in nearby Siena. He was known and respected for his deep humility and love of contemplation. He played an important role in the founding of Siena’s Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala and composed a set of guidelines for the Hospital community.
Child attacked by a wolf aved by Bl Augustine
He died on 19 May 1309/10 at San Leonardo. Because his reputation for prayer, charity and miracles was know far and wide, the Bishop of Siena insisted that his body be placed in a casket and kept in the Augustinian Church in Siena, the Church of St Augustine. His casket and related works of art, see below, remained in the Church of Saint Augustine in Siena for many centuries. It was later taken to Sicily, where he had worked for the King before becoming a member of the Order of Saint Augustine. His tomb is now located at Termini Imerese in Sicily. Along with that of Clement of Osimo, the Prior General who had called him out from his anonymity at Rosia.
The Blessed Osimo and Augustine
His Statue is found on the façade of the Cathedral.
Many of the miracles wrought through the intercession of Blessed Augsutine were verified and authenticated. by Pope Clement XIII , who solemnly Beatified him in 1761, and Pope Clement XIV authorised his cult on 23 July 1770.
In the Church of Saint Augustine in Siena there was a wooden Sarcophagus in which the Augustine of Tarano was buried and an Altar consecrated to him. A painted Altarpiece was commissioned by the best painter available, Simóne Martini (1280/1285 – 1344). Appropriate to its environment, the Altarpiece is a colourful and simple form of devotional painting. It is presumed that the Altarpiece was in place for the celebrations in honour of the Augustine of Movello held there in 1324. The Altarpiece depicts some of the miracles of Blessed Augustine, see the images above.
Notre-Dame de Flines / Our Lady of Flines, Douay (1279) – 20 May:
The Abbot Orsini writes: “Dedication of Our Lady of Flines, near Douay, by Peter, Archbishop of Rheims, in the year 1279. This Abbey of Nuns, of the Order of Citeaux, was given to Saint Bernard by Margaret de Dampierre, in the year 1234.”
Margaret de Dampiere, also known as Margaret of Constantinople, was a relative of the Count Guy de Dampier. It appears that Saint Bernard had recently established an Order of Nuns according to the Rule of his Order and in the year 1234, Margaret presented Saint Bernard with the Abbey located near Douay. Five years previous to this, Archbishop Peter of Rheims had dedicated the Shrine to Our Lady of Flines. This Shrine became a place of pilgrimage as a result of the miraculous cure of a child protégé of Margaret’s. The little one, unseen by Margaret’s coachman, had been seriously injured while playing about the stable-yard. The doctors pronounced her hopelessly lame for life. Margaret, however, was confident in Our Lady’s intercession and took the child to the neighbouring Shrine every Saturday and begged the Mother of God to be merciful to the child, as well as to the grieving parents. After the fifteenth visit, the little girl, with a happy cry, jumped from the arms of her mother. “I can walk straight, see?” and proved that Our Lady had indeed cured her in that instant. When Margaret de Dampiere died in 1280, she was buried in the centre of the choir. The renown of the Shrine continued to spread over time and resulted in many pilgrimages to Our Lady of Flines. The Blessed Virgin Mary proved the words of her loyal son Saint Bernard, “Never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided” to be true. The Abbey was destroyed by the partisans of the French Revolution and there is now no trace of the once thriving and beautiful Convent and Shrine.
St Alcuin of York Blessed Augustine Novello OSA (1240– 1309) Priest and Friar of the Order of St Augustine. St Calocerus of Rome
Saint of the Day – 18 May – Blessed Burchard of Beinwil (Died c 1192) Priest, miracle-worker. Born in the early 12th century in Langemat, Muri, Switzerland and died on c 1192 in Beinwil, Switzerland of natural causes. Additional Memorials – Monday after Ascension Day (Beinwil, Switzerland), 27 June on some calendars, 20 August (pilgrimage date).
We have little information about Burchrd’s early life. He was educated at the Benedictine Monastery near his home village. He seems to have had some connection to the Kappel Monastery as he is mentioned in their records.
He was Ordained and then became the Parish Priest in Beinwil, Switzerland. He became known as a miracle worker manifested in his zealous and careful attention to the needs of both the physical and the spiritual well-being of his Parishioners, whom he served for decades.
Burchard raised a wild bird from a chick (an owl, crow or jackdaw; records vary) and taught it not only to speak, but to hold conversations with him. When his household fell into evil and dissolute ways while Burchard was away, the bird told the Priest what it had witnessed. The servants killed the bird and threw the carcass into a mine shaft near the vicarage. The dead bird returned to him and managed to explain what had happened and who had done it.
Burchard once travelled to the nearby village to Unterhorben to minister to a dying woman. He was met on the road by a messenger who told him that the woman had died and he need not continue. Father Burchard went on to the house anyway to pray at her deathbed. Miraculously she came back to life just long enough to receive the final Sacraments and blessings.
When Burchard died, he was buried in his Parish Church’s graveyard. In 1619, his tomb was opened and his relics wee moved during the construction of a Chapel on his grave site. Again in 1754, his relics were temporarily moved during the Chapel’s renovation until it was completed and they were returned in 1784. A miraculous spring is found near his tomb.
Madonna dell’Alno / Our Lady of the White Poplar, Canzano, Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy (1480): 18 May
The Church, today a Parish Church, represents the centre of the Sanzanese devotion and was built and dedicated to the Madonna of the Alno in the year 1592 by the Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary as reported in the epigraph on the portal architrave : “Societas Rosarii erigendum curavit AD 1592.”
The Virgin Mary appeared on 18 May 1480 on the top of a tree , to the peasant Giovanni Floro, (also referred to as Floro di Giovanni, who was plowing the land in a field located just outside the town. He noticed that his oxen tended to kneel and, looking around, he saw the Madonna on the tree. The Virgin turned to him and asked him to build a Church dedicated to her in the locality of Piano del Castellano in Canzano. [ The farmer immediately returned to the village and reported what had happened to him but, he was not believed and he was mocked and insulted by his fellow villagers.
The next day, the Madonna appeared again and renewed the same request to Floro who, with sadness, told her that the people of Sesi had not believed her words. The Virgin, silent, disappeared but on 20 May, after 6 pm, she manifested herself again and asked Giovanni to return to the village, to explain what was happening to him and, to prove what she said ,by personally driving a horse, notoriously indomitable, owned by the family of Falamesca de Montibus. The Madonna told him to be guided by the animal which would trace and define by its path, the site on which to erect the Church. [The owner of the horse agreed to entrust it to Giovanni who, to the amazement of all present, managed to ride it leading it up to the Piano del Castellano. Here, the animal “without restraint and without guidance, circled a space three times, and finally knelt down and bent its head to the ground.” The bystanders, who until then had observed in silence, expressed their astonishment with a great roar and gave consent and life to the building of the new Church.
Of the original Renaissance construction , only the stone portal remains, showing mirrors and rosettes. The façade and the stucco decorations of the Sanctuary are attributable to the reconstruction work of 1750 , while the brick bell tower dates from 1810 .
The Church holds within it a ‘ holy water font of the XVII Century placed on a pedestal carved with motifs of acanthus leaves, a bust reliquary wood of the eighteenth century depicting holy meek, sister of St Blaise Patron of Canzano, and paintings, dated between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries . Among these of particular value there is the Altarpiece of the Madonna del Rosario, placed behind the Altar, executed by Pasquale Rico of Montereale , portrayed with the Saints Domenic and Nicolas di Bari attributable to the workshop of Francesco Solimena . There is also the canvas depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds painted by the workshop of Guido Reni .
Veneration continues today with many pilgrims visiting all year but on 18 May each year, pilgrims devoutly process carrying the beautiful Statue and praying for all the special needs of the area, the Church and the world.
St Felix of Spoleto St Feredarius of Iona Bl Jan Oprzadek St Merililaun St Ortasio of Alexandria St Potamon of Heraclea St Serapione of Alexandria Bl Stanislaw Kubski
Blessed William of Toulouse OSA (c 1297-1369) Priest of the Order of St Augustine His life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/05/18/saint-of-the-day-blessed-william-of-toulouse-osa-c-1297-1369/ — Martyrs of Ancyra – 8 saints: Seven nuns martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian and the innkeeper who was executed for giving them a Christian burial: Alexandria, Claudia, Euphrasia, Julitta, Matrona, Phaina, Thecusa and Theodatus. c.304 in Ancyra, Galatia (in modern Turkey)
Quote/s of the Day – 17 May – The Memorial of St Paschal Baylon OFM (1540-1592) “Seraph of the Eucharist,” “Saint of the Blessed Sacrament,” “Servant of the Blessed Sacrament.”
“God is as really present in the consecrated Host, as He is, in the glory of Heaven.”
“There is no more efficacious means than this, (Eucharistic Adoration) for nourishing and increasing the piety of the people, toward this admirable pledge of love, which is a bond of peace and of unity.”
One Minute Reflection – 17 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Seventh week of Easter, Readings: Acts 19:1-8, Psalm 68:2-7, John 16:29-33 and the Memorial of St Paschal Baylon OFM (1540-1592)
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have conquered the world.” ... John 16:33
REFLECTION – “Let nothing intervene to hinder the progress of any who travel alongside each other, in this evangelical life but let us walk with agile step though the road be rough and hard, let us show a brave and manly spirit, overcome obstacles, pass along from pathway to pathway, from hill to hill, until we climb onto the mountain of the Lord and make a home for ourselves in the holy place of His impassibility.
Now, companions assist each other on the way; so then, my brothers, as the Apostle says: “Bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2) and make up for whatever is lacking to others (cf. 2 Cor 8:14 ; Phil 2:30). To the negligence that perhaps holds sway today, noble courage will succeed tomorrow, now one is in gloom and then suddenly one rises to the surface and discovers joy again, at one moment our passions rise up but soon God comes to help us, they are broken and calm returns. For you will only be seen like this yesterday and the day before but, dear friend, you will not always remain the same but the grace of God will draw near you, the Lord will fight for you and perhaps, like the great Antony, you will say: “Where were you just now?” and he will answer: “I wanted to see your combat.”
For now, let us persevere, children, dear children, let us be patient for a little, brothers, dear brothers.… Who will be crowned without having fought? Who will go to rest if he is not tired (cf. 2 Tim 2:5-6)? Who will gather the fruits of life without having planted virtues in his soul? Cultivate them, prepare the earth with the greatest care, take trouble over it, sweat over it, children, God’s workers, imitators of the angels, competitors with incorporeal beings, lights for those who are in the world (cf. Phil 2:15)!” … St Theodore the Studite (759-826) Monk – Catechesis 28
PRAYER – Lord God, let the grace of the Holy Spirit come upon us, so that we may hold fast to Your Will with fidelity and love and show it forth by a holy life. May the Mother of our Lord and our Mother and St Paschal Baylon, Servant of the Blessed Sacrament, pray that we may live in the light of our Saviour. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, and the glory of God the Father forever and ever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 17 May – Saint Emiliano I of Vercelli (Died 506) Bishop of Vercelli, Italy in the sixth century, Monk and Hermit, Confessor, Defender of the Faith, apostle of the needy, Social Reformer, spiritual director. Born in the 5th century, possibly in the Piedmont region of Italy and died on 11 September in Cercelli, Italy., the date of his entry into life is also celebrated as his feast in some places. Patronages – Cigliano and Villanova Monferrato.
Indeed, he might have preferred to hide in a hermitage and live in solitude and contemplation to better taste the flavour of the Lord but God’s call wanted him to actively serve his neighbour and he knew how to carry it out with commitment and fervour. Among other measures of practical life, he also had an aqueduct built. He asked of himself the maximum efforts in all things and did not spare himself in any way. Of others, he demanded what they could give, in the name of the Lord.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In Vercelli, translation of St Emilian, Bishop.”
Emiliano, the Eleventh Bishop of the great Diocese of Vercelli, was born around the middle of the fifth century. Some sources mistakenly say he was of Spanish origin but he was probably Piedmontese.
He worked in difficult times, as a worthy successor of St Eusebius (who died in 371). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), the barbarian populations occupied the Italian territory. Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, defeated Odoacer (493) and the Burgundians, with the capture of Ravenna, they conquered Italy. The occupied populations were continually tested by the ravages of wars. Vercelli, an important Roman municipality, was almost abandoned and depopulated. The most important authority, even from a civil standpoint, was the Bishop. Theodoric tried to establish a peaceful co-existence with the reduction of taxes and the liberation of many slaves. Although he was Arian, he did his utmost to improve relations between the Church of Rome and that of Constantinople. A few decades earlier, in the Council of Chalcedon (451), Christ’s dual nature, human and divine, had been recognised, not without great difficulty. Such were also the teachings of St Eusebio and S.tMassimo of Turin, fully shared by St Emiliano.
Our saint was from the important Eusebian Monastery which, as St Ambrose wrote, gathered around the Bishop, both contemplative religious and aspirants to the Priesthood. According to tradition, Emiliano was a Hermit for forty years near Sostegno, where then a Monastery of regular clerics was built. Even today there is an ancient Sanctuary dedicated to him.
He was elected Bishop between 493 and 497, maintaining a certain aptitude for contemplation. An authentic Shepherd, he was concerned, both with souls (let us think of him, often gathered with his community around the tomb of St Eusebius) and with the living conditions of his faithful.
For this purpose he asked Theodoric, to build a bridge and reduce taxes. Emiliano strongly defended the centrality of Papal power. He went to Rome for a Council called by St Symmachus (early 6th century), whose appointment and the first years of his Pontificate were marked by violent struggles to cancel his election. Pope Symmachus also escaped an attack. Peace returned in 505, thanks also to the intervention of Theodoric, with the adoption of the first rules to avoid external interference in the Papal elections.
Emiliano was an excellent spiritual director. He gave the veil and was confessor of the four sisters Licinia, Leonzia, Ampelia and Flavia who lived in the proto-monastery founded by Eusebia, sister of St Eusebius.
He died on 11 September, around 506 and was buried in the Cathedral. His cult remained alive and Altars were raised in his honour. On 17 May 1181, Bishop Alberto transferred St Emiliano’s relics to the main Altar. Rediscovered in 1565, seven years later it was placed in the Chapel of the Vergine dello Schiaffo, which was then dedicated to him.
Vercelli Cathedral
Two Parishes, Cigliano and Villanova Monferrato are dedicated to him.. He is not to be confused with Emilian II, a successor to the See of Vercelli, wo centuries later, who was his great devotee.
Notre-Dame des Marches, Broc, Gruyère, Fribourg, Switzerland / Our Lady of the Steps (1884)- 17 May:
Nestled at the foot of Gruyères Hill, the Chapel overlooks the terraced deposits of the Saane River known as Les Marches, the Steps. The 28″ statue of Our Lady of the Steps, usually vested, is a standing Virgin and Child in the late Gothic style of the 1400s. Documentary evidence of a Chapel here dates to 1572.
The present building goes back to 1705, the work of three brothers, all Priests, from a family of cheese merchants. Dom Nicolas Ruffieux, prothonotary of Broc, decided to build “the most beautiful Chapel in the country.” His brother Jean-Jacques, Priest of neighboring Gruyères, took on the project with a third brother’s help. In 1721, the Commune of Broc added the enclosure and the linden trees that still shade the courtyard. On 17 May 1884, a miracle occurred at Notre-Dame des Marches, the first of several in the 1880s, which turned the rural Chapel into a place of pilgrimage. Stricken with a spinal malady, Léonide Andrey, 22, had been unable to walk for six years. She was carried to Mass at the Chapel and walked home easily. By the 1930s, the Sanctuary was known as the “Little Lourdes of Fribourg.” Two main pilgrimages were established: one in September, initially termed the “anti-alcoholic pilgrimage” and one on a Wednesday in spring, the Pilgrimage of the Sick.
St Heraclius of Noviodunum Bl Ivan Ziatyk St Madron of Cornwall St Maildulf of Malmesbury St Maw
St Paschal Baylon OFM (1540-1592) “Seraph of the Eucharist,” “Saint of the Blessed Sacrament,” “Servant of the Blessed Sacrament.” Franciscan Lay Brother, Mystic…….. A man remarkable for innocence of life and the spirit of penance. Pope Leo XIII declared him the heavenly patron of Eucharistic Congresses and Societies and Apostolates, formed in honour of the Most Blessed Sacrament. About this beautiful Saint: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/05/17/saint-of-the-day-17-may-st-paschal-baylon-o-f-m-1540-1592-the-seraph-of-the-eucharist/
St Paul of Noviodunum St Peter Lieou St Rasso of Grafrath St Restituta of Carthage St Silaus of Lucca St Solochanus of Chalcedon St Thethmar St Victor Roma — Martyrs of Alexandria – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together; no details about them have survived except their names: Adrio, Basilla and Victor. 4th century Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Nyon: A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little more than three of their names: Aquilinus, Heradius and Paul. 303 at Noyon, Switzerland.
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