Tag: blmarieanneblondin

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

The Octave Day of St Stephen, Nuestra Señora del Pilar / Our Lady of the Pillar (Zaragoza, Spain) (40) and Memorials of the Saints – 2 January

Posted on by AnaStpaul

The Octave Day of St Stephen

Nuestra Señora del Pilar / Our Lady of the Pillar (Zaragoza, Spain) (40) – 2 January, 12 October (originally 4 October), 15 August – (This Apparition it is considered the first Marian Apparition, and is unique because it happened while Mary was still living on Earth):

According to ancient Spanish history, on 2 January in the year 40, in the early days of Christianity, James the Greater, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, was preaching the Gospel in what was then the pagan land of Caesaraugusta (now Zaragoza), in the Roman Province of Hispania.

St James was disheartened with his mission, having made only a few converts. While he was praying by the banks of the Ebro River with some of his disciples, the Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously appeared before him atop a pillar accompanied by Angels. Mary assured James that the people would eventually be converted, becoming a stronghold of the Faith due to his efforts and their faith would be as strong as the pillar she was standing on. She gave him the pillar as a symbol and a wooden image of herself. James was also instructed to build a Chapel on the spot where she left the pillar which he did, making it the first Church in Spain.

Apparition of the Virgin of the Pillar to Saint James and his Saragossan disciples by Francisco Goya, c 1769.

It is generally believed, that Mary appeared to James through bilocation, as she was still living, either in Ephesus or Jerusalem, at the time of this event, as she is believed to have died three to fifteen years after Jesus ascended into Heaven. After establishing the church, James returned to Jerusalem with some of his disciples where he became a Martyr, beheaded in 44 under Herod Agrippa. His disciples returned his body to Spain.
The pillar left by the Virgin Mary is presently enshrined in the same but larger Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. It is believed to be the same pillar given and promised by Mary, in spite of numerous disasters that beset the Church. A fire in 1434 razed the Church that preceded the present Basilica Cathedral, see below.

The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary may or may not be the original. Some reports state that the original wooden image was destroyed when the Church burned down in 1434, contradicting other reports, that it is still the original Statue. The Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is made of wood and stands 39 centimetres tall while the 1.8 m pillar is made of jasper.quartz. The Statue depicts Mother Mary with the Child Jesus on her left arm, Who has a dove sitting on His left palm. Since the 16th century, the pillar is usually draped in a skirt-like cover called manto (in English: mantle). As a whole, it is protected by a bronze case and then another case of silver. The image was canonically crowned in 1905 during the reign of Pope Pius X. The crown was designed by the Marquis of Griñi, valued at 450,000 pesetas (£18,750, in1910). During the three Marian festivities of today, 15 August and 12 October, the faithful adorn the base of the Pillar and Statue with flowers – see below (both our Blessed Mother and St James would be thrilled by this display of such immense faith and piety!)

The apparition of Our Lady of the Pillar is a widely accepted sacred tradition. Popes from earliest times issued Papal Bulls attesting to the authenticity of the Shrine and the appearance of the Virgin Mary. Pope Calixtus III issued a Bull in 1456 encouraging pilgrimage to the Lady of the Pillar. It acknowledged the miracle of its foundation and the miracles that had taken place at the Spanish Shrine. It was also through this Bull that the name “Our Lady of the Pillar” was confirmed.
So many contradictions had arisen concerning the miraculous origin of the Church that during the reign of Pope Innocent XIII , the Bishops of Spain appealed to the Holy See to settle the controversy. After careful investigation, the twelve Cardinals, in whose hands the affair rested, adopted the following account, which was approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 2 August 1723 and has since been inserted in the lessons of the Office of the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, celebrated on 12 October.

“Of all the places that Spain offers for the veneration of the devout, the most illustrious is doubtless the Sanctuary consecrated to God under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, under the title of Our Lady of the Pillar, at Saragossa.
According to ancient and pious tradition, St James the Greater, led by Providence into Spain, spent some time at Saragossa. He there received a signal favour from the Blessed Virgin. As he was praying with his disciples one night, upon the banks of the Ebro, as the same tradition informs us, the Mother of God, who still lived, appeared to him and commanded him to erect an oratory in that place. The Apostle delayed not to obey this injunction,and with the assistance of his disciples, soon constructed a small Chapel. In the course of time, a larger Church was built and dedicated, which, with the dedication of Saint Saviour’s, is kept as a festival in the City and Diocese of Saragossa on the 4th of October.“

Holy Chapel of the Pillar of Zaragoza. Altar with the Arrival of the Virgin by ‘José Ramírez de Arellano.

In 1730, Pope Clement XII allowed the celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar all over the Spanish Empire. As the date coincides with the discovery of the Americas, the Lady was later named as Patroness of the Hispanic World although her Patronages include all of the following:
Zaragoza, Spain, Melo, Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Diocese of Imus, Cavite, Zamboanga City, Santa Cruz, Manila, Alaminos, Laguna, San Simon, Pampanga, Libmanan, Camarines Sur, Pilar and Morong in Bataan, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, Sibonga, Cebu, Baleno, Masbate, Cauayan, Isabela.

Prayer:
Hail, Mary, Our Lady of the Pillar,
conceived without sin,
I come to venerate and honour you.
above all the Angels and Saints in Heaven,
as my Queen, my Lady and my dearest Mother.
I firmly resolve to serve you always
and to do whatever I am able,
that all may render faithful service to you.
Most Holy Mary,
through your kind intercession
and by your own merits,
obtain for me from your Divine Son Jesus,
our Lord and Saviour,
all the graces I need
for the eternal salvation of my soul.
Therefore, most devoted Mother of mothers,
through the Precious Blood
which your Son shed for us,
I humbly beseech thee to receive me
among your devotees
and to accept me as your servant forever.
Help me in my every thought,
action word and deed,
never to be displeasing in your sight
and in the sight of your Son,
our Lord and Redeemer.
Think of me always,
my dear Lady of the Pillar
and do not forsake me
in the hour of my death.
Amen.

Our Lady of the Pillar by Ramón Bayeu, 1780.

St Basil the Great (329-379) Father & Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
St Basil is celebrated individually on 14 June (General Roman Calendar from 13th century to 1969.
St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Father & Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
St Gregory is celebrated individually on 9 May (General Roman Calendar prior to 1969).
About these 2 great Fathers and Doctors:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/saint-s-of-the-day-st-basil-the-great-329-379-and-st-gregory-of-nazianzen-330-390-fathers-and-doctors-of-the-church/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/02/saint-s-of-the-day-2-january-st-basil-the-great-329-379-and-st-gregory-of-nazianzen-330-390-two-bodies-one-spirit/

St Adelard of Corbie (c 751 – 827) Monk, Abbot, Apostle of the poor and needy, Court administrator, Counsellor to Charlemagne.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/02/saint-of-the-day-2-january-saint-adelard-of-corbie-c-751-827/

Bl Airaldus of Maurienne
St Asclepius of Limoges
St Aspasius of Auch
St Blidulf of Bobbio
Bl Guillaume Répin
St Hortulana of Assisi
St Isidore of Antioch
St Isidore of Nitria
St Laurent Bâtard

Blessed Marie Anne Blondin SSA (1809-1890) Religious Sister and Foundress of the Sisters of Saint Anne, apostle of the Holy Eucharist and Divine Providence, Teacher.
https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/02/saint-of-the-day-blessed-marie-anne-blondin-ssa-1809-1890/

Saint Macarius the Younger of Alexandria (Died c 401) Priest, Monk, Desert Hermit.

St Maximus of Vienne
Bl Odino of Rot
St Paracodius of Vienne
St Seiriol
Blessed Sylvester of Troina
St Telesphorus, Pope
St Theodota
St Theopistus
St Vincentian of Tulle

Many Martyrs Who Suffered in Rome: There were many Martyrs who suffered in the persecutions of Diocletian for refusing to surrender the holy books. Though we know these atrocities occurred, we do not know the names of the Saints and we honour them as a group. c 303 in Rome, Italy.

Martyrs of Antioch – 5 saints: A group of Christian soldiers Martyred together for their faith. We know the names of five – Albanus, Macarius, Possessor, Starus and Stratonicus. They were born in Greece and were Martyred in Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey).

Many Martyrs of Britain: The Christians of Britain appear to have escaped unharmed in the earlier persecutions which afflicted the Church but the cruel edicts of Diocletian were enforced in every corner of the Roman Empire and the faithful inhabitants of this land, whether native Britons or Roman colonists, were called upon to furnish their full number of holy Martyrs and Confessors. The names of few are on record but the British historian, Saint Gildas, after relating the Martyrdom of Saint Alban, tells us, that many others were seized, some put to the most unheard-of tortures and others immediately executed, while not a few hid themselves in forests and the caves of the earth, where they endured a prolonged death until God called them to their reward. The same writer attributes it to the subsequent invasion of the English, then a pagan people, that the recollection of the places, sanctified by these Martyrdoms, has been lost and so little honour paid to their memory. It may be added, that, according to one tradition, a thousand of these Christians were overtaken in their flight near Lichfield and cruelly massacred and that the name of Lichfield, or Field of the Dead, is derived from them.

Martyrs of Ethiopia – 3 saints: A group of Christians Martyred together for their faith. We know the names of three – Auriga, Claudia and Rutile.

Martyrs of Jerusalem – 2 saints: A group of Christians Martyred together for their faith. We know the names of two – Stephen and Vitalis.

Martyrs of Lichfield: Many Christians suffered at Lichfield (aka Lyke-field, meaning field of dead bodies), England in the persecutions of Diocletian. Though we know these atrocities occurred, we do not know the names of theSsaints and we honour them as a group. Their Martyrdom occurred in 304 at Lichfield, England.

Martyrs of Piacenza: A group of Christians who died together for their faith in the persecutions of Diocletian. No details about them have survived. They were Martyred on the site of Church of Madonna di Campagna, Piacenza, Italy.

Martyrs of Puy – 4 saints: Missionaries, sent by Saint Fronto of Périgueux to the area of Puy, France. Tortured and Martyred by local pagans. We know the names – Frontasius, Severinus, Severian and Silanus. They were beheaded in Puy (modern Puy-en-Velay), France and buried together in the Church of Notre Dame, Puy-en-Velay by Saint Fronto, their bodies laid out to form a cross.

Martyrs of Syrmium – 7 saints: Group of Christians Martyred together, date unknown. We know the names of seven – Acutus, Artaxus, Eugenda, Maximianus, Timothy, Tobias and Vitus – but very little else. This occurred in the 3rd or 4th century at Syrmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia).

Martyrs of Tomi – 3 saints: Three brothers, all Christian soldiers, in the Imperial Roman army and all three Martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Licinius Licinianus. We know their names – Argeus, Marcellinus and Narcissus – but little else.
They were Martyred in 320 at Tomi, Exinius Pontus, Moesia (modern Constanta, Romania).

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 2 January

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Basil the Great (329-379) Father & Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Father & Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
About these 2 great fathers:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/saint-s-of-the-day-st-basil-the-great-329-379-and-st-gregory-of-nazianzen-330-390-fathers-and-doctors-of-the-church/

AND:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/02/saint-s-of-the-day-2-january-st-basil-the-great-329-379-and-st-gregory-of-nazianzen-330-390-two-bodies-one-spirit/

St Adelard of Corbie (c 751 – 827) Monk, Abbot
Bl Airaldus of Maurienne
St Asclepius of Limoges
St Aspasius of Auch
St Blidulf of Bobbio
Bl Guillaume Répin
St Hortulana of Assisi
St Isidore of Antioch
St Isidore of Nitria
St Laurent Bâtard
St Macarius the Younger
Blessed Marie Anne Blondin SSA (1809-1890)
https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/02/saint-of-the-day-blessed-marie-anne-blondin-ssa-1809-1890/
St Maximus of Vienne
Bl Odino of Rot
St Paracodius of Vienne
St Seraphim of Sarov
St Seiriol
St Telesphorus, Pope
St Theodota
St Theopistus
St Vincentian of Tulle
—
Many Martyrs Who Suffered in Rome: There were many martyrs who suffered in the persecutions of Diocletian for refusing to surrender the holy books. Though we know these atrocities occured, we do not know the names of the saints and we honour them as a group. c 303 in Rome, Italy.

Martyrs of Antioch – 5 saints: A group of Christian soldiers martyred together for their faith. We know the names of five – Albanus, Macarius, Possessor, Starus and Stratonicus. They were born in Greece and were martyred in Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey).

Many Martyrs of Britain: The Christians of Britain appear to have escaped unharmed in the earlier persecutions which afflicted the Church but the cruel edicts of Diocletian were enforced in every corner of the empire and the faithful inhabitants of this land, whether native Britons or Roman colonists, were called upon to furnish their full number of holy Martyrs and Confessors. The names of few are on record but the British historian, Saint Gildas, after relating the martyrdom of Saint Alban, tells us that many others were seized, some put to the most unheard-of tortures and others immediately executed, while not a few hid themselves in forests and deserts and the caves of the earth, where they endured a prolonged death until God called them to their reward. The same writer attributes it to the subsequent invasion of the English, then a pagan people, that the recollection of the places, sanctified by these martyrdoms, has been lost and so little honour paid to their memory. It may be added that, according to one tradition, a thousand of these Christians were overtaken in their flight near Lichfield and cruelly massacred and that the name of Lichfield, or Field of the Dead, is derived from them.

Martyrs of Ethiopia – 3 saints: A group of Christians martyred together for their faith. We know the names of three – Auriga, Claudia and Rutile.

Martyrs of Jerusalem – 2 saints: A group of Christians martyred together for their faith. We know the names of two – Stephen and Vitalis.

Martyrs of Lichfield: Many Christians suffered at Lichfield (aka Lyke-field, meaning field of dead bodies), England in the persecutions of Diocletian. Though we know these atrocities occured, we do not know the names of the saints, and we honour them as a group. Their martyrdom occurred in 304 at Lichfield, England.

Martyrs of Piacenza: A group of Christians who died together for their faith in the persecutions of Diocletian. No details about them have survived. They were martyred on the site of church of Madonna di Campagna, Piacenza, Italy.

Martyrs of Puy – 4 saints: Missionaries, sent by Saint Fronto of Périgueux to the area of Puy, France. Tortured and martyred by local pagans. We know the names – Frontasius, Severinus, Severian and Silanus. They were beheaded in Puy (modern Puy-en-Velay), France and buried together in the church of Notre Dame, Puy-en-Velay by Saint Fronto, their bodies laid out to form a cross.

Martyrs of Syrmium – 7 saints: Group of Christians martyred together, date unknown. We know the names of seven – Acutus, Artaxus, Eugenda, Maximianus, Timothy, Tobias and Vitus – but very little else. This occurred in the 3rd or 4th century at Syrmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia).

Martyrs of Tomi – 3 saints: Three brothers, all Christians, all soldiers in the imperial Roman army, and all three martyred in the persecutions of emperor Licinius Licinianus. We know their names – Argeus, Marcellinus and Narcissus – but little else.
They were martyred in 320 at Tomi, Exinius Pontus, Moesia (modern Constanta, Romania).

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – Blessed Marie Anne Blondin SSA (1809-1890)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – Blessed Marie Anne Blondin SSA (1809-1890) Religious and Foundress of the Sisters of Saint Anne, apostle of the Holy Eucharist and Divine Providence, Teacher – born Esther Blondin on 18 April 1809 in Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada and died on 2 January 1890 at Lachine, Quebec, Canada of natural causes.  bl marie-anne-blondin-b1).jpg

Esther Blondin, in religion “Sister Marie Anne”, was born in Terrebonne (Quebec, Canada) on 18 April 1809, in a family of deeply Christian farmers.   From her mother she inherited a piety centred on Divine Providence and the Eucharist and, from her father, a deep faith and a strong patience in suffering.   Esther and her family were victims of illiteracy so common in French Canadian milieu of the nineteenth century.   Still an illiterate at the age of 22, Esther worked as a domestic in the Convent of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, that had been recently opened in her own village.   A year later, she registered as a boarder in order to learn to read and write.   She then became a novice in the Congregation but had to leave, due to ill health.

In 1833, Esther became a teacher in the parochial school of Vaudreuil.   Little by little, she found out, that one of the causes of this illiteracy was due to a certain Church ruling, that forbade that girls be taught by men and that boys be taught by women.   Unable to finance two schools, many parish priests chose to have none.   In 1848, under an irresistible call of the Spirit, Esther presented to her Bishop, Ignace Bourget, a plan she long cherished – that of founding a religious congregation “for the education of poor country children, both girls and boys in the same schools”.   A rather new project for the time!   It even seemed quite rash and contrary to the established order.   Since the State was in favour of such schools, Bishop Bourget authorised a modest attempt so as to avoid a greater evil.bl marie anne blondin with children.jpeg

The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne was founded in Vaudreuil on 8 September 1850.   Esther, now named “Mother Marie Anne”, became its first superior.   The rapid growth of this young Community soon required larger quarters.    During the Summer of 1853, Bishop Ignace Bourget transferred the Motherhouse to Saint Jacques de l’Achigan. The new chaplain, Father Louis Adolphe Marechal, interfered in an abusive way in the private life of the Community.   During the Foundress’ absence, Father changed the pupils’ boarding fees.   Should he be away for a while, he asked that the Sisters await his return to go to confession.   After a year of this existing conflict between the chaplain and the Foundress, the latter being anxious to protect the rights of her Community, Bishop Bourget asked Mother Marie Anne, on 18 August 1854, “to resign.”   He called for elections and warned Mother Marie Anne “not to accept the superiorship, even if her sisters wanted to re-elect her.”   Even though she could be re-elected, according to the Rule of the Community, Mother Marie Anne obeyed her Bishop whom she considered God’s instrument.   And she wrote:  “As for me, my Lord, I bless Divine Providence a thousand times for the maternal care he shows me in making me walk the way of tribulations and crosses.”bl marie anne blondin.jpg

Mother Marie Anne, having been named Directress at Saint Genevieve Convent, became the target of attacks from the Motherhouse authorities, influenced by the dictatorship of Father Marechal.   Under the pretext of poor administration, Mother Marie Anne was recalled to the Motherhouse in 1858, with the Bishop’s warning:  “take means so that she will not be a nuisance to anyone.”   From this new destitution and until her death on 2 January 1890, Mother Marie Anne was kept away from administrative responsibilities. She was even kept away from the General Council deliberations when the 1872 and 1878 elections reelected her.   Assigned to mostly hidden work in the laundry and ironing room, she led a life of total self-denial and thus ensured the growth of the Congregation. Behold the paradox of an influence which some wanted to nullify!   In the Motherhouse basement laundry room in Lachine, where she spent her days, many generations of novices received from the Foundress a true example of obedience and humility, imbued with authentic relationships which ensure true fraternal charity.   To a novice who asked her one day why she, the Foundress, was kept aside in such lowly work, she simply replied with kindness :  “The deeper a tree sinks its roots into the soil, the greater are its chances of growing and producing fruit.”

The attitude of Mother Marie Anne, who was a victim of so many injustices, allows us to bring out the evangelical sense she gave to events in her life.   Just as Jesus Christ, who passionately worked for the Glory of His Father, so too Mother Marie Anne sought only God’s Glory in all she did.   “The greater Glory of God” was the aim she herself gave her Community.   “To make God known to the young who have not the happiness of knowing Him” was for her a privileged way of working for the Glory of God.   Deprived of her most legitimate rights and robbed of all her personal letters with her bishop, she offered no resistance and she expected, from the infinite goodness of God, the solution to the matter.   She was convinced that “He will know well, in his Wisdom, how to discern the false from the true and to reward each one according to his deeds.”Blessed_Marie-Anne_Blondin

Prevented from being called “Mother” by those in authority, Mother Marie Anne did not jealously hold on to her title of Foundress, rather she chose annihilation, just like Jesus, “her crucified Love”, so that her Community might live.   However, she did not renounce her mission of spiritual mother of her Community.   She offered herself to God in order “to expiate all the sins which were committed in the Community” and she daily prayed to Saint Anne “to bestow on her spiritual daughters the virtues so necessary for Christian educators.”bl marie-anne-blondin-bbcb7571-43b9-4f58-85eb-03d51ae92c6-resize-750

Like any prophet invested with a mission of salvation, Mother Marie Anne lived persecution by forgiving without restriction, convinced that “there is more happiness in forgiving than in revenge.”   This evangelical forgiveness, the guarantee of “the peace of soul which she held most precious,” was ultimately proven on her death bed when she asked her superior to call for Father Marechal “for the edification of the Sisters.”

As she felt the end approaching, Mother Marie Anne left to her daughters her spiritual testament in these words which are a resume of her whole life :   “May Holy Eucharist and perfect abandonment to God’s Will be your heaven on earth.”   She then peacefully passed away at the Motherhouse of Lachine, on 2 January 1890, “happy to go to the Good God” she had served all her life…. Vatican.vabl Mother-Mary-Anne-by-Doruyter_edited-1.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints -2 January

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Basil the Great (329-379) Father & Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Father & Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
About these 2 great fathers:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/saint-s-of-the-day-st-basil-the-great-329-379-and-st-gregory-of-nazianzen-330-390-fathers-and-doctors-of-the-church/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/02/saint-s-of-the-day-2-january-st-basil-the-great-329-379-and-st-gregory-of-nazianzen-330-390-two-bodies-one-spirit/

St Adelard of Corbie
Bl Airaldus of Maurienne
St Asclepius of Limoges
St Aspasius of Auch
St Blidulf of Bobbio
Bl Guillaume Répin
St Hortulana of Assisi
St Isidore of Antioch
St Isidore of Nitria
St Laurent Bâtard
St Macarius the Younger
Blessed Marie Anne Blondin SSA (1809-1890)
St Maximus of Vienne
Bl Odino of Rot
St Paracodius of Vienne
St Seraphim of Sarov
St Seiriol
Bl Stephana de Quinzanis
St Telesphorus, Pope
St Theodota
St Theopistus
St Vincentian of Tulle
—
Many Martyrs Who Suffered in Rome:   There were many martyrs who suffered in the persecutions of Diocletian for refusing to surrender the holy books.   Though we know these atrocities occured, we do not know the names of the saints and we honour them as a group. c 303 in Rome, Italy.

Martyrs of Antioch – 5 saints:   A group of Christian soldiers martyred together for their faith. We know the names of five – Albanus, Macarius, Possessor, Starus and Stratonicus. They were born in Greece and were martyred in Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey).

Many Martyrs of Britain:   The Christians of Britain appear to have escaped unharmed in the earlier persecutions which afflicted the Church but the cruel edicts of Diocletian were enforced in every corner of the empire and the faithful inhabitants of this land, whether native Britons or Roman colonists, were called upon to furnish their full number of holy Martyrs and Confessors.   The names of few are on record but the British historian, Saint Gildas, after relating the martyrdom of Saint Alban, tells us that many others were seized, some put to the most unheard-of tortures and others immediately executed, while not a few hid themselves in forests and deserts and the caves of the earth, where they endured a prolonged death until God called them to their reward.   The same writer attributes it to the subsequent invasion of the English, then a pagan people, that the recollection of the places, sanctified by these martyrdoms, has been lost and so little honour paid to their memory.   It may be added that, according to one tradition, a thousand of these Christians were overtaken in their flight near Lichfield and cruelly massacred and that the name of Lichfield, or Field of the Dead, is derived from them.

Martyrs of Ethiopia – 3 saints:   A group of Christians martyred together for their faith. We know the names of three – Auriga, Claudia and Rutile.

Martyrs of Jerusalem – 2 saints:   A group of Christians martyred together for their faith. We know the names of two – Stephen and Vitalis.

Martyrs of Lichfield: Many Christians suffered at Lichfield (aka Lyke-field, meaning field of dead bodies), England in the persecutions of Diocletian.   Though we know these atrocities occured, we do not know the names of the saints, and we honour them as a group. Their martyrdom occurred in 304 at Lichfield, England.

Martyrs of Piacenza: A group of Christians who died together for their faith in the persecutions of Diocletian.   No details about them have survived. They were martyred on the site of church of Madonna di Campagna, Piacenza, Italy.

Martyrs of Puy – 4 saints: Missionaries, sent by Saint Fronto of Périgueux to the area of Puy, France. Tortured and martyred by local pagans.   We know the names – Frontasius, Severinus, Severian and Silanus.   They were beheaded in Puy (modern Puy-en-Velay), France and buried together in the church of Notre Dame, Puy-en-Velay by Saint Fronto, their bodies laid out to form a cross.

Martyrs of Syrmium – 7 saints: Group of Christians martyred together, date unknown. We know the names of seven – Acutus, Artaxus, Eugenda, Maximianus, Timothy, Tobias and Vitus – but very little else. This occurred in the 3rd or 4th century at Syrmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia).

Martyrs of Tomi – 3 saints: Three brothers, all Christians, all soldiers in the imperial Roman army, and all three martyred in the persecutions of emperor Licinius Licinianus. We know their names – Argeus, Marcellinus and Narcissus – but little else.
They were martyred in 320 at Tomi, Exinius Pontus, Moesia (modern Constanta, Romania).