saints – Page 3 – AnaStpaul

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, The Miracle of Ocotlán, Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle / Our Lady of Good News (Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France) 1720 and Memorials of the Saints – 3 October

Posted on October 3, 2026October 2, 2026 by AnaStpaul

The Miracle of Ocotlán – 3 October
Our Lord of Mercy
“The Prodigy of Ocotlán ”
This is a major miracle that you’ve probably never heard of, the appearance of Christ in the clouds, in Ocotlan, Mexico, in 1847.

Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle / Our Lady of Good News (Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France) 1720 – First Sunday of October, 23 December:

Jean de Montfort founded the Dominican Convent of Our Lady of Good News in Rennes to pay a vow taken during the battle of Auray in 1364, where his victory settled him as Duke of Brittany. In the following century, a panel painting in the Convent’s cloister gained a reputation for miracles, resulting in the building of a separate Chapel to give due veneration to Our Lady and to accommodate the pilgrims.

Another vow was paid after the plague of 1632, which spared Rennes the serious devastation which the surrounding regions suffered. In thanks,giving to the Madonna, the City gave Our Lady of Good News a solid silver model of the town and, from 1634, observed a votive celebration every year on 8 September, the Feast of Mary’s Birth. Another miracle occurred during the great fire of 23 December 1720, when, as their wooden houses burned, the people of Rennes saw Our Lady of Good News look down in compassion from the sky.

During the French Revolution, the silver model, was melted down. The Chapel was destroyed and the Convent used to store fodder. A gardener saved the holy image, which he gave to the neighbouring Church of St Aubin. In 1849, a cholera epidemic inspired a new vow. A new silver-plated model city was commissioned from Napoleon III’s goldsmith and the September votive feast reinstated. When St Aubin’s became too small for all the pilgrims, a new Church was built, dedicated in 1904 to St Aubin and Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle.

The painting was canonically crowned in 1908. In recent years the votive feast has been held on the first Sunday in October rather than 8 September.

St Adalgott of Chur
Bl Agostina of the Assumption
St Candidus the Martyr
St Cyprian of Toulon
Bl Damian de Portu
St Dionysius the Aeropagite
Bl Dominic Spadafora
St Ewald the Black
St Ewald the Fair
St Froilan

St Gerard of Brogne (c 895 – 959) Priest, Abbot of Brogne, Reformer.

St Hesychius
Bl Juan Tapia
Bl Maddalena the Greater
St Maximian of Bagaia
St Menna

St Theodore Guerin SP (1798 – 1856) Religious, Foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and numberous schools, Educator.

Bl Utto of Metten
St Virila OSB (Died c 950) Abbot
St Widradus
—
Martyrs of Alexandria – 9 saints: A number of Christian martyrs remembered together. We know the names Caius, Cheremone, Dionysius, Eusebio, Fausto, Lucio, Maximus, Paul, Peter and that there were at least two more whose names have not come down to us, and that’s about all we know.

Martyrs of Brazil – 30 beati: On 25 December 1597 an expedition of colonists, with two Jesuit and two Franciscan evangelists, arrived at Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The region was colonized by Portuguese Catholics but was invaded by Dutch Calvinists who soon took over the whole territory. They immediately made a policy of the persecution of Catholics. On Sunday 16 July 1645 at Cunhau, Brazil, 69 people were gathered in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Candles for Mass celebrated by Father Andre de Soveral. At the moment of the elevation a group of Dutch soldiers attack the Chapel, murdering many of the faithful including Father Andre; the parishioners died professing their faith and asking pardon for their sins. On 3 October 1645, 200 armed Indians and a band of Flemish troops, led by a fanatical Calvinist convert, hacked to death an unknown number of people of Rio Grande including:
• Blessed Ambrosio Francisco Ferro
• Blessed André de Soveral
• Blessed Antônio Baracho
• Blessed Antônio Vilela
• Blessed Antônio Vilela Cid
• Blessed Diogo Pereira
• Blessed Domingos Carvalho
• Blessed Estêvão Machado de Miranda
• Blessed Francisco de Bastos
• Blessed Francisco Mendes Pereira
• Blessed João da Silveira
• Blessed João Lostau Navarro
• Blessed João Martins
• Blessed José do Porto
• Blessed Manuel Rodrigues de Moura
• Blessed Mateus Moreira
• Blessed Simão Correia
• Blessed Vicente de Souza Pereira
and other lay people whose names have not come down to us.

Uncategorized

Saints of the Day – 3 October – Saint Ewald the Black & Saint Ewald the Fair

Posted on October 3, 2026October 2, 2026 by AnaStpaul

The Two Ewalds (also known as Hewald) were Anglo-Saxon priest-martyrs bearing the same name, who were nicknamed for the difference in their hair colour and complexion.

The two were companions, both natives of Northumbria, England. They spent several years as students in the schools of Ireland. Ewald the Black was the more learned of the two, but both were equally renowned for holiness of life. They were acquainted with St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Friesland, and were animated with his zeal for the conversion of the Germans. Some sources number them among the eleven companions of that saint. They began their mission labours about 690 at Saxony, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Münster, Osnabrück, and Paderborn.

The pagan Saxons, witnessing these activities of the Christian priests and missionaries, began to suspect that the Ewalds planned to convert their over-lord, destroy their temples and supplant their religion. Inflamed with jealousy and anger, they resolved that the Ewalds should die. An uprising followed and both priests were quickly seized. Ewald the White was killed quickly by sword; Ewald the Black was tortured and torn limb from limb, after which both their bodies were cast into the Rhine. This is understood to have happened on 3 October 695 at a place called Aplerbeck, today a district of Dortmund, where a chapel still stands. When the ealdorman heard of what had been done, he became angry and fearful of reprisals, and punished the murderers by putting them to death and burning their villages.

After the priests’ deaths, miracles occured. Their bodies were miraculously carried against the stream for the space of forty miles to the place in which the companions of the Ewalds were residing. As they floated along a heavenly light, like a column of fire, was seen to shine above them. Even the murderers witnessed the miraculous brightness. Moreover, one of the martyrs appeared in vision to the monk Tilmon (a companion of the Ewalds), and told him where the bodies would be found: “that the spot would be there where he should see a pillar of light reaching from earth to heaven”. Tilmon arose and found the bodies, and interred them with the honours due to martyrs. From that time onwards, the memory of the Ewalds was annually celebrated in those parts. A spring of water gushed forth in the place of the martyrdom.

Pepin, Duke of Austrasia, having heard of the wonders that had occurred, caused the bodies to be buried in Cologne, where they were solemnly enshrined in the collegiate church of St. Kunibert. The two Ewalds are honoured as patrons in Westphalia.

Many who, by the straitness of poverty, were unable to manifest the kindness of wealth, manifested more than wealth, making up by their own labour a service dearer than all riches.

The Life and Passion of St Cyprian (Pontius)

CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 3 October – St Thérèse of Lisieux

Posted on October 3, 2026October 2, 2026 by AnaStpaul

God taught me tht the only glory which matters is the glory which lasts forever and that one does not have to perform shining deeds to win that, but to hide one’s acts of virtue from others, and even from oneself.

I was sure that I was born to be great and began to wonder how I should set about winning my glory; then it was revealed to me in my heart that my glory would lie in becoming a Saint, though this glory would be hidden on earth.

We looked upon their high-sounding titles as nothing more than the ‘vapour of smoke’. I realised that real nobility is in the soul, not in a name.

The one who chose for love of God to be the poorest and most obscure on earth will be the first and the richest and most glorious in Heaven.

When we surrender to discouragement or despair, it is usually because we are thinking too much of the past or future.

It has come to this, that I can no longer suffer because all suffering is sweet.

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 2 October – Saint Theophilus of Bulgaria

Posted on October 2, 2026October 1, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Theophilus of Bulgaria, was a Benedictine monk and confessor. Originally from Bulgaria, he joined a monastery in Asia Minor and was an outspoken opponent of the imperial policies of lconoclasticism. For this he was sent into exile by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, and was brutally mistreated.

Original design of the St Benedict medal

In accord with the emperor’s orders, the saint was subjected to beatings and led through the city tied up like a criminal. The emperor then gave Theophilus over into the charge of the official, Hypatius, who tried repeatedly to compel Theophilus to accept the Iconoclastic heresy. Theophilus remained steadfast in the Faith, and Hypatius converted instead. Because of this, Hypatius gained the emperor’s permission to set the saint free.

Theophilus died in 750.

Leo III the Isaurian was described as ‘Islamic minded’.

MARIAN TITLES

The Holy Guardian Angels, Matka Boża Różańcowa / Our Lady of the Rosary, Krakow, Poland (1600s) and Memorials of the Saints – 2 October

Posted on October 2, 2026October 1, 2026 by AnaStpaul

The Holy Guardian Angels (Memorial)

AND – St Bernard on the Guardian Angels

Matka Boża Różańcowa / Our Lady of the Rosary, Krakow, Poland (1600s) – First Sunday of October, 2 October:

In the Dominican Basilica of the Trinity in Cracow is a large Chapel dedicated to the Mother of God of the Rosary. The icon on its main Altar, crowned on 2 October 1921, is a copy of the ancient Salus Populi Romani (Health of the Roman People) image in the Basilica of St Mary Major of the Snows in Rome — the icon Pope Gregory the Great carried in procession to end the plague of 597. During the Battle of Lepanto (7 October 571), when ships of a coalition of Christian countries routed the Turkish navy off Greece, Pope Pius V prayed the Rosary with a large group of faithful before the Roman icon. The old image thus became associated with the newer devotion of the Rosary and with saving Europe from Ottoman rule.

Churches throughout Catholic Europe were dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and copies of the Salus Populi Romani proliferated. Cardinal Maciejowski brought such a copy from Rome to Cracow in 1600. The image played a part in the “Polish Lepanto” in 1621, when at Khotyn, Ukraine (then Chocim, Poland) an allied force of Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians faced a Turkish army twice its size. On 3 October, the Bishop of Krakow led an hours-long Rosary procession with the holy icon. The entire population joined in. When the Turks gave up their attack and signed a treaty, Our Lady of the Rosary gained another victory. Her feast is celebrated in Krakow on the first Sunday of October.

The Swedish deluge contributed to the destruction of the original image of the Mother of God. T he cult, however, was so strong that a copy of the previous painting was quickly funded. The present one comes from the 50s and 60s of the 17th century. Numerous votive offerings made on the occasion of receiving favours have also survived from that time. The oldest exhibited in the Church are dated to 1703, the older ones are in the Archdiocese Museum. The love for the Blessed Mother is also evidenced by the silver dress donated in the 1770s by the Działyński family,and the sceptre of Our Lady of the “Pious Gregory of Pierzchno” foundation at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.

St Alfonso del Rio
St Andrea Ximenez

St Beregisius
St Eleutherius of Nicomedia
Bl Georges-Edme René
St Gerinus

St Leodegar of Autun OSB (c 625-679) Bishop and Martyr, Monk, Abbot, Reformer.

St Leudomer
St Maria Antonina Kratochwil
St Modesto of Sardinia
St Saturius of Soria
St Theophilus of Bulgaria
St Thomas de Cantilupe of Hereford (c 1218-1282) Bishop
St Ursicinus II
—
Martyred in Antioch, Syria: Martyred in one of the early persecutions, date unknown.
St Cyril of Antioch
St Primus of Antioch
St Secundarius of Antioch

Martyred in Nagasaki, Japan: A husband, wife and two sons, who were all martyred together in the persecutions in Japan. They were beheaded on 2 October 1622 in Nagasaki, Japan and Beatified by Pope Pius IX on 7 May 1867.
• Blessed Andreas Yakichi
• Blessed Franciscus Yakichi
• Blessed Lucia Yakichi
• Blessed Ludovicus Yakichi

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Elías Carbonell Molla
• Blessed Enrique Sáiz-Aparicio
• Blesssed Felipe González de Heredia Barahona
• Blessed Francisco Carceller Galindo
• Blessed Isidoro Bover Oliver
• Blessed Juan Carbonell Molla
• Blessed Juan Iñiguez de Ciriano Abechuco
• Blessed Manuel Borrajo Míguez
• Blessed María Francisca Ricart Olmos
• Blessed Mateu Garrolera Masferrer
• Blessed Pedro Artolozaga Mellique
• Blessed Pedro Salcedo Puchades

SAINT of the DAY

Saints of the Day – 1 October – Blessed Ralph Crockett & Blessed Edward James

Posted on October 1, 2026September 30, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Blessed Ralph Crockett & Blessed Edward James were priest martyrs in England, and two of the Martyrs of Douai.

Ralph Crockett was born at Barton, near Farndon, Cheshire in 1522. He was educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and then became a schoolmaster in Norfolk for a year before going to Gloucester Hall, Oxford. After a year, he went to Ipswich, where he was a schoolmaster for five years. In 1581, persecutions increased after the death of Edmund Campion, so he withdrew to Cheshire for about two years. In 1584, he left for France, and began studies at the English College then located at Rheims. He was ordained at Rheims in 1585, and continued his studies for a year, but his health being compromised, he asked to return to England. He and three other priests, Thomas Bramston, George Potter, and Edward James, left from Dieppe, but the ship ran ashore 19 April 1586 at Littlehampton, Sussex.

Ralph and Edward, with two others, John Oven and Francis Edwardes, were selected for trial, which took place at Chichester on 30 September 1588. Crockett, James and Edwardes were condemned to death, under the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584, for being priests and coming into the realm; but Oven on taking the Oath of Supremacy was respited.

On1 October 1588. Ralph ascended the scaffold and blessed the crowd in Latin which brought shouts of anger upon him, however he changed into praying in English whereupon the crowd cheered. He and Edward faced their deaths without fear and were executed after absolving each other.

His father Adam, in his later years entered the Catholic Church on the Continent and his descendants remained recusant and continued to practise their Catholic faith in the face of continued persecution.

In 1929 Ralph was beatified by Pope Pius XI.

Edward James was born at Barton, Breaston, near Long Eaton, Derbyshire. He was educated at Derby School, St John’s College, Oxford, the English college at Rheims and the Venerable English College at Rome. In October 1579, he and William Filby sailed from Dover for Calais. The following August, Edward and ten others travelled to the English College, Rome. In October 1583, James was ordained as a priest in Rome by Bishop Thomas Goldwell, the last survivor of the English bishops who had refused to accept the Protestant Revolution.

In early February 1586, James left Rheims for the mission, accompanied by Stephen Rowsham who had been banished from England the year before. They met up with Ralph Crockett in Dieppe. He was captured on board a ship at Littlehampton, Sussex, on 19 April 1586, with three other priests, Thomas Bramston, George Potter, and his fellow martyr, Ralph Crockett, and they were charged with being Catholic priests and coming into the realm of England contrary to an Act of Parliament of 1584. All four were sent to London and put in prison there on 27 April 1586, where they remained for more than two years without trial.

Ralph Crockett, Edward James, John Oven and Francis Edwardes, were sent for trial at Chichester on 30 September 1588. All four were condemned to death for being priests and entering England, but Oven then took the Oath of Supremacy, in accordance with the Act of Supremacy 1559, and was reprieved. On 1 October 1588, the other three were drawn on a hurdle to Broyle Heath, near Chichester, where Edwardes recanted and was also reprieved. Crockett and James continued to refuse to recant and to take the oath.

He was beatified by Pope Pius XI.

What a difference between the death of the sinner and the death of the just man! This same difference is found in their lives. The life of the sinner has been sweet and pleasant, but his end is bitter and terrible. The life of the just man has been filled with trials and sacrifices, but his end is sweet and peaceful. That which made up the happiness of the sinner during life is his torment at death, but that which made up the pain and suffering of the just man during life is his happiness and consolation at death. The death of the sinner brings an end to the goods and pleasures of time, and plunges him into the evils and sufferings of eternity. The death of the just man brings an end to the evils and sufferings of time, and bids him enter into the goods and pleasures of eternity. What a difference between the death of the sinner and the death of the just man. Which death do you choose?

Father François Nepveu

MARIAN TITLES

Madonna di Valverde di Rezzato / Our Lady of Valverde di Rezzato, Italy (1399 and 1711) and Memorials of the Saints – 1 October

Posted on October 1, 2026September 30, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Madonna di Valverde, / Our Lady of Valverde di Rezzato, Italy (1399 and 1711) – 1 October:

The Sanctuary of the Madonna di Valverde, belonging to the Parish of San Giovanni Battista di Rezzato Diocese of Brescia, is located in Valverde, at the foot of the Botticino and Serle hills. The Sanctuary was born in the places of the apparitions of 1399, the only one in history where both the Madonna and her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour aooeared with His Mother and the second Marian Apparition of 1711.

For over six centuries the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Valverde has been a destination of pilgrimages from all over the north of Italy and is, above al,l in the heart of the community of Rezzato – Virle, which every year, on the Feast of St Anna on 26 July, recalls, with a solemn historical procession, the miracle of the apparitions.

In 1399, more than six hundred years ago, during the ploughing work in a field near Valverde, the oxen pulling the plough stopped and bent their knees. A man in a red robe and a blue mantle (Christ) appeared to the worker who guided them and ordered him to throw the three loaves that he kept in his saddlebag into the nearby pond. The peasant got ready to obey the order but was held back by the Apparition of the Madonna who advised him to return to beg the Lord, to revoke the order just given. If the three loaves had touched the waters of the lake, three scourges would have been unleashed (famine, plague and war) with which Christ intended to punish men for their impiety. Jesus, by the insistence of tHis Holy Mother, consented to the peasant’s plea and agreed that only one of the loaves need be thrown into the water and, therefore, only the scourge of the epidemic would spread throughout the area. Our Lady recommended to the peasant to announce to everyone, what he had seen with his own eyes, exhorting men to repent and to approach faith and the Sacraments again.

A Chapel was first built near the lake, then, in the early seventeenth century, a large and beautifully decorated Sanctuary followed.

St Thérèse of Lisieux/St Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face/The Little Flower OCD (1873 – 1897) Virgin, Carmelite Nun, Doctor of the Church (Memorial) She was Canonised by Pope Pius XI on 17 May 1925. The same Pope proclaimed her Universal Patron of the Missions, alongside Saint Francis Xavier, on 14 December 1927.
Up until 1969 her Memorial was celebrated on 3 October.

St Aizan of Abyssinia
St Albaud of Toul
Bl Andrew Sushinda
Bl Antoni Rewera
St Aretas of Rome
St Bavo of Ghent (c 589–654) Married. Widower, Monk and Hermit.
Bl Cecilia Eusepi
Bl Christopher Buxton
St Crescens of Tomi
St Dodo
Bl Dominic of Villanova
Bl Edward James
St Evagrius of Tomi
St Fidharleus
Bl Gaspar Fisogiro
St John Kukuzelis
Bl John Robinson

St Julia of Lisbon

St Maxima of Lisbon
Bl Nikita Budka
St Piaton of Tournai
St Priscus of Tomi
Bl Ralph Crockett
Bl Robert Widmerpool
Bl Robert Wilcox

St Romanos the Melodist (c 490-c 556) Deacon, Hymnographer, Poet, Writer. He is said to have composed more than 1,000 hymns celebrating various festivals of the ecclesiastical year, the lives of the saints and other sacred subjects, some 60 to 80 of which survive.

St Sazan of Abyssinia
St Verissimus of Lisbon
St Virila
St Wasnulf
—
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Carmelo Juan Pérez Rodríguez
• Blessed Higinio Mata Díez
• Blessed Juan Mata Díez
• Blessed Álvaro Sanjuán Canet
• Blessed Florencia Caerols Martínez

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 30 September – Saint Leopardus the Slave

Posted on September 30, 2026September 29, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Leopardus the Slave, martyr, was a slave in the household of Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine the Great, a maniacal persecutor of Christianity, and one of the many types of Antichrist which have arisen over the centuries. A more unfortunate or dangerous placement cannot be imagined.

Not much is recorded about Saint Leopardus’ early life, but in 362, in Rome, he was martyred for his faith, having withstood the tyrant.

Slain by Saint Mercurius, the Apostate’s last words were: “Thou hast conquered, Galilean.”

Saint Mercurius, who wielded a sword given to him by the Archangel Michael.

MARIAN TITLES

Nostra Signora di Loreto di Forno / Our Lady of Loreto of Forno, Alpi Graie, Italy (1629) and Memorials of the Saints – 30 September

Posted on September 30, 2026September 29, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Nostra Signora di Loreto di Forno / Our Lady of Loreto of Forno, Alpi Graie, Italy (1629) – 30 September:

At the beginning of the Vallone di Sea, at about 1340 metres above sea level, in the Forno di Groscavallo hamlet, stands the Sanctuary dedicated to the Madonna di Loreto, built around 1630, after the apparition occurred to Pietro Garino, a native of Forno.

In those times, the region was tormented by the wars fought by Carlo Emanuele of Savoy against the neighbouring states; by the increasingly high taxes that weighed on the poor people, by hunger and the plague.

It was customary for devotees to go annually to the Chapel of the Virgin on Rocciamelone. On that occasion, Pietro Garino found the small pictures, which are still preserved in the Church, depicting the Madonna of Loreto and San Carlo Borromeo, leaning against the facade of the Chapel. They were in bad shape. Pietro took them with him to have them restored and promised himself to bring them back to the Chapel the following year, keeping them in the meantime at his home in Forno.

Twice the pictures eluded his custody – the first time he found them right up there, at the mouth of the Vallone di Sea, where he had gone to collect leaves for the litter intended for livestock. On that occasion he had an apparition – the Virgin appeared to him between two women and promised him to stop the plague that claimed victims among the population of the plain. Brought home by Pietro, the paintings again disappeared from his home and were found in the same place as the apparition – it was a precise indication of the Virgin’s desire to see a Chapel built in that place.

A Chapel was built at the spot of the apparition, of which the remains have recently been found. The current building dates back to the second half of the 1700s; it is the work of Luigi Baretta; internally it has elements of considerable artistic and historical interest. The marvelous Altar by Prinotto, a masterpiece of eighteenth-century cabinet-making; the baroque reliquary, in which the pictures are kept; hundreds of ex-votos, including some of considerable value.

Historically, a Madonna with black features did not appear but the Sanctuary is known as such, as the faces of the Madonna and the Child she holds in her arms are ebony. The current Statue is the work of Raimondo Santifaller, from Ortisei and replaces the original one from the 18th century, stolen in 1977.

To access the Sanctuary it is necessary to climb the 440 steps that must be taken to reach the small square where the Sanctuary stands and which, pilgrims climb on their knees and in prayer.

The Sanctuary is open from July to September and Our Lady is celebrated annually on the Feast of the Assumption (16 August), the Nativity of Mary (8 September) and the Apparition of the Virgin Mary (30 September).
The video below shows this beautiful Sanctuary very clearly.

St Jerome (Memorial) (347-419) Father and Doctor

St Amato of Nusco (c 1003-1093) Bishop, Confessor, Monk, Apostle of the poor.

St Antoninus of Piacenza
St Castus of Piacenza
St Colman of Clontibret
St Desiderius of Piacenza
St Enghenedl of Anglesey
St Eusebia of Marseilles
Bl Frederick Albert

St Gregory the Illuminator (c 257 – c 331) “Apostle to Armenia” and “Father of Armenia”- Bishop, First Patriarch of the Armenian Church, Missionary, Wonder-worker.

St Honorius of Canterbury (Died 653) Archbishop of Canterbury
St Ismidone of Die
Bl Jean-Nicolas Cordier
St Laurus
St Leopardus the Slave
Bl Ludwik Gietyngier
St Midan of Anglesey
St Simon of Crépy
St Ursus the Theban
St Victor the Theban
—
Martyrs of Valsery Abbey: An unknown number of Premonstratensian monks at the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Valsery, Picardie, France who were martyred by Calvinists. They were martyred in 1567 at Valsery, Pircardy, France.

SAINT of the DAY

Saints of the Day – 29 September – Saints Gudelia, Sapor, Casdoe, Gabdelas & Dadas

Posted on September 29, 2026September 28, 2026 by AnaStpaul

All martyrs in the the persecution of Shapur II.

Saint Dadas of Persia was a Persian noble related to King Shapur II. He was married to Saint Casdoe, and Saint Gabdelas may have been their son. All three were martyred together in 368 for refusing to deny Christianity, being run through with swords.

Saint Sapor of Persia was also a relative of King Shapur II, who had him executed for his faith around the same time and in the same way.

Saint Gudelia was a maiden martyred in the persecutions of Shapur II in the year 340.

The day before that on which we were to fight, I saw in a vision that Pomponius the deacon came hither to the gate of the prison, and knocked vehemently. I went out to him, and opened the gate for him; and he was clothed in a richly ornamented white robe, and he had on manifold calliculæ. And he said to me, ‘Perpetua, we are waiting for you; come!’ And he held his hand to me, and we began to go through rough and winding places. Scarcely at length had we arrived breathless at the amphitheatre, when he led me into the middle of the arena, and said to me, ‘Do not fear, I am here with you, and I am labouring with you;’ and he departed.

St Perpetua

MARIAN TITLES

The Dedication of St Michael (Feast), the Three Archangels, Madonna di Tirano / Our Lady of Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardy, Italy (1504) and Memorials of the Saints – 29 September

Posted on September 29, 2026September 28, 2026 by AnaStpaul

The Dedication of St Michael (Feast)

THIS festival has been kept with great solemnity on the 29th of September ever since the Fifth Century and was certainly initially celebrated in Apulia in 493. The Dedication of the famous Church of St Michael on Mount Gargano, in Italy, gave occasion to the institution of this feast in the West, which is hence called in the Martyrologies of St Jerome, St Bede and others, ‘The Dedication of St Michael.’
About the Apparition of St Michael at Mount Gargano in 492

The Dedication of St Michael’s Church in Rome, which was performed by Pope Boniface IV. in 610 and that of several other Churches in the West, in honour of this Archangel, were also performed on this same day.

The name Michaelmas comes from a shortening of “Michael’s Mass,” in the same style as Christmas (Christ’s Mass) and Candlemas (Candle Mass, the Mass where traditionally the candles to be used throughout the year would be blessed).During the Middle Ages, Michaelmas was celebrated as a Holy Day of Obligation but this tradition was abolished in the 18th century.

The Church gives to St Michael four offices:

To fight against Satan.
To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
To be the champion of God’s people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore, he is the Patron of the Church and of the Orders of Knights during the Middle Ages.
To call away from earth and bring men’s souls to judgement.

St Gabriel the Archangel (Feast)
St Michael the Archangel (Feast)
St Raphael the Archangel (Feast)

Madonna di Tirano / Our Lady of Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardy, Italy (1504) – 29 September:

The Sanctuary of the Madonna of Tirano stands on the Swiss-Italian border, where the Virgin appeared to Mario Omodei on 29 September 1504, promising an end to the plague which was decimating the region, if a Church in her honour would be built, on the spot outside the City walls. The epidemic subsided and the townspeople placed the first stone of the Sanctuary on 25 March 1505.

Because of its crossroads location, it has always drawn pilgrims from throughout Europe.

The Virgin’s Statue was part of a silver-clad grouping executed by woodcarver G Angelo Mayno around 1520. Napoleonic raiders stripped off the precious metal and destroyed the other Statues.

In 1946 Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Blessed Virgin of Tirano “special heavenly Patron of all Europe.”

Bl Alericus
St Anno of Eichstätt
St Casdoe of Persia
St Catholdus of Eichstätt

Blessed Charles de Blois TOSF (1319–1364) Duke of Brittany French nobleman, Knight, ascetic, Franciscan tertiary.

St Dadas of Persia
St Diethardus of Eichstätt
St Fraternus of Auxerre
St Gabdelas of Persia
St Grimoaldus of Pontecorvo
St Gudelia
St Guillermo Courtet

Blessed Jean de Montmirail / Baron de Montmirail, O. Cist (1165 – 1217) Cistercian Monk, Apostle of the Sick and Afflicted.

Bl John of Ghent
St Lazaro of Kyoto
St Liutwin of Trier

St Miguel de Aozaraza
St Quiriacus of Palestine
St Rene Goupil
St Rhipsime
Bl Richard Rolle
St Sapor of Persia
St Theodota of Thrace
St Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz
—
Martyrs of Thrace – 3 saints: Three Christian men murdered in Thrace for their faith. They are – Eutychius, Heracleas and Plautus.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Antonio Arribas Hortigüela
• Blessed Antonio Martínez López
• Blessed Dario Hernández Morató
• Blessed Francesc de Paula Castelló Aleu
• Blessed Francisco Edreira Mosquera
• Blessed José Villanova Tormo
• Blessed Pau Bori Puig
• Blessed Vicente Sales Genovés
• Blessed Virgilio Edreira Mosquera

MARIAN TITLES

Nuestra Señora del Fresno / Our Lady of Fresno, Grado, Asturias, Spain (9th Century)

Posted on September 28, 2026September 25, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Nuestra Señora del Fresno / Our Lady of Fresno, Grado, Asturias, Spain (9th Century) – 8 and 28 September:

The Sanctuary of the Virgen del Fresno is one of the most visited Sanctuaries in the central area of Asturias despite the difficulty of its access. The Sanctuary is located on the Camino de Santiago hence it’s popularity dating from the 9th Century when pilgrims stopped to rest in the hostel provided. They were known as “the Novenarios” as, during their rest, they prayed the St Michael Novena before his Feast Day on 29 September.

In honour of the Virgen del Fresno two festivals are held, one on 8 September and the other 28 of the same month preceded by a Novena that has traditionally started at four in the afternoon.

The current image dates from 1975, since the original was lost in the looting it suffered in 1936. It is made of cedar from Lebanon, made in Madrid. She is dressed and holds the Child in her arms and the Rosary between her fingers. She remain above her Altar and another processional image accompanies the Novena.

St Wenceslaus (907-935) King of Bohemia, Martyr (Optional Memorial)

Bl Aaron of Auxerre
St Alodius of Auxerre
St Annemond of Lyons
St Bardomianus

Blessed Bernardine of Feltre OFM (1439-1494) Franciscan Priest and Friar, Missionary Preacher, Poet, peace-maker, Civil protestor against the practice of usury, defender of the poor. He was a true ‘child prodigy’ – by the time he was 12 he was fluent in Latin and at the age of 15 he composed a poem and read it in the Town Square to celebrate a local peace treaty. He is remembered most especially, in connection with the “Monti di Pietà” “Mount of Piety” of which he was the reorganiser and, in a certain sense, the Founder, together with the Blessed Michele Carcano.

St Chariton of Palestine
Bl Christian Franco
St Conval of Strathclyde
St Eucarpus
St Eustochium
St Exuperius of Toulouse
St Faustus of Riez
Blessed Francesco Piani of Caldarola OFM (1424-1507) Francisan Friar
St John of Dukla
St Laurence of North Africa
St Lioba of Bischofsheim

St Machan
St Martial of North Africa
St Martin of Moyenmoutier
St Paternus of Auch
St Privatus of Rome
St Salonius of Geneva
St Silvinus of Brescia

St Simón de Rojas O.SS. (1552-1624) , “Father Ave Maria”/ “Apostle of the Ave Maria,” Religious Priest of the Trinitarian Order, Founder of the Lay Apostolate of the Congregation of the Slaves of the Sweet Name of Mary, Marian Devotee, Theologian, Philosopher, Spiritual Writer, Apostle of Charity, Apostolic Visitor.

St Solomon of Genoa
St Stacteus
St Tetta of Wimborne
Bl Thiemo
St Willigod of Moyenmoutier
St Zama of Bologna
—
Augustinian Martyrs of Japan: The first Augustinian Missionaries arrived in Japan in 1602 and met with immediate success; many were brought to the faith; many of them became Augustinians; and many of them were martyred in the periodic persecutions of Christians.
This memorial commemorates all of them, whether they have a sanctioned Cause for Canonisation or not. They include:
• Blessed Bartolomé Gutiérrez Rodríguez
• Blessed Ferdinand Ayala
• Blessed Francisco Terrero de Ortega Pérez
• Blessed Ioannes Mukuno Chozaburo
• Blessed Laurentius Kaida Hachizo
• Blessed Mancius Yukimoto Ichizaemon
• Blessed Martín Lumbreras Peralta
• Blessed Melchor Sánchez Pérez
• Blessed Michaël Ichinose Sukezaemon
• Blessed Pedro de Zúñiga
• Blessed Petrus Sawaguchi Kuhyoe
• Blessed Thomas Jihyoe of Saint Augustine
• Blessed Thomas Terai Kahyoe
• Blessed Vicente Simões de Carvalho
• Saint Magdalena of Nagasaki

Martyrs of Antioch – 37 saints: A group of 30 soldiers and 7 civilians who were murdered together for their faith. The names that have come down to us are – Alexander, Alphinus, Heliodorus, Mark, Neon, Nicon and Zosumus. c 303 at Antioch, Pisidia (in modern Turkey).

Martyrs of China – 120 saints: A common memorial for the hundreds of the faithful, lay and clergy, who have died for their faith in the last couple of centuries in China.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Amalia Abad Casasempere de Maestre
• Blessed Francesc Xavier Ponsa Casallach
• Blessed Josep Casas Juliá
• Blessed Josep Casas Ros
• Blessed Josep Tarrats Comaposada
• Blessed María Fenollosa Alcaina

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 27 September – Blessed Delphine of Glandèves

Posted on September 27, 2026September 25, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Blessed Delphine, also known as Delphina, was born in 1284 in region of Provence, now part of France. She died on 26 November 1358, having lived as a Franciscan tertiary for most of her life. Delphine was the daughter and heiress of the Count of Puy-Michel. Left an orphan in her infancy, she was placed under the guardianship of her uncles, and was brought up under the direction of her aunt, who was the abbess of the Convent of St. Catherine of Sorps, at Bauduen. As a young girl, she took a vow of virginity.

Reliquaries of St. Elzéar and Bl. Delphine
in the Franciscan church of Ansouis, France

Despite her vow, at the age of twelve she was espoused to the ten-year-old Elzéar, Count of Sabran. They were married three years later at the castle of Puy-Michel. Having grown up together, they regarded each other as brother and sister, rather than husband and wife. Inspired by her example, her husband also took a vow of celibacy, which both honored throughout their married life.

Elzear took his place as a trusted aide at the court in Aix-en-Provence. The couple, having both received the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis, lived together at their castle in Ansouis in the practice of prayer, penance and charity towards the poor. After seven years, they moved to Puy-Michel. When Elzear had to go to Naples to see to some inherited property, they kept up a regular correspondence.

Elzear died on an errand to Paris in the interests of the king. Delphina wept bitterly when she heard the news. Nevertheless she prayed:

“My God, may Thy most holy will be done!”

Urged by the spirit of God toward still greater perfection, Blessed Delphina presently renounced all temporal goods and added to her vow of chastity the vow of holy poverty and retired first to Naples and then to Cabrières, which was the location of the castle where her husband had born. She finally returned to Apt where her husband had been buried. Upon her death, she was buried with him in the church of the Friars Minor there, wearing the habit of the Order.

The veneration that had begun to be given to Delphine was confirmed by Pope Urban V, godson of Elzéar, who canonized her husband at that time.

Uncategorized

Our Lady of Happy Assembly/Our Lady of Laus & the Memorials of the Saints – 27 September

Posted on September 27, 2026September 25, 2026 by AnaStpaul

September 27: Our Lady of Happy Assembly, Le Laus, France (1664)

Le Laus is a little village in southeastern France, 60 miles to the southeast of Grenoble. The story of Mary’s shrine there centers around a young woman named Benoite Rencurel, who was born on September 29, 1647 of humble parents in the little village of Saint Etienne, not far from Le Laus. Her father died when she was seven and after his death her mother found life rather difficult. So, when Benoite was 12, she went to work on a neighboring farm, tending the farmer’s sheep. Each day while the flock grazed she spent a few minutes praying to the Blessed Virgin at a little wayside chapel.

One day, in 1664, Benoite led her little flock into a small valley near Saint Etienne and there toward the end of the afternoon, a Lady and Child appeared to her, standing on top of a rock, a large rock, known locally as Les Flours. The Lady did not speak to Benoite, but smiled in a very friendly way and after a few minutes Lady and Child vanished. However, similar apparitions continued almost daily for two months. Of course, rumors of what was occurring gradually spread around the neighboring countryside.

The Monument of Pindreau, in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, depicting the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Benoîte Rencurel.

Finally, M. Grimaud, a district magistrate, questioned Benoite at length and suggested that if the lady appeared again, Benoite should ask her who she was. The girl agreed; on the very next day the Lady appeared, she asked her to please say who she was – was she the Mother of God? The Lady answered:

“Yes, I am Mary, the Mother of Jesus. My Son wishes to be especially honored in this valley, but not on this spot.”

With these words she vanished. Benoite did not see her again for a few days. On September 29, while tending her flock at another pasture, Pindreau, a very brilliant light suddenly appeared on top of some rocks. In the center of the light stood the Blessed Virgin. She told Benoite to go to Le Laus, where she would find a little chapel, filled with a delicious perfume, and there she would also see her. Benoite soon found herself at the little chapel of Our Lady of Good Meeting or Happy Assembly (Notre-Dame de Bon Recontre) and going in, she saw the Blessed Virgin over the high altar, on which stood her image. And the Virgin said to Benoite,

“On this spot I wish a church built – a privileged sanctuary, wherein many sinners will repent. Means will not be wanting, despite the poverty of the country people around.”

The news of this event soon spread; crowds came to the little chapel, which was too small to contain them. So, in 1665, Msgr. Lambert, Vicar General of the Archdiocese, gave permission for a church to be built over the little chapel.

Since there was very little money available with which to hire workmen, the villagers and peasants for miles around carried the stones and built the walls for Our Lady of Happy Assembly – aided by the many pilgrims who came to worship and remained a while to help in the building of the church.

In 1692, during an invasion by the Duke of Savoy the church was partly destroyed, but the statue of Our Lady of Happy Assembly was not damaged. The church was soon repaired and restored. In 1716 a new statue of the Virgin was carved and enshrined behind the main altar of the church. It is said that Benoite wished the new statue to be named Our Lady of Happy Assembly of Laus. The original statue was transferred to a chapel behind the main altar. In 1885 Pope Pius IX gave official recognition to the title of Our Lady of Laus of Happy Assembly, when he ordered the new statue to be solemnly crowned. Benoite Rencurel died on December 28, 1718, and was buried in a vault in front of the altar in the church at Le Laus.

For 54 years, the Virgin Mary continued to appear to Benoîte throughout her life. Benoîte became a Dominican Tertiary and was called “Sister Benoîte”. She was given by Mary the mission to welcome the pilgrims. Benoîte was also given the gift of reading souls, to help the pilgrims make good confessions to the priests, by making them know their sins, remember the forgotten ones, and confess them and repent. There have been many testimonies saying that a heavenly perfume would fill the church every time Mary would appear to Benoîte. In addition to Marian apparitions, Benoîte also had apparitions of angels, several saints, and mystical experiences such as visions of Paradise.

Between 1669 and 1684, she was also granted the vision of the crucified Christ on the cross of Avançon five times. On a Friday in July of 1673, according to Benoîte, Jesus on the cross told her: “My daughter, I show myself in this state so that you can participate in my Passion.” United with Him, she lived a “mystical crucifixion” every Friday for several years and bore stigmata.

French philosopher and theologian Jean Guitton said, “The Shrine of Laus is one of the most hidden and also most powerful treasures in the history of Europe.”

St Vincent de Paul CM (1581-1660) (Memorial) Known as the “Great Apostle of Trumpets” – Priest, Founder, Apostle of Charity, Doctor of Canon Law, Reformer of Society and Priests, Founder of Hospital and Orphanages. Born on 24 April 1581 near Ranquine, Gascony near Dax, southwest France – the Town is now known as Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Landes, France. His body is incorrupt.

St Adheritus
St Adolphus of Cordoba
St Antonio de Torres
St Barrog the Hermit

St Bonfilius of Foligno OSB (1040-1125) Bishop, Abbot.

St Ceraunus of Paris
St Chiara of the Resurrection
St Deodatus of Sora
Saint Delphina of Glandenes
St Elzear of Sabran TOSF (1285-1323) Layman, Member of the Third Order of St Francis
St Epicharis
St Fidentius of Todi
St Florentinus the Hermit
St Gaius of Milan
St Hilary the Hermit
St Hiltrude of Liessies
Bl Jean-Baptiste Laborie du Vivier
St John of Cordoba

Blessed Lorenzo of Ripafratta OP (c 1373-1456) Dominican Priest and Friar, Penitent, Vicar General, Teacher, Reformer, brilliant Preacher and Spiritual director – known as “the Ark of Science.”

St Marcellus of Saint Gall
St Terence of Todi
—
Martyrs of Aegea – (3 saints)

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Crescencia Valls Espí
• Blessed Herminia Martínez Amigó de Martínez
• Blessed José Fenollosa Alcaina
• Blessed Maria Carme Fradera Ferragutcasas
• Blessed Maria Magdalena Fradera Ferragutcasas
• Blessed Maria Rosa Fradera Ferragutcasas

MARIAN TITLES

Matka Boża Leśniańska / Blessed Mother of Leśna, Leśna Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, Lublin, Poland (1683) and Memorials of the Saints – 26 September

Posted on September 26, 2026September 25, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Matka Boża Leśniańska / Blessed Mother of Leśna, Leśna Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, Lublin, Poland (1683) – 26 September:

The Leśnia Sanctuary begins on 26 September 1683. On that day, two shepherds – Miron Makaruk and Aleksander Stelmaszuk – looking for the lost cattle in the bushes, noticed a stone image of the Mother of God hanging on a wild pear tree, which gave an extraordinary glow. Wanting to take the painting off, one of the bravest young men climbed the tree but each time fell to the ground. The local inhabitants, seeing what was happening, began to pray fervently. Soon, Zabłocki’s elders from nearby Bordziłówka arrived and only he, as an unusually prayerful man, took the painting off the tree. Droplets of “sweat” appeared on the image and this phenomenon continued for a long time. Then the painting was taken to the manor in Bukowice.

This extraordinary find deeply touched the religious and secular authorities of the time. Soon a wooden Church was erected on the site of the appearance of the Image. On 26 September 1695, a Parish was established in Lesna. From the very beginning, the Image attracted crowds of believers who experienced many favours thanks to the Blessed Mother, especially cures of illnesses. The Bishop of Lutsk, Franciszek Prażmowski, issued a decree in 1700, in which he stated that the appearance of the Image should be considered miraculous.

In the Lesnian Image, Mary is presented, embracing the Child Jesus with her right arm. The Child Jesus is holding the book with his right hand and his left hand is raised up in a gesture of teaching. Mary, standing in half-figure, is facing the viewer. In her left hand she holds an open book, on which, with outstretched wings, a dove – a symbol of the Holy Spirit – is supported. The figure of the Mother of God is covered with a coat.

The image of the Mother of God is a relief carved in field stone. The dimensions of the Image are: width 29.3 cm, height 31.4 cm, thickness 4.6 cm, weighs 9.5 kg.

On the site of the appearance of the Image of the Mother of God in 1718. a small Church was built. It exists to this day and is called the “Chapel of the Appearance of the Miraculous Image.” In 1727, the Parish of Leśna and the care of the Miraculous Image were taken over by the Pauline Fathers from Jasna Góra. They began the construction of a magnificent Church, which was erected in the years 1731 – 1758. It was consecrated under the invocation of the “Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul” on 8 September 1758. Huge crowds of the faithful of the Latin and Uniate rite were drawn to the Leśnia Sanctuary.

The situation changed with the partitions of Poland, when Leśna found itself under the Russian partition. After the fall of the January Uprising, the Lesnian Sanctuary found itself in a desperate situation. As part of the repression for helping the insurgents, on the night of 27-28 October 1864 , the Pauline Fathers were deported from Leśna. It was then, that the Bishop of Janów, Beniamin Szymanski, ordered to secretly take out the Miraculous Image and put a copy in its place. It was done in 1865. Soon the tsarist government abolished the Podlasie Diocese. The exiled Bishop took the Miraculous Picture with him to Łomża. He put it in the Church of the Benedictine Sisters. In 1875, the Church in Leśnia was taken over for the purposes of the Orthodox Church. Then the pilgrimages stopped. In 1889, an Orthodox nunnery was established in Lesna. It was to become the centre of Russification of Poles. In 1905 Tsar Nicholas II came to Lesna, whose relative was the superior of the nuns of Leśna. After the outbreak of World War I, the sisters left Leśna and took with them a copy of the painting of the Mother of God, still being firmly convinced that it was the original painting.

On 16 August 1915, the temple in Leśnia returned to Catholic worship. On 25 May 1919 . The Pauline Fathers returned to Lesna and immediately began renovation works in the Sanctuary. First of all, the search for the Miraculous Picture began, which was not found until 5 May 1926 in Łomża. It happened thanks to Fr. Aleksander Łaziński. After the canonical trial conducted by Bishop H. Przeździecki, the Miraculous Image returned in a triumphant parade from Siedlce to Leśna on 25 September 1927. It was a great celebration for the entire Podlasie Diocese and over 25,000 people attended this event. In the interwar period, the Pauline Fathers decorated the Sanctuary. They looked after the pilgrims who were again in large numbers at the feet of their Lesnian Mother.

In 1939, the difficult time of the Nazi occupation began. In the fall of 1940, the Germans occupied the Monastery and expelled the Pauline Fathers.
After the war, in 1951, under the direction of the Prior – Father Jerzy Tomziński, the Church received a Pulpit and an Organ.

On 18 August 1963 , the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, together with the Bishop of Podlasie, Ignacy Świrski, crowned the Miraculous Image with papal crowns. From 11 to 12 June 1970, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła stayed in Leśna. On 25 September 1977, the 50th anniversary of the return of the Miraculous Image was solemnly celebrated. In 1983, the solemn celebrations of 300 years of the appearance of the Miraculous Image took place and in 1984 the Church in Leśnia was elevated to the rank of a Minor Basilica. In 1992, a break-in was made to the temple in Leśnia and attempts were made to steal the golden crowns from the Miraculous Image. In 1995, the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Parish in Leśna Podlaska was celebrated. This time the ceremony was presided over by the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Józef Glemp. In 1996, works on frescoes and paintings in the Basilica began and they were completed in 2002. On 26 September 2019, the Leśnia Sanctuary celebrated the 100th anniversary of the return of the Pauline Order to Leśna Podlaska.

St Cosmas (Optional Memorial)
St Damian (Optional Memorial)
(Died c 286 ) Martyrs. Twin brothers and Physicians, Apostles of Charity, Evangelists – born in the 3rd century, of Arabic descent and died by being tortured, without suffering any injury and finally they were beheaded c 286 in Aegea, Cilicia (modern Ayas, Turkey). The Martyr twins are remembered in the Roman Canon of the Mass in the prayer known as the Communicantes (from the first Latin word of the prayer). They are also recalled in the Litany of the Saints and in the older form of the Roman rite, in the Collect for Thursday in the Third Week of Lent, as the Station Church for this day is Santi Cosma e Damiano.

St Amantius of Tiphernum
St Callistratus of Constantinople
St Colman of Elo
St Cyprian of Antioch
St Eusebius of Bologna
St John of Meda Ord.Hum. (1100-1159) Priest, Monk, Abbot
St Justina of Antioch

St Marie Victoire Therese Couderc
St Meugant

St Nilus the Younger (910-1005) Abbot and Confessor and Founder of Italo-Greek Monasticism in southern Italy.. St Nilus was a charismatic leader and leading spiritual personality of his time.

St Senator of Albano
St Vigilius of Brescia
—
Martyrs of Korea – 12 saints: Twelve lay people in the apostolic vicariate of Korea who were imprisoned, tortured and martyred together in the persecutions in Korea.
• Saint Agatha Chon Kyong-Hyob
• Saint Carolus Cho Shin-Ch’ol
• Saint Catharina Yi
• Saint Columba Kim Hyo-Im
• Saint Ignatius Kim Che-Jun
• Saint Iulitta Kim
• Saint Lucia Kim
• Saint Magdalena Cho
• Saint Magdalena Ho Kye-Im
• Saint Magdalena Pak Pong-Son
• Saint Perpetua Hong Kum-Ju
• Saint Sebastianus Nam I-Gwan
They were beheaded September 1839 in Seoul Prison, South Korea and Canonised on 6 May 1984 by St Pope John Paul II.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Amalia Abad Casasempere de Maestre
• Blessed Andreu Felíu Bartomeu
• Blessed Antonio Cid Rodríguez
• Blessed Josefa Romero Clariana
• Blessed Manuel Legua Martí
• Blessed María Jord´ Botella
• Blessed Pau Castell´ Barber´
• Blessed Teresa Rosat Balasch

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 25 September – Saint Sergius of Moscow

Posted on September 25, 2026September 24, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Sergius of Moscow, also known as Sergius of Radonezh and Bartholomew of Radonezh, was a Russian (Eastern Catholic) monk. Born to nobility in 1314, Bartholomew, although intelligent, had great difficulty learning to read. This affliction was only removed from him when an angel disguised as a holy man gave him a piece of holy bread. When the Rostov principality fell into the hands of Ivan I of Moscow, his parents Kirill and Maria became impoverished and moved to the village of Radonezh together with their three sons, Stefan, Bartholomew and Peter.

Upon his parents’ death, Bartholomew went to Khotkovo near Moscow, where his older brother Stefan was a monk. He persuaded Stefan to find a more secluded place to live the ascetic life. In the deep forest at Makovets Hill they decided to build a small monastic cell and a church dedicated in honor of the Trinity.

As Sergius’s reputation for holiness spread, he attracted so many students that he founded the Holy Trinity monastery for them; following his ordination at Pereyaslav Zalesky, he served as its first abbot. His brother joined the monastery, but when he opposed Sergius’s strict rule, Sergius left the community to live again as a hermit. However, the monastery began to decline, causing the metropolitan of Moscow to order Sergius to return as abbot. Advisor to the Prince of Moscow, he encouraged the campaign that ended with the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 which ended the Mongol domination of Russia. In the Russia that followed he founded forty monasteries. Metropolitan Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow asked Sergius to become his successor but Sergius declined, preferring to remain a simple monk rather than be a bishop

Late in life he resigned his position and retired to live his last few months as a prayerful monk. He died on 25 September 1392 at the Trinity Lavra of Saint Sergius of natural causes. He is venerated as the foremost saint of Russia.

Uncategorized

Divina Pastora de las Almas ‘ The Divine Shepherdess of Souls, Cantillana, Sevilla, Andalucía, Spain (1703) and Memorials of the Saints – 25 September

Posted on September 25, 2026September 24, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Divina Pastora de las Almas ‘ The Divine Shepherdess of Souls, Cantillana, Sevilla, Andalucía, Spain (1703)

St. Isidore of Seville (560-636) Bishop of Seville, Father and Doctor of the Church, spread devotion to the Divine Shepherdess of Souls. The first image of the Divina Pastora in Cantillana was a banner, attributed to the painter Germán Llorente, carried in Rosary.

In 1800 a yellow fever epidemic ravaged the area,but Cantillana was largely spared, for which people thanked the Divine Shepherdess of Souls. Soon thereafter, the Hermandad de la Divina Pastora was chartered, a Rosary apostolate or brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s processional image is a seated statue, attributed to Francisco Antonio Ruiz Gijón (1653-1705).

For special occasions, of which there are many, she wears a large sombrero. On 31 August, a grand procession fetches the Statue from its Sanctuary into the Town, for celebrations leading up to the fiesta from 8 September. On the last weekend in September, with equal splendour and devotion, the Divine Shepherdess returns to her Shrine. A procession accompanies her canopied float on Saturday. On Sunday, there is Mass and music and then an all-night exposition of the Statue with devotions lasting into Monday morning.

St Anacharius of Auxerre
St Aurelia of Macerata
St Caian of Tregaian
St Ceolfrid
St Cleopas
St Egelred of Crowland
St Ermenfridus of Luxeuil

St Finbar (c 550– 623) Bishop of Cork and Abbot

St Firminus of Amiens
St Fymbert
St Herculanus the Soldier

Blessed Herman of Reichenau/the Cripple (1013–1054) Benedictine Monk, Confessor, Scholar, Scientist, Writer, Hymnist, Poet, Musical Composer, Teacher. In his own day, the heroic cripple who achieved learning and holiness was called ‘The Wonder of His Age.’.
Composer of the “Salve Regina” Hail Holy Queen, “Veni Sancte Spiritus” Come Holy Spirit and “Alma Redemptoris Mater” amongst many others.

Bl Marco Criado
St Mewrog
St Neomisia of Mecerata
St Paphnutius of Alexandria
St Principius of Soissons
St Sergius of Moscow
St Solemnis of Chartres

St Vincent Strambi CP (1745-1824) Bishop, Priest of the Passionist Order of St Paul of the Cross, Apostle of Charity, Preacher, Teacher, Writer.

Martyrs of Damascus: A Christian family of six who were tortured to death in a persecution by Roman authorities. They were: Eugenia, Maximus, Paul, Rufus, Sabinian and Tatta. They were tortured to death in Damascus, Syria, date unknown.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Jose María Bengoa Aranguren
• Blessed Josep Maria Vidal Segú
• Blessed Juan Agustín Codera Marqués
• Blessed Julio Esteve Flors
• Blessed Pedro Leoz Portillo
• Blessed Rafael Pardo Molina
• Blessed Tomás Gil de La Cal

Feast of the Holy Bishops of Milan – a 1st Century Diocese!

Imagine being part of a Diocese in which 36 of your past Bishops are saints and some are also Doctors of the Church and Popes (and others being considered for sanctity)! The latest addition to this illustrious role-call, is Pope Paul VI.
Today, the Church in Milan commemorates these holy Bishops.
They are:
• Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster
• Blessed Andrea Carlo Ferrari
• Pope Pius XI
• Saint Ambrose of Milan
• Saint Ampelius of Milan
• Saint Anathalon of Milan
• Saint Antoninus of Milan
• Saint Auxanus of Milan
• Saint Benedict Crispus of Milan
• Saint Benignus of Milan
• Saint Calimerius of Milan
• Saint Castritian of Milan
• Saint Charles Borromeo
• Saint Datius of Milan
• Saint Dionysius of Milan
• Saint Eugene of Milan
• Saint Eusebius of Milan
• Saint Eustorgius II of Milan
• Saint Eustorgius of Milan
• Saint Gaius of Milan
• Saint Galdinus of Milan
• Saint Geruntius of Milan
• Saint Glycerius of Milan
• Saint Honoratus of Milan
• Saint John Camillus the Good
• Saint Lazarus of Milan
• Saint Magnus of Milan
• Saint Mansuetus of Milan
• Saint Marolus of Milan
• Saint Martinian of Milan
• Saint Mirocles of Milan
• Saint Mona of Milan
• Saint Natalis of Milan

• Saint Protasius of Milan
• Saint Senator of Milan
• Saint Simplician of Milan
• Saint Venerius of Milan

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 24 September – Saint Paphnutius of Egypt

Posted on September 24, 2026September 23, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Paphnutius of Egypt, a hermit and martyr. During the persecution under Diocletian (284-305), the governor Hadrian commanded that Paphnutius be brought to him. Instead of waiting to be brought, Paphnutius appeared before the governor, confessed his faith in Christ, and was subjected to torture.

The soldiers involved in his torture, Dionysius and Callimachus, were converted by his faith. They were then beheaded. Cast into prison after the tortures, Paphnutius converted forty prisoners to the Faith. They were all burnt alive.

Paphnutius was eventually set free, and a Christian named Nestorius took him in. He and all his family, through the influence of the saint, became steadfast in the Faith, and ultimately endured martyrdom. Paphnutius strengthened many other Christians to confess our Lord Jesus Christ, and they all died as martyrs. Some were cut down with swords, others were burned. There were 546 in all.

The hermit himself was thrown by the torturers into a river with a stone about his neck, but he miraculously floated to shore, still with the stone about him. Fustrated, they sent him to the emperor Diocletian himself, who commanded him to be crucified on a date tree.

And if a man professes to be a son of God, why does not he imitate the example of his Father? It becomes us, said he, to answer to our birth; and it is not fitting that those who are evidently born of God should be degenerate, but rather that the propagation of a good Father should be proved in His offspring by the emulation of His goodness.

The Life and Passion of St Cyprian (Pontius)

MARIAN TITLES

Our Lady of Walsingham / Virgin of the Sea (1061) , Marian Feasts and Memorials of the Saints – 24 September

Posted on September 24, 2026September 23, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes / Our Lady of Mercy/Ransom, Barcelona, Spain (1218) – 1 August, 24

Our Lady of Walsingham / Virgin of the Sea (1061) – 24 September:

The story of the Walsingham Shrine begins in Saxon times. In 1061, the Lady of the Manor, Richeldis de Faverches, was taken in spirit to Nazareth, shown the House where the Annunciation took place and asked by Our Lady, to build a replica in Norfolk. She was promised that ‘Whoever seeks my help there will not go away empty-handed.‘ The simple wooden house that she built soon became the focus of special devotion to Our Lady. The ‘Holy House’ was later encased in stone to protect it from the elements.

In 1153, the Augustinian Canons founded a Priory to care for the spiritual needs of the pilgrims. Their magnificent Priory Church was added in the fifteenth century. Only the ruin of the Priory Arch remains and archaeology has placed the site of the ‘Holy House’ in its shadow.

Walsingham became one of the foremost Shrines of medieval Christendom. Among the pilgrims to the ‘Holy House’ were many royal visitors. Henry III in 1226, Edward I (eleven times), Edward II in 1315, Edward III in 1361, Richard II in 1383, Edward IV in 1469, Henry VI in 1487 (and many other times) and Henry VIII in 1511, in thanksgiving for the birth of his son, Prince Henry.
In 1340, the Slipper Chapel was built at Houghton St Giles, a mile outside Walsingham. This was the final ‘Station’ Chapel on the way to Walsingham. It was here, that pilgrims would remove their shoes to walk the final ‘Holy Mile’ to the Shrine barefoot.

Erasmus, the Dutch scholar, visited Walsingham in 1513 and was impressed by the splendour of the Shrine. He wrote:

‘When you look inside, you would say, it is the abode of saints, so brilliantly does it shine with gems, gold and silver … Our Lady stands in the dark at the right side of the Altar … a little image, remarkable neither for its size, material or workmanship.’

This was soon to come to an end. Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries and in 1538 the Priory was closed, the ‘Holy House’ burned to the ground and the Statue of Our Lady taken to London to be destroyed.
In 1896 Miss Charlotte Boyd bought the Slipper Chapel, which had seen centuries of secular use. She devoted herself to its restoration. The Statue of the Mother and Child was carved at Oberammergau and based on the design of the original statue – a design found on the medieval seal of Walsingham Priory, an imprint of which is in the British Museum.

The Walsingham seal: around the edges
Ave Maria gratia plena dominus tecum

The first Mass since the Reformation was offered in the Slipper Chapel on 15 August 1934 and a few days later Cardinal Francis Bourne led a pilgrimage of 10,000 people to the Chapel and declared it to be the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady.

St Anathalon of Milan
St Andochius of Autun
St Anthony Gonzalez

St Chuniald
Bl Colomba Matylda Gabriel
St Coprio
St Erinhard
St Felix of Autun

St Gerard Sagredo OSB (980-1046) Bishop and Martyr, “The Apostle of Hungary,” Venetian nobleman, Benedictine monk, Prior of San Giorgio, Missionary to Hungary, Adviser to King Saint Stephen, Tutor to Prince Saint Emeric, Hermit, Bishop of Csanád, Writer, Reformer

St Geremarus
St Gislar
St Isarnus of Toulouse
St Lupus of Lyons

St Pacificus of Severino OFM (1653-1721) Priest, Franciscan Friar, Mystic, Miracle-worker, Missionary, Superior of the Friary of San Severino and joyful sufferer for Christ.

St Paphnutius of Egypt
Bl Robert Hardesty
St Rusticus of Clermont
St. Rupert of Salzburg
St Terence of Persaro (c 210-c 247) Martyr Layman
St Thyrsus of Autun
St Ysarn of Saint Victor
Bl William Spenser
—
Martyrs of Chalcedon – (49 saints): Forty-nine Christian choir singers of the church in Chalcedon in Asia Minor who were martyred together in their persecutions of Diocletian in 304.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Antonio Pancorbo López
• Blessed Esteban García y García
• Blessed José María Ferrándiz Hernández
• Blessed Juan Francisco Joya Corralero
• Blessed Luis de Erdoiza Zamalloa
• Blessed Manuel Gómez Contioso
• Blessed Melchor Rodríguez Villastrigo
• Blessed Pascual Ferrer Botella
• Blessed Rafael Rodríguez Mesa
• Blessed Santiago Arriaga Arrien

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 23 September – Blessed William Way

Posted on September 23, 2026September 22, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Blessed William Way, was a priest and martyr executed under Elizabeth I. Born in 1560 in Cornwall or Devon, England, William went to France to study for the priesthood since the Protestant revolution in England had closed the seminaries. On 31 March 1584, he received his first tonsure in the Cathedral of Reims from the Cardinal of Guise. On 22 March he was ordained subdeacon, on 5 April deacon, and priest on 18 September 1586, at Laon, probably by Bishop Valentine Douglas, O.S.B

William departed for England on 9 December 1586, and by June 1587, was imprisoned. He was indicted at Newgate in September 1588, for being a Roman Catholic priest. He declined to be tried by a secular judge, whereupon the Bishop of London was sent for. William, refusing to acknowledge him as a bishop or Elizabeth I as head of the church, was immediately condemned as a traitor and to death.

When called to trial at the Sessions in August, “he had so much joy that he seemed past himself”. Way was “hung, drawn and quartered” at Kingston upon Thames on 23rd September 1588.

For nothing else was proper than that he who in the secret recesses of his conscience was rich in the full honour of religion and faith, should moreover be renowned in the publicly diffused report of the Gentiles.

The Life and Passion of St Cyprian (Pontius)

MARIAN TITLES

Nuestra Senora de Valvanera / Our Lady of Valvanera, La Rioja, Spain (9th Century) and Memorials of the Saints – 23 September

Posted on September 23, 2026September 22, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Nuestra Senora de Valvanera / Our Lady of Valvanera, La Rioja, Spain (9th Century) – 23 September:

This image is a replica of the original which appears to have dated from the ninth century and is preserved in the Royal Abbey Shrine of Our Lady of Valvanera, or Valvanere, in Rioja, jealously guarded by Benedictine Monks. The oldest documents preserved, dates from the thirteenth century and tells how, according to tradition, the original image was found by a thief who later converted and became a hermit.

There was a thief named Nuno Onez, who was a hardened criminal and a “man of licentious life and dedicated to looting.” One day, however, upon hearing the prayer of a man who was to be his next victim, he was touched by Divine grace and repented of his many crimes, turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary to help him change his life. One day while he was praying, an Angel appeared to him to tell him to go to Valvanera and search for an oak that stood out from the rest, with a fountain that gushed at its feet and surrounded by swarms of bees. There, in the branches of a strong and noble oak, in the presence of a fountain of pure and clear water, the trunk of which was overflowing with the sweetness of honey, he found an image of the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Nuno went to the place with a Priest on the following Sunday and found the image, just as the Angel had said. The Statue had probably been hidden there when the Moslems invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century. In that place, in the last third of the ninth century, he began to build a place of worship that became known as the Chapel of Santo Cristo. Soon there was a small group of hermits who met to pray around this image, men who eventually adopted a regular life inspired by the Rule of Saint Benedict. Thus, this small Shrine is believed to have given rise to the Monastery of Valvanera, where the Virgin is currently venerated.

Valvanera Monastery is surrounded by a forest near the Town of Anguiano in the valley of the Sierra Demand La Rioja. Its name derives from the Latin “Vallis Venaria,” which literally means: “Valley water veins.” The first Abbot was a man named Don Sancho in the year 990.

Our Lady apparently has a preference for oak trees, since this is one of several Statues found in or on an oak tree. On that very spot today is seen the magnificent Church which Alphonsus IV, King of Castile, built in honour of the Mother of God in 1073 and which houses the image.

St Alfonso Burgos
St Adamnan of Iona/Eunan of Iona (c 628-704) Monk, Abbot
Bl Antonio of Tlaxcala
Bl Bernardina Maria Jablonska
St Cissa of Northumbria
St Constantius of Ancona
Bl Cristobal of Tlaxcala
Bl Emilie Tavernier Gamelin
Bl Francisco de Paula Victor
Bl Guy of Durnes
Bl Helen Duglioli
Bl Juan of Tlaxcala

St Pope Linus (c 10 – c 76) Successor to St Peter. Papacy lasted from c 67 to his death. Among those to have held the position of pope, Peter, Linus and Clement are specifically mentioned in the New Testament. Linus is mentioned in the closing greeting of the Second Epistle to Timothy as being with Paul in Rome near the end of Paul’s life.

St Peter Acontanto
St Polyxena

St Thecla (1st century) Virgin Martyr, Disciple of St Paul.

Bl William Way
St Xantippa
—
Martyrs of Syracuse – (4 saints): Group of Christians deported from Syracuse, Sicily by invading Saracens and sent to North Africa where they were tortured and executed for their faith. Martyrs. The names that have survived are Andrew, Antony, John and Peter. c900

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Crispulo Moyano Linares
• Blessed María Josefa del Río Messa
• Blessed Norberto Cembranos de la Verdura
• Blessed Purificación Ximénez y Ximénez
• Blessed Sofía Ximénez y Ximénez del Río
• Blessed Vicente Ballester Far

Uncategorized

Saint of the Day – 22 September – Saints Digna and Emerita of Rome

Posted on September 22, 2026September 21, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saints Digna and Emerita of Rome, martyrs, were consecrated virgins in the 3rd century. When dragged to court for the crime of Christianity during the persecutions of Valerian, they simply stood in front of the judge and prayed.

And at the sound of their voices I was awakened, still tasting a sweetness which I cannot describe. And I immediately related this to my brother, and we understood that it was to be a passion, and we ceased henceforth to have any hope in this world.

St Perpetua

MARIAN TITLES

Feast of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, Beata Vergine del Tresto / The Blessed Virgin of Tresto, Ospedaletto Euganeo, Italy (1468) and Memorials of the Saints – 21 September

Posted on September 21, 2026September 19, 2026 by AnaStpaul

St Matthew – Apostle and Evangelist (Feast)

Beata Vergine del Tresto / The Blessed Virgin of Tresto, Ospedaletto Euganeo, Italy (1468) – 21September:

The complex of the Sanctuary of Tresto was built in the place of the miraculous Marian apparition to the boatman Giovanni di Bartolomeo Zielo da Ponso on the night of 21 September 1468, in the locality of Tresto, current fraction of the Municipality of Ospedaletto Euganeo near Padua, from where he was returning. Reaching Este in the evening, the man had stopped to sleep in the boat under the Borini bridge. Around midnight he was awakened by a female voice who called him three times. The man saw two beautiful ladies who enjoined him to follow them.

Strangely finding the drawbridge of the City lowered, they walked towards the countryside where, in the locality of Tresto, one of the two ladies sat on the bank of a ditch and told the other to fetch her a bunch of grapes. Then she asked Giovanni if he knew her. To his negative answer she said that she was Mary, the Mother of God. She then enjoined him not to amend his life and to do his best to have a Church built on that place according to the plan and the measures she illustrated to him.

But Giovanni objected saying that because of his poverty and ignorance, he would not be believed. Then Mary gave him a knife, instructing him to stick it into the ground and then to remove it. Giovanni obeyed and when he removed the blade from the ground, blood gushed. After having blessed him, the Madonna disappeared with her companion. T he next day Giovanni, afraid of not being believed, did not carry out the commands he had received but only confided in three friends. Losing his peace of mind, he eventually went with some people to the site of the apparition, where he tried to stick the knife into the ground, pulling it back wet with blood. Others wanted to try: the incredulous could not move the blade from the ground, while the others withdrew it bloody.

The miraculous event, renewed several times, convinced everyone to work together to erect the required Church. At the halfway point, due to the exceptional drought that had hit the area, there was no water. Everyone then invoked the help of Mary, who caused a spring appear next to the construction site. This spring since then, over the centuries, has been a source of miraculous cures just like the one at Lourdes. The custody of the Church, built in 9 months, was entrusted by the Paduan clergy to a Congregation of Mendicants of whom Giovanni wore the habit in a lay state.

The Sanctuary of Tresto became and remains a site of devotion and pilgrimage with the powerful and healing waters of the miraculous Spring, bringing many sick seeking cures. The Sanctuary preserves several works of art among which the painting on wood depicting the Virgin and Child shown above, stands out, a masterpiece attributed to Jacopo da Montagnana who created it between 1475 and 1480.

St Alexander of the Via Claudia
Bl Diego Hompanera París
St Eusebius of Phoenicia
St Francisco Pastor Garrido
St François Jaccard
St Gerulph
St Herminio García Pampliega
St Iphigenia
St Isaac of Cyprus
Bl Jacinto Martínez Ayuela
St Jacques Honoré Chastán
St Johannes Ri
St Jonah the Prophet
Bl José María Azurmendi Mugarza
Bl Josep Vila Barri
St Landelino of Ettenheim
Bl Manuel Torró García
Blessed Mark Scalabrini of Modena OP (c 1420-1498)
St Maura of Troyes
St Meletius of Cyprus
Bl Nicolás de Mier Francisco
St Pamphilus of Rome
St Pierre Philibert Maubant
St Tôma Tran Van Thien
Bl Vicente Galbis Gironés
Bl Vicente Pelufo Orts
—
Martyrs of Gaza – 3 saints: Three brothers, Eusebius, Nestulus and Zeno, who were seized, dragged through the street, beaten and murdered by a pagan mob celebrating the renunciation of Christianity by Julian the Apostate. They were burned to death in 362 on a village garbage heap in Gaza, Palestine.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Diego Hompanera París
• Blessed Jacinto Martínez Ayuela
• Blessed José María Azurmendi Mugarza
• Blessed Josep Vila Barri
• Blessed Manuel Torró García
• Blessed Nicolás de Mier Francisco
• Blessed Vicente Galbis Gironés
• Blessed Vicente Pelufo Orts

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 21 September – Saint Jonah the Prophet

Posted on September 21, 2026September 19, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Jonah the Prophet, also known as Ionas, Jonas, Yona, Yunaan, Yunus, was an Old Testament patriarch and prophet. Hero of the Book of Jonah, he was so reluctant to deliver his prophecy against the city of Nineveh that God had to have him swallowed by a giant fish and then spat out on the city’s shore.

Jesus calls himself “greater than Jonah” and promises the Pharisees “the sign of Jonah” when referring to his resurrection. Jonah is viewed as a type of Jesus.

He died in 761 B.C. Tradition says he was buried in a tomb in modern Mosul, Iraq. The tomb was enclosed in a shrine in the 8th century BC. The tomb and shrine were destroyed by Muslims in July 2014.

MARIAN TITLES

Notre-Dame-au-Pied-d’Argent / Our Lady with the Silver Foot), Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France (1284) and Memorials of the Saints – 20 September

Posted on September 20, 2026September 19, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Notre-Dame-au-Pied-d’Argent / Our Lady with the Silver Foot), Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France (1284) – 20 September:

At Toul, in Lorraine, there was a Statue, which, according to an ancient tradition, informed a woman on 20 September in the year 1284, of an act of treachery which was being planned against the City.

The Statue was called Our Lady with the Silver Foot, or Notre-Dame au pied d’argenth. The faithful keep the memory of this stone Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was located just inside the entrance of the Church and placed over a sculpted clam. In those days there would be a lamp burning before it on feast days and almost every day, the faithful offered small candles which they lit and rested on a circular iron candlestick that was placed before the Statue. It was well known that several people who prayed before this Statue were cured of various diseases but the devotion and respect of the people toward this image, grew more than ever at the time of the Bishop Conrad because of the miracle that occurred in the following manner:

A woman named Helwide was in the Cathedral Saint-Etienne de Toul praying to the Blessed Virgin for consolation and the repose of the souls of her husband and daughter who had recently died. It was about midnight, when the Canons were praying Matins, that the Blessed Virgin Mary suddenly appeared to her.

The Virgin Mary ordered Helwide to go immediately to find a man named Rimbert, who was the guardian of “The Door to the Chair.” The Door to the Chair gave access to the Castrum, a little entrance to the City near Tanner Street. Helwide was urged to go quickly, for an enemy proposed to enter the City by the door to set their homes on fire and fill the streets with blood.
Regaining her senses after the vision, Helwide got up feeling very puzzled. She was hesitant about what she should do, though as Rimbert’s home was not far distant and was on her way home anyway, she decided she would indeed go there.

No sooner had Helwide stepped out of the Church, than she met the night-watch on patrol. She told them the tale of her vision and they responded by mocking her and making derogatory jokes. Despite this, two of them still decided to follow and actually see what would happen if Helwide could find the porter she sought.

The pair arrived with Helwide at the house and simply thrust the door open. Rimbert sat on his bunk, seeming startled, yet as if expecting the visit. Helwide briefly stated the purpose of her visit and Rimbert exclaimed, “I had precisely the same vision and the same warning! I do not know if it occurred in my sleep or in the state of wakefulness but I have been told that the Statue will move her foot in testimony of the truth!”
At these words, all those present were seized with a great desire to see such a prodigy. With a rush they ran to the Cathedral and removed the candles and all that stood before the image. To their disappointment they found that the Virgin’s feet remained mostly hidden beneath the folds of the clothing of the Statue as before.
In the interim, several scholars and some laymen who were called to see the wonder, arrived on the scene. Seeing that nothing was apparently going to happen, they began cursing all the rest as senseless interpreters of dreams. As they stood not far from the Statue, many of them fell silent as they saw the Statue suddenly move as an entire foot of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared from beneath the folds of her garment.

Terrified, but convinced, this time they all agreed to announce the peril which they now knew actually threatened them. Quickly rendering their thanks to Mary, they agreed to defend the City and call for reinforcements. They arrived just in time to take up their positions to defend the entrance to the City with the assistance of the Episcopal palace guards.

A tremendous struggle occurred when the invaders broke down the door and entered the courtyard, but the defenders were committed to the fight and held their own. When reinforcements arrived, the invaders fell to the last man.

To perpetuate the memory and recognize the protection granted to them by the Blessed Virgin Mary, the people of Toul had a shoe of pure silver made to cover the foot on the Blessed Virgin’s Statue. From that time on the Statue was known as Our Lady with the Silver Foot. They also hung on the wall of the cathedral a picture which represented the heavenly vision and Mary was declared Patroness of the City.

The image of Our Lady with the Silver Foot was venerated in the City and the surrounding areas and in case of the threat of any public calamity, the Blessed Virgin was invoked and ,henceforth, the Statue would be carried in procession throughout the streets of the City. The Governors themselves considered it an honour to take the Statue upon their own shoulders. Pilgrimages were made to Our Lady of the Silver Foot; prayers answered, graces bestowed and miracles wrought.

The original Statue of Our Lady with the Silver Foot was destroyed during the ravages of the French Revolution and was replaced later by a modern statue that was stolen in the 1980’s. The Gothic Cathedral was repaired after being damaged during the French Revolution but still awaits repair after the damage caused when it was struck during an aerial bombardment in the Second World War. There was once also a Monastery at Toul,but no trace of it remains.

Vigil of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
St Agapitus of Rome
St Candida of Carthage
St Dionysius of Phrygia
St Dorimedonte of Synnada
St Eusebia of Marseilles

St Eustachius, Wife and Sons – Martyrs (Died c 188) St Eustachius is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers – Patronages – against fire, difficult situations, fire prevention, firefighters, hunters, hunting, huntsmen, Madrid, torture victims, trappers.

St Evilasius of Cyzicum
St Fausta of Cyzicum
Bl Francisco Martín Fernández de Posadas
St Glycerius of Milan
St John Charles Cornay
Bl John Eustace

St Lawrence Mary Joseph Imbert
St Paul Chong Hasang
St Priscus
St Susanna of Eleutheropolis (Died 362) Virgin Martyr
Bl Thomas Johnson
—

Martyrs of Korea: St Andrew Kim Taegon, St Paul Chong Hasang & Companions – 103 saints and beati. The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against Catholics during the 19th century in Korea. At least 8,000 (as many as 10,000) adherents to the faith were killed during this period. (Memorial)

Martyrs of Constantinople – 3 saints: A priest and two bishops who were imprisoned, tortured and martyred for the defense of icons in the iconoclast persecutions of emperor Leo the Isaurian. – Andrea, Asiano and Hypatius. They were martyred in 735 in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) and their bodies were thrown to the dogs.

Martyrs of Pergen – 6 saints: A group of lay people martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Elagabalus. The names that have come down to us are Dionysius, Dioscorus, Philippa, Privatus, Socrates and Theodore. They were crucified c 220 at Pergen, Pamphylia, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey).

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Cristobal Iturriaga-Echevarría Irazola
• Blessed Santiago Vega Ponce
• Blessed Juan Antonio López Pérez

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 20 September – St. Fausta and Evilasius of Cyzicum

Posted on September 20, 2026September 19, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Fausta of Cyzicus also known as Saint Fausta, was a thirteen year old girl born in 298, in modern-day Turkey. At the age of 13, she was arrested, tortured, and executed for being a Christian in the year 311. A pagan priest, Saint Evilasius was the one responsible for torturing and executing her. Seeing her courage, and moved by her prayers, he converted, and died with her in a cauldron of boiling water.

And I went up, and I saw an immense extent of garden, and in the midst of the garden a white-haired man sitting in the dress of a shepherd, of a large stature, milking sheep; and standing around were many thousand white-robed ones. And he raised his head, and looked upon me, and said to me, ‘You are welcome, daughter.’

St Perpetua

MARIAN TITLES

Notre-Dame de la Salette / Our Lady of La Salette), La Salette-Fallavaux, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France(1846) and Memorials of the Saints – 19 September

Posted on September 19, 2026September 18, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Notre-Dame de la Salette / Our Lady of La Salette, La Salette-Fallavaux, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France
(1846) 19 September:
Mary appeared to two small children, Melanie Mathieu and Maximin Giraud, on the mountain of La Salette in the French Alps. She was crying and around her neck was a crucifix, with a hammer and pincers on either side – 19 September 1846. Approved by the Diocesan Bishop in 1851.

St Januarius of Naples Martyr (Died c 304) (Optional Memorial)

St Alonso de Orozco Mena OSA (1500 – 1591) Augustinian Priest, Preacher, Writer, Apostle of Charity, Spiritual Director, Marian Devotee, Ascetic.

St Arnulph of Gap
St Carolus Hyon Song-Mun
St Constantia of Nocera
St Desiderius of Pozzuoli

St Emilie de Rodat (1787–1852) Nun and Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family, Mystic. Venerable Pope Pius XII Beatified her on 9 June 1940 and Canonised her on 23 April 1950.

St Eustochius of Tours
St Felix of Nocera
St Festus of Pozzuoli
St Goeric of Metz
St Maria de Cervellón OdeM (1230 – 1290) Virgin, Second Order of the Mercedarians.

St Pomposa
St Sequanus
St Sosius of Puzzuoli
St Theodore of Canterbury
St Trophimus of Synnada
—
Martyrs of Antioch – (3 saints): Christians imprisoned, tortured and executed in various ways in the persecutions of Emperor Probus; some names have come down to us – Dorymedon, Sabbatius and Trophimus. c 277 at Antioch (in modern Turkey).

Martyrs of Phunon – (4 saints): Four bishops in Egypt who were sentenced to forced labour in a rock quarry and martyred in the persecution of Diocletian. Noted for celebrating Mass in prison. – Elias, Nilus, Patermuzio and Peleus. They were burned to death in 310 at Phunon, near Petra in Palestine.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Consuelo Aguiar-Mella Díaz
• Blessed Herman José Fernández Sáenz
• Blessed Juan Pérez Rodrigo
• Blessed Lucas Martín Puente
• Blessed María de La Encarnación de La Yglesia de Varo
• Blessed María Dolores Aguiar-Mella Díaz
• Blessed Miguel Faúndez López
• Blessed Sebastián Obeso Alario

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 18 September – Saint Ariadne of Phrygia

Posted on September 18, 2026September 17, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Ariadne of Phrygia, also known as Ariadna, Ariane, Arianna, was a martyr and slave woman in the the 2nd century, who was owned by a Phrygian prince called Tertullus. When by an edict of emperors Hadrian and Antoninus, Christianity was outlawed. When she refused to partake in the pagan rituals on the birthday of Tertullus’ son, she was punished and her case became known to the provincial governor, Gordios.

Both she and Tertullus were convened before a tribunal where Tertullus was acquitted while she was condemned to be crucified. The people of Prymnessus intervened on her behalf to give her three days of repentance in which she then escaped the Roman authorities, fleeing into the nearby mountains where she was saved from her pursuers by a rock which opened miraculously before her and closed behind her, providing her with a tomb.

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 17 September – Saint Columba of Cordova

Posted on September 17, 2026September 16, 2026 by AnaStpaul

Saint Columba of Cordova, also known as Columba of Cordoba and Columba of Spain, martyr. She is a part of the Martyrs of Córdoba. Born to a pious family in the 8th century, Columba’s brother was an abbot, and her sister and brother-in-law founded a double monastery at Tabanos, Spain. Her mother wanted her to marry, but Columba was drawn to religious life, and entered her sister’s monastery at Tabanos.

During the Moorish persecutions of Christians in 852, most of the nuns of Tabanos fled to Cordova. Columba refused to run, and made a public proclamation of her faith to a Moorish magistrate and denounced Muhammed and his law. The magistrate condemned her to be beheaded on September 17, 853. Her body was thrown into the Guadalquivir Marshes, but was recovered by other Christians and buried at the basilica of St. Eulalia at Fragellas. Her relics were taken later to and venerated at two churches, the abbey of Santa Maria de Nájera and to its dependent priory, which was dedicated to Saint Columba.

The fortified Santa María la Real of Nájera

Neither can I call myself anything else than what I am, a Christian.

Passion of Perpetua and Felicity (Tertullian)

SAINT of the DAY

Feast of the Stigmata of St Francis of Assisi and Memorials of the Saints – 17 September

Posted on September 17, 2026September 16, 2026 by AnaStpaul

St Robert Bellarmine SJ (1542-1621) Doctor of the Church, Bishop, Confessor, Theologian, Professor, Writer, Preacher, Mediator. (Optional Memorial) Feast day – 13 May (General Roman Calendar, 1932–1969)

Stigmata of St Francis of Assisi:
Two years before the great Saint Francis of Assisi died and when he was forty-two years old — one year after he had built the first crib in honour of Our Lord — he went off to a lonely mountain called Mount Alvernia, to prepare himself by forty days of fasting and prayer for the Feast of Saint Michael, the greatest of God’s Angels, whose Feast day is 29 September. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on 14 September, Saint Francis received in his hands, feet and side the Sacred Wounds from Our Lord’s own body.

Never was a Saint more beautifully loved by Jesus than Saint Francis of Assisi. The wounds Jesus gave him stayed in his hands, feet and side and continually bled for two more years, until he died in 1226. The day on which Saint Francis received the Five Wounds of Our Lord was 14 September but so, that this beautiful event might have a feast day for itself, the Stigmata of Saint Francis is commemorated today, on 17 September. The simple liturgy of this holy Saint’s life might be put this way – the crib in 1223 and the Cross in 1224.

St Agathoclia
St Brogan of Ross Tuirc
St Columba of Cordova
St Crescentio of Rome
St Emmanuel Nguyen Van Trieu
St Flocellus

St Hildegard von Bingen OSB (1098-1179) Doctor of the Church, German Benedictine Abbess, Theologian, Writer, Composer, Philosopher, Poet, Mystic, Visionary, Founder, Scientist, Artist and Polymath. She is considered to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.

St Justin of Rome

St Lambert (c 635-c 700) Bishop & Martyr, Bishop of Maastricht, Confessor, Missionary.

St Narcissus of Rome
St Peter Arbues OSA (1442-1485) Priest Martyr
St Rodingus
St Satyrus of Milan
St Socrates
Bl Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary
St Stephen of England
St Theodora
St Uni of Bremen
St Zygmunt Sajna

St Zygmunt Szcesny Felinski TOSF (1822-1895) Archbishop of Warsaw and founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, Apostle of poor, Confessor, Professor, Writer, Reformer.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War
• Blessed Álvaro Santos Cejudo Moreno Chocano
• Blessed Juan Ventura Solsona
• Blessed Timoteo Valero Pérez

	Saint of the Day – 7… on Saint of the Day – 7 November…
	Saint of the Day – 6… on Saint of the Day – 6 November…
	Saint of the Day – 5… on Saint of the Day – 5 November…
	Saint of the Day – 4… on Saint of the Day – 4 November…
	Saint of the Day – 3… on Saint of the Day – 3 November…

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Feast of the Holy Bishops of Milan – a 1st Century Diocese!

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