St Anysia of Thessalonica St Anysius of Thessalonica
St Egwin of Worcester OSB (Died 717) Bishop of Worcester, England, Benedictine Monk, Reformer and Penitent, miracle-worker. Egwin was devout and lived for God from his youth. His biographers say, that king, clergy and the faithful, all united in demanding Egwin’s elevation to Bishop. About St Egwin: https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/30/saint-of-the-day-30-december-saint-egwin-of-worcester-osb-died-717/
St Elias of Conques St Eugene of Milan St Geremarus
St Hermes of Moesia St Jucundus of Aosta St Liberius of Ravenna
Blessed Margherita Colonna (c 1255-1284) Virgin, Nun, Mystic, Apostle of the poor. Beatified on 17 September 1847 by Pope Pius IX. The Roman Martyrology states: “At Palestrina in Lazio, Blessed Margherita Colonna, Virgin, who preferred poverty for Christ to the riches and pleasures of the world, which she served by professing the Rule of St Clare.” Her Life: https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/30/saint-of-the-day-30-december-blessed-margherita-colonna-c-1255-1284/
St Perpetuus of Tours Bl Raoul of Vaucelles St Rainerius of Aquila (Died c 1077) Bishop Bl Richard of Wedinghausen St Ruggero of Canne St Sebastian of Esztergom
Martyrs of Alexandria – 5 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred in the unrest caused by Monophysite heretics. We know the names for five of them – Appian, Donatus, Honorius, Mansuetus and Severus. They were martyred in c 483 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Oia – 6 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred together, date unknown. The only details to have survived are the names – Cletus, Florentius, Papinianus, Paul, Serenusa and Stephen. They were martyred in Oia, Greece.
Martyrs of Spoleto – 4 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred in the persecutions of DioSletian – Exuperantius, Marcellus, Sabinus and Venustian. They were martyred in 303 in Spoleto, Italy.
Madonna of San Luca / Nostra Signora della Guardia / Our Lady of Saint Luke of La Guardia, Bologna, Italy (433) – 30 December:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “This picture was in the Church of Santa Sophia, at Constantinople, with this inscription: “This picture, painted by Saint Luke, must be taken to the mountain of La Garde and placed over the Altar of the Church.” A Greek monk set out for Italy about the year 433, with the picture entrusted to him and deposited it on the mountain of La Garde.”
The account mentioned by the Abbot above, is also told in the chronicle of Graziolo Accarisi, who wrote of a Greek hermit who went on pilgrimage to Constantinople where he received from the Priests of the Church of Santa Sofia, the icon of Our Lady of La Guardia. This image was attributed to Saint Luke the Evangelist and there was an inscription on the painting itself that it should one day be taken to the “mountain of the guard.” The hermit took the Icon,and walked throughout Italy in search of the place where the Icon was meant to be,but it was not until he reached the City of Emilia near Bologna that the authorities of the City came out to greet him and processed with the icon back to the mountain. The Icon had finally found its home and it is now more commonly known as the Madonna of San Luca. Among the many miracles attributed to the image is especially noted the “miracle of the rain,” which occurred on 5 July 1433. An extremely heavy spring rain came late in the season, threatening to destroy the crops. Facing the prospect of famine, the people turned to the Blessed Virgin for assistance. The storm and rain stopped suddenly, with the arrival into the City, of a procession carrying the miraculous Icon. Since that time these processions have been repeated annually. There is even an incredible arched walkway that is only a little short of four kilometers in length, that is meant to protect the Icon from the elements, as well as those on procession. The Icon shows the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus in blessing. She wears a blue-green robe, with a red tunic. The nose, eyes and fingers appear somewhat elongated. The Divine Child wears a tunic of the same colour as His Mothers’, with His right hand in a gesture of giving a blessing and his left hand being closed. In 1625 the image was covered with a silver panel which leaves only the faces of the figures uncovered. The Icon was crowned in 1603 by the Archbishop Alfonso Paleotti. The Sanctuary of Saint Luke, where the Icon is kept, was declared a national monument in the year 1874. In 1907 the Church was raised to the dignity of a Minor Basilica by the holy Pope Saint Pius X.
The Sanctuary is situate some 300 metres above the City plain, just south-west of the historical centre of the City. While a road now leads up to the Sanctuary, it is also possible to reach it along a 3.8 km monumental roofed arcade (Portico di San Luca) consisting of 666 arches, which was built in 1674–1793. It was meant to protect the Icon as it was paraded up the hill. A yearly procession from the Cathedral of San Pietro in the centre of Bologna to the Sanctuary goes along this path. The arches held sacred images or Chapels erected by patron families. There is also a cable car which takes tourists up to the Basilica.
Cable car approaching the Mountain Sanctuary
St Anysia of Thessalonica St Anysius of Thessalonica
St Egwin of Worcester OSB (Died 717) Bishop of Worcester, England, Benedictine Monk, Reformer and Penitent, miracle-worker. Egwin was devout and lived for God from his youth. His biographers say, that king, clergy and the faithful, all united in demanding Egwin’s elevation to Bishop. About St Egwin: https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/30/saint-of-the-day-30-december-saint-egwin-of-worcester-osb-died-717/
St Elias of Conques St Eugene of Milan St Pope Felix I St Geremarus
St Hermes of Moesia St Jucundus of Aosta St Liberius of Ravenna Blessed Margherita Colonna (c 1255-1284) Virgin, Nun
St Perpetuus of Tours Bl Raoul of Vaucelles St Raynerius of Aquila Bl Richard of Wedinghausen St Ruggero of Canne St Sebastian of Esztergom
Martyrs of Alexandria – (5 saints): A group of Christians martyred in the unrest caused by Monophysite heretics. We know the names for five of them – Appian, Donatus, Honorius, Mansuetus and Severus. They were martyred in c 483 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Oia – (6 saints): A group of Christians martyred together, date unknown. The only details to have survived are the names – Cletus, Florentius, Papinianus, Paul, Serenusa and Stephen. They were martyred in Oia, Greece.
Martyrs of Spoleto – (4 saints): A group of Christians martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian – Exuperantius, Marcellus, Sabinus and Venustian. They were martyred in 303 in Spoleto, Italy.
Saint of the Day – 30 December – Saint Egwin of Worcester OSB (Died 717) Bishop, Benedictine Monk, Reformer and Penitent, miracle-worker – born in the 7th century in England and died on 30 December 717 at Evesham Abbey, Mercia of natural causes.
Scenes from the life of Saint Egwin, St Lawrence’s Church, Evesham
Egwin of Worcester was of a noble family, possibly a descendant of the Mercian kings.
He was devoted to God since his youth and became a Benedictine Monk. His biographers say that king, clergy and the faithful, all united in demanding Egwin’s elevation to Bishop. He succeeded to the See of Worcester in 662.
Though a good Bishop, protector of orphans and widows and a fair judge, he incurred the animosity of people who resisted his insistent teaching on marital morality and clerical celibacy.
The clergy saw him as overly strict, while he felt he was simply trying to correct abuses and impose appropriate disciplines. Bitter resentments arose and complaints were made against him to this ecclesiatical superiors. Egwin made his way to Rome to present his case to Pope Constantine. The case against Egwin was examined and annulled.
He prepared for his journey by locking shackles on his feet and throwing the key into the River Avon. In Rome, as he prayed before the tomb of the Apostle St Peter, one of his servants brought him this very key—found in the mouth of a fish that had just been caught in the Tiber. Egwin then released himself from his self-imposed bonds and straight away obtained from the Pope an authoritative release from his enemies’ obloquy.
His Vita relates that on crossing the Alps with a few companions, there was no water. Parched, those who did not appreciate his sanctity, mockingly suggested that he ask for water, like Moses. But others, who knew him well, reverently beseeched him to, indeed, pray for water. As Egwin prostrated himself in prayer, a stream of crystalline water issued forth from a rock.
On his return to England, Egwin founded the famous Abbey of Evesham, which became one of the great Benedictine houses of medieval England. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who had reportedly made it known to a swineherd named Eof, just where a church should be built in her honour.
Evesham Abbey, Bell Tower
Around 709, he again journeyed to Rome, this time in the company of Kings, Cenred of Mercia and Offa of the East Saxons and received many privileges for his Monastery from Pope Constantine.
St Egwin died on 30 December 717 and was buried at the Monastery he had founded.
Detail inside the current Worcester Cathedral, statues around Christ the King, seated in niches, one larger and more imposing than the others, which is thought to be St Egwin.
A hagiography, the Vita Sancti Egwini, was written by Dominic of Evesham, a medieval Prior of Evesham Abbey around 1130. Egwin’s tomb was destroyed, along with the Abbey Church, at the time of the dissolution of the Abbey in 1540.
St Anysia of Thessalonica St Anysius of Thessalonica St Egwin of Worcester OSB (Died 717) Bishop
St Elias of Conques St Eugene of Milan St Pope Felix I St Geremarus Blessed Giovanni Maria Boccardo (1848-1913) His Life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/12/30/saint-of-the-day-30-december-blessed-giovanni-maria-boccardo-1848-1913-father-of-the-poor/ St Hermes of Moesia St Jucundus of Aosta St Liberius of Ravenna Bl Margaret Colonna St Perpetuus of Tours Bl Raoul of Vaucelles St Raynerius of Aquila Bl Richard of Wedinghausen St Ruggero of Canne St Sebastian of Esztergom — Martyrs of Alexandria – (5 saints): A group of Christians martyred in the unrest caused by Monophysite heretics. We know the names for five of them – Appian, Donatus, Honorius, Mansuetus and Severus. They were martyred in c 483 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Oia – (6 saints): A group of Christians martyred together, date unknown. The only details to have survived are the names – Cletus, Florentius, Papinianus, Paul, Serenusa and Stephen. They were martyred in Oia, Greece.
Martyrs of Spoleto – (4 saints): A group of Christians martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian – Exuperantius, Marcellus, Sabinus and Venustian. They were martyred in 303 in Spoleto, Italy
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.