Saints of the Week: Bede, Our Lady, P.Neri, Bernardine, Helen, New Testament Saints, Brendan &More
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Happy Trinity Sunday! Today, the Sunday after Pentecost, we reflect on the mystery of the Trinity, Three Persons equal and coeternal in One God. We humans cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity, but we must believe fervently in it, as the saints we celebrated this past week did.
(This article includes saints both from the past week and from the previous week.)
Our Lady, Help of Christians (May 24) commemorates multiple miraculous victories through Mary’s intercession, including the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the 17th century Viennese victory over the Turks, and Pope Pius VII’s return to Rome after imprisonment by Napoleon. Also remembered May 24 is Our Lady of China, an apparition of Mary that appeared and protected a village from soldiers during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.
St. Bede the Venerable (May 25) grew up in and joined a Benedictine abbey. A teacher and brilliant scholar in history, rhetoric, mathematics, music, astronomy, poetry, grammar, philosophy, hagiography, homiletics, and Bible commentary. Started the practice of dating from Christ’s birth and his history is the main source of knowledge on the England of his day (d.735). Pope St. Gregory VII (May 25): “Hildebrand, monk of Cluny and later Abbot and Cardinal, succeeded Alexander II as Pope Gregory VII. He displayed wonderful energy and constancy in defense of the liberty of the Church. He died in 1085 [Missal].” He was a great reformer but was therefore forced into exile from Rome.
Our Lady of Caravaggio (May 26) was a 1432 apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to an Italian woman cutting hay in a field, where a healing spring subsequently began to flow. St. Philip Neri (May 26) “founded the Oratorian Congregation. Inflamed with divine love, he brought thousands of souls back to God. He died in 1595 [Missal].” He renewed the faith in Rome and received a vision that caused his heart to swell physically with love.
St. Bernardine of Siena (May 20), “born of noble parentage, left all and entered the Franciscan Order and became one of its chief glories. He preached everywhere devotion to the name of Jesus, and died in 1444.” Pope St. Eleutherius (May 26) “governed the Church for fifteen years after the persecution of Commodus. He died in 192 [Missal].” St. Helena or Helen (May 21) was a maid before she was the wife of “Caesar” Constantius, with whom she had Constantine. The latter, after his famed rise to imperial power, gave his mother the title of Augusta, and after Helena’s conversion to Christianity she cared for the poor and re-discovered the true cross of Christ in Jerusalem.
St. Alphaeus (May 26) was the father of the apostle St. James the Less and a confessor of the faith. St. Joanna the Myrrhbearer (May 24), wife of King Herod Antipas’s steward, was one of the women who ministered to Christ during his public life and, according to tradition, buried John the Baptist’s head. She brought myrrh to anoint Christ’s body (Lk. 24:10) and thus became one of the first witnesses of the Resurrection. St. Lydia Purpuraria (May 20) was a dealer in valuable purple dyes in Asia Minor, St. Paul’s first convert in Philippi.
Bl. Franz Jagerstatter (May 21) was an Austrian husband and father of three, a farmer, who “publicly opposed the [Nazi] Anschluss–annexation–of Austria.” Called upon for active military service in 1943, including swearing an oath to Hitler, Franz refused, and was first imprisoned and then executed. St. Rita of Cascia (May 22) was a 14th century Italian, forced into an arranged marriage with a physically abusive husband whom she eventually converted. After her husband’s murder and her sons’ deaths, Rita became an Augustinian nun and mystic, having a wound like Christ’s from the crown of thorns on her forehead.
St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk (May 23) was a Belarusian princess who joined a convent and became a hermitess and book copyist, raising money for the poor. She later founded a convent and became a pilgrim to Constantinople and the Holy Land (d.1173). St. William of Rochester (May 23) was a wild 12th century Scottish youth who converted and became a baker who gave free bread to the poor. He found and adopted an abandoned infant, who sadly grew up to murder William while they were stopping in Rochester, England, on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. William is considered a martyr, and many miracles were reported at his tomb.
The Martyrs of the Mexican Revolution (May 21) were priests and lay Catholics killed in the 20th century during the atheist regime that seized power. The Small West Gate Martyrs (May 24) “were a group of lay [Korean] catechists and catechumens who were imprisoned and executed together for the crime of being Christian” in 1839. St. Simeon Stylites the Younger (May 24) was a 6th century Antiochan ascetic who became a hermit on a pillar for 68 years and a theological writer. After the death of his spiritual mentor, Simeon practiced severe penances and multiple miracles were attributed to his intercession.
St. David of Scotland (May 24), youngest son of St. Margaret, succeeded his brother on the throne in 1124. David suffered disaster in an attempted invasion of England and the death of his only son. He was, however, very generous to monasteries and the poor. St. Manahen (May 24) was part of King Herod Antipas’s household. Manahen converted and possibly became a cleric, as Acts 13 mentions him among the “prophets and doctors” at Antioch who laid hands on Paul and Barnabas. King St. Ethelbert of East Anglia (May 20) was a pious monarch who was convinced to marry the daughter of King Offa of Mercia, who later killed him in 794.
St. Giovanni Battista Rossi (May 23) was an 18th century Italian priest, miracle-worker, confessor, and catechist who struggled with ill health to minister to farmers, beggars, prisoners, and prostitutes. St. Michael of Synnada (May 23) was a monk and bishop in Phrygia (now Turkey) who fought iconoclasm and was an imperial diplomat (d.826). St. Eugene de Mazenod (May 21) was a French boy, born in 1782 into a highly dysfunctional family that eventually had to flee to Italy during the French Revolution. Eugene became a priest and later a bishop, organizing the Oblates of Mary Immaculate to help him restore the faith to France, especially among the poor.
St. Zenobius of Florence (May 25) was a pagan convert, bishop, papal counselor, miracle worker, and friend of St. Ambrose of Milan. St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi (May 25) was an Italian Carmelite who prayed and practiced penance for the renewal of the Church (d.1607). St. Madeline Sophie Barat (May 25) was the French foundress of the educating Society of the Sacred Heart in 1800. St. Iosephus Chang Song-Jib (May 26) was a married Korean pharmacist and convert tortured to death in 1839. St. Mariana de Paredes (May 26) was an Ecuadorian who became a hermitess in her home, survived almost entirely on the Eucharist, practiced severe austerities, and offered her life as a victim in 1645 to end earthquakes and epidemics plaguing Quito.
St. Denis Ssebuggwawo (May 25) was an Ugandan convert who died in the Mwangan persecutions. St. Cristobal Magallanes Jara (May 25) was a Mexican priest who helped natives and founded schools before he was martyred in 1927. St. Quadratus the Apologist (May 26) was a 2nd century bishop, the first to write an apology for Christianity, addressed to the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The Paris Commune Martyrs (May 26), including Bl. Mathieu-Henri Planchat, were priests killed in 1871 by the atheistic Paris Commune socialists. Bl. Columba of Rieti (May 20) was a Third Order Dominican revered even during her lifetime and consulted by both Church and civil officials.
St. Godric of Finchale (May 21) was a traveling English peddler who became a pilgrim and then a hermit (d.1170). Bl. John Forest (May 22) was the Franciscan confessor of Queen Catherine of Aragon and thus opposed English King Henry VIII’s divorce from her; Forest was therefore burned at the stake in 1538. St. Julia of Corsica (May 22) was a slave to a pagan Roman, pressured to deny the faith, tortured and crucified in 303. St. Basiliscus, a soldier, and his brothers (May 22) were all martyred by beheading or crucifixion in 308. Bl. Mykola Tsehelskyi (May 25) was a Ukrainian priest who died at a Soviet forced labor camp in 1951.
You can also read about Baudelius of Nimes, Arcangelo Tadini, Maria A.Perez, Austregisilus, Protasius Chong Kuk-bo, Lucifer of Cagliari, and Talaleo of Egea (May 20); Restituta of Corsica, Hyacinth-Marie Cormier, Collen of Denbighshire, Pietro Parenzo, Hospitius, Hemming, Isberga, Manuel Gomez Gonzales, and Jean Mopinot (May 21); Humility, Romanus of Subiaco, Fulgencio of Otricoli, Bobo, JB Machado de Tavora, Aigulf of Bourges, Fulk of Castrofurli, Emilius Martyr, Boethian, Atto, D.Senmartin, Aureliano of Pavia, and Domenico Ngon (May 22); Guibertus of Gorze, Desiderius of Langres and martyrs, Wincenty Matuszewski, Eutychius of Valcastoria& Florentio, Jozef Kurzawa, Elizabeth of Melegnano, Cristoforo Soler, Leontius of Rostov, Epitacius, and Siacre (May 23).
Also this past week were Louis Moreau, John del Prado, Donatian and Rogatian, Nicetas of Pereaslav, Afra, Isidore Ngei Ko Lat, Vincent of Lerins, Benedict of Cassino, and Susanna, Meletius and martyrs (May 24); Aldhelm of Sherborne, Gerard of Lunel, Agustin Caloca Cortes, Bartolomeo Magi, James Bertoni, Gerardo Mecatti, Mattheo Nguyen Van Dac Phuong, Antonio Caixal, Phero Doan, Juan of Granada, Dionysius of Milan, Canio, Pedro Malasanch, Maximus and Victorinus, Dunchadh, Scholastica and Injuriosus, and Worad (May 25); Francis Patrizzi, Andrea Franchi, Todi Martyrs, Pere Sans Jorda, Gioan Hoan, Ponsiano Ngondwe, Desiderius of Vienne, Andrew Kaggwa, Fagan and Damian, Oduvald, Berengar, Simitrius and martyrs, Prisco and martyrs, Regintrudis, Guinizo, Becan of Cork, Zachary, Quadratus, and A.Buysson and companions (May 26).
Due to my traveling for the past two weeks, I was not able to publish last week’s saints article. I have included a selection of a few of last week’s saints below, partly drawn from the Missal:
St. Brendan the Navigator (May 16) was an Irish monk, priest, monastic founder, and friend of other saints. Brendan directed 3,000 monks with a rule an angel gave him, and then set off on an exploratory voyage, possibly reaching as far as the Americas (d.c.577). St. Matthias (May 14) was a disciple of Jesus chosen after the Ascension to replace Judas the traitor among the 12 Apostles. He preached the Gospel and was martyred. St. Isidore the Farmer (May 15) was a Spanish laborer around whom miraculous events happened—including angels assisting his work—and whose holiness was exemplary (d.1130).
St. Simon Stock (May 16) was an English hermit in a tree trunk, then a preacher and pilgrim driven from the Holy Land by Muslim persecution. Joined and spread the Carmelite Order through Europe. When the Order was targeted the Blessed Virgin herself appeared to him with the scapular of Mt. Carmel, promising salvation to all who died wearing it (d.1265).
St. Robert Bellarmine (May 13) “was famous throughout Europe as a theologian, and as a strenuous defender of the Faith in controversy with Protestants. He joined the Society of Jesus, and was later made Cardinal and Archbishop of Capua. His numerous writings include works of devotion and instruction, as well as of controversy. He died in 1621, and was canonized and declared Doctor of the Church in 1931.” Friend of Galileo.
St. Andrew Bobola (May 16) was a Polish Jesuit who taught philosophy and tended the sick during a plague. Was a successful missionary to the Orthodox, converting whole villages, but eventually tortured and brutally martyred during a Cossack raid (d.1657). Bl. Alcuin (May 19) was a great English “Benedictine scholar, [educator,] and counselor to Charlemagne.”
St. John Baptist de la Salle (May 15) “studied theology at the Sorbonne [in France]. Inspired by God to give a Christian education to the poor, he founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools which soon spread throughout the world. In private life he treated himself with extreme rigor, and died full of merits and years in 1719.” St. Dymphna (May 15) was the daughter of a 7th century Irish chieftain who, widowed, went crazy and tried to force himself on Dymphna. Fleeing, Dymphna was caught by her father and killed by him. St. Ubaldus Baldassini (May 16) was a monk and bishop who stopped the emperor from sacking Gubbio (d.1160). His body remained incorrupt after death.
Pope St. Peter Celestine or Celestine V (May 19): “St. Peter founded a branch of the Benedictine Order: the Celestines. Dragged forth from the solitude he loved, he was made Supreme Pontiff. He resigned the papacy in order to continue his hermit life. He died in 1296.” St. Paschal Baylon (May 17): “In his youth St. Pascal tended flocks. He entered the Order of St. Francis, and became a model of all religious virtues. Leo XIII declared him protector of all Eucharistic Congresses [for his devotion]. He died in 1592.”
St. Venantius (May 18): “At the age of fifteen, St. Venantius was made to suffer cruel torments, and was finally beheaded at Ancona in 250.” Dedication of Saint Mary and the Martyrs (May 13): “Commemorates and celebrates the dedication of the church of Saint Mary of the Martyrs, formerly a temple of all the pagan Roman gods called the Pantheon, in Rome, Italy by Pope Boniface IV in 609.”
Bl. Imelda (May 13) was a young child when she joined a convent. Passionately devoted to the Eucharist, she died of happiness after miraculously receiving her First Communion at age eleven. Pope St. John I (May 18) was a mediator between the Byzantine emperor and the barbarian ruler of Italy, but died after being imprisoned by the latter.
St. Honorius of Amiens (May 16) was a 7th century bishop who rediscovered relics. St. John the Silent (May 13) was a bishop in Armenia and a hermit who died in Jerusalem in 558. St. Possidius of Calama (May 16) was a spiritual student of St. Augustine and a heresy-fighting bishop in North Africa (d.c.440). St. Gens of Le Beaucet (May 16) was a hermit, farmer, and miracle worker who ended a drought (d.1127). King St. Eric IX of Sweden (May 18) spread the faith and codified laws before he was killed by rebels in 1160. Bl. Jan Chrysostom Zavrel, Albertin-Marie Maisonade and companions (May 16) were Cistercians martyred by French Revolutionaries in 1799. St. Nicholas the Mystic (May 15) was a Patriarch of Constantinople deposed for opposing the emperor’s fourth marriage. Bl. Vladimir Ghika (May 16) was a Romanian prince who became a priest and cared for those suffering in WWII; martyred by Communists in 1954. St. Madern (May 17) was a Cornish hermit whose well remained popular for centuries.
Have a blessed week!