Saints of the Week: Killian, Bonaventure, Benedict, Veronica, Kateri, Henry, Vladimir, Esdras, Camillus &More
With the attempted assassination of Donald Trump this past weekend, I am running a day late on my saints article, but now is certainly the perfect time to thank God and invoke Heavenly protection!
St. Killian (July 8) was an Irish noble who became a monk and missionary to pagans. The pope ordained him a bishop but his missionary efforts ended in martyrdom when a sinful duchess whose marriage he critiqued had him murdered in 689. Sts. Colman of Thuringia and Totnan (July 8) evangelized and were martyred with him. The Dispersion of the Apostles (July 15) commemorates the post-Pentecost scattering of the Apostles around the world to preach the Gospel, in accord with Christ’s parting command (Matt.28:19), “Going therefore, teach ye all nations.”
St. Bonaventure (July 14/15) “entered the Franciscan Order. He lectured with immediate and lasting success at the University of Paris, where he was intimately acquainted with St. Thomas Aquinas. Known as the Seraphic Doctor, he became General of the Franciscan Order and Cardinal of Albano. He died in 1274.” St. Benedict (July 11), brother of St. Scholastica and founder of Western monastacism, wrote the Benedictine Rule. He drove out demons, read consciences, and had the gift of prophecy. His motto was “Pray and Work” (b.c.480). St. Veronica (July 12) was a pious Jewish matron who wiped Christ’s face with her veil during His Passion; the veil still exists. Tradition says she later spread the Gospel.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha (July 14), daughter of a Mohawk Indian chief in what is now New York, converted to Christianity. To escape her tribe’s persecution she fled to a Christian village in Canada. Miracle worker (d.1680). St. Henry II (July 13/15) was Duke of Bavaria, then King of Germany and Pavia, and finally Holy Roman Emperor in 1014. A reformer, peace-maker, sponsor of education and missions, and charitable to the poor. Henry was celibately married to St. Cunegunda, and considered joining a monastery after her death, but was convinced to remain emperor for his people’s good.
St. Vladimir I of Kiev (July 15) was a violent and lustful pagan monarch before marriage to a Christian princess converted him. He became a zealous missionary and father of Sts. Boris and Gleb. Rus became Christian because of him (d.1015). St. Olga (July 11), Vladimir’s grandmother, was a murderous ruler before she converted and tried to bring her subjects to Christianity.
Our Lady of Chiquinquirá (July 9) is an image of Mary in Colombia, almost destroyed but miraculously restored in 1585. Mary under this title is patroness of Colombia. St. Gabriel the Archangel (July 13, Byzantine) appears to the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament; to St. Zachary to prophesy the birth of St. John the Baptist; and to the Blessed Virgin at the Annunciation to announce the coming of the Messiah. Esdras the Prophet or Ezra (July 13) was a 5th century BC Jewish priest and scribe entrusted with gifts and a letter from the Persian king to allow enforcement of Mosaic Law in Judea. Esdras was key in reforming and restoring Judaism, writing or compiling the Bible Books of Paralipomenon and Esdras, and determining the organization and practice of later Judaism.
St. Camillus de Lellis (July 14) was an Italian who went from being a soldier and gambler to a priest and founder of a religious order to care for the sick. Camillus, who struggled his whole life with serious medical issues, was a loving caretaker of the sick who worked miraculous healings and prophesied. St. Francis Solano (July 14) was a Spanish missionary who survived shipwreck to evangelize across South America, particularly around Peru; he is said to have converted 9,000 of the natives during one remarkable sermon. St. Aquila the Apostle (July 14) was a Jewish tentmaker who converted to Christianity and became a friend and spiritual assistant to St. Paul the Apostle in the first century. His wife was St. Priscilla (July 8).
Sts. Louis and Marie-Azelie Martin (July 12), parents of St. Therese, are the “first husband and wife canonized as a couple.” Azelie or Zelie, a lace-maker, died young of cancer. Louis lived to see Therese achieve her dream of entering a convent (all his daughters entered religious life) before dying. The Martyrs of Shanxi (July 12) were priests and laymen, both foreigners and natives, martyred in 1900 in China during the Boxer Rebellion.
Pope St. Pius I (July 11): “This holy Pope ordered that the feast of Easter should be kept only on a Sunday. He transformed into a church the house of the converted senator Pudens. He was martyred in 157.” The Seven Holy Brothers (July 10), “sons of St. Felicitas, were all martyred on the same day before their mother’s eyes in 150.” Also July 10: “The two sisters, [Sts.] Rufina and Secunda, rather than lose their virginity, became martyrs in 257.”1
St. John Gualbert (July 12), “a noble military knight, met the murderer of his brother, Hugh, on a Good Friday. He was about to slay him, when the assassin begged his pardon for the sake of Christ crucified. Changed by God’s grace, [John] embraced him as a brother in Christ, became a monk, and founded the Congregation of Vallombrosa, affiliated to the Order of St. Benedict. He died in 1073.”
Bl. Adrian Fortescue (July 9), relative of Anne Boleyn, served King Henry VIII well but would not consent to heresy. “A husband and father, a Justice of the Peace, a Knight of the Realm, a Knight of Malta and a Dominican Tertiary (Lay Dominican).” He was martyred in 1539. St. Peter the Hermit (July 8) was a French preacher who raised an army of thousands to free the Holy Land from Muslim occupation. While many of his army died, he did later go with the victorious First Crusade (d.1115). Bl. Michael Ghebre (July 14) was a native of what is now Ethiopia, a convert who became a priest. He was arrested with four companions and abused to death in 1855.
St. Vincent Madelgaire (July 14) was a 7th century nobleman in Belgium whose wife and four children were all saints too; he recruited missionaries, founded abbeys, and later became abbot at one of them. Sts. Nabor and Felix (July 12) were 4th century Roman soldiers and martyrs. St. Jacob of Nisibis (July 15) was a Syrian bishop at the Council of Nicaea whose opposition to heresy included praying for heretic Arius’s death. Bl. James of Voragine (July 13) was an Italian Dominican archbishop who wrote the famous story collection The Golden Legend. St. Edgar the Peaceful (July 8), father of St. Edward, led a religious revival and promoted monasticism in 10th century England. St. Edith of Tamworth (July 15), widow of a 10th century Viking king, became a nun. St. Hermagorus of Aquileia (July 12), a bishop ordained by St. Peter, and his archdeacon St. Fortunatus were martyred. Bl. Richard Langhorne (July 14) was an English husband, father, and lawyer who was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually executed under a false charge of plotting to burn London due to his Catholic faith in 1679.
St. Mildred of Thanet (July 13) was a 7th century English princess and Benedictine abbess who assisted St. Theodore of Canterbury. St. Ioachim Hao (July 9) was a married Chinese layman exiled, tortured, and martyred. St. Clelia Barbieri (July 13) founded the Little Sisters of the Mother of Sorrows (d.1870). St. Knud (July 10) was a pious 11th century King of Denmark murdered while kneeling at an altar. St. Dogfan (July 13) was a 5th century martyr and son of Welsh St. Brychan of Brycheiniog. Pope St. Eugene III (July 8) announced and promoted the Second Crusade. St. Augustine Zhao Rong (July 9), a Chinese soldier who became a priest, and companions were martyred between 1648 and 1930. St. Emanuele Lê Van Phung (July 13) was a married Vietnamese layman who built a church, convent, and college before being martyred in 1859. Bl. Anne Marie Javouhey (July 15) prepared slaves for emancipation. St. Paulus Liu Jinde (July 13) was a married Chinese layman who went out to meet his murderers with a rosary and prayer book (d.1900).
Bl. Boniface of Canterbury (July 14) was a reformer who boldly opposed royal meddling in Church affairs. St. Veronica Giuliani (July 9) joined the Capuchin Poor Clares and experienced the Passion of Christ mystically and physically (d.1727). St. Ioannes (John) Wang Kuixin (July 14) was a Chinese layman martyred in the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Bl. Fidelis J.Chojnacki (July 9) was a Polish Capuchin martyred by Nazis in 1942. Pope St. Adrian III (July 8) was known during his very brief reign for his sanctity (d.880s). Bl. Ceslas Odrowaz (July 15) was a 13th century Polish cleric known for encouraging warriors to practice charity. St. Abundantia of Spoleto (July 15) was a pilgrim, hermitess, and philanthropist around whom miracles occurred (d.804). St. Ulric of Zell (July 14) was a German pilgrim, bishop, prior, abbot, liturgical writer, and miracle-worker (d.1093).
St. Amalburga of Mauberge (July 10) was a wife and mother who entered religious life with her husband (d.690). Sts. Victoria and Anatolia (July 10) were sisters who broke off their engagements to dedicate their virginity to God and were martyred in 304. St. Drostan of Dier (July 11) was a Scottish royal, abbot, and miracle-worker who evangelized the Picts. St. Berthevin of Lisieux (July 11) was a French priest martyred in 1000 for his religious zeal about court matters. St. Jason of Tarsus (July 12) was a helper to St. Paul and a bishop. St. John Jones (July 12), a 16th century Welsh priest, and St. John Wall, an English priest, were martyred. St. Sunniva of Bergen (July 8) was an Irish laywoman whose body was found incorrupt.
You can also read about Giulio of Montevergine, Grimbald, Pancras of Taormina, and Mancius Araki Kyuzaburo (July 8); Paulina Visintainer, Patermutius, Alexander and Copra; Marija Petkovic, Luigi Caburlotto, Pancratius, Catherine of S. Chiara, Hermina Grivot, Jane Scopelli, Everild, Auremondo, Audax, and Brictius (July 9); Pacificus, Antôn Nguyen Huu Quynh, Phêrô Nguyen Khac Tu, Nicholas Spira, Peter Vincioli, Parthenios and martyrs, Apollonius of Sardis, Cuan, Our Lady of Boulogne, and Arnold of Camerino (July 10); Bertrand of Grand-Selve, Thomas Hunt, Marciana of Caesarea, Euphemia, Kjeld, Thomas Sprott, Placid and Sigisbert, Idyll, Leontius II, Abundius of Ananelos, Cyriacus, Cindee, and John of Bergamo (July 11).
Also this week were John the Georgian, CI Delgado Cebrián, Leo of Cava, Marie Cluse, Agnes De, and Harduin of Fontenelle (July 12); Carlos Manuel Cecilio, Giustina of Arzano, Berthold of Scheide, Thomas Tunstal, Eugene of Carthage, Myrope, Serapions, Stephen, Arno of Würzburg, Turiaf of Dol, and Jean of France (July 13); Angelina di Marsciano, Marciano of Frigento, Humbert of Romans, Hroznata of Bohemia, Idus of Ath-Fadha, Deusdedit of Canterbury, Giorgio of Lauria (July 14); and Bernard of Baden, Terenzio of Luni, Antoni Beszta-Borowski, Plechelm, Athanasius of Naples, Evette, Anrê Nguyen Kim Thông, and Barhadbesaba (July 15).
Have a blessed week!
Quotes without links in this article are from the Latin Mass Missal.