இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் மார்ச் 25

 St. Harold

Feastday: March 25

Death: 1168

Martyred child of Gloucester, England. He was reported to have been slain by Jews in the area, and was venerated as a martyr. The veneration of the child martyrs is often considered as an example of the pervasive anti-Semitism of the period

St. Robert of Bury

Feastday: March 25

Death: 1181

Traditionally, a boy martyr of the Middle Ages whose death was blamed upon local Jews. He was supposedly kidnapped and murdered by Jews on Good Friday at Bury St. Edmunds, England. As was the case with other reputed victims of Jewish sacrificial rites, the story of Richard is entirely fictitious and owes its propagation to the rampant anti-Semitism of the period.

Saint Robert of Bury (died 1181) was an English boy, allegedly murdered and found in the town of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1181. His death, which occurred at a time of rising anti-Semitism, was blamed on local Jews.[1] Though a hagiography of Robert was written, no copies are known, so the story of his life is now unknown beyond the few fragmentary references to it that survive. His cult continued until the English Reformation.

Robert of Bury joined a small group of 12th century English saints of strikingly similar characteristics: all young boys, all mysteriously found dead and all hailed as martyrs to alleged anti-Christian practices among Jews. Contemporary assumptions made about the circumstances of their deaths are typical of blood libel. The first of these was William of Norwich (d.1144), whose death and cult were probably an influence on the story that grew up around the death of Robert.

Cult

Tradition states that Robert was kidnapped and then killed on Good Friday 1181. By the 1190s Robert had become the focus of a martyr cult. Jocelin de Brakelond, a monk of Bury St. Edmunds, later wrote a chronicle covering this period. He also mentions writing a book about the life and miracles performed by the boy saint, but this book has not survived.[2]

Information about the circumstances of his death remains unclear. John of Taxster is the source for the date.[3] Jocelyn's surviving account, in his history of the abbey of Bury, says only "the saintly boy Robert was murdered and buried in our church; many signs and wonders were performed among the people as I have recorded elsewhere."[4] Another record merely states that he was "martyred" at Easter by Jews. A later record refers to him as "a boy crucified by the Jews".

John Lydgate wrote a poem entitled Prayer for St. Robert, which implies that the story of his death closely mirrored that of William of Norwich, in which Jews are supposed to have kidnapped the child with the help of a Judas-like Christian accomplice, tortured and then crucified him over Easter in a parody of Jesus's death.[4] Lydgate says he was "scourged and nailed to a tree". An illustration to a Latin prayer to Robert depicts him lying dead in a ditch beside a tree, with an archer nearby shooting an arrow upwards, illuminated by a giant sun. Another image shows a woman holding the child over a well with the inscription "the old woman wished, but was not able, to hide the light of God". This may be the "nurse" obliquely mentioned in Lydgate's poem, possibly the Christian accomplice. Alternatively, she may be a Jewish woman trying to hide the body after the murder.[4]

Nothing more is known about the supposed events surrounding his death, or about Robert's identity, life or family.

Significance

Historian Robert Bale argues that the cult of Robert arose because of the influence of the nearby cult of William of Norwich. Though Bury St Edmunds already held the tomb of St. Edmund the Martyr, after which the town is named, the cult of William was a rival, so a local boy-martyr was desirable if the abbey was to retain its pilgrims.[4] According to historian Joe Hillaby, the death of a boy called Harold in Gloucester in 1168 had already established that William's death could be used as a template for later unexplained deaths of male children occurring around Easter. It "established a pattern quickly taken up elsewhere. Within three years the first ritual murder charge was made in France."[5]

Bale, referring to the research of Hillaby, suggests that the cult was promoted at a time when the abbey at Norwich was attempting to assert authority over Bury. He argues that Samson of Tottington, Abbot of Bury from 1182 to 1211, decided that the town needed the cult to preserve its independence. It may have also been linked to local political rivalries, as Samson was trying to undermine his rival William the Sacrist who had business links with the town's Jews.[6]

The cult of Robert may have served as a contributing factor in the later violent attack upon the Jews of Bury St Edmunds on Palm Sunday 1190, in which fifty-seven were killed. The whole surviving Jewish community was immediately thereafter expelled from the town by order of Abbot Samson.[1] According to Bale, the cult may have paved the way for the expulsion, "demonising the Jews for the practical purpose of their removal", but not enough is known about its early history to be sure that it did not develop as a retrospective justification for the expulsion.

Saint Nicodemus of Mammola

Also known as

• Nicodemus of Cirò

• Nicodemus of Cellerano

• Nicodemus of Kellerano

• Nicodemo of...

Additional Memorials

• 12 March (Mammola, Italy and surrounding area)

• Sunday after 12 May (founding of the Monte Cellerano monastic community)

• 1st Sunday in September (translation of relics in 1501)

Profile

Son of Theophanes and Pandia. Educated by a local priest, Father Galatone, known for his learning and piety. Even as a young man, Nicodemus was disgusted by the mis-spent lives of his contemporaries, and was drawn to the monastic life. He tried to join the monks in the San Mercurius abbey on Mount Pollino in the Calabria region of Italy; it was a hard, ascetic life for these monks, dressed in goat skins, going bare-foot in all seasons, surviving on chestnuts and lupins with a cave for shelter and some straw for a bed, and Nicodemus was initially turned away by the abbot, Saint Fantinus, who thought the young man’s health too frail for a monk‘s life. But Nicodemus persevered, and Fantinus eventually relented and welcomed him to the community. Brother monk with Saint Nilus of Rossano.

Feeling the need for greater solitude, Nicodemus withdrew to live as a hermit on Monte Cellerano in Locri, Italy. His reputation for wisdom and piety followed him, though, and he soon attracted several spiritual students, and organized them in to a colony that lived separately but met once a week. However, his community became too well known; there were too many would be students, too many lay visitors, and too many incursions by Saracen invaders. The monks dispersed to various monasteries. Nicodemus moved first to a house in Gerace, Italy, and then to a monastery near Mammola, Italy where he spent the rest of his life. His reputation for holiness was such that, upon his death, the monastery was renamed San Nicodemo in his honour.

Born

early-10th century in Cirò, Catanzaro, Italy

Died

• 25 March 990 in the monastery at Mammola, Calabria, Italy (a house then renamed San Nicodemo) of natural causes

• interred in a tomb in a small oratory at the monastery

• oratory re-built into a large church by Normans in 1080

• relics transferred to the church of Mammola in 1580

• his chapel was re-built and decorated in the city of Mammola in 1884

• relics surveyed and re-enshrined on 12 May 1922

Patronage

Mammola, Italy (proclaimed in 1630)

Saint Dismas

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(மார்ச் 25)

✠ புனிதர் தீஸ்மாஸ் ✠

(St. Dismas)

நல்ல கள்வன்:

(Penitent thief)

இறப்பு: சுமார் 30-33 கி.பி

கொல்கொதா மலை, யெரூசலமுக்கு வெளியே

(Golgotha Hill, outside Jerusalem)

ஏற்கும் சபை/ சமயம்:

கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Catholic Church)

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

சித்தரிக்கப்படும் வகை:

சிலுவையில் இயேசு கிறிஸ்துவின் அருகில் அறையப்பட்டிருப்பது போல.

நினைவுத் திருவிழா: மார்ச் 25

பாதுகாவல்:

மரணதண்டனை விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள கைதிகள், சவப்பெட்டி செய்வோர்; மனம்மாறிய கள்வர்கள்;

நல்ல கள்வன் அல்லது மனம்மாறிய கள்வன் என்பவர் லூக்கா நற்செய்தியில் பெயர் குறிப்பிடப்படாமல், சிலுவையில் இயேசு கிறிஸ்துவின் இரு பக்கத்திலும் அறையப்பட்ட கள்வர்களுள் ஒருவராவார்.

பாரம்பரியப்படி இவரின் பெயர் புனிதர் தீஸ்மாஸ் ஆகும். இவர் சிலுவையில் தன் பாவங்களுக்காய் மனம் வருந்தி இயேசுவிடம் மன்னிப்பு பெற்று விண்ணகம் சென்றார் என்பது விவிலிய அடிப்படையில் கிறிஸ்தவ நம்பிக்கை ஆகும்.

விவிலியத்தில்:

இயேசுவோடு அவரின் வலப்புறம் ஒருவனும் இடப்புறம் ஒருவனுமாக இரு கள்வர்களை சிலுவைகளில் அறைந்தார்கள் என விவிலியம் கூறிகின்றது.

(மத்தேயு 27:38, மார்க் 15:27-28, லூக்கா 23:33, யோவான் 19:18).

இந்நிகழ்வை மாற்கு, ஏசாயா 53:12ல் உள்ள மறைநூல் வாக்கு நிறைவேறியதாக கூறுகின்றார்.

மத்தேயு, இரண்டு கள்வர்களுமே இயேசுவை பழித்துரைத்ததாக கூறுகின்றார் (மத்தேயு 27:44).

ஆயினும் லூக்கா பின்வருமாறு இந்நிகழ்வை விவரிக்கின்றார் : ( 23 : 39 - 43 )

39 சிலுவையில் தொங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்த குற்றவாளிகளுள் ஒருவன், "நீ மெசியாதானே! உன்னையும் எங்களையும் காப்பாற்று" என்று அவரைப் பழித்துரைத்தான். 40 ஆனால் மற்றவன் அவனைக் கடிந்து கொண்டு, "கடவுளுக்கு நீ அஞ்சுவதில்லையா? நீயும் அதே தீர்ப்புக்குத்தானே உள்ளாகி இருக்கிறாய். 41 நாம் தண்டிக்கப்படுவது முறையே. நம் செயல்களுக்கேற்ற தண்டனையை நாம் பெறுகிறோம். இவர் ஒரு குற்றமும் செய்யவில்லையே!" என்று பதிலுரைத்தான். 42 பின்பு அவன், "இயேசுவே, நீர் ஆட்சியுரிமை பெற்று வரும்போது என்னை நினைவிற்கொள்ளும்" என்றான். 43 அதற்கு இயேசு அவனிடம், "நீர் இன்று என்னோடு பேரின்ப வீட்டில் இருப்பீர் என உறுதியாக உமக்குச் சொல்கிறேன்" என்றார்.

Also known as

• The Good Rogue

• The Good Thief

• The Penitent Thief

• Demas, Desmas, Dimas, Dysmas, Rach, Titus, Zoatham

Memorial

25 March; date derived from a tradition that this was the calendar date of the Crucifixion, though the Passover and Easter celebrations move from year to year

Profile

One of the thieves crucified with Jesus, the other being traditionally known as Gestas; Dismas is the Good Thief, the one who rebuked the other, and asked for Christ's blessing.

An old legend from an Arabic infancy gospel says that when the Holy Family were running to Egypt, they were set upon by a band of thieves, including Dismas and Gestas. One of the highwaymen realized there was something different, something special about them, and ordered his fellow bandits to leave them alone; this thief was the young Dismas.

Died

crucified c.30 at Jerusalem

Patronage

• condemned prisoners

• death row prisoners

• dying people

• funeral directors

• penitent criminals

• prison chaplains

• prisoners

• prisoners on death row

• prisons

• reformed thieves

• undertakers

• Przemysl, Poland, archdiocese of

• Merizo, Guam

Blessed Josaphata Mykhailyna Hordashevska

Also known as

• Giosafata Hordasevska

• Michalina Jozafata Hordaszewska

• Mykhailyna Hordashevska

• Yosafata Hordashevska

Profile

Greek Catholic. Entered the contemplative Basilian Sisters at age 18. When the Basilians decided to establish a woman's congregation that focused on the active life, sister Mykhailyna was chosed to lead it. First member of the Sisters Servant of Mary Immaculate, taking the name Josaphata, from Saint Josaphat.

The Sister Servants "serve Your people where the need is greatest", teaching and caring for the sick. Josaphata founded day care centers so parents could work the fields, studied herbal medicines and compounded home-made remedies for people who could not afford physicians, and read the lives of the saints to the illiterate. She and the Sisters worked in areas of typhus and cholera epidemics, helped restore churches, and taught people to make liturgical vestments.

Because many men and women of the day could not deal with a woman as governor of a congregation, she met great opposition from laity and clergy. Lies were told about her, and her fatal disease of incredibly painful, but she confronted all it with prayer, and today the Sisters have houses in Ukraine, Canada and Brazil.

Born

20 November 1869 at Lviv, Ukraine as Mykhailyna Hordashevska

Died

• 7 April 1919 of tuberculosis of the bone in Krystynopil, Ukraine

• buried at Krystynopil

• remains transferred to a chapel at the Generalate of the Sisters Servants in Rome in November 1982

Beatified

27 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II at Ukraine

Blessed Emilian Kovch

Also known as

• Omeljan Kovc

• Emilian Kowacz

Profile

Greek Catholic. Seminarian at Lviv, Ukraine and Rome, Italy; graduated from the College of Sergius and Bachus in Rome. Married, and father of six. Ordained in 1911. Worked throughout Galacia, and with Ukrainian immigrants to Yugoslavia. Chaplain to Ukrainian soldiers fighting the Bolsheviks in 1919. Parish priest in 1922 at Peremyshliany, Ukraine, a village of 5,000, most of whom were Jewish. An active priest, he organized pilgrimages and youth groups, and welcomed poor and orphaned children of all faiths into his home.

When the Nazis invaded Ukraine, they began rounding up Jews. To save them, Father Emilian began baptizing them, and listing them as Christians. The Nazis were wise to this trick, and had prohibited it. Emilian continued, but was arrested by the Gestapo in December 1942. Deported to the Majdanek concentration camp in August 1943. There he ministered to prisoners, hearing confessions, and celebrating Mass when possible. Martyred in the ovens.

Recognized on 9 September 1999 as a Righteous Ukrainian by the Jewish Council of Ukraine.

Born

20 August 1884 near Kosiv, Ivano-Frankivs'ka oblast, Ukraine

Died

gassed and burned on 25 March 1944 in the ovens of the Nazi death camp at Majdanek, Lubelskie, Poland

Beatified

27 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II at Ukraine

Saint Lucia Filippini

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(மார்ச் 25)

✠ புனிதர் லூஸி ஃபிலிப்பினி ✠

(St. Lucy Filippini)

நிறுவனர்:

(Foundress)

பிறப்பு: ஜனவரி 16, 1672

கொர்நெடோ-டர்குய்நியா, இத்தாலி

(Corneto-Tarquinia, Italy)

இறப்பு: மார்ச் 25, 1732 (வயது 60)

மோண்டேஃபியாஸ்கோன், இத்தாலி

(Montefiascone, Italy)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

அருளாளர் பட்டம்: ஜூன் 13, 1926

திருத்தந்தை பதினொன்றாம் பயஸ்

(Pope Pius XI)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: ஜூன் 22, 1930

திருத்தந்தை பதினொன்றாம் பயஸ்

(Pope Pius XI)

முக்கிய திருத்தலம்:

மோண்டேஃபியாஸ்கோன் பேராலயம்

(Montefiascone Cathedral)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: மார்ச் 25

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையின் புனிதரான லூஸி ஃபிலிப்பினி, இத்தாலியின் "மோண்டேஃபியாஸ்கோன்" (Corneto-Tarquinia) எனுமிடத்தில் பிறந்தவர். இவரது தந்தை பெயர் "ஃபிலிப்போ ஃபிலிப்பினி" (Filippo Filippini) ஆகும். தாயாரின் பெயர் "மட்டலேனா பிச்சி" (Maddalena Picchi) ஆகும். தமது பெற்றோரின் ஐந்தாவது - கடைக்குட்டி குழந்தையாகப் பிறந்த இவர், சிறு வயதிலேயே அனாதையானார்.

தமது ஆறு வயதில் பிரபுத்துவ வசதி படைத்த தமது அத்தை மாமன் வீட்டிலிருந்து கல்வி கற்க சென்றார். அவர்கள் அவரை ஆன்மீக கல்வி கற்க பரிந்துரை செய்தனர். லூஸியும் "சான்ட லூஸியா" (Santa Lucia) "பெனடிக்டைன் அருட்சகோதரியர்" (Benedictine nuns) இல்லத்தில் இணைந்தார்.

புனிதர் லூஸி ஃபிலிப்பினியின் பணிகள் கர்தினால் "மார்கண்டோனியோ பார்பாரிகோ" (Marcantonio Barbarigo) என்பவரின் பாதுகாவலுடன் தொடங்கின. அவர், லூஸியை ஏழை இளம் பெண்களுக்கான பள்ளிகளை நிறுவ உந்தினார். புனிதர் "ரோஸ் வெனேரினியுடன்" (St. Rose Venerini) இணைந்து இளம்பெண்களுக்கு ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சியளிக்கும் பள்ளியொன்றையும் தொடங்கினார். நகரின் ஏழைப்பெண்களுக்கு உள்நாட்டுக் கலை, நெசவு, எம்ப்ராய்டரி, வாசிப்பு, மற்றும் கிறிஸ்தவ கோட்பாடுகளை கற்பித்தனர்.

பன்னிரண்டு வருடங்களின் பிறகு, கர்தினால் இவர்களுக்கான ஆன்மீக விதிகளின் தொகுப்பை திட்டமிட்டு உருவாக்கி கொடுத்தார். லூஸி தமது வாழ்நாளில் மொத்தம் ஐம்பத்திரண்டு பள்ளிகளை கட்டி, நிறுவி, நடத்தினார். 1707ம் ஆண்டு, திருத்தந்தை பதினொன்றாம் கிளமென்ட் (Clement XI) லூஸியை ரோம் நகருக்கு அழைத்தார். திருத்தந்தை அவர்கள் தாமே நிறுவி தமது விசேஷ பாதுகாப்பில் வைத்திருந்த பள்ளிகளை நடத்திட லூஸியை அழைத்தார்.

இவர் நிறுவிய பள்ளிகள் 1910ம் ஆண்டிலிருந்து திருத்தந்தையின் ஒப்புதல் பெற்ற பள்ளிகளாக அறிவிக்கப்பட்டு செயல்பட்டது.

தமது அறுபது வயதில் மார்பக புற்றுநோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட லூஸி 1732ம் ஆண்டு, மார்ச் மாதம், 25ம் நாளன்று மரணமடைந்தார்.

Also known as

Lucy Filippini

Profile

Orphaned when very young. Worked under Blessed Rose Venerini to train schoolmistresses. Founded the Religious Teachers Filippini, a group devoted to the education of young girls. Founded several schools throughout Italy. Called to Rome, Italy by Pope Clement XI in 1707 to establish the first school there. Victim of a number of illnesses and ailments throughout her life.

Born

13 January 1672 at Cornetto, Tuscany, Italy

Died

• 25 March 1732 of cancer at Montefiascone, Italy

• buried at the Cathedral of Montefiascone

Canonized

22 June 1930 by Pope Pius XI

Patronage

Religious Teachers Filippini

Blessed Pawel Januszewski

Also known as

Father Hilary Januszewski

Additional Memorial

12 June as one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II

Profile

Son of Martin and Marianne Januszewski. Pawel studied at colleges in Greblin, Suchary and Krakow in Poland. Joined the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance in 1927 at age 20, taking the name Hilary, and beginning his novitiate in Lviv (in modern Ukraine). He studied philosophy in Krakow, then theology at the International College of Saint Albert in Rome, Italy. Ordained a priest on 15 July 1934. Recognized for academic excellence while studying at the Academy of Saint Thomas in Rome. Assigned to the Carmel in Krakow, Poland in 1935. Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Church History in Krakow. Prior of the Krakow Carmelite community on 1 November 1939. Arrested, deported and imprisoned in December 1940 in the Nazi persecutions, having offered himself in exchange for an older brother who was very ill. Imprisoned in Krakow, the Sachsenchausen concentration camp, and finally in the Dachau concentration camp in April 1941. Imprisoned with Blessed Titus Brandsma, the two often spent time in prayer together. Father Hilary ministered to other prisoners where he could, dying of typhus contracted by caring for the sick. Martyr.

Born

11 June 1907 in Krajenki, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland as Pawel Januszewski

Died

• 25 March 1945 in prisoner cabin 25 in the Dachau concentration camp, Oberbayern, Germany of typhus

• his body was still in the cabin when Allied troops liberated the camp a few days later

• body cremated in the Dachau crematorium

Beatified

13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II in Warsaw, Poland

Saint Margaret Clitherow

Also known as

• Margaret Clitheroe

• Margaret Middleton

• Margarita, Margherita, Marguerite

• the Pearl of York

Additional Memorial

25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales

Profile

Daughter of Thomas and Jane Middleton, a candle maker and the Sheriff of York for two years. Raised Anglican. Married to John Clitherow, wealthy butcher and chamberlain of the city of York, on 8 July 1571. Converted to Catholicism around 1574. Imprisoned several times for her conversion, for sheltering priests (including her husband's brother), and for permitting clandestine Masses to be celebrated on her property. During her trial in Tyburn, London, England on 14 March 1586, she refused to answer any of the charges for fear of incriminating her servents and children; both her sons became priests, her daughter a nun.

Born

1556 at York, England as Margaret Middleton

Died

• pressed to death on Good Friday, 25 March 1586 at York, England

• right hand preserved at Saint Mary's Convent, York

Canonized

25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI

Patronage

• businesswomen

• converts

• martyrs

Blessed Placido Riccardi

Also known as

• Tommaso Riccardi

• Thomas Riccardi

Additional Memorials

• 14 March (Saint-Paul-Outside-the-Walls Abbey, Rome, Italy)

• 5 December (Sylvestrines)

Profile

Spent a worldly youth in Umbria, Italy. He moved to Rome, Italy in 1865 to study philosophy under the Dominicans at the Angelicum College. The study led to a conversion experience, a pilgrimage to Loreto, and entry to the Cassinese Benedictine abbey of Saint-Paul-Outside-the-Walls in Rome on 12 November 1866; he made his final profession on 19 January 1868, taking the name Placido. As a deacon he was arrested as a draft dodger for not joining the Italian army; he was imprisoned in Florence, Italy and then sent to the 57th Infantry Regiment in Livorno, Italy. Released, he returned to Rome to resume his studies and was ordained on 25 March 1871. Spiritual teacher whose students include Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster. Contracted malaria in 1881, and suffered from the disease for the rest of his life, sometimes to the point of paralysis from the fever. Assigned to the San Pietro monastery in Perugia, Italy in 1882, and served a spiritual director. Served as a rector to Benedictines in Rome in 1887. Rector of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Farfa in Rome in 1894; he lived in a hermitage near the castle of San Fiano and served as confessor to a nearby convent of Poor Clare nuns.

Born

24 June 1844 in Trevi, Umbria, Italy as Tommaso Riccardi

Died

• 25 March 1915 in Rome, Italy of natural causes

• relics transferred to Farfa, Italy in 1925

Beatified

5 December 1954 by Pope Pius XII

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

† இன்றைய திருவிழா †

(மார்ச் 25)

✠ இயேசு பிறப்பின் முன்னறிவிப்பு ✠

(Annunciation of the Lord)

திருவிழா நாள்: மார்ச் 25

இயேசு பிறப்பின் முன்னறிவிப்பு அல்லது மங்கள வார்த்தை அறிவிப்பு என்பது லூக்கா நற்செய்தி 1:26-38ல் உள்ளபடி கபிரியேல் தேவதூதர், கன்னி மரியாளுக்கு தோன்றி, அவர் தூய ஆவியினால் கருவுற்று ஒரு மகனைப் பெற்று இயேசுவின் தாயாவார் என்பதனை அறிவித்த நிகழ்வாகும். இந்த நிகழ்வின்போதே மரியாளிடம் கபிரியேல் தூதர் பிறக்கவிருக்கும் குழந்தைக்கு, இயேசு என பெயரிடச்சொன்னார். மேலும், திருமுழுக்கு யோவானின் பிறப்பையும் மரியாளிடம் எடுத்தியம்பினார். மரியாளின் உறவினராகிய எலிசபெத்தும் தமது முதிர்ந்த வயதில் ஒரு மகனைக் கருத்தரித்திருக்கிறார் எனவும் கருவுற இயலாதவர் என்று சொல்லப்பட்ட அவருக்கு இது ஆறாம் மாதம் எனவும் கபிரியேல் மரியாளுக்கு அறிவித்தார்.

பல கிறிஸ்தவ பிரிவுகள் இந்நிகழ்வை மார்ச் 25ம் நாளன்று கொண்டாடுகின்றனர். இது இயேசு பிறப்புக்கு ஒன்பது மாதங்களுக்கு முன் என்பதுவும் இது இயேசுவின் பாடுகளின் காலத்தில் நிகழ்கின்றது என்பதும் குறிக்கத்தக்கது. இத்தேதியினை முதன் முதலில் இவ்விழாவுக்கென கொண்டவர் இரனேயு (காலம்.130-202) ஆவார்.

முக்காலத்தில் சம இரவு-பகல் நாளினை ஒட்டி இவ்விழா நிகழ்ந்ததால், இது புத்தாண்டாக பல நாடுகளில் கொண்டாடப்பட்டது. கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையினரால் இந்நிகழ்வு முன்னறிவிப்பு பேராலயத்தில் நடந்ததாக நம்பப்படுகின்றது. ஆயினும் பிற கிறிஸ்தவ சபைகளிடையே இது குறித்த ஒத்த கருத்தில்லை.

கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையில், இயேசு பிறப்பின் முன்னறிவிப்பு நிகழ்வு, செபமாலையின் மகிழ்ச்சி மறைபொருள்களின் முதல் மறைபொருள் ஆகும்.

Also known as

• Annunciation of the Lord

• Annuntiatio Christi

• Annuntiatio Dominica

• Annuntiatio Mariae

• Annuntio Domini

• Christ's conception

• Christ's incarnation

• Conceptio Christi

• Feast of the Incarnation

• Festum Incarnationis

• Incarnation Christi

• Initium Redemptionis Conceptio Christi

• Mary's Annunciation

Profile

The annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Gabriel the Archangel that she was to be the Mother of God (Luke 1), the Word being made flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit. The feast probably originated about the time of the Council of Ephesus, c.431, and is first mentioned in the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius (died 496). The Annunciation is represented in art by many masters, among them Fra Angelico, Hubert Van Eyck, Jan Van Eyck, Ghirlandajo, Holbein the Elder, Lippi, Pinturicchio, and Del Sarto.

Name Meaning

Latin: ad, to; nuntius, messenger

Patronage

• news dealers

• Texas

• 2 dioceses

• 13 cities

Blessed Tommaso of Costacciaro

Additional Memorial

1st Sunday of September (Costacciaro, Italy)

Profile

After a visit to a Camaldolese hermitage in 1270, Tommaso was drawn to the monastic and eremetical life. Camaldolese monk in the abbey of Santa Maria in Sitria, Italy. Hermit on Monte Cucco in the Umbria region of Italy for over 60 years, living a life of utter poverty and denial in order to spend all his time in prayer and meditation.

Born

mid-13th century in the castle of San Savino, Costacciaro, Umbria, diocese of Gubbio, Italy

Died

• 25 March 1337 on Monte Cucco, Umbria, Italy of natural causes

• buried at the Franciscan Conventual church in Costacciaro, Italy

• relics enshrined under the main altar of the church in 1546

Beatified

• Pope Clement VIII (cultus confirmation)

• a list of miracles attributed to his intercession was compiled in 1726

• a list of miracles attributed to his intercession was compiled in 1748

• 18 March 1778 by Pope Pius VI (cultus extended to the diocese of Gubbio, Italy)

• 1833 by Pope Gregory XVI (cultus extended to the Camaldolese)

Patronage

• against abdominal diseases

• Costacciaro, Italy

Blessed Margaretha Flesch

Also known as

Margaret, Maria Rosa

Profile

Daughter of an oil-seed miller, the oldest of seven children. When her parents died, Margaretha worked as a day labourer to help support her siblings. In 1861, she and her sister Marianne moved into quarters at the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Waldbreitbach, Germany, trusting God for their daily bread and working with the poor and sick, caring for orphans, and teaching home management at local schools. Other women were attracted to the work and formed the foundation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels. Margaretha took her vows in her new congregation in the chapel of the Holy Cross on 13 March 1863, taking the name Sister Mary Rose. Mother Rose spent the rest of her life as superior of the Sisters, and by her death there were 900 sisters in 72 mission houses serving the sick and poor.

Born

24 February 1826 in Schönstatt bei Vallendar, Mayen-Koblenz, Germany

Died

25 March 1906 in Waldbreitbach, Neuwied, Germany of natural causes

Beatified

4 May 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Humbert of Pelagius

Also known as

• Humbert of Marolles

• Humbert of Maroilles

Additional Memorial

6 September (translation of relics)

Profile

Born to the nobility, the son of Blessed Evrard and Popita. He was a pious youth, and became Benedictine monk at Laon, France while still a very young man. Priest.

When his parents died, Humbert returned to the world to manage their estate. He took in Saint Amand of Maastricht as a visitor, became his spiritual student, and made a pilgrimage with him to Rome. He retired to Amand‘s abbey at Elnone to live as a prayerful monk. Co-founded and richly endowed the monastery of Maroilles on the Hespres in Flanders, and became its first abbot. Friend of Saint Aldegundis and Saint Cunibert of Maroilles

Born

early 7th century at Mezieres-sur-Oise, France

Died

c.680

Saint Procopius

Profile

Born to a Christian family in recently converted Bohemia. Eastern Rite priest c.1003. Monk in the area of modern Hungary. Hermit. Returned to Bohemia in 1029 where he lived as a hermit in the Sazava Valley. His reputation for holiness attracted the attention of the locals and then of Duke Oldrich. With the duke's support he founded an Eastern Rite monastery under the Benedictine and Basilian Rules, and served the rest of his life as its first abbot; the house survived over 700 years. Reported miracle worker and healer. Legend says that Procopius once hitched the devil to a plow and forced the otherwise useless creature to plow a trench along a river bank.

Born

c.980 at Kourim, Chotoun, Bohemia

Died

25 March 1053 at Sazava, Bohemia of natural causes

Canonized

• 2 June 1204 by Pope Innocent III

• recognition celebrated by Cardinal Guido of San Maria de Trastevere

Patronage

• Czech Republic

• farmers

Saint Mariam Sultaneh Danil Ghattas

Also known as

• Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas

• Maryam Sultanah Danil Ghattas

• Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas

Profile

Joined the Congregation of Saint Joseph of the Apparition at age 14. Nun. Following a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary she received in Bethlehem, she co-founded the Rosary Sisters (Sisters of the Holy Rosary of Jerusalem of the Latins; Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem). Spent her life working for the poor and the education of Palestinian Christians, and her Sisters continue that work today.

Born

4 October 1843 in Jerusalem

Died

25 March 1927 at Ain Karim, Jerusalem

Canonized

17 May 2015 by Pope Francis

Blessed James Bird

Also known as

• James Byrd

• James Beard

Profile

Lay man in the apostolic vicariate of England, raised as a Protestant and converting to Catholicism at age 19. Considered entering the Douai seminary in Rheims, France, but decided against it and returned to England. He refused to take the Oath of Sumpremacy and was executed for his loyalty to the Church.

Born

1574 at Winchester, Hampshire, England

Died

hanged, drawn and quartered on 25 March 1592 at Winchester, Hampshire, England

Beatified

15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI

Blessed Everard of Nellenburg

Also known as

Eberhard VI of Nellenburg

Profile

Born to the nobility. Count of Nellenberg, Swabia (in modern Germany). Married to Blessed Ita of Nellenberg. Founded the Benedictine monastery of Allerheiligen (All Saints) in Schaffhausen, Swabia, c.1049, built and provisioned it, and c.1070 entered it as a monk.

Born

c.1015

Died

1078 in Schaffhausen, Swabia, Germany of natural causes

Saint Quirinus of Rome

Also known as

• Quirinus of Tegernsee

• Cyrinus, Quirino

Additional Memorial

16 June (translation of relics)

Profile

Friend of Saint Marius and Saint Martha. Martyred in the persecutions of Claudius II.

Died

• martyred c.269 in Rome, Italy

• buried by Saint Marius and Saint Martha

• relics translated to the Benedictine abbey of Tegernsee in Bavaria, Germany in the 8th century

Representation

• orb

• sceptre

Saint Hermenland

Also known as

Erblon, Herbland, Hermeland, Hermiland

Profile

Royal cup-bearer in his youth. Monk at Fontenelle under Saint Lambert. Priest. With twelve brother monks, he established an abbey on an island at Aindre on the Loire, and served as its first abbot.

Born

at diocese of Noyon, France

Died

c.720

Saint Kennocha of Fife

Also known as

Kyle, Enoch

Profile

The only daughter of a wealthy family, she rejected the worldly life and a series of suitors, feeling a call to a life of prayer. Nun at Fife, Scotland. Miracle worker. Highly venerated in the area of Glasgow, Scotland.

Born

Scottish

Died

1007 of natural causes

Blessed Herman of Zahringen

Also known as

• Herman I of Baden

• Herman I, Margrave of Baden

Profile

A member of the nobility, he was the Margrave of Zahringen, but gave up the position to become a Benedictine monk at Cluny Abbey in France.

Died

1074 of natural causes

Saint Alfwold of Sherborne

Also known as

Ælfwold

Profile

Monk in Winchester, England. Bishop of Sherborne, England in 1045. Had a great devotion to Saint Cuthbert and Saint Swithun.

Died

1058 of natural causes while singing the antiphon of Saint Cuthbert

Saint Matrona of Thessaloniki

Profile

Christian slave with a Jewish "owner". When the lady of the house caught Matrona going to Mass, she was abused, tortured and eventally killed. Martyr.

Died

beaten to death c.350 in Thessaloniki, Macedonia (in modern Greece)

Saint Matrona of Barcelona

Also known as

Madrona

Additional Memorial

15 March (Barcelona, Spain)

Profile

Girl martyred in Rome, Italy, date unknown.

Saint Dula the Slave

Profile

Christian slave of a pagan soldier in Nicomedia in Asia Minor. Died fighting off a rape attempt by her "owner".

Representation

dead young woman being watched over by a dog

Saint Pelagius of Laodicea

Profile

Bishop of Laodicea. Fought Arianism; exiled by the Arian emperor Valens, but recalled by Gratian. Attended the Council of Constantinople in 381.

Saint Mona of Milan

Profile

Bishop of Milan, Italy.

Died

c.300

262 Martyrs of Rome

Profile

A group 262 Christians martyred together. We know nothing else about them, not even their names.

Died

in Rome, Italy

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் மார்ச் 24

 Saint Catherine of Sweden

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(மார்ச் 24)

✠ ஸ்வீடனின் புனிதர் கேத்தரின் ✠

(St. Catherine of Sweden)

ஸ்வீடன் நாட்டின் அரச குடும்பப் பெண்:

(Swedish Noblewoman)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 1331

ஸ்வீடன் (Sweden)

இறப்பு: மார்ச் 24, 1381

வாட்ஸ்டேனா, ஸ்வீடன்

(Vadstena, Sweden)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: கி.பி. 1484

திருத்தந்தை எட்டாம் இன்னொசென்ட்

(Pope Innocent VIII)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: மார்ச் 24

பாதுகாவல்: கருக்கலைப்புக்கு எதிராக

ஸ்வீடன் நாட்டு புனிதரான கேத்தரினின் தந்தை பெயர் “உல்ஃப் குட்மர்ஸ்ஸன்” (Ulf Gudmarsson) மற்றும் அவரது தாய் பெயர், “புனிதர் பிர்ஜிட்டா” (St. Birgitta) ஆகும்.

கேத்தரின் தமது பனிரெண்டு அல்லது பதின்மூன்று வயதில் “கைரேன் நகர பிரபு இக்கேர்ட்” (Lord Eggert van Kyren) என்ற உயர்குடியைச் சேர்ந்த ஜெர்மன் நாட்டு இளம் வேத பற்றுள்ள இளைஞனை திருமணம் செய்து கொண்டார். இருவரும் கற்புடன் வாழ்வதாக ஒப்புக்கொண்டு இணக்கமாக வாழ்ந்தனர்.

கி.பி. 1349ம் ஆண்டு, கேத்தரின் தமது தாய் பிரிஜெட்டுடன் ரோம் நகர் பயணப்பட்டார். ஆனால், அவர் ரோம் நகரை அடைந்தவுடன், தமது கணவர் இறந்து போனதாக செய்தியை அறிந்தார்.

இதனால், தமது தாயுடன் சேர்ந்து வாழ்ந்த கேத்தரின், தாயுடன் சேர்ந்து பல பயணங்கள் போனார். இப்படி, அவர் தம் தாயுடன் கிறிஸ்து பிறந்த புனித பூமிக்கும் சென்று வந்தார்.

தாய் பிரிஜெட் இறந்ததும், கேத்தரின் அவரது உடலுடன் ஸ்வீடன் திரும்பினார். “வட்ஸ்டேனா” நகரின் பெரிய மடத்தில் (Great monastery of Vadstena) தாயின் உடலை அடக்கம் செய்தார்.

கேத்தரின், அவரது தாயாரால் நிறுவப்பட்ட “வட்ஸ்டேனா” நகரின் மடத்திலுள்ள “பிரிஜிடைன் பள்ளியின்” (Brigittine Convent) தலைமைப் பொறுப்பை ஏற்றார்.

சில வருடங்களின் பிறகு, அவர் தமது தாயின் புனிதர் பட்டம் சம்பந்தமான பணிகளுக்காக ரோம் நகர் சென்றார். அங்கே ஐந்து வருடங்கள் தங்கியிருந்த கேத்தரின், அங்கே “புனித சியேன்னாவின் கேத்தரினுடன்” (Catherine of Siena) நெருங்கிய சிநேகிதமானார்.

Also known as

• Catherine Vastanensis

• Catherine of Vadstena

• Katarina...

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Fourth of the eight children of Saint Bridget of Sweden and Ulf Gudmarsson. Educated at the convent of Riseberg. Married by arrangement at age 13 to the pious German noble Eggart von Kürnen. Soon after their marriage, both she and her husband took vows of chastity and continence. Travelled to Rome, Italy in c.1350 to be with her mother. Widowed soon after.

For the next 25 years the two women used Rome as a base for a series of pilgrimages, including one to Jerusalem. When home, they spent their days in prayer and meditation, working with the poor, and teaching them religion. They each had to fend off the unwanted advances of local men, including young lords; during one of these, a wild hind came to Catherine's defense, chasing off the troublesome, would-be suitor.

When Bridget died, Catherine took her body back to Sweden, burying it at the convent of the Order of the Holy Savior (Brigittines) at Vadstena. Catherine became superior of the Order, and served as abbess. Wrote a devotional work entitled Sielinna Troëst (Consolation of the Soul), but no copies have survived. Attained papal approval of the Brigittine Order in 1375. Worked for the canonization of her mother.

Born

1331 in Sweden

Died

• 24 March 1381 of natural causes

• relics translated to Vadstena, Sweden in 1488

Canonized

1484 (cultus confirmed) by Pope Innocent VIII

Patronage

• against abortions

• against miscarriages

Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(மார்ச் 24)

✠ புனிதர் ஒஸ்கார் ரொமேரோ ✠

(St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero)

பேராயர் மற்றும் மறைசாட்சி:

(Archbishop and martyr)

பிறப்பு: ஆகஸ்ட் 15, 1917

சியுடேட் பர்ரியோஸ், சேன் மிகுவேல், எல் சல்வெடோர்

(Ciudad Barrios, San Miguel Department, El Salvador)

இறப்பு: மார்ச் 24, 1980 (வயது 62)

சேன் சல்வெடோர், எல் சல்வெடோர்

(San Salvador, El Salvador)

அடக்கம்:

தூய இரட்சகர் – மாநகர பேராலயம், சேன் சல்வெடோர், எல் சல்வெடோர்

(Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior, San Salvador, El Salvador)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

ஆங்கிலிக்கன் சமூகம்

(Anglican Communion)

லூதரன் திருச்சபை

(Lutheranism)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: மே 23, 2015

சேன் சல்வேடோர், எல் சல்வேடோர்

(San Salvador, El Salvador)

கர்தினால் ஆஞ்செலோ அமேட்டோ, (திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸின் பிரதிநிதியாக)

(Cardinal Angelo Amato, Representing Pope Francis)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: அக்டோபர் 14, 2018

திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ்

(Pope Francis)

பாதுகாவல்:

கிறிஸ்தவ தகவல் தொடர்பாளர்கள் (Christian communicators)

எல் சல்வேடோர் (El Salvador)

அமெரிக்க நாடுகள் (The Americas)

சேன் சல்வேடோர் உயர் மறைமாவட்டம் (Archdiocese of San Salvador)

துன்புறுத்தப்பட்ட கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் (Persecuted Christians)

கேரிடாஸ் இண்டர்நேஷனல் (இணை பாதுகாவலர்) (Caritas International (Co-Patron)

(இது, உலகளவில் 200 நாடுகள் மற்றும் பிராந்தியங்களில் இயங்கும் கத்தோலிக்க நிவாரணம், மேம்பாடு மற்றும் சமூக சேவை நிறுவனங்கள் ஆகும்).

அருளாளர் ஒஸ்கார் ரொமேரோ, “எல் சல்வேடோர்” (El Salvador) நாட்டில் ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையின் உயர் பதவி வகித்த இறையியலாளரும், “சேன் சல்வேடோர்” (San Salvador) உயர்மறை மாவட்டத்தின் நான்காவது பேராயருமாவார். அவர் வறுமை, சமூக அநீதி, படுகொலைகள் மற்றும் சித்திரவதைகளுக்கு எதிராக வெளிப்படையாக பேசிவந்தார்.

1980ம் ஆண்டு, இறை-இரக்க மருத்துவமனையின் (Hospital of Divine Providence) சிற்றாலயத்தில் திருப்பலி நிறைவேற்றுகையில் படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டார். கொலையாளி யார் என்று கண்டுபிடிக்க இயலாத நிலையில், ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் அமைப்பினால் அங்கீகாரமளிக்கப்பட்ட உண்மை கண்டறியும் விசாரணைக் கமிஷன், தீவிர வலதுசாரி அரசியல்வாதி மற்றும் கொலைப் பிரிவுத் தலைவர் “ராபர்டோ டி'அபுய்சன்” (Roberto D'Aubuisson) என்பவர்தான் இப்படுகொலையை நிகழ்த்த உத்தரவிட்டது என்று தீர்ப்பளித்தது.

இவரது முக்திபேறு அருட்பொழிவு நிகழ்வின்போது திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள் வெயிட்ட அறிக்கையில், “மிகவும் ஏழைகள் மற்றும் ஒதுக்கப்பட்ட மக்களின்பால் அவர் கொண்டிருந்த அக்கறையால், அவரது ஊழியங்கள் மதிப்பு பெற்றன; அவரது பணிகளினால் ஈர்க்கப்பட்ட விடுதலை இறையியல் ஆதரவாளர்கள், அவரை ஒரு கதாநாயகனாக பார்த்தனர். ரொமேரோ, தமது வாழ்க்கை வரலாற்றைப் பொறுத்தவரையில், "விடுதலை இறையியலில் ஆர்வம் காட்டவில்லை", ஆனால் உண்மையாக கத்தோலிக்க போதனைகளையும், விடுதலையையும், ஏழைகளுக்கு தேர்ந்த விருப்பங்களிலும் ஆர்வம் காட்டினார்; உள்நாட்டு சீர்திருத்தத்தை அடிப்படையாகக் கொண்ட ஒரு சமூகப் புரட்சியை விரும்பினார்; அவருடைய வாழ்க்கையின் முடிவு வரை, அவருடைய ஆன்மீக வாழ்க்கை, ஆன்மிகத்தின் தூய்மையையே அதிகமாக ஈர்த்தது” என்றார்.

1977ம் ஆண்டு, ரொமேரோ பேராயராக நியமனம் செய்யப்பட்டபோது, ஒரு சமூக பழமைவாதி எனக் கருதப்பட்டபோதிலும், அவர் தனது சொந்த நியமனம் முடிந்த சில வாரங்களுக்குப் பிறகு, தமது நண்பரும், சக குருவுமான ரூத்திலோ கிரான்டி படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டார். அதுவே பின்னர் அவர் ஒரு வெளிப்படையான சமூக ஆர்வலராக வளர காரணமானது எனலாம்.

2010ம் ஆண்டு, “ஐக்கிய தேசிய பொதுக்குழு” (United Nations General Assembly) கூடி, மனித உரிமைகள் பாதுகாப்பிற்கான பேராயர் ரொமேரோவின் பங்கை அங்கீகரிப்பதற்காக, மார்ச் மாதம் 24ம் தேதியை, “மனித உரிமை மீறல்கள் மற்றும் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்களின் கண்ணியம் மற்றும் சத்தியத்திற்கான சர்வதேச தினம்” என்று வலியுறுத்தியது. மிகவும் பாதிக்கப்படக்கூடிய மக்களின் மனித உரிமை மீறல்களை ரொமேரோ தீவிரமாக கண்டனம் செய்தார். உயிர்களைப் பாதுகாக்கும் கொள்கைகளை பாதுகாத்தார். அனைத்து விதமான வன்முறைகளையும் எதிர்த்த அவர், மனித கௌரவத்தை ஊக்குவித்தார்.

1997ம் ஆண்டு, ரொமேரோவை “கடவுளின் ஊழியர்” (Servant of God) என்று பிரகடணம் செய்த திருத்தந்தை புனிதர் இரண்டாம் ஜான் பவுல் (Pope St. John Paul II), இவரது முக்திபேறு பட்டம் மற்றும் புனிதர் பட்டமளிப்பு நிகழ்வுகளுக்கான நடைமுறைகளை தொடங்கிவைத்தார். இடையில் முடக்கப்பட்ட பணிகள், மீண்டும் திருத்தந்தை பதினாறாம் பெனடிக்ட் (Pope Benedict XVI) அவர்களால் 2012ம் ஆண்டு, தொடங்கிவைக்கப்பட்டது. 2015ம் ஆண்டு, ஃபெப்ரவரி மாதம் மூன்றாம் நாளன்று, திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ் (Pope Francis) அவர்கள் இவரை “மறைசாட்சி” என்று பிரகடணம் செய்தார். இதுவே, அதே வருடம், மே மாதம், 23ம் நாள் நடைபெற்ற முக்திபேறு பட்டமளிப்பு நிகழ்வுக்கு வழிவகுத்தது.

ஆரம்ப வாழ்க்கை:

1917ம் ஆண்டு, ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம் 15ம் நாள், “சேன்டோஸ் ரொமேரோ” (Santos Romero) எனும் தந்தைக்கும், “குவாதலூப் டி ஜீசஸ் கல்டமேஸ்” (Guadalupe de Jésus Galdámez) எனும் தாயாருக்கும் மகனாகப் பிறந்த இவருக்கு 1919ம் ஆண்டு, மே மாதம், 11ம் நாளன்று, அருட்தந்தை “செசிலியோ மொரேல்ஸ்” (Fr. Cecilio Morales) என்பவரால் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையில் திருமுழுக்கு அளிக்கப்பட்டது. அவருக்கு உடன்பிறந்த ஐந்து சகோதரர்களும் இரண்டு சகோதரிகளும் இருந்தனர்.

“ஒஸ்கார் அர்னல்ஃபோ ரொமேரோ ஒய் கல்டமேஸ்” (Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இவர், உள்ளூரிலேயே உள்ள பொதுப் பள்ளியில் ஆரம்பக் கல்வி பயின்றார். பின்னர், பதின்மூன்று வயதுவரை தனியார் பள்ளியில் கற்றார். இக்காலகட்டத்தில், இவரது தந்தையார் இவருக்கு தச்சுத் தொழில் பயிற்றுவித்தார். இவரும் பயிற்சியில் குறிப்பிடத்தக்க தேர்ச்சி பெற்றார். ஆனாலும் சிறுவன் ரொமேரோ குருத்துவம் பயில்வதில் தமது ஆர்வத்தை வெளிப்படுத்தினார். இது, அவரை அறிந்தவர்களை ஆச்சரியப்படுத்தவில்லை.

குருத்துவம்:

தமது பதின்மூன்று வயதில் “சேன் மிகுவேல்” (San Miguel) நகரிலுள்ள இளம் இறையியல் பள்ளியில் (Minor Seminary) சேர்ந்த ரொமேரோ, இடையில் தமது தாயார் நோய்வாய்ப்பட்ட காரணத்தால் மூன்று மாத விடுப்பில் வீடு திரும்பினார். இம்மூன்று மாத காலத்தில், தமது இரண்டு சகோதரர்களுடன் அங்குள்ள தங்க சுரங்கத்தில் வேலை செய்தார். பின்னர், குருகுலம் வந்த இவர், இறையியலில் பட்டம் பெற்றார். பிறகு, “சேன் சல்வெடோர்” (San Salvador) நகரிலுள்ள தேசிய குருத்துவ (National Seminary) கல்லூரியில் இணைந்தார். ரோம் (Rome) நகரிலுள்ள “கிரகோரியன் பல்கலையில்” (Gregorian University) தமது இறையியல் கல்வியை 1941ம் ஆண்டு பூர்த்தி செய்தார். குருத்துவம் பெறுவதற்கான வயதை அடையாத ரொமேரோ, ஒரு வருடம் காத்திருந்து, 1942ம் ஆண்டு, ஏப்ரல் மாதம், 4ம் நாளன்று ரோம் நகரில், குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்றார். இரண்டாம் உலகப் போர் (World War II) நடந்த காலகட்டமாதலால், பயண கட்டுப்பாடுகளின் காரணமாக, இவரது பெற்றோரால் இவரது குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு நிகழ்வில் கலந்துகொள்ள இயலவில்லை.

ரொமேரோ, இறையியலில் ஒரு முனைவர் பட்ட படிப்புக்காக, இத்தாலியிலேயே தங்கினார். 1943ம் ஆண்டு, தமது படிப்பு முடிவதற்கு முன்னரே, இவரது இருபத்தாறு வயதில், இவரை நாடு திரும்புமாறு இவரது ஆயரிடமிருந்து அழைப்பு வந்தது. ரொமேரோ, தம்முடன் முனைவர் பட்ட படிப்பில் ஈடுபட்டிருந்த அருட்தந்தை “வல்லடேர்ஸ்” (Rev. Fr. Valladares) எனும் நல்லதொரு நண்பருடன் தமது பயணத்தை தொடங்கினார். நாடு திரும்பும் வழியில், அவர்களிருவரும் “ஸ்பெயின்” (Spain) மற்றும் “க்யூபா” (Cuba) நாடுகளில் தங்கினர். அவர்கள் “பாசிச இத்தாலியில்” (Fascist Italy) இருந்து வந்திருப்பதாக, அவர்களிருவரும் கியூபா போலீஸால் கைது செய்யப்பட்டனர். தொடர் தடுப்பு முகாம்களில் வைக்கப்பட்டனர். பல மாதங்கள் சிறைகளில் இருந்த காரணத்தால், அருட்தந்தை “வல்லடேர்ஸ்” (Rev. Fr. Valladares) நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டார். அங்கிருந்த “மகா பரிசுத்த மீட்பரின் சபை” குருக்கள் (Redemptorist Priests), அவர்களை ஒரு மருத்துவமனைக்கு மாற்றல் செய்ய உதவினார்கள். மருத்துவமனையில் இருந்த அவர்கள் கியூபா காவலில் இருந்து விடுவிக்கப்பட்டு, மெக்ஸிக்கோவுக்கு (Mexico) கடல் பயணம் தொடங்கினர். பின்னர், அங்கிருந்து “எல் சல்வெடோர்” (El Salvador) சென்றனர்.

முதலில், “அனமோரோஸ்” (Anamorós) எனும் இடத்தின் பங்குத் தந்தையாக நியமிக்கப்பட்ட ரொமேரோ, சிறிது காலத்தின் பின்னர், அங்கிருந்து “சேன் மிகுவேல்” (San Miguel) சென்றார். அங்கேயே இருபது வருடங்களுக்கும் மேல் பணியாற்றினார். அவர் பல்வேறு திருத்தூது குழுக்களை (Apostolic groups) ஊக்குவித்தார். “சேன் மிகுவேல் பேராலயம்” (San Miguel Cathedral) கட்டுமான பணிகளில் உதவினார். “அமைதியின் அன்னை” (Our Lady of Peace) பக்தியை பரப்பினார். பின்னர் அவர் “சேன் சால்வேடரில்” (San Salvador) உள்ள உள்-மறைமாவட்ட குருகுல அதிபராக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். ஓயாத பணிகளால் உணர்வு பூர்வமாகவும் உடல்ரீதியாகவும் களைத்துப்போன இவர், 1966ம் ஆண்டு, ஜனவரி மாதம் தியானத்துக்கு சென்றார். அங்கே, ஒப்புரவு அருட்சாதனத்துக்காக ஒரு குருவை சந்திக்க சென்ற அவர், ஒரு மனநல மருத்துவரையும் சந்தித்தார். அவர், இவருக்கு “ஆட்டிப்படைக்கும் நிர்ப்பந்திக்கும் ஆளுமை கோளாறு” (Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder) எனும் நோய் உள்ளதாக கூறினார்.

1966ம் ஆண்டு, “எல் சல்வெடோர்” (El Salvador) நாட்டின் ஆயர் பேரவையின் செயலாளராக தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டார். உயர்மறை மாவட்ட செய்தி இதழின் இயக்குனராகவும் ஆனார். 1970ம் ஆண்டு, “சேன் சல்வெடோர்” உயர்மறை மாவட்ட (Archdiocese of San Salvador) துணை ஆயராக (Auxiliary Bishop) நியமனம் பெற்றார். 1974ம் ஆண்டு, எளிய கிராமப்புற மறைமாவட்டமான “சேண்டியாகோ டி மரியா” (Diocese of Santiago de María) ஆயராக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார்.

1977ம் வருடம், ஃபெப்ரவரி மாதம் 23ம் நாள், “சேன் சல்வெடோர்” உயர்மறை மாவட்ட (Archdiocese of San Salvador) பேராயராக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். இவரது நியமனம் அரசாங்கத்தால் வரவேற்கப்பட்ட அதேவேளை, மார்க்சிச கருத்தியலின் (Marxist ideology) வெளிப்படையான ஆதரவாளர்களான குருக்கள் ஏமாற்றமடைந்தனர். அவரது பழமைவாத புகழ், ஏழைகளுக்கான விடுதலை இறையியல் அர்ப்பணிப்பில் எதிர்மறை பாதிப்புகளை ஏற்படுத்தும் என்று முற்போக்கு குருக்கள் அஞ்சினார்கள்.

படுகொலை:

1980ம் ஆண்டு, மார்ச் மாதம், 23ம் நாள், ரொமேரோ ஆற்றிய மறையுரையில், கிறிஸ்தவர்களை எப்போதுமே சல்வெடோர் படையினர் என்று அழைக்கும் வழக்கமுள்ள அவர், கடவுளின் உயர்மட்ட ஒழுங்கிற்கு கீழ்ப்படியுமாறும், அரசாங்கத்தின் ஒடுக்குமுறை மற்றும் அடிப்படை மனித உரிமை மீறல்களை எதிர்க்க ஒன்றுகூடவும் அறைகூவல் விடுத்தார்.

மார்ச் மாதம் 24ம் தேதி, “ஓபஸ் டேய்” (Opus Dei) என்றழைக்கப்படும் குருக்கள் மற்றும் இறைமக்களின் ஒன்றிய சமூகம் ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்த நினைவுகூறல் நிகழ்வுகளில் கலந்துகொண்டார். அன்று மாலை, திருச்சபை நடத்தும், புற்றுநோயாளிகளுக்கான “இறை-இரக்க மருத்துவமனையின்” (Hospital of Divine Providence) சிற்றாலயத்தில் ரொமேரோ திருப்பலி நிகழ்த்தினார். மறையுரை நிறைவு செய்த ரொமேரோ, படிக்க உதவும் சாய்வு மேசையிலிருந்து (Lectern) விலகினார். திருப் பலிபீடத்தின் மையத்தில் நிற்பதற்காக சில அடிகள் எடுத்து வைத்தார். ரொமேரோ பேசி முடித்ததும், ஒரு சிகப்பு நிற போக்குவரத்து வண்டி, சிற்றாலயத்துக்கு எதிரே இருந்த நிறுத்தத்தில் வந்து நின்றது. வாகனத்திலிருந்து இறங்கிய துப்பாக்கி ஏந்தியவர்கள், சிற்றாலயத்தினுள்ளே நுழைந்தனர். ரொமேரோவை நோக்கி இரண்டு ரவுண்டுகள் சுட்டனர். ரொமேரோ நெஞ்சைப் பிடித்துக்கொண்டு கீழே சாய்ந்தார். வந்த வண்டி அவசரமாக பறந்து சென்றது.

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Second of seven children born to Santo Romero and Guadaleupe de Jesus Galdamez. Ordained on 4 April 1942 in Rome, Italy. Parish priest of Anamoros, La Union, El Salvador in 1943. Secretary to the diocese of San Miguel, El Salvador in 1944. Auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, El Salvador and titular bishop of Tambeae on 25 April 1970. A conservative man and cleric by nature, he was at odds with many of the area priests who were opposed the repressive El Salvadorian government, and who were aligned with leftist ideologies. Bishop of Santiago de Maria, El Salvador on 15 October 1974. Archbishop of San Salvador on 3 February 1977. By this point Romero had come to realize that the ruling class had no concern for the condition of the rest of the population, and was determined to violently repress any opposition. He was out-spoken the cause of the poor and oppressed, and always within the confines of his vocation. Martyr.

Born

15 August 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, San Miguel, El Salvador

Died

shot by a government-affiliated death squad on the morning of 24 March 1980 in the chapel of La Divina Providencia Hospital in San Salvador, El Salvador while celebrating Mass

Beatified

• 23 May 2015 by Pope Francis

• recognition celebrated at Plaza Divino Salvador del Mundo, San Salvador, El Salvador, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Causes of the Saints, chief celebrant

Canonized

14 October 2018 by Pope Francis at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy

Patronage

• Caritas Internationalis (chosen 17 May 2015)

• World Youth Day 2019

Blessed Bertha de'Alberti of Cavriglia

Also known as

• Bertha de Bardi

• Bertha de'Alberti

• Bertha d'Alberti

• Bertha of Cavriglia

• Berta...

Additional Memorial

1st Sunday in August (Montano and Cavriglia, Italy)

Profile

Daughter of Lothario di Ugo, Count of Vernio. Vallombrosan Benedictine nun at the Saint Felicitas convent in Florence, Italy. Worked with Blessed Qualdo Galli. Reforming abbess of the convent of Santa Maria de Cavriglia in Fiesole, Italy in 1153; she served there for her final ten years during which the house grew in numbers and reputation for spirituality. She set such an example for other Vallombrosan leaders that she is considered the founder of the female branch.

Born

c.1106 on the family estate in Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Died

• Easter Sunday, 6 April 1163 at Fiesole, Italy of natural causes

• relics translated to the high altar of the church in Cavriglia, Italy in 1731

Patronage

• Montano, Italy

• Cavriglia, Italy

Blessed John del Bastone

Also known as

• Giovanni Bonello Botegoni

• John Bottegoni

• John of the Staff

• John of the Club

Profile

Born to a wealthy farm family, the youngest of five children of Bonello and Superla Botegoni. He was sent to study in Bologna, Italy. There he developed a sore on his leg that became so badly infected that he walked with a staff the rest of his life, leading to the name by which he is best known. Benedictine monk c.1230; he lived in a small cell and wore the cowl for 60 years. Spiritual student of Saint Silvester Gozzolini at Monte Fano, Italy. Ordained late in life, he was a sought after spiritual teacher, especially to his brother monks.

Born

c.1200 in Paterno, Italy

Died

• 24 March 1290 at the hermitage of Monte Fano, Italy of natural causes

• interred in the church of Saint Benedict in Fabriano, Italy

• the only church known dedicated to him is in Talangama, Sri Lanka

Beatified

29 August 1772 by Pope Clement XIV (cultus confirmed)

Blessed Diégo Josef of Cádiz

Also known as

• Apostle of Our Lady, the Mother of the Good Shepherd

• Apostle of the Blessed Trinity

• Didacus of Cádiz

• Francisco José López-Caamaño García-Pérez

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Joined the Capuchin Order in Seville, Spain in 1759. Missionary throughout Spain, primarily in Andalusia. Spent most of his pastoral time in the confessional. Member of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity.

Born

30 March 1747 in Cádiz, Seville, Spain as Francisco José López-Caamaño García-Pérez

Died

<• 24 March 1801 in Ronda, Malaga, Spain of natural causes

• interred in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Peace church in Ronda, Spain

Beatified

22 April 1894 by Pope Leo XIII

Saint Aldemar the Wise

Also known as

• Aldemar of Capua

• Aldemar of Bucchhianico

• Aldemaro, Aldemario

Profile

Monk at Monte Cassino Abbey. Spiritual director of a convent at Capua, Italy, a house founded by princess Aloara. Known as a miracle worker. A dispute developed between the princess and Aldemar's abbot; she wanted him to stay, the abbot wanted him back at Monte Cassino. To escape the dispute, Aldemar moved to Boiana, Italy but fled after some one involved in the argument tried to kill him. He founded a monastery at Bocchignano, Italy which became the motherhouse for several area monasteries.

Born

985 in Capua, Italy

Died

• c.1080 in Bucchianico, Italy of natural causes

• buried in the church of Saint Urban in Bucchianico, Italy

• tomb desecrated and his relics scattered in 1799 by invading French troops

• relics later recovered and placed in the altar dedicated to him in the church Saint Urban in Bucchianico

Saint Caimin of Lough Derg

Also known as

• Camin of Inniskeltra

• Caminus of Lough Derg

• Cammin of Inniskeltra

Profile

Son of Dima and Cuman; related to the kings of Leinster, Ireland and half-brother of Guare, king of Connaught, Ireland. Little is known of his early life, but he was well educated. Hermit at Inniskeltra (Inish-Keltra), Lough Derg where his reputation for holiness attracted students. With Saint Senan of North Wales, he founded a monastery and a chapel, known as Tempul-Cammin, on the island of the Seven Churches; it was raided by the Danes several times, was occupied over 350 years, and some of its ruins survive today. Wrote a commentary on the Psalms, and a piece of it in his own hand-writing has survived. Reported miracle worker.

Born

Irish

Died

653 of natural causes

Saint Hildelith of Barking

Also known as

Hildelid, Hildelida, Hildelitha, Hildeltha, Hildilid, Hildelitba

Additional Memorials

• 7 March (translation of relics)

• 23 September (translation of relics)

Profile

Anglo-Saxon princess; she was well educated, very cultured, and could read Latin. Spent most of her youth in France. Nun at Chelles and Faremoutiers-en-Brie, France. Recalled to England by Saint Erconwald to train his sister, Saint Ethelburga of Barking. Friend of Saint Cuthburgh of Wimborne. When Ethelburga became abbess of Barking Abbey, Hildelith stayed as a nun, and eventually served as abbess there herself. Much admired by Saint Aldhelm of Sherborne, Saint Bede the Venerable and Saint Boniface. Visionary.

Born

in England

Died

c.712 of natural causes

Blessed Maria Serafina of the Sacred Heart

Also known as

• Clotilde Micheli

• Maria Serafina del Sacro Cuore di Gesu Micheli

• Seraphina Micheli

Profile

Founder the Institute of the Sisters of the Angels on 28 June 1891 devoted to adoration of the Holy Trinity, similar to the life of the angels. There were 15 houses founded during her lifetime, and today they work in Italy, Brazil, Indonesia, Benin and the Philippines.

Born

11 September 1849 in Imér, Trent, Italy

Died

24 March 1911 in Faicchio, Benevento, Italy

Beatified

28 May 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI

Blessed Bertrada of Laon

Also known as

• Bertrada the Pius

• Bertrada la Pia

• Bertha, Berta

Profile

Married to King Pepin the Short. Queen of the Franks. Mother of Blessed Charlemagne. Her life was overshadowed by her illustrious husband and her son, and most details about her have been lost.

Born

726

Died

• 12 July 783 of natural causes

• buried in Saint-Denis, France

Patronage

spinners

Saint Macartan of Clogher

Also known as

• Aedh mac Carthin

• Macartin, MacCartain, MacCarthen, MacCarthius

Profile

Friend and disciple of Saint Patrick. Uncle of Saint Brigid. Missionary with Patrick through pagan Ireland. Consecrated as the first bishop of Clogher, Ireland by Patrick in 454. Converted the father of Saint Tigernach of Clogher. Miracle worker.

Born

5th century Ireland

Died

c.505 of natural causes

Patronage

Clogher, Ireland, diocese of

Saint Latinus of Brescia

Also known as

Flavius Latinus

Profile

Spiritual student of Saint Viator of Bergamo. Third bishop of Brescia, Italy c.84 where he served for 30 years. Imprisoned, tortured and executed for his faith in the persecutions of Trajan. Martyr.

Died

• 115

• relics re-discovered in the 15th century

• relics enshrined in the church of Saint Afra

Blessed Brian O'Carolan

Additional Memorial

20 June as one of the Irish Martyrs

Profile

Priest in the diocese of Meath, Ireland. Martyr.

Born

Irish

Died

martyred on 24 March 1606 near Trim, Meath, Ireland

Beatified

27 September 1992 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy

Saint Cairlon of Cashel

Also known as

Caorlan

Profile

Abbot. He died and was raised to life through the prayers of Saint Dageus. Archbishop of Cashel, Ireland.

Born

Irish

Died

6th century of natural causes

Saint Pigmenius of Rome

Also known as

Pigmentius, Pigmène, Pimenius

Profile

Priest in Rome, Italy. Tutor to the young Julian the Apostate. Martyed by order of Julian.

Died

drowned in the Tiber River in 362

Saint Domangard of Maghera

Also known as

Donard

Profile

Hermit on the mountain now Slieve-Donard, Ireland after his memory.

Died

c.500

Patronage

Maghera, County Down, Ireland

Saint Secundus of North Africa

Also known as

Secondino, Secundulus

Profile

Brother of Saint Romulus. Martyr.

Died

Mauritania

Saint Epigmenius of Rome

Also known as

Epigmène

Profile

Priest in Rome, Italy. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.

Died

c.300 in Rome, Italy

Saint Timothy of Rome

Profile

Martyr. Mentioned by Pope Pius I in a letter to the bishop of Vienne, Gaul.

Died

c.148 in Rome, Italy

Saint Agapitus of Synnada

Profile

Third century bishop of Synnada, Phrygia.

Representation

man standing between a mitre and a suit of armor

Saint Mark of Rome

Profile

Martyr. Mentioned by Pope Pius I in a letter to the bishop of Vienne, Gaul.

Died

c.148 in Rome, Italy

Saint Bernulf of Mondovì

Also known as

• Bernulf of Asti

• Bernolfo of...

Profile

Bishop of Mondovi, Italy.

Saint Romulus of North Africa

Profile

Brother of Saint Secundus. Martyr.

Died

northern Africa

Saint Epicharis of Rome

Profile

Priest in Rome, Italy. Martyr.

Died

300

Saint Seleucus of Syria

Profile

Martyr.

Born

Syrian

Saint Severo of Catania

Profile

Bishop of Catania, Italy.

Martyrs of Africa

Profile

A group of Christians murdered for their faith in Africa, date unknown. The only details about their that survive are the names - Aprilis, Autus, Catula, Coliondola, Joseph, Rogatus, Salitor, Saturninus and Victorinus.

Martyrs of Caesarea

Profile

A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little else but six of their names - Agapius, Alexander, Dionysius, Pausis, Romulus and Timolaus.

Died

beheaded in 303 at Caesarea, Palestine

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் மார்ச் 23

 St. Domitius

Feastday: March 23

Death: 361

Martyr with Aquila, Esparchius, Pelagia, and Theodosia. Domitius was a Phrygian. He entered the circus in Caesarea, where he exhorted the people to deny the gods of Rome. He and his companions were struck by swords.

St. Victorian

Feastday: March 23

Death: 484

Martyr in Carthage with four other wealthy fellow merchants, including Frumentius. Initially named proconsul by Hunneric, the Arian king of the Vandals, he was seized and put under pressure to convert to Arianism. When he refused, he was executed with the other merchants after being tortured at Adrumetum.

Saints Victorian, Frumentius and Companions are venerated as Christian martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church. They were killed at Hadrumetum in 484 by the Arian Vandals. Accounts of their martyrdom state that Huneric, King of the Vandals, began persecuting Catholic priests and virgins in 480, and by 484 began persecuting simple believers as well. Victorian was a wealthy Catholic of Hadrumetum who had been appointed proconsul by Hunneric. He served as an obedient administrator to the king until he was asked to convert to Arianism. Victorian refused and was tortured and killed.

The Roman Martyrology states that four other wealthy merchants were martyred on the same day as Victorian's death. Two were named Frumentius; they were merchants of Carthage. The other two were brothers of the city of Aquae Regiae, Byzacena, who were killed at Tabaia.

St. Rafqa

#புனித_ரஃப்கா (1832-1914)

மார்ச் ‌22

"லெபனோனின் சிறுமலர்" என அழைக்கப்படும் இவர் (#StRafga), தனது ஆறு வயதில் தாயை இழந்து, சிற்றன்னையின் சித்திரவதையில்  வளர்ந்து வந்தார். 

தனது பதினான்காவது வயதில் இறையழப்பை உணர்ந்த இவர், தன் தந்தையின் எதிர்ப்பையும் மீறி, இருபத்து ஒன்றாம் வயதில் துறவுமடத்தில் சேர்ந்தார். 

துறவுமடத்தில் "ஆக்னஸ்" என்ற புதிய பெயரைத் தாங்கிய இவர், இயேசுவிடம், அவருடைய பாடுகளில் பங்கு பெற வேண்டும் என்று தொடர்ந்து மன்றாடி வந்தார். இதனால் இயேசு இவருக்குத் தன் பாடுகளில் பங்குபெறும் பேற்றினை அளிக்க, இவர் பார்வையின்றியும் முடக்குவாதத்தோடும் வாழத் தொடங்கினார்.

பார்வையின்றியும் முடக்குவாதத்தோடும் வாழ்ந்த இவர், இத்துன்பங்களை மகிழ்ச்சியோடு தாங்கிக்கொண்டார். இறப்பதற்கு ஒரு மணி நேரத்திற்கு  முன்னர், இயேசுவிடம் இவர் கேட்டுக்கொண்டதன் பேரில், மீண்டும் பார்வை பெற்று, உலகை ஒருமுறை கண்டு இரசித்துவிட்டு, மகிழ்ச்சியோடு தன் ஆன்மாவை இறைவனிடம் ஒப்படைத்தார்.

துன்பங்களை மகிழ்ச்சியோடு தாங்கிக்கொண்ட இவருக்கு, திருத்தத்தை புனித இரண்டாம் ஜான்பால் 2001 ஆம் ஆண்டு புனிதர் பட்டம் அளித்தார்.

Feastday: March 23

Birth: 1832

Death: 1914

Beatified: November 16, 1985 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized: June 10, 2001, Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II

Saint Rafqa, also know as Saint Rebecca, was born in Hemlaya, Lebanon on June 29, 1832. She was the only child of her parents, Saber El-Choboq El-Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel. She was baptized on July 7, 1832 and named Boutroussieh.

Her parents were devout Christians and taught her daily prayers. By all accounts, her childhood was happy and simple, until she was just 7 years old and her mother, Rafqa (for whom she was named) died.

The death of her mother started a period of tribulation for Rafqa and her father, who soon experienced financial difficulties. Rafqa was sent to work as a domestic servant for four years to help support the family. During that period, she worked in Damascus, away from her father.

In 1847, she returned to find that her father had remarried and his new wife desired that Rafqa marry her brother. At the same time, an aunt wanted to arrange a marriage between Rafqa and her cousin.

Rafqa was left to decide what to do with herself, split between two potential suitors and under pressure from family to make two different choices. She turned to prayer and asked God to guide her. Her answer surprised everyone. Rafqa would marry neither man, but instead would devote her life to Jesus and become a nun.

Rafqa traveled to the convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Bikfaya. She joined the Mariamettes, founded by Fr. Jospeh Gemayel.

According to legend, when she entered the convent and gazed upon the icon of Our Lady of Deliverance, she heard the voice of God tell her "You will become a nun."

The Mother Superior of the convent accepted her immediately, without question. Shortly thereafter, her father and his new wife arrived to try to dissuade Rafqa from her God-chosen path. She refused to leave and remained devoted to her vocation.

She was sent to Deir El Qamar to teach catechism. The town became the site of civil unrest and on one occasions he reportedly saved a child from murder by hiding him under her robes.

She served in Deir El Qamar for a year.

In 1861, she returned to her congregation and become a novice. On March 19, 1862, she took her temporary vows and was assigned to kitchen service in a seminary.

Rafqa spent her free time learning Arabic, writing, and arithmetic. She also helped convince other girls to join the congregation. In 1863, she continued working as a teacher, first at a school belonging to her congregation in Byblos, then Maad village where she and a fellow sister established a new school for girls.

Following this early period, Rafqa repeatedly heard messages from heaven. When her order faced a crisis, god told her "You will remain a nun." And she heard the voices of saints directing her to enter the Lebanese Maronite Order. She obeyed.

Sister Rafqa took her solemn vows in the new order on Augist 25, 1872.

During her time, she was known to be quiet and contemplative. She was devoted to prayer and spoke little. She commonly made sacrifices and lived in great austerity.

In October 1885, Sister Rafqa made an unusual request of Jesus, asking to share in his suffering. She immediately began to experience pain in her head, which moved to her eyes. Her superior was concerned about Rafqa's pain and ordered that she be examined by doctors and sent to Beirut for treatment.

As she passed through the nearby church in Byblos, the congregation made note that an American doctor was in the area. The located the doctor who recommended immediate surgery for Sister Rafqa.

During the surgery, she refused anesthesia, and the doctor made a mistake which caused her eye to emerge from its socket and fall to the floor. Sister Rafqa, instead of panicking, blessed the doctor, saying "For Christ's passion, god bless your hands and may God repay you."

The surgery did not succeed. Shortly thereafter, pain entered her left eye.

For the next 12 years, she experienced pain in her remaining eye and headaches. At no point did she reverse her wish to share in Christ's suffering. Instead, she remained joyful in prayer and patient in her suffering. She remained quiet for long periods, speaking infrequently, but always joyously.

In 1887, Sister Rafqa was sent with five other sisters to found a new monastery in Jrabta, Batroun in Lebanon. She did as she was asked, working patiently and diligently as she was able despite her suffering. In 1899, she became blind and paralysis set in.

Eventually she was confined to bed, mostly paralyzed and only able to lie on her right side. Her body withered, but her hands remained capable, and she used them to knit socks. A wound developed in left shoulder, which she referred to as "the wound in the shoulder of Jesus." This continued for seven years.

On March 23, 1914, she received her last communion and called upon Jesus and the Holy Family, then went to her reward in Heaven.

After she was buried in the monastery cemetery, a light appeared on her grave for three consecutive light and was witnessed by many.

In 1925, a case for her beatification was opened in the Vatican and the investigation into her life began in the year following.

In 1927, her grave was exhumed and she was reburied in the monastery church.

Pope John Paul declared her venerable on Feb. 11, 1982, and she was beatified on Nov. 17, 1985. She was finally recognized as a saint on July 10, 2001.

St Rafka ill in bed in her latter days

Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, O.L.M. (Arabic: رفقا بطرسيّة شبق ألريّس, June 29, 1832 – March 23, 1914), also known as Saint Rafka and Saint Rebecca, was a Lebanese Maronite nun who was canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 10, 2001.

Birth and Youth

Rafka was born in Himlaya, in Matn District, on 29 June 1832, the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, the only child of Saber Mourad El Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel, and was baptised Boutrossieh (pronounced in Arabic as the feminine of Peter). Her mother died when she was seven years of age. In 1843, her father experienced financial difficulties and sent her to work as a servant for four years in Damascus at the home of Assaad Al-Badawi. She returned home in 1847 to find that her father had remarried.[1]

When Boutrossieh was 14 years old, her stepmother wanted her to marry her stepbrother, and her maternal aunt wanted her to marry her son. Boutrossieh did not want to marry either of the men and this caused a great deal of discord in her family. One day, while she was coming back from the fountain, holding her jar, she overheard them arguing. She asked God to help her deal with the problem. She then decided to become a nun and went straight to the Convent of Our Lady of Liberation at Bikfaya.[1] Boutrossieh's father and stepmother tried to take her back home but she did not want to go. "I asked the Mistress of novices to excuse me from seeing them and she agreed."[citation needed] They returned home, saddened, and from then on they never saw her again.

Boutrossieh's kinsman, Father Joseph Gemayel and his family founded a new religious institute for women that provided them with full-time education as well as religious instruction. Boutrossieh's name, Pierine (in French), was listed last among the first four candidates of the Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception (“Mariamettes”, in French) in Gemayel's notebook dated January 1, 1853.[2] She was 21.

Mariamette Sisters

On February 9, 1855, the Feast of St. Maron, Boutrossieh commenced her novitiate at the convent in Ghazir and chose the name Rafqa (Like her mother's name). She took her first temporary religious vows on 19 March 1862 at the age of thirty.[3] Sister Rafqa's first assignment in the congregation was charge of the kitchen service in the Jesuit school in Ghazir, where she spent seven years. She was placed in charge of the workers and had the task of giving them religious instruction in a spinning mill in Scerdanieh, where she remained for two months.

In 1860, while still stationed in Ghazir, Rafqa's superiors sent her on a temporary posting to Deir-el-Qamar, in Mount Lebanon - Shouf, where she helped the Jesuit mission. In less than two months the Druze killed 7,771 people and destroyed 360 villages, 560 churches, 28 schools, and 42 convents. Sister Rafqa saved one child's life by hiding him in the skirts of her habit as he was being chased by some soldiers.[1] Rafqa was deeply affected by the massacres.[4]

Two years later, Sister Rafqa was transferred to Byblos, where she remained for one year before going to Ma'ad to establish a school there at the request of Antoun (Anthony) Issa, a prominent citizen.[5]

In 1871, the “Mariamettes” religious institute merged with another to form the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The Religious Sisters were given the option to join the new congregation, or a different one, or to resume lay status. Rafqa decided to become a cloistered nun rather than a teaching Sister, and, after praying in the Church of St. George, made the decision to join the Baladita Order, the monastic order now named the Lebanese Maronite Order of St. Anthony, founded in 1695, and told Antoun Issa of her decision. He offered to pay the requisite dowry.[5]

That same night, Rafqa dreamed of three men. One with a white beard, one dressed like a soldier and the third was an old man. She recounted "One of the men said to me, 'Become a nun in the Baladita Order'. I woke up very happy … and went to Antoun Issa, bursting with joy … and I told him about my dream.” Antoun identified the men as St. Anthony of Qozhaia (St. Anthony the Abbot) from whom the order was inspired, the soldier was St. George, to whom the church in Ma'ad was dedicated, and the third could only be a Baladita monk. Rafqa decided to leave immediately for the Monastery of St. Simon in Al-Qarn. Antoun gave her the money as promised as well as a letter of recommendation to the archbishop.[5]

A nun of the Lebanese Maronite Order

Monastery of St. Simon

On July 12, 1871, at the age of thirty-nine, Rafqa began her novitiate into the new monastery and then on August 25, 1873, she “professed her perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the spirit of the strict Rule of the Baladita Order.” Her new name was that of her mother's, Rafqa, (Rebecca),[4] the name of Abraham's great granddaughter and wife of his son Isaac. St. Simon Monastery was situated on a high altitude, where the winters were very harsh. The nuns followed a very rigid daily schedule throughout the year. Prayer and manual labour became the rule of their daily lives. The nuns planted and harvested vegetables and grain in the surrounding fields. They also cultivated silkworms and sewed vestments for churches.[3] Rafqa remained in this monastery until 1897.

Life with pain

In 1885 Rafqa decided not to join the nuns for a walk around the monastery. In her autobiographical account she wrote, “It was the first Sunday of the Rosary. I did not accompany them. Before leaving each of the nuns came and said to me, ‘Pray for me sister.’ There were some who asked me to say seven decades of the Rosary ... I went to the Church and started to pray. Seeing that I was in good health and that I had never been sick in my life, I prayed to God in this way, ‘Why, O my God, have you distance yourself from me and have abandoned me. You have never visited me with sickness! Have you perhaps abandoned me?’”[3]

Rafqa continued in her account to her superior, the next night after the prayer “At the moment of sleeping I felt a most violent pain spreading above my eyes to the point that I reached the state you see me in, blind and paralyzed, and as I myself had asked for sickness I could not allow myself to complain or murmur.”[3]

“The symbolic daughter of a country which for over a decade has been in the world headlines because of its suffering,” Rafqa suffered many years because of her desire to share in the passion of Jesus Christ.

The Mother Superior sent Rafqa to Tripoli, where she submitted to a painful medical examination.[3] For two years, she suffered. She went to several doctors who all agreed that there was nothing they could do. Upon the persuasion of Father Estefan, Rafqa consulted a visiting American doctor who strongly suggested that the eye be removed. Estefan later recounted,

Before the operation I asked the doctor to anesthetize the eye so that Rafqa would not feel any pain but she refused. The doctor made her sit down and pushed a long scalpel … into her eye … the eye popped out and fell on the ground, palpitating slightly … Rafqa didn’t complain … but only said, ‘in communion with Christ’s Passion.’

The pain was then all concentrated in her left eye and nothing could be done.[4]

Gradually Rafqa's left eye shrunk and sunk into the socket and she became blind. For about thirty years both sockets hemorrhaged two to three times a week. She also suffered from frequent nosebleeds. “Her head, her brow, her eyes, her nose were as if they were being pierced by a red hot needle. Rafqa did not let this pain isolate her from the community. She continued to spin wool and cotton and knitted stockings for the other sisters; she participated in choral prayer.

Due to the harsh winters at the Monastery of St. Simon, Rafqa was allowed to spend the coldest months on the Lebanese coast as a guest of the Daughters of Charity and then of the residence of the Maronite Order. Unable to observe the Rule at these locales, Rafqa asked to be taken to the Monastery of St. Elias at El Rass, which belonged to her order.

Monastery of St. Joseph

In 1897, Rafqa was one of six nuns sent to found the order's new Monastery of St. Joseph of Gerbata in Ma’ad, along with Mother Ursula Doumit, the superior, where Rafqa remained for the last 17 years of her life. It was here that her suffering increased.

In 1907 Rafqa confided to Mother Ursula that she felt a pain in her legs, “as if someone were sticking lances in them and pain in my toes as if they were being pulled off.” This began the long list of sufferings and pains Rafqa endured for the last seven years of her life.

Based on direct evidence and on the autopsy of Rafqa's remains in 1927, she had become paralyzed due to complete disarticulation in her wrist and finger joints, while the pain continued in her head, her devastated eye sockets and her nosebleeds ... completely immobile, her lower jaw touched her benumbed knee.

Even in this state, Rafqa was able to crawl to the chapel on the feast of Corpus Christi to the amazement of all the sisters. When asked about this, Rafqa replied, “I don’t know. I asked God to help me and suddenly I felt myself slipping from the bed with my legs hanging down; I fell on the floor and crawled to the chapel.”

On a separate occasion, when asked by her superior if she would like to see, Rafqa responded, “I would like to see for at least an hour, to be able to look at you.” In an instant the superior could see Rafqa smile and suddenly said, “Look, I can see now.” Not believing her, Sister Ursula put her to the test asking her to identify several objects. Shortly thereafter, Rafqa fell into a deep sleep for about two hours. Sister Ursula became worried and tried repeatedly to awaken her. Upon waking, Rafqa explained that she had entered a large, beautifully decorated building with baths full of water and people crowding to enter them; she went with them. Sister Ursula asked her why she came back; why she didn't continue to walk. Blessed Rafqa explained, “You called me, and I came.”

Rafqa's obedience and love for her superior is quite evident in this account. For a nun, the superior, “as the Rule puts it, represents Christ and is owed respect, obedience and love. Despite her condition, Rafqa did nothing without the Superior’s permission.”

Before dying, Rafqa told of her life to Mother Ursula Doumit, superior of the monastery in which she died, “There is nothing important in my life that is worthy of being recorded … my mother died when I was seven years old. After her death my father married for a second time.”

Three days before her death, Rafqa said, “I am not afraid of death which I have waited for a long time. God will let me live through my death.” Then on March 23, 1914, four minutes after receiving final absolution and the plenary indulgence, she died.

Beatification and canonization

A relic of St. Rafqa at St. Raymond Maronite Cathedral (St. Louis, Missouri)

On June 9, 1984, the eve of Pentecost, in the presence of the Pope John Paul II, the decree approving the miracle of Elizabeth Ennakl, who was said to have been completely cured of uterine cancer in 1938 at the tomb of Rafka, was promulgated.

On November 16, 1985, Pope John Paul II declared Rafqa Al Rayess a Blessed, and on June 10, 2001, he proclaimed her to be a saint at a solemn ceremony in the Vatican

Saint Walter of Pontoise

#மாமனிதர்கள் 

#புனித_வால்டர் (1030-1099)

இவர் (#StWalterOfPontoise) பிரான்சிஸ் நாட்டைச் சார்ந்தவர்.‌ கல்வியில் சிறந்தவரான இவர், மெய்யியல் பேராசிரியராக உயர்ந்து, மாணவர்களுக்கு நல்ல முறையில் பாடம் கற்றுக் கொடுத்து வந்தார்.

இப்படியிருக்கையில் இவர் இந்த உலகம் தரும் பெயர், புகழ், பதவி, பட்டம் எல்லாம் வீண் என்பதை உணர்ந்தவராய், எல்லாவற்றையும் துறந்து, போன்டாய்ஸ் என்ற இடத்தில் இருந்த துறவுமடத்தில் துறவியாகச் சேர்ந்தார்.

அங்கு இவருடைய அறிவாற்றலையும் ஞானத்தையும் கண்டு இவரை மடத்தின் தலைவராக உயர்த்தினார்கள்.‌ அது தனக்கு வேண்டாம் என்று அதனை உதறித் தள்ளிவிட்டு அங்கிருந்து அகன்று இவர் அப்பொழுது திருத்தந்தையாக இருந்த ஏழாம் கிரகோரியைச் சந்தித்து, தன் நிலையை அவரிடம் எடுத்துச் சொன்னார்.‌

எல்லாவற்றையும் பொறுமையாகக் கேட்டுக்கொண்ட திருத்தந்தை இவரை முந்தைய இடத்திற்கே சென்று, மட அதிபதியாகப் பணியாற்றுமாறு சொன்னார்.

இதன்பிறகு இவர் போன்டாய்ஸிற்கு வந்து மிகுந்த தாழ்ச்சியோடு பணியாற்றினார்.

இவர் திருஅவையில் மறுமலர்ச்சியைக் கொண்டுவந்தார்.‌ அதனால் இவருக்குக் கடுமையான எதிர்ப்பு வந்தது.‌ ஒருமுறை எதிரிகள் இவரைத் தூக்கிச் சென்று கட்டி வைத்து அடித்துச் சித்திரவதை செய்தனர். அப்படியிருந்தும் இவர் தன்னுடைய முடிவில் உறுதியாக இருந்தார்.‌

இவ்வாறு மிகவும் தாழ்ச்சியுடனும், அதே நேரத்தில் கொண்ட கொள்கையில் உறுதியாகவும் இருந்த இவர் 1099 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.

.

Also known as

• Walter of Pontnoise

• Gaucher, Gaultier, Gautier, Gualterio, Gualtiero

Additional Memorial

4 May (translation of relics)

Profile

Well educated in general, and a professor of philosophy and rhetoric. Joined the Benedictines at Rebais-en-Brie to escape the world and the temptations presented by success in his field. Against his will he was made abbot of Pontoise Abbey by King Philip I; Walter reminded the king that it was by God's will that he did such a thing, not the crown's. He fled the house several time to escape the position, the last time to Rome, Italy where he gave Pope Gregory VII his written resignation; the pope told him to return to his house, assume his responsibilities as abbot, and never leave again. He obeyed. Worked against simony, lax discipline, and dissolute lives of some of his clergy. He was opposed by the corrupt and the corrupters that he fought, and they finally resorted to imprisoning and beating him. On his release, he resumed his work, often spending the whole night in chapel, praying for strength and wisdom.

Born

c.1030 in Andainville, Picardy, France

Died

• Good Friday, 8 April 1099 of natural causes

• buried at Pontoise Abbey

• miracles at his tomb and by his intervention approved almost immediately by bishops of Rouen, Paris and Senlis in France

• relics re-translated in 1655

• relics lost in the anti-Christian excesses of the French Revolution

Patronage

• against job-related stress

• prisoners

• prisoners of war

• vintners

• Pontoise, France

Blessed Pietro of Gubbio

Additional Memorial

29 October (Augustinians; Diocese of Gubbio, Italy)

Profile

Born to the Italian nobility, Pietro studied law at universities in Perugia, Italy, and Paris, France. He was a successful and brilliant lawyer known for his honesty, and who concentrated on representing the poor.

When he was 40 years old, Pietro came to know the Augustinians and was drawn to them, wanting to put himself and his law practice at the disposal of the Church. Priest. Friar in the Augustinian monastery in Gubbio, Italy. Chosen by the Order‘s vicar-general to serve as Provincial Visitor to Augustinian houses in France; tradition says that he travelled bare-footed and met all his brother Augustinians that way as a sign of humility. Noted preacher. Known for his holiness of life, his zeal for the Augustinian Rule and the Christian life, his patience with Augustinian brothers who had trouble living up to the Rule, and as a miracle worker. He spent later years as a prayerful monk the Gubbio monastery where he had begun.

Born

early 13th century in Gubbio, Umbria, Italy

Died

• between 1306 and 1322 in Gubbio, Umbria, Italy of natural causes

• buried in the common grave of friars in the center of the choir area in the Augustinian church in Gubbio

• legend says that one day soon after his burial, the monks were in the choir, sang the Te Deum, and heard a voice from the tomb that responded: Te Dominum confitemur! (Lord, we thank you!); the frightened brothers opened the tomb and found the body of Blessed Peter on his knees, looking up and hands crossed on his chest

• relics still enshrined in the Augustinian church

Beatified

1874 by Pope Pius IX (cultus confirmation)

Saint Ottone Frangipane

Also known as

Oddone, Oto, Otto

Profile

Born to the Italian nobility, he became a knight and fought in defense in the pope in the area of Frascati, Italy. Captured on the field, he was imprisoned in a tower until he prayed for the intercession Saint Leonard of Noblac and received miraculous assistance in escape. Pilgrim to the Benedictine abbey to Saints Trinity of Cava dei Tirreni; he did not become a monk, but lived there, spending his days in prayer and work. From there he moved to the monastery of Montevergine and became a spiritual student of Saint William of Vercelli. Moved to Ariano Irpino, Italy in 1117, and devoted himself to care for the pilgrims that came through the city en route to the Holy Lands. He began living nearby as a hermit in 1120; Ottone even dug a grave next to his cell as a reminder that death was always near. His reputation for holiness, wisdom and miracles soon spread and drew many would-be students.

Born

1040 in Rome, Italy

Died

• 23 March 1127 in Ariano Irpino, Italy of natural causes

• buried in the cathedral of Ariano Irpino

• during a siege of Ariano Irpino by Saracens, the locals prayed for Ottone's intercession; a shower of stones from the clouds chased off the besiegers

• relics transferred to Benevento, Italy in 1220 ahead of Saracen invasion

• some relics at the church of Saint Peter in Montemiletto, Italy

Patronage

• Ariano Irpino, Italy, city of

• Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia, Italy, diocese of

• Castelbottaccio, Italy

Saint Joseph Oriol

Also known as

• José Orioli

• Josep Oriol Bogunyà

• Thaumaturgus of Barcelona• • Wonder Worker of Barcelona

Profile

Born poor. Studied at the University of Barcelona. Awarded a doctorate of theology on 1 August 1674. Ordained 30 May 1676. Pilgrim to Rome, Italy in 1686. Pope Innocent XI granted him a benefice at Santa Maria del Pino (Our Lady of the Pines), Barcelona, Spain, a parish he served for the rest of his life.

Wanted to evangelize infidels, and give himself over to martyrdom. On his way to Rome in April 1698 to ask to be a missionary, Joseph fell ill at Marseilles, France, and had a vision that gave him a new mission - revitalize the faith in his own back yard.

Returning home, he worked with the youngest of children and roughest of soldiers, and prayed without ceasing for the living and the dead. He wore a hair-shirt; lived for 26 years, half his life, solely on bread and water. Famed confessor, prophet, healer, and miracle worker, though many of the writers in his day and after have made him sound like some kind of medium or magician or somesuch.

Born

23 November 1650 at Barcelona, Spain

Died

• 23 March 1702 at Barcelona, Spain of natural causes

• predicted the date of his own death

• some locals lent him a bed to die on as he had always slept on a wooden bench or whatever was handy

Canonized

20 May 1909 by Pope Pius X

Blessed Metodej Dominik Trcka

Also known as

• Dominik Trcka

• Metod Dominik Trcka

• Metodij Dominik Trcka

Profile

Redemptorist, making his profession on 25 August 1904. Priest, ordained in Prague (in modern Czech Republic) on 17 July 1910. Worked in parish missions. Vice-provincial of his order on 23 March 1946.

On 14 April 1950 the Communist government of Czechoslovakia outlawed religious communities. On 21 April 1952 Father Metodio received a show trial and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for his work; he was repeatedly tortured by interrogators. Locked in an isolation cell as punishment for singing a Christmas hymn, he contracted pneumonia. Martyr.

Born

6 July 1886 at Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Ostravský (modern Czech Republic)

Died

• 23 March 1959 in a Communist prison camp at Leopoldov, Trnavský kraj, Slovakia of pneumonia

• buried in the prison graveyard

• re-interred at the Redemptorist cemetery at the Greek-Catholic church in Michalovce on 17 October 1969

Beatified

4 November 2001 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo Díez de Sollano

Profile

One of eight children. Joined Opus Dei in 1935. Engineering student. Member of the Saint Vicent de Paul Society, and taught catechism to children in in poor neighbourhoods where the Society worked. Priest, ordained on 25 June 1944 in Madrid, Spain. Assigned to work in Rome, Italy in 1946. Bishop of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei on 28 November 1982. Titular bishop of Vita on 7 December 1990.

Born

11 March 1914 in Madrid, Spain

Died

23 March 1994 in Rome, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

• 27 September 2014 by Pope Francis

• beatification recognition celebrated in Madrid, Spain

• the beatification miracle involves the August 2003 healing of Chilean newborn Jose Ignacio Ureta Wilson; just a few days old, the boy suffered a 30-minute period of cardiac arrest and a major hemorrhage; his medical team thought the boy had died, but his parents prayed for healing through the intercession of the bishop, and Jose now lives a normal life

Saint Turibius of Mogroveio

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(மார்ச் 23)

✠ புனிதர் டுரீபியஸ் ✠

(St. Turibius of Mogrovejo)

பேராயர், மறைப்பணியாளர்:

(Archbishop, Missionary)

பிறப்பு: நவம்பர் 16, 1538

மயோர்கா டி கம்போஸ், லியோன் அரசு, ஸ்பெய்ன்

(Mayorga de Campos, Kingdom of León, Spain)

இறப்பு: மார்ச் 23, 1606 (வயது 67)

ஸனா, வைசிராய் காலணியாதிக்க பெரு, பெரு

(Saña, Viceroyalty of Peru, Peru)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

ஆங்கிலிக்கன் சமூகம்

(Anglican Communion)

குருபரிபாலன திருச்சபை (ஐக்கிய அமெரிக்கா மற்றும் ஸ்காட்லாந்து நாடுகளிலுள்ள ஆங்கிலிக்கன் திருச்சபை)

(Episcopal Church (Anglican Church in the US and Scotland)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: ஜூலை 2, 1679

திருத்தந்தை பதினோராம் இன்னொசென்ட்

(Pope Innocent XI)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: 1726

திருத்தந்தை பதின்மூன்றாம் பெனடிக்ட்

(Pope Benedict XIII)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: மார்ச் 23

பாதுகாவல்:

பெரு (Peru), லிமா (Lima), இலத்தின் அமெரிக்க ஆயர்கள் (Latin American bishops), பிறப்புரிமை (Native rights), சாரணர்கள் (Scouts), “வல்லடோலிட்” – வட ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டிலுள்ள ஒரு நகரம் (Valladolid, a city in northern Spain)

புனிதர் டுரீபியஸ், “ஸ்பேனிஷ் ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையின் உயர்பதவி” (Spanish Roman Catholic prelate) வகித்தவரும், கி.பி. 1579ம் ஆண்டுமுதல், கி.பி. 1606ம் ஆண்டில் தமது மரணம்வரை (சுமார் இருபத்தேழு வருடங்கள்) “லிமா” உயர்மறைமாவட்டத்தின் (Archbishop of Lima) பேராயராக பணியாற்றியவருமாவார். முதலில் மனிதநேயமும், சட்டமும் கற்ற இவர், பின்னர் பேராசிரியராகவும், அரசன் இரண்டாம் பிலிப்புவின் (King Philip II) உத்தரவின் பேரில் நீதி விசாரணை அதிகாரியாகவும் பணியாற்றினார். இவரது பக்தியும், கற்கும் திறனும் அரசனின் காதுகளைச் சென்றடைந்தது. அக்காலத்தில் இது வழக்கமில்லை எனினும், அரசுமுறை அனுபவமோ, நீதி விசாரணைகளில் முன் அனுபவமோ இல்லாத டுரீபியஸுக்கு இப்பதவி கிட்டியது. நீதி விசாரணைகளில் இவர் செய்திருந்த குறிப்பிடத்தக்க பணிகள் இவருக்கு அரசனிடம் புகழைத் தேடித் தந்தது. இதன் காரணமாக, அவ்வமயம் காலியாக இருந்த லிமா உயர்மறைமாவட்ட பேராயர் பதவியில் இவரை நியமித்தார். தமது எதிர்ப்பையும் மீறி, திருத்தந்தை அதனை அங்கீகரித்தார்.

“டொரீபியோ அல்ஃபோன்சோ டி மொக்ரோவேஜோ” (Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இவர், ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டின் உயர் குடியில் பிறந்தவர் ஆவார். சிறந்த கல்விமானான டுரீபியஸ், புகழ் பெற்ற 'சலமான்கா' நகரின் பல்கலை கழகத்தின் (University of Salamanca) சட்ட பேராசிரியரும் ஆவார்.

கி.பி. 1578ம் ஆண்டு, கத்தோலிக்க குருவாக அருட்பொழிவு பெற்ற இவர், பெரு நகருக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டார். அரசன் இரண்டாம் பிலிப்புவால் (King Philip II) “லிமா” நகரின் பேராயராக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். கி.பி. 1579ம் ஆண்டு, மே மாதம், 16ம் நாளன்று, திருத்தந்தை பதின்மூன்றாம் கிரகொரி (Pope Gregory XIII) அதற்கு அங்கீகாரம் அளித்தார். 580ம் ஆண்டு, ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம், "செவில்" (Seville) உயர் மறைமாவட்ட பேராயர் "கிறிஸ்டோபல் ரோஜஸ் செண்டோவல்" (Cristóbal Rojas Sandoval, Archbishop of Seville) அவர்களால் பேராயராக அருட்பொழிவு செய்யப்பட்டார்.

970 கிலோ மீட்டர் தொலைவிலுள்ள லிமா நகருக்கு நடை பயணமாக சென்றபடி தமது அருட் பணியை தொடங்கினார். கவர்ந்திழுக்கும் நாவன்மை கொண்ட போதகரான டுரீபியஸ், எண்ணற்ற பூர்வீக குடியினருக்கு திருமுழுக்கு அளித்ததுடன், அவர்களுக்கு உறுதிப்பூசுதல் அருட்சாதனமும் வழங்கினார். "லிமா நகர புனிதர் ரோஸ்" (St. Rose of Lima) மற்றும் "புனிதர் மார்ட்டின்" (St. Martin de Porres.) உள்ளிட்டோர் இவரால் திருமுழுக்கு பெற்று உறுதிப்பூசுதல் அருட்சாதனம் பெற்றவர்களே.

இவர் சாலைகள், உறைவிட பள்ளிகள், பல பள்ளிகள், மருத்துவமனைகள், மற்றும் கிறிஸ்தவ தொழுகைக் கூடங்களைக் கட்டினார். கி.பி. 1591ம் ஆண்டு, மேற்கு துருவத்தில் (Western Hemisphere) முதல் குருத்துவ பள்ளியை (First Seminary) நிறுவினார். 1604ம் ஆண்டு, ஃபெப்ரவரி மாதம், இரண்டாம் நாளன்று, “மூன்றாம் லிமா பேராலயத்தின்” (Third Lima Cathedral) முதல் பகுதியை திறந்து வைத்தார்.

டுரீபியஸ், தமது பணி காலத்தில் பதின்மூன்று பேராய மாநாடுகளைக் (Diocesan Synods) கூட்டினார். மூன்றுமுறை மாகாண சபைகளுக்கான (Provincial Councils) கூட்டங்களைக் கூட்டினார். இவரது காலத்தில், லிமா (Lima) மகத்தான உயர் மறைமாவட்டமாக (Immense Archdiocese) மாறியது.

மக்களின் குடியுரிமைகளுக்காக, பெரு நாட்டு ஆட்சியாளர்களுக்கெதிராக போராடிய இவர், அம்மக்களால் தங்களது பரிந்து போராடும் தலைவராக பார்க்கப்பட்டார். அங்குள்ள பேச்சு வழக்கினைக் கற்றுக்கொண்ட இவர், எண்ணற்ற பூர்வீக குடிகளை கிறிஸ்தவர்களாக மாற்றினார்.

தாம் இறப்பதற்கு சில வருடங்களுக்கு முன்னமே இவர் தமது இறப்பின் நாளையும் நேரத்தையும் கணித்தார். இருப்பினும், தமது இறை பணியை விடாது செய்து வந்தார். "பகஸ்மயோ" (Pacasmayo) என்ற இடத்தில் காய்ச்சலால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட இவர், தமது பணியைத் தொடர்ந்தபடியே, மிகவும் மோசமான நிலையில் "ஸனா" (Sana) வந்தடைந்தார். தாம் கணித்தபடியே கி.பி. 1606ம் ஆண்டு, மார்ச் மாதம், 23ம் நாளன்று, மரணமடைந்தார்.

டுரீபியஸ், தமது பணி காலத்தில் எண்ணற்ற குருக்களுக்கும் ஆயர்களுக்கும் பேராயர்களுக்கும் அருட்பொழிவு செய்வித்தார்.

Also known as

• Turibius of Lima

• Toribio, Turribius Alphonsus, Turybiusz, Turibio de Mogrovejo

Profile

Born to the nobility. Lawyer. Professor of law at Salamanca, Spain. Ordained in 1578 at age 40. Judge of the Court of the Inquisition at Granada, Spain. Archbishop of Lima, Peru on 15 May 1579. Founded the first seminary in the Western hemisphere. Fought for the rights of the natives against the Spanish masters. Organized councils and synods in the New World.

Born

1538 at Mayorga de Campos, Leon, Spain

Died

23 May 1606 at Santa, Peru of natural causes

Canonized

10 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII

Patronage

• Latin American bishops

• native rights

• Lima, Peru

• Peru

Saint Victorian of Hadrumetum

Profile

The wealthiest subject of the Vandal king Hunseric, Victorian served as governor of Carthage with the imperial Roman title of Proconsul, and was known for his devotion to orthodox Christianity. Hunseric offered him all the wealth and power he could bestow if Victorian would declare himself a supporter of Arianism; Victorian declined. He was arrested, tortured and killed for his refusal.

Died

484 in Carthage in North Africa

Readings

Tell the king that I trust in Christ. His Majesty may condemn me to any torments, but I shall never consent to renounce the Catholic Church, in which I have been baptized. Even if there were no life after this, I would never be ungrateful and perfidious to God, who has granted me the happiness of knowing Him, and bestowed on me His most precious graces. - Saint Victorian in response Huneric's offer to support Arianism

Saint Gwinear

Also known as

Fingar, Guigner, Gwinnear

Profile

Son of the pagan King Clito of Ireland. When Saint Patrick arrived at Clito's court, the king was hostile; Gwinear recognized Patrick‘s sincerity and piety, treated him well, and meditated on his message. Convert to Christianity. Hermit. Upon his father‘s death, he returned home, gathered 770 other converts, and worked to spread the faith in Wales and Brittany. Miracle worker. Martyr. The Cornish village of Gwinear is named for him. At Pluvigner there is a stained glass window of Gwinear hunting a stag with a cross between its antlers, and there is a holy well with his name near the church.

Born

Irish

Died

• beheaded c.460 at Hayle, Cornwall, England

• a basilica was built over his grave

Martyrs of Caesarea

Profile

A group of five Christians who protested public games which were dedicated to pagan gods. Martyred in the persecutions Julian the Apostate. The only details we know about them are their names - Aquila, Domitius, Eparchius, Pelagia and Theodosia.

Died

in 361 in Caesarea, Palestine

Blessed Peter Higgins

Also known as

Peadar Ó Huiggin

Additional Memorial

20 June as one of the Irish Martyrs

Profile

Joined the Dominicans in 1622. Priest. Prior of the Dominican house at Naas. He was ordered to acknowledge the English king as head of the Church; he declined. Martyr.

Born

1601 in Ireland

Died

martyred on 23 March 1642 in Dublin, Ireland

Beatified

27 September 1992 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy

Video

YouTube PlayList

Blessed Annunciata Asteria Cocchetti

Profile

Orphaned at age seven. At 17 she opened a school for poor girls in her home. Taught school at Rovato, Italy at 22, and then at Cemmo Valcamonica, Italy. Helped found the Sisters of Saint Dorothy of Cemmo, and served in the order for 40 years.

Born

9 May 1800 in Rovato, Italy

Died

23 March 1882 in Cemmo, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

21 April 1991 by Pope John Paul II at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy

Saint Ethelwald of Farne

Also known as

• Ethelwald the Hermit

• Aethelwold, Edelwald, Oidilwald

Profile

Priest. Benedictine monk at the monastery of Ripon, England. Hermit on the island of Inner Farne, England in 687. A miracle worker, his prayers were known to stop storms that threatened visitors to his island.

Died

• spring 699 of natural causes

• interred at Lindisfarne next to Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne and Saint Edbert of Lindisfarne

• relics moved from place to place with those of Saint Cuthbert

• relics re-interred in Durham cathedral

Blessed Edmund Sykes

Additional Memorials

• 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai

• 22 November as one of the Martyrs of England, Scotland, and Wales

Profile

Priest in the apostolic vicariate of England. Martyred in the persecutions of Queen Elizabeth I.

Born

c.1550 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Died

23 March 1587 in York, North Yorkshire, England

Beatified

22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Benedict of Campagna

Also known as

• Benedict the Hermit

• Benedict of Campania

Profile

Benedictine hermit in the Campagna region of Italy. Friend of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Captured by Totila the Goth, he was thrown in a fire to die; he stayed in the flames until the next day when he miraculously emerged unharmed.

Died

c.550 of natural causes

Saint Nicon of Sicily

Profile

Distinguished Roman soldier. Converted to Christianity while travelling in Palestine. Spiritual student of Theodosius of Cyzicus. Leader of 200 Christian disciples who fled to Sicily to escape persecutions of Decius in Palestine. They could not escape it, however, and all were martyred.

Died

martyred c.250 in Sicily, Italy

Saint Liberatus of Carthage

Profile

Martyred with his wife and children in the persecutions of the Arians; only the father‘s name has come down to us.

Died

484 at Carthage (modern Tunis, Tunisia)

Saint Frumentius of Hadrumetum

Profile

Wealthy merchant. Martyred in the persecutions of the Arian Vandal King Hunneric.

Died

martyred in 484 in Hadrumetum (modern Sousse, Tunisia)

Saint Maidoc of Fiddown

Also known as

• Mo-Mhaedog of Fiddown

• Momhaedog

Profile

Fifth century abbot at the monastery at Fiddown in Kilkenny, Ireland.

Born

Irish

Saint Felix the Martyr

Profile

Fifth century martyr, killed in the Vandal persecutions with 20 other Christians whose names have not come down to us.

Died

martyred in Africa in the 5th century

Saint Felix of Monte Cassino

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Benedictine monk at Monte Cassino.

Died

• c.1000 of natural causes

• miracles reported at his tomb

Saint Crescentius of Carthage

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Priest. Martyred in the persecutions of the Arians.

Died

484 at Carthage (modern Tunis, Tunisia)

Daughters of Feradhach

Also known as

Filiae Feradachi

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Mentioned in early calendars and martyrologies, but no information about them has survived.

Saint Theodolus of Antioch

Also known as

Theodore, Theodoricus

Profile

Priest in Antioch, Syria.

Saint Fidelis the Martyr

Profile

Martyr.

Died

martyred in North Africa