இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் ஜீலை 22

 St. Joseph of Palestine

Feastday: July 22

Death: 356

A convert from Judaism and patron of St. Eusebius of Vercelli and St. Epiphanus. One tradition states that Joseph was so moved by the deathbed Baptism of the great Jewish rabbi, Hillel, that he became a Christian. His Jewish congregation beat him and threw him in a river, but he still refused to abjure the faith. He was made a comes by Emperor Constantine and built Christian churches in Galilee. Joseph protected St. Eusebius of Vercelli and St. Epiphanus. St. Epiphanius wrote Joseph's biography.

St. Alberic Crescitelli

Feastday: July 22

Birth: 1863

Death: 1900

Canonized: Pope John Paul II

Missionary and martyr. Born near Naples, Italy, Alberic joined the Milan Foreign Missionary Society and was sent to China in 1888. He worked in schools and missions along the Han River until the Boxer Rebellion brought chaos to China. A group of boxers captured Alberic and hacked him to pieces on July 21, 1900. He was beatified in 1951.

Alberico (Alberic) Crescitelli (1863–1900), Chinese name Guo Xide (Chinese: 郭西德), was an Italian Catholic priest and missionary to China. Born in Italy on 30 June 1863, Alberico Crescitelli entered the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in 1880 and was ordained a priest on 4 June 1887. The following year he went to China and began work in southern Shaanxi.

Crescitelli was believed to have been killed in the Boxer Rebellion. Crescitelli's confreres, who had known him well and for many years, started his beatification cause in 1908, only eight years after his death. The testimony provided by the confreres was unanimous about the holiness of Crescitelli's life.

At the Vatican, in St. Peter's Basilica on 18 February 1951, Pope Pius XII declared Alberico Crescitelli "blessed." The Pope's speech was memorable especially for the passage in which he described Father Crescitelli's martyrdom:

Humanly speaking, his death was horrible; perhaps one of the most atrocious recorded in history. Nothing was missing, neither the cruelty of the torments, nor the time they lasted, the most barbaric humiliations, nor the suffering of the heart, nor the hypocritical betrayal of false friends, nor the hostile and threatening screams of his murderers, nor the darkness of being abandoned.

Pope John Paul II included him in the list of 120 Martyr Saints of China canonized in St. Peter's Square on October 1, 2000.

This large group canonisation was bitterly opposed in China itself, with Bishop Fu Tieshan, the leader of the state-run Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association describing it as "intolerable". A statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry alleged that "some of those canonised by the Vatican this time perpetrated outrages such as raping or looting in China and committed unforgivable crimes against the Chinese people." A further statement from China's State Administration of Religious Affairs singled out Alberico Crescitelli for special comment, alleging that he had been "notorious for taking the 'right of the first night' of each bride under his diocese."[1] The Catholic Church's Holy Spirit Study Centre in Hong Kong has described the accusations as baseless.[2]

In his homily at the canonisation ceremony on 1 October 2000, Pope John Paul II made a statement asking for forgiveness for any past wrongs by the missionaries to China: "There are those who with a partial and not very objective reading of history see only limits and errors in their action. If they happened - is there any man exempt from defects? - we ask for forgiveness

Saint Mary Magdalen

புனிதர் மகதலின் மரியாள் 

(St. Mary Magdalene)

அப்போஸ்தலர்களின் அப்போஸ்தலர்:

(Apostle to the Apostles)

பிறப்பு: தகவலில்லை

மகதலா, யூதேயா

(Magdala, Judea)

இறப்பு: தகவலில்லை

பிரான்ஸ் அல்லது எபேசஸ்

(France or Ephesus)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

ஆங்கிலிகன் சமூகம்

(Anglican Communion)

லூதரன் திருச்சபை

(Lutheranism)

மற்ற எதிர் திருச்சபைகள்

(Other Protestant Churches)

நினைவுத் திருவிழா: ஜூலை 22

பாதுகாவல்:

மருந்து செய்து விற்பவர்கள்; தியான வாழ்வு வாழ்பவர்கள்; மனம்மாறியவர்கள்; கையுறை செய்பவர்கள்; சிகை அலங்காரம் செய்பவர்கள்; பெண்கள், செய்த பிழைக்கு மனம் வருந்துபவர்கள், இத்தாலியர்.

புனிதர் மகதலின் மரியாள், புதிய ஏற்பாட்டின்படி, இயேசுவின் பிற சீடர்களில் ஒருவராக இயேசுவுடன் பயணித்த யூதப் பெண் ஆவார். இவர், இயேசுவின் சிலுவைப் பாடுகளையும் இறைவனின் உயிர்த்தெழுதலையும் நேரில் கண்டவர் என அறியப்படுகிறது. நான்கு நற்செய்தி நூல்களுல், பிற அப்போஸ்தலர்களைவிட, சுமார் 12 தடவைக்கும் அதிகமாக இவரது பெயர் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இவரது பெயர் இவர் பிறந்த ஊரான தற்போதய இசுரேலில் அமைந்துள்ள மகதலாவின் மரியாள் எனப் பொருள்படும்.

இயேசு அவரை "ஏழு அரக்கர்களிடமிருந்து" காப்பாற்றியதாக, (லூக்கா 8:2 & மார்க்கு 16:9) கூறப்படுவது சிக்கலான நோய்களிலிருந்து அவரைக் குணப்படுத்தியதைக் குறிப்பதாக புரிந்துகொள்ளப்படுகிறது. மகதலின் மரியாள் இயேசுவின் கடைசி நாட்களில் - பாடுகள்பட்டு, மரித்து, உயிர்தெழும்வரை கூடவே இருந்தார்; அவரை சிலுவையில் அறைந்தபோது, (அன்பிற்குரிய ஜானைத் தவிர) பிற ஆண் சீடர்கள் ஓடியபோதும், பின்னர் கல்லறையிலும் உடனிருந்தார்.

இவர் ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை, கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை, ஆங்கிலிக்கன் சமூகம், லூதரன் திருச்சபை மற்றும் பிற எதிர் திருச்சபைகளால் புனிதராக மதிக்கப்படுகிறார். இவரது நினைவுத் திருநாள் ஜூலை 22 ஆகும். மரியாளின் வாழ்க்கை, ஆய்வாளர்களால் தொடர்ந்து சர்சைக்குட்படுத்தப்பட்டு வந்துள்ளது.

புனிதர் லுக்கா எழுதிய நற்செய்தியின் ஏழாம் அதிகாரத்தில் நாம் காணும் பாவியான பெண்ணும், லூக்கா பத்தாம் அதிகாரம், அருளப்பர் பதினோரம் அதிகாரம் ஆகியவற்றில் நாம் காணும் மார்த்தாள் - லாசர் இவர்களுடைய சகோதரியும் இவரேயாவார்.

இவர் வேறு பல புண்ணிய பெண்களோடு இயேசுவைப் பின்சென்று அவருக்கு சேவை செய்து வந்தார். இயேசு தனக்குச் செய்த உதவிகளுக்கு நன்றியாக, இவர் தனது உடமைகளைப் பயன்படுத்தி, அவருக்குச் சேவை செய்தார். சாகும்வரை அவருக்குப் பிரமாணிக்கமாய் இருந்தார்.

மரியாள் ஓர் பெரும்பாவி என்று மக்களால் ஒதுக்கி வைக்கப்பட்டபோது, தன் நிலையை உணர்ந்து அழுது, இயேசுவிடம் ஓடிச்சென்றார். தன் பாவங்களின் பரிகாரமாய் செய்த செயலினால், இயேசுவின் ஆழ்மனதில் இடம்பிடித்தார். அன்னை மரியாளுக்குப் பிறகு, இயேசுவின் அருகில் எப்போதும் அவருக்காக வாழ்ந்தவர்.

"என்னை இப்படி பற்றிக்கொள்ளாதே" என்று ஆண்டவரே கூறுமளவுக்கு, அவர் மேல் அன்புகொண்டவர். இயேசுவைப் பற்றிக்கொள்வதில் அனைவருக்கும் சிறந்த எடுத்துக்காட்டாய் அன்றிலிருந்து இன்றுவரை திகழ்கிறார்.

இயேசு தொங்கிய சிலுவையின் அடியில் இவர் நின்றார்.

கல்லறை வெறுமனே இருப்பதை முதன்முதலில் பார்த்து, இயேசுவை காணவில்லையே என்று ஆதங்கப்பட்டு, கண்ணீர் விட்டு அழுது, இயேசுவை பற்றிக்கொண்டவர் இவர்.

உயிர்த்த இயேசு தம் அன்னைக்கு முதலில் காட்சி கொடுத்தார். அடுத்தபடியாக காட்சி கொடுத்தது இவருக்கே.

யோவான் 20 மற்றும் மார்க்கு 16:9 ஆகிய இரு நற்செய்தியாளர்கள் கூற்றுப்படி, இயேசு உயிர்த்தெழுந்த பிறகு, முதலில் அவரைக் கண்டதும் மகதலின் மரியாளேயாவார்.

உயிர்த்த இயேசுவைக் காணும்வரை இவர் இளைப்பாறவில்லை. "அவரை எங்கே வைத்திருக்கிறீர்கள்? நான் அவரைத் தூக்கிக் கொண்டு செல்வேன்" என்றார். அவரைத் தூக்கிச் செல்ல இவரால் முடியாதென்றாலும், இச்சொற்கள் இவரது அன்பைக் காட்டுகின்றன. இவரை யூதர்கள் நாடு கடத்தினார்கள்.

மார்த்தாள், லாசர் மற்றும் இன்னும் சில சீடர்களுடன் இவர் ஃபிரான்ஸ் நாட்டை அடைந்தார் என பாரம்பரியம்  கூறுகிறது.

அப்போஸ்தலர்களுக்கு அப்போஸ்தலி(திருத்தூதர்களுக்கு திருத்தூதுரைத்தவள்) :

சமீபத்தில் திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் மகதலா மரியாளின் நினைவு நாளை அப்போஸ்தலர்களை போலவே திருவிழாவாக மாற்றினார்.[6] அதில் மகதலா மரியாளின் சிறப்பான அப்போஸ்தல பணியானது சுட்டிக்காட்டப்படுகிறது. "ஆண்டவர் இயேசு உயிர்த்தெழுந்தார் " என்பதே கிறிஸ்தவ மறையின் தலையாய விசுவாசமும் நற்செய்தியும் ஆகும்(1 கொரிந்தியர் 15:14). அதை முதன் முதலில் உலகுக்கு அறிவித்தது ஒரு பெண். அவள் தான் மகதலா மரியாள். ஏதேன் தோட்டத்தில், வாழ்வு நிறைந்திருந்த நிலையில் ஏவாள் என்னும் முதல் அன்னை மனிதனுக்கு சாவினை கனி வழியாக அறிவித்தாள். கெத்சமணி தோட்டத்தில் , சாவும் துயரமும் நிறைந்திருந்த நிலையில் மகதலா மரியாள் என்னும் அன்னை மனிதனுக்கு வாழ்வினை நற்செய்தி என்னும் இயேசுவின் கனி வழியாக அறிவித்தாள். இதை புனித தோமா அக்குவினாரும் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார். புனிதர்களில் இத்தகு சிறப்பு பெயரை தாங்கியுள்ள ஒருவர் புனித மகதலா மரியாள் என்பது குறிப்பிடப்பட்டது.

இறைஇரக்கத்தின் சாட்சி:

கெத்சமணி தோட்டத்தில் தம் அன்பர் இயேசுவை காணாத மகதலா மரியாள் கண்ணீர் வடித்தாள் என்று திருவிவிலியம் கூறுகின்றது . அவளின் அன்புக்கண்ணீரை புனித அன்ஸ்லம் "தாழ்ச்சியின் கண்ணீர் " என்று குறிப்பிடுகின்றார். மகதலா மரியாளின் அன்பால் கசிந்த கண்ணீரை கண்டு இரங்கிய கிறிஸ்து தன் உயிர்ப்பின் மகிமையில் அவளுக்கு தோன்றினார். தான் படைத்த படைப்பு, தன்னை படைத்தவரை அன்பொழுக தேடும் போது அன்பே உருவான இறைவன் ,எவ்வாறு தன்னை மறைத்துக் கொள்வார் ? புனித பாப்பரசர் பெரிய கிரகோரியார் இதை முன்னிட்டே இறை இரக்கத்தின் சாட்சியென மகதலா மரியாளை கூறுகின்றார்

Also known as

• Maria Maddalena

• Maria Magdalena

• Mary Magdalene

• the Sinner

Profile

We have very little solid information about Saint Mary, and both scholars and traditions differ on the interpretation of what we do know.

She was a friend and follower of Jesus. Filled with sorrow over her sin, she anointed Christ, washed his feet with her hair. He exorcised seven demons from her. She was visited by the Risen Christ.

There are also arguments about her life after the Crucifixion.

The Greek Church maintains that she retired to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin Mary and lived there the rest of her life.

A French tradition says that Mary, Lazarus, and some companions came to Marseilles, France, evangelized and converted the whole Provence region, and then retired to live 30 years as a penitent hermitess at La Sainte-Baume.

Oh, some things we do know for certain - Mary wasn't Jesus' wife or mistress, she wasn't the mother of His child, she didn't found a royal dynasty or separate branch of Christianity, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseam.

Died

the Greek Church says

• she died in Ephesus of natural causes

• her relics were transferred to Constantinople in 886 where they remain today

a French tradition says

• as she lay on her death bed, nine angels carried Mary to the oratory of Saint Maximinus in Aix where she received Communion and then died of natural causes

• she was interred in an oratory constructed by Saint Maximinus at Villa Lata (Saint Maximin)

• in 745 her relics were moved to Vézelay to save them from Saracen invaders

• at some point they were moved to a shrine at her hemitage on La Sainte-Baume; they were there in 1279 when King Charles II of Naples funded a Dominican convent on the hill

• in 1600 the relics were placed in a sarcophagus sent by Pope Clement VIII

• in 1814 the church on La Sainte-Baume, wrecked during the anti-Christian excesses of the French Revolution, was restored

• in 1822 the grotto was re-consecrated, still has the head of the saint, and is a pilgrimage centre

Saint Gualtero of Lodi

Also known as

Gautier, Gualtiero, Walter

Profile

The only child of Aliprando and Adelazia, pious parents who were childless so long that they promised God they would devote any child of theirs to the Church. They kept their pledge, giving the boy a good education, and by age fifteen Gualtero was working as a Hospitaller friar in the San Raimondo il Palmerio hospital in Piacenza, Italy, beginning his lifelong devotion to care of the sick and poor. His father died not long after; his mother entered a convent, Gualtero sold off and gave away all their property, and the two devoted themselves to God. Gualtero worked in then San Bartolomeo hospital in Lodi, Italy, living as a sort of anchorite on the grounds. He founded clinics for the poor and pilgrims in the Italian cities of Fanzago, Vercelli, Tortona, Crema and Melegnano. With the financial assistance of the city of Lodi and the archbishop of Milan, Italy, he and a fellow priest founded the Ospitale della Misericordia (Hospital of Mercy) in Lodi, which attracted the services of many brothers, sisters and hermits, and the adjoining church of Saints James and Philip on 30 April 1206. Known for his ascetic life, working and travelling barefoot and dressed in sack cloth, he could heal by prayer and always gave away anything he had that was more than his immediate need.

Born

c.1184 in Lodi, Lombardy, Italy

Died

• c.1224 in Lodi, Lombardy, Italy of natural causes

• buried in the Church of Saints James and Philip in Lodi, which became a pilgrimage site for those who sought aid at the Hospital of Mercy

• on 26 January 1384, some fanatical devotees, aided by some friars of San Biagio, stole his relics and hid them, first in San Biagio, then in the nearby church of Saint Paul; after a few weeks, the relics were returned

• relics re-enshrined in the Church of Saints James and Philip on 18 February 1384

• relics enshrined in the main altar of the cathedral of Lodi in the mid-15th century

• relics re-enshrined in the cathedral c.1600

• relics re-enshrined in the cathedral in 1896

• relics re-enshrined in the cathedral in 1946

• re-interred at the church of Saints James, Philip and Gualtero in Lodi in 1960

Blessed Augustine Fangi

Also known as

• Augustine of Biella

• Agostino Fangi

Profile

Born to wealthy nobility. Joined the Dominicans as a young man, and entered the house in Biella, Italy. Noted for his severe self-imposed penances, and his complete self-control; he once had surgery without anesthetic, and without making an outcry, claming his mind had been on his prayers. Prior of houses in Biella, Socino in 1464, Vercelli, and Vigevano. Miracle worker, whose incidents include

A deformed child, who died without baptism, was restored to life by Augustine's prayer long enough to be baptized.

Augustine met a little boy who was crying because he had broken a jug of wine. Augustine gathered up the shards and put them back together again, and prayed over it; it refilled with wine.

Through his intercession, a woman was delivered from possession of five devils.

Augustine spent his final ten years in the monastery in Venice, Italy.

Born

1430 at Biella, Piedmont, Italy

Died

• 22 July 1493 at Venice, Italy of natural causes

• in the 1530s, workmen found his coffin floating in the water that had seeped into the burial chamber - when opened, Augustine's body and clothing were found to be incorrupt

Beatified

• 1872 by Pope Blessed Pius IX (cultus confirmed)

• 1878 (beatified)

Saint Anna Wang

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Born to a poor Christian farm family, Anna's mother, a pious woman, died when the girl was five years old. In addition to her schooling, Anna had to help work the farm to support the family, but her teacher, Sister Lucy Wang, continued the religious education begun by Anna's mother. When she was 11, Anna's family tried to force her into an arranged marriage, but she fought against it. On 21 July 1900, an armed group associated with the anti–Christian, anti-Western Boxer Rebellion entered her village, burned the church, gathered all the Christians, and ordered them to renounce Christianity; many did, usually as a way to save their children, and Anna's step-mother encouraged her to do so. Anna refused, spending her remaining hours in prayer and encouraging others in their faith. Martyr.

Born

c.1886 in Machiazhuang, Weixian, Hebei, China

Died

• beheaded on 22 July 1900 in Machiazhuang, Weixian, Hebei, China

• body dumped in a mass grave

• exhumed on 6 November 1901 and given proper burial

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Manuela de Jesús Arias Espinosa

Also known as

• Sister María Inés Teresa of the Blessed Sacrament

• Manuelita (nickname)

Profile

Fifth of eight children in her family. Nun, entering the monastery of the Hail Mary in Los Angeles, California in 1929, making her perpetual vows on 14 December 1933 and living a cloistered life. Founder of the Congregations of the Poor Clare Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in August 1945 in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico; it received papal approval in 1949 and 1951. Founder of the Missionaries of Christ for the Universal Church. By the time of her death she was over-seeing 36 missionary houses in 14 countries. Over 6,000 of her writings survive.

Born

7 July 1904 in Ixtlán del Rio, Nayarit, Mexico

Died

22 July 1981 in Rome, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

21 April 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Joseph of Palestine

Profile

Jewish layman who was attached to the biblical school of Tiberius, and served as assistant to the famous Rabbi Hillel. Secretly a Christian believer, Hillel was baptized on his death bed, and entrusted his holy books to Joseph. As head of the synagogue in Tarsus, his congregation caught Joseph reading the gospels; they beat him and threw him in the Cydnus River. He then publicly converted.

Friend and counselor to emperor Constantine the Great, who appointed him to the high position of comes. Built churches in Galilee, Tiberias, Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethsan, and Diocaesarea, and evangelized throughout the Holy Land. Fought Arianism, and moved to Scytholopolis where he hid priests from their persecution. Financial patron of Saint Eusebius of Vercielli and Saint Epiphanius; Epiphanius wrote Joseph's biography.

His guardianship of holy writings and holy men led to his association with guardians in general.

Died

c.356 of natural causes at Palestine

Patronage

• converts

• guardians

Saint John Lloyd

Additional Memorial

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

Profile

Educated at the Royal College of Saint Alban at Valladolid, Spain, entering in 1649. Took the missionary oath on 16 October 1649 to return to England. Sent to Wales in 1654 to minister to covert Catholics, he lived his vocation while constantly on the run for 24 years. Arrested at Penllyne, Glamorganshire, 20 November 1678. Served time in the Cardiff jail with Saint Philip Evans. It took several months before the authorities could find anyone will to testify about the two, but they finally had a trial and condemned them on 5 May 1679 for the treason of Catholic priesthood. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Born

at Powys, Wales

Died

hanged, drawn, and quartered 22 July 1679 on Gallows Field in Cardiff, Wales

Canonized

25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI

Saint Wandrille of Fontenelle

Also known as

• Vandregisilo

• Vandrille

• Wandregisel

• Wandregisilus

Profile

Member of the court of King Dagobert I. Married. Pilgrim to Rome, Italy, his wife became a nun and Wandrille became a monk at Montfaucon, Switzerland. Spiritual student of Saint Balderic. Hermit at Saint-Ursanne, Jura, France. Monk in Bobbio, Italy. Priest, ordained by Saint Ouen of Rouen. Founded the Abbey of Fontenelle in Normandy, France in 657.

Born

c.600 near Verdun, Austrasia (in modern France)

Died

• 668 of natural causes

• during the Viking invasions, Wandrille's relics were dispersed to assorted church and abbeys

• in the 19th century his skull was found in storage in Liège, Belgium

• skull returned to the Fontenelle Abbey's new church in 1967

Saint Philip Evans

Additional Memorial

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

Profile

Educated at the college of Saint Omer. Could play the harp, and played tennis. Joined the Jesuits on 7 September 1665. Ordained at Liege, Belgium. Sent to southern Wales in 1675 to minister to covert Catholics. Arrested at Christopher Turberville's house, Sker, Glamorganshire on 4 December 1678 during the increased persecutions following the Titus Oates Plot. When he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy he was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle; he served time with Saint John Lloyd. Condemned on 5 May 1679 in Cardiff for the crime of being a priest. Martyr.

Born

1645 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales

Died

hanged, drawn, and quartered 22 July 1679 on Gallows Field in Cardiff, Wales

Canonized

25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI

Saint Andreas Wang Tianqing

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Nine year old boy in Machiazhuang, China. On 21 July 1900, an armed group associated with the anti–Christian, anti-Western Boxer Rebellion entered his village, burned the church, gathered all the Christians, and ordered them to renounce Christianity; many did, usually as a way to save their children who would have been killed, as well. Andreas refused. Martyr.

Born

c.1891 in Weixian, Hebei, China

Died

• beheaded on 22 July 1900 in Machiazhuang, Weixian, Hebei, China

• body dumped in a mass grave

• exhumed on 6 November 1901 and given proper burial

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Lucia Wang Wangzhi

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Married and mother of two. On 21 July 1900, an armed group associated with the anti–Christian, anti-Western Boxer Rebellion entered her village, burned the church, gathered all the Christians, and ordered them to renounce Christianity; many did, usually as a way to save their children who would have been killed, as well. Lucia refused. Martyr.

Born

c.1869 in Weixian, Hebei, China

Died

• beheaded on 22 July 1900 in Machiazhuang, Weixian, Hebei, China

• body dumped in a mass grave

• exhumed on 6 November 1901 and given proper burial

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Rosalío Benito Ixchop

Profile

Pious married layman of the diocese of Quiché, Guatemala who served his parish as a catechist. Murdered by government troops. Martyr.

Born

16 August 1914 in La Puerta, Chinique, Guatemala

Died

22 July 1982 in La Puerta, Chinique, Quiché, Guatemala

Beatified

• 23 April 2021 by Pope Francis

• beatification recognition celebrated in Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala

Saint Maria Wang Lishi

Also known as

• Maria Wang Lizhi

• Mali

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Married lay woman in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. Martyred in the Boxer Rebellion for openly declaring herself a Christian.

Born

c.1851 in Fancun, Weixian, Hebei, China

Died

22 July 1900 in Daning, Weixian, Hebei, China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Jacques Lombardie

Profile

Priest in the diocese of Limoges, France. Imprisoned on a ship in the harbor of Rochefort, France and left to die during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the French Revolution. One of the Martyrs of the Hulks of Rochefort.

Born

1 December 1737 in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France

Died

22 July 1794 aboard the prison ship Deux-Associés, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France

Beatified

1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Syntyche of Philippi

Also known as

Synteches, Syntykhé

Profile

Mentioned by Saint Paul the Apostle in the Letter to the Philippians as having helped him spread the gospel, but no information about her has come down to us.

Readings

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to come to a mutual understanding in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my true yokemate, to help them, for they have struggled at my side in promoting the gospel, along with Clement and my other co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. – Philippians 4:2-3

Blessed Joaquin Rodríguez Bueno

Also known as

Ireneo Jacinto

Profile

Professed religious in the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers). Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

20 August 1910 in Mazuelo de Muñó, Burgos, Spain

Died

22 July 1936 in Almudena, Madrid, Spain

Beatified

13 October 2013 by Pope Francis

Blessed Rosalío Benito

Profile

Pious layman of the diocese of Quiché, Guatemala who served his parish as a catechist. Murdered by government troops. Martyr.

Born

c.1902 in Guatemala

Died

22 July 1982 in La Puerta, Chinique, Quiché, Guatemala

Venerated

23 January 2020 by Pope Francis (decree of martyrdom)

Blessed Benno of Osnabruck

Profile

Monk. Courtier to Emperor Henry III. Bishop of Osnabruck, Germany in 1068; he served for 20 years. Involved in the disputes between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. Founded Iburg Abbey in Bad Iburg, Germany.

Died

1088 at Iburg Abbey and Castle, Bad Iburg, Germany of natural causes

Saint Theophilus of Cyprus

Profile

Eighth-century soldier, sailor and admiral of the Christian fleet stationed on Cyprus. Captured in battle by invading Muslims, he was imprisoned for four years, then ordered to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam; he refused. Martyr.

Died

789 in Cyprus

Saint Meneleus of Ménat

Also known as

Mauvier, Menele, Meneve

Profile

Monk at Carméry in Auvergne, France. Restored the monastery of Ménat near Clermont, France.

Born

Anjou, France

Died

c.720

Saint Movean of Inis-Coosery

Also known as

Biteus of Inis-Coosery

Profile

Spiritual student of Saint Patrick. Monk. Abbot of Inis-Coosery in County Down, Ireland. Retired to live as a prayerful hermit in Perthshire, Scotland.

Saint Anastasius of Schemarius

Profile

Monk in the Caucasus mountains. Spiritual student of Saint Maximus the Confessor. Imprisoned, tortured and martyred.

Died

662 at the Schemaris fortress, Caucasus mountains

Saint Plato of Ancyra

Also known as

Platone

Profile

Brother of Saint Antiochus of Sebaste. Martyr.

Died

c.306 at Ancyra, Galatia

Saint Jerome of Pavia

Also known as

Gerolamo

Profile

Bishop of Pavia, Italy from 778 until his death.

Died

787 of natural causes

Canonized

20 December 1888 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmation)

Saint Claudius Marius Victorinus of Saussaye

Profile

Commemorated in La Saussaye, Eure, France, but no details about him have survived.

Saint Dabius

Also known as

Bavins, Davius

Profile

May have been a spiritual student of Saint Patrick. Priest. Missionary to Scotland where several churches are named for him.

Born

Irish

Saint Pancharius of Besançon

Profile

Bishop of Besançon, France. Much persecuted by the Arian Emperor Constantius.

Died

c.356

Blessed Paolo de Lara

Profile

Born to the nobility. Ordained as a priest in 1344. Mercedarian friar. Ransomed 209 Christians who were enslaved by Moors in Granada, Spain.

Saint Baudry of Montfaucon

Profile

Seventh century monk. Founded the Abbey of Montfaucon in the diocese of Verdun, France.

Saint Lewine

Profile

Fourth century nun in England. Martyred by invading pagan Saxons.

Born

Flanders (in modern Belgium)

Died

England

Saint Cyril of Antioch

Profile

Patriarch of Antioch in 280.

Died

c.300 of natural causes

Saint Andrew of Antioch

Profile

Martyr.

Died

c.280 in Antioch

Martyrs of Marula

Also known as

Martyrs of Massylis

Profile

Three Christians martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Ajabosus, Andrew and Elian.

Died

Massylis (Marula), Numidia (in modern Algeria)

Martyrs of Massilitani

Profile

A group of Christians martyred together in northern Africa. Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote about them.

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் ஜீலை 21

 Saint Lawrence of Brindisi

பிரிந்திசி நகர் புனித லாரன்ஸ்(St.Lawrence of Brindisi)

மறைவல்லுநர் (Doctor of the Church)

பிறப்பு 

1559

பிரிந்திசி(Brindisi), இத்தாலி

இறப்பு 

1619

லிஸ்பன்(Lisbon)

இவர் பிரிந்திசி நகரிலிருந்த கப்புச்சின் சபைத் துறவிகளிடம் கல்வி பயின்றார். வெனிஸ் நகரிலிருந்த புனித மார்க் கல்லூரியில் தனது மேற்படிப்பை முடித்தபின், தனது 16 ஆம் வயதில் கப்புச்சின் சபையில் சேர்ந்து குருத்துவப் பயிற்சி பெற்றார். பதுவை நகரில் தத்துவக்கலையை முடித்தபின் குருவாக திருநிலைப்படுத்தப்பட்டார். பல மொழிகளை கற்றுத் தேர்ந்த இவர், பல நாடுகளுக்கு சென்று நற்செய்தியை போதித்தார். பின்னர் திருத்தந்தையின் வேண்டுதலின்படி ஜெர்மனி நாட்டிற்கு யூதர்களிடம் அனுப்பப்பட்டார். யூத மக்களிடையே லாரன்சின் பணி செழிப்படைந்தது. மார்ட்டின் லூத்தரின் தவறான போதனைகளை நம்பிய மக்கள், தற்போது லாரன்ஸ் கூறிய போதனைகளை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டு கிறிஸ்துவை பின்பற்றினர். 

லாரன்ஸ் மறைபரப்பு பணியோடு சேர்ந்து, தொற்று நோய் கொண்ட மக்களிடமும், பிளேக் நோயாளிகளிடையேயும் தொண்டாற்றினார். அம்மக்களுக்கும் கிறிஸ்துவை யார் என்று அறிவித்து, அன்பு பணியாற்றினார். பின்னர் இம்மக்களுக்காக 3 துறவற இல்லங்களை தொடங்கினார். 1602 ஆம் ஆண்டு அச்சபையின் தலைவராக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டார். ஆனால் அப்பதவியில் அவர் மனம் நாட்டங்கொள்ளாததால் 3 ஆண்டுகளில் அப்பதவியிலிருந்து விலகினார். இவர் கிறிஸ்துவுக்கு எதிராக செயல்பட்டவர்களுக்கு, நன்மை செய்ய, தன்னையும் போர் படைகளில் இணைத்துக்கொண்டு கையில் சிலுவையை ஏந்தி போர்புரிந்தார். அப்போது பல்வேறு பணிகளை ஆற்றி, சிறப்பாக பல விசுவாச நூல்களையும் எழுதினார். ஐரோப்பா முழுவதும் பயணம் செய்து திருமுறையைப்பரப்பினார். தன் இறப்புவரை மிக எளிமையான கப்புச்சின் குருவாக வாழ்ந்து இறந்தார். 

Also known as

• Brother Lorenzo

• Julius Caesar Rossi

• Laurence of Brindisi

• Lorenzo da Brindisi

Additional Memorial

22 July (Lisbon, Portugal)

 

Profile

Son of Guglielmo de Rossi and Elisabetta Masella. He felt an early call to religious life, and was educated by the Friars Minor Conventuals of Brindisi, Italy. His father died when the boy was twelve. Studied in Venice. Joined the Capuchin Friars in 1575 at age 16, taking the name Brother Lorenzo. Studied theology, the Bible, French, German, Greek, Spanish, Syriac, and Hebrew at the University of Padua; he was a brilliant student, known for his facility with languages. Priest. Taught theology. Served as linguist and military chaplain. Famous, effective and forceful preacher in any of his several languages. Founded convents of Vienna and Graz in Austria, and in Prague, Czech Republic. Wrote catechisms.

Chaplain of the army of the Holy Roman Empire in 1601. Rallied the German princes to fight a superior Turkish force, and was asked to lead the army into battle at Stuhlweissenburg (modern Székesfehérvár, Hungary) carrying no weapon but a crucifix; the Turks were completely defeated. Master general of his order from 1602 to 1605; he was the choice for another term, but turned it down. Carried out important and successful diplomatic peace missions to Munich, Germany and Madrid, Spain. Assigned in 1605 to evangelize in Germany, where he had great success. Convinced Philip III of Spain to join the German Catholic League. Commissary general of his order for the provinces of Tyrol and Bavaria in Germany. Spiritual director of the Bavarian army. Tended to fall into ecstasies when celebrating Mass.

In 1956, the Capuchin Order compiled fifteen volumes of his sermons, letters and writings. Proclaimed Apostolic Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII in 1959.

Born

22 July 1559 at Brindisi, Italy as Julius Caesar Rossi

Died

• 22 July 1619 at Lisbon, Portugal of natural causes

• buried in the cemetery of the Poor Clares on Villafranca, Spain

Canonized

8 December 1881 by Pope Leo XIII

Patronage

Brindisi, Italy

Saint Arbogast of Strasbourg

Also known as

Arascach

Profile

The little recorded of his childhood is probably legend. Hermit, living in a cave at Alsace, France with a widespread reputation for holiness. When King Dagobert's son was killed in a hunting accident, Arbogast's prayers brought the lad back to life. Bishop of Strasbourg, France c.630; very devoted to his people, and through Dagobert's generosity, he was able to build several churches.

Born

• 7th century Aquitaine, France

• some writers claim him for Scotland and/or Ireland

Died

• c.678 of natural causes

• at his insistence, he was buried in an area normally reserved for criminals

• the church of Saint Michael was soon built over his grave

• relics translated to the nearby Saint Arbogast abbey

• relics scattered and lost during the Thirty Years War

Patronage

Strasbourg, France

Saint Victor of Marseilles

(St. Victor of Marseilles)

மறைசாட்சி:

(Martyr)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டு

இறப்பு: கி.பி. 290

மார்செய்ல்

(Marseille)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஜூலை 21

பாதுகாவல்:

கேபின் தயாரிப்பாளர்கள் (Cabinetmakers), அரவையாளர்கள் (Millers), சித்திரவதையால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்கள், நோய்வாய்ப்பட்ட குழந்தைகள்; மின்னலுக்கு எதிராக

புனிதர் விக்டர், ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்கம் மற்றும் கிழக்கு மரபுவழி ஆகிய திருச்சபைகளால் புனிதராக ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டவர் ஆவார். இவர் சிலை வழிபாடுகளை மறுத்த காரணத்தால் மறைசாட்சியாக கொல்லப்பட்டவர் ஆவார்.

புனிதர் விக்டர், மார்செய்ல் (Marseille) நகரில், ஒரு ரோம இராணுவ அதிகாரியாக பணியாற்றியவர் என்று கூறப்படுகிறது. இவர், சிலை வழிபாடுகளை பகிரங்கமாக கண்டனம் செய்தார் என்றும் கூறப்படுகிறது. இதன் காரணமாக, இவர் “ஆஸ்டியரிஸ்” (Asterius) மற்றும் “யூட்டிசியஸ்” (Eutychius) எனப்படும் இரண்டு ரோம நிர்வாக அதிகாரிகளின் முன்பு கொண்டுவரப்பட்டார். பின்னர், அவர்கள் அவரை ரோமப் பேரரசன் “மேக்சிமியனிடம்" (Emperor Maximian) அனுப்பினார்கள். பின்னர், தெருக்களில் அலைந்து, அடித்து, இழுத்துச்செல்லப்பட்ட அவர், சிறையிலெறியப்பட்டார். அங்கே சிறையில், அவர் “லோங்கினஸ்” (Longinus), அலெக்ஸாண்டர் (Alexander), மற்றும் “ஃபெலீசியன்” (Felician) ஆகிய மூன்று ரோம வீரர்களை கிறிஸ்தவத்திற்கு மனம் மாற்றினார். பின்னர் அவர்களும் தலை வெட்டப்பட்டு கொல்லப்பட்டனர். ரோமன் கடவுளான “ஜூபிடர்” (Jupiter) சிலைக்கு தூபமிட மறுத்த பிறகு, விக்டர் தனது காலால் அதை உதைத்துத் தள்ளினார். கடும் சினமுற்ற பேரரசன் மேக்சிமியன், அவரை ஒரு மைல் கல்லினடியில் இட்டு கொள்ளுமாறு உத்தரவிட்டான். ஆனால், அந்த மைல் கள் சிதறுண்டு போனது; விக்டருக்கு ஒன்றுமாகவில்லை. அதன் காரணமாக, அவர் தலை வெட்டப்பட்டு கொல்லப்பட்டார்.

புனிதர் விக்டரும், அவரால் கிறிஸ்தவ மதத்திற்கு மனம் மாற்றப்பட்ட ரோம வீரர்களான “லோங்கினஸ்” (Longinus), அலெக்ஸாண்டர் (Alexander), மற்றும் “ஃபெலீசியன்” (Felician) ஆகிய மூவரும், கி.பி. மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டின் இறுதியில் கொல்லப்பட்டனர். நான்காம் நூற்றாண்டைச் சேர்ந்த புனிதர் “ஜான் கேசியன்” (Saint John Cassian) என்பவர், இவர்கள் மூவரும் கொல்லப்பட்ட குகையின் மேலே ஒரு துறவற (Monastery) மடாலயத்தை கட்டி எழுப்பினார். பிற்காலத்தில் இது, பெனடிக்டின் மடாலயமாகவும் (Benedictine abbey), “சிறு பேராலயமாகவும்” (Minor Basilica) ஆனது. இதுவே புனிதர் விக்டரின் மடாலயமாகும் (Abbey of St Victor).

புனிதர் விக்டர் மற்றும் அவருடன் மரித்த மூன்று ரோம படை வீரர்களான “லோங்கினஸ்” (Longinus), அலெக்ஸாண்டர் (Alexander), மற்றும் “ஃபெலீசியன்” (Felician) ஆகியோரின் நினைவுத் திருநாள், ஜூலை மாதம் 21ம் நாளாகும்.

புனிதர் விக்டர், “எஸ்டோனியா” (Estonia) நாட்டின் தலைநகரான “டல்லின்” (Tallinn) நகரின் பாதுகாவல் புனிதராவார்.

Profile

Christian soldier in the imperial Roman army, he was imprisoned in Marseilles, France when he refused to worship pagan gods. While in awaiting execution, he converted other prisoners. Martyr.

Died

290 with three prisoners in Marseilles, France he had converted

Patronage

• against lightning

• cabinetmakers

• millers

• torture victims

• Marseilles, France

• Davoli, Italy

Saint Alberic Crescitelli

Also known as

Alberico

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Seminarian at age twelve. Studied at the Pontifical Seminary for Foreign Missions in Rome. Ordained in 1887. Joined the Milan Foreign Missionary Society, the predecessor of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), in 1888. Missionary in the Shensi Province in China near the Han River in 1888. Transferred to Ningkiang in 1900. Arrested on 20 July 1900 during the anti-Western Boxer Rebellion, he was tortured and murdered. Martyr.

Born

30 June 1863 at Altavilla, Benevento, Italy

Died

• beheaded on 21 July 1900 in Ningkiang, China

• body hacked to pieces

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Daniel the Prophet

Profile

One of the four Great Prophets in the Old Testament, and the writer of the book of scripture that bears his name.

Died

• 5th-century BC in Babylon of natural causes

• tomb traditionally in Susa (modern Shush, Iran)

• relics translated to Alexandria, Egypt

• relics translated to Venice, Italy

Patronage

Ledeberg, Belgium

Saint Antimund of Thérouanne

Also known as

Animundus, Antimond, Antimonde, Antimundus, Autimond, Autimundus

Profile

Hermit in Gallia Belgica (in modern northern France) in the early 6th century. Priest. Feeling a call to missionary work, and he and a Father Adelbert were sent by Saint Remigius of Rheims to evangelize the Morini people in the area of modern Picardy, France; this was a people who had received Christianity centuries earlier, but had reverted to their pagan roots. The pagan priests opposed him and supported continued worship of idols, but the people of the region were interested and he converted many. First bishop of Thérouanne in the Artois region of modern France, consecrated by Saint Remigius. Later invasions wiped out his good work, and in 7th century missionaries to the region had to start all over.

Saint Claudius of Troyes

Also known as

Claudianus

Profile

Roman officer in the army of Aurelius. Received Saint Julia of Troyes as a slave and a spoil of war. She pleaded with him not to rape her, offered to serve him otherwise, and promised to pray for him daily; he was moved to spare her, eventually treating her more as a daughter, and was finally converted by her. When Julia was martyred in the persecutions of Aurelian, Claudius made a public profession of his own faith. Martyr.

Born

early 3rd century in Alemannia, an area occupied by Germanic tribes

Died

• beheaded in 273 at Troyes, Gaul (modern France)

• relics at the Benedictine convent at Jouarre, France

Blessed Gabriel Pergaud

Profile

Priest. Member of the Canons Regular of the Congregation of France. Imprisoned on a ship in the harbor of Rochefort, France and left to die during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the French Revolution. One of the Martyrs of the Hulks of Rochefort.

Born

29 October 1752 in Saint-Priest-la-Plaine, Creuse, France

Died

21 July 1794 aboard the prison ship Deux-Associés, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France

Beatified

1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Praxides of Rome

Also known as

Praxedes, Praxidis

Profile

Daughter of a Senator Pudens and Saint Claudia of Rome; sister of Saint Prudentiana. Lifelong single lay woman. She employed her wealth in the interest of the Church, and was renowned for her virtues.

Died

• 164 in Rome, Italy of natural causes

• relics in the Saint Praxides Church, Rome

Patronage

single laywomen

Saint Iosephus Wang Yumei

Also known as

• Joseph

• Ruose

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Layman in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. Martyred in the Boxer Rebellion.

Born

c.1832 in Weixian, Hebei, China

Died

21 July 1900 in Daning, Weixian, Hebei, China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Simeon Salus

Also known as

• Simeon Solos

• Simeon the Fool

• Simeon the Insane

• Symeon...

Profile

A man who lived as a simple fool for Christ and became known for his holy wisdom and miracles. Pilgrim to many holy places. Longtime friend and travelling companion of Saint John of Edessa. Desert hermit. Hermit in Emesa (modern Homs), Syria.

Born

Edessa, Syria

Blessed Antonio Caba Pozo

Profile

Seminarian in the archdiocese of Granada, Spain. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

1 December 1914 in Lanjarón, Granada, Spain

Died

21 July 1936 in Lanjarón, Granada, Spain

Beatified

• 23 May 2020 by Pope Francis

• the beatification recognition was celebrated at the Cathedral of Santa María de la Encarnación in Granada, Spain, presided by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu

Blessed Parthenius of Thessaly

Profile

Bishop, known for his ascetic lifestyle in which he continually gave away all that he had to the poor, and as often as possible withdrew to live as a cowherd in order to have the solitude to spend his days in constant prayer – including praying for the cattle in his care.

Born

Thessaly

Died

1777 of natural causes

Patronage

against diseases of cattle

Blessed Juan de Las Varillas

Profile

Mercedarian friar. Missionary. Counselor and chaplain to Hernán Cortés during the expedition to Honduras in 1524. Though he was unable to establish a serious foothold for the Mercedarians in the Americas, Juan did bring many Aztecs to Christianity.

Born

Spain

Died

an area that would become modern Mexico, of natural causes

Blessed Agrícola Rodríguez García de Los Huertos

Profile

Priest in the archdiocese of Toledo, Spain. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

18 March 1896 in Consuegra, Toledo, Spain

Died

21 July 1936 in Mora, Toledo, Spain

Beatified

28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Julia of Troyes

Profile

Captured as a spoil of war by the forces of Roman emperor Aurelian following his victory over Tetricus. Given as a prize to Claudius of Troyes, an army officer. She converted him, and they were martyred together.

Born

3rd century at Troyes, France

Died

beheaded in 273 at Troyes, France

Saint Jucundinus of Troyes

Profile

Martyred in the persecutions of Aurelian.

Died

• 273 at Troyes, Gaul (modern France)

• relics at the Benedictine convent at Jouarre, France

Saint Barhadbescialas

Also known as

Barhadbesciabas

Profile

Deacon. Martyred in the persecutions of Sapor II. The Acts of the his martyrdom, written in Aramaic, have survived.

Died

354

Saint Eternus of Evreux

Also known as

Éterne, Aeternus, Ethernus, Detherus

Profile

Bishop of Evreux, France.

Died

c.660

Saint Eleutherius of Marseille

Also known as

Deutherius, Eleuterius

Profile

Young martyr.

Died

c.290 at the tomb of Saint Victor in Marseilles, France

Saint Justus of Troyes

Profile

Martyred in the persecutions of Aurelian.

Died

• 273 at Troyes, Gaul (modern France)

• relics at the Benedictine convent at Jouarre, France

Saint Benignus of Moyenmoutier

Profile

Twin brother of Saint John. Monk at Moyenmoutier. Spiritual student of Saint Hidulphus.

Died

707 of natural causes

Blessed Juan de Zambrana

Profile

Mercedarian friar. Missionary to Guatamala in 1535, one of the first in the region. Built the Mercedarian convent of San Giacomo in Santiago, Guatamala.

Saint John of Moyenmoutier

Profile

Twin brother of Saint Benignus. Monk at Moyenmoutier. Spiritual student of Saint Hidulphus.

Died

707 of natural causes

Saint Zoticus of Comana

Profile

Bishop of Comana, Italy. Fought against the Montanist heresy. Martyred in the persecutions of Septimius Severus.

Died

204

Saint Wastrada

Profile

Mother of Saint Gregory of Utrecht. In her later years she became a nun.

Died

• c.760 of natural causes

• buried at Susteren Abbey

Blessed Daniel Molini

Also known as

Daniele

Profile

Cistercian monk, abbot and confessor.

Born

Venice, Italy

Saint John of Edessa

Profile

Monk at Edessa, Syria. Longtime friend of Saint Simeon Salus.

Born

6th century Syrian

Blessed Claudius of Avignon

Profile

Franciscan friar in the Avignon region of France.

Saint Corona of Marseille

Profile

Martyr.

Died

c.290 in Marseille, France

Martyrs of Africa

Profile

Six Christians who were martyred together. We know no other details about them but the names – Emilian, Hugal, Motanus, Saphus, Stercorius and Victor.

Died

unknown location in Africa, date unknown

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் ஜீலை 20

 St. Wilgefortis

புனித வில்ஜிஃபோதிஸ் 

இவர் போர்ச்சுக்கல் நாட்டை ஆண்டு வந்த மன்னருடைய மகள். 

சிறு வயதிலேயே கடவுள்மீது மிகுந்த பற்றுகொண்டு வாழ்ந்து வந்த இவரை இவருடைய தந்தை சிசிலி நாட்டு மன்னருக்கு மணமுடித்துக் கொடுக்க நினைத்தார்.

இதை அறிந்த வில்ஜிஃபோதிஸ் தன் தந்தையிடம், தான் ஏற்கெனவே தன்னைக் கடவுளுக்கு அர்ப்பணித்துவிட்டதாகச் சொல்ல, அவர் இவர் சொன்னதை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளாமல், தன்னுடைய முடிவில் உறுதியாக இருந்தார்.

இதனால் இவர் கடவுளிடம், திருமணத்திலிருந்து தன்னை எப்படியாவது காத்தருளுமாறு வேண்ட, இவருக்கு மீசையும் தாடியும் வளரத் தொடங்கின. 

இந்நிலையில் இவரை மணம் முடிப்பதற்காக வந்த சிசிலி மன்னன், இவர் தாடியோடும் மீசையோடும் இருப்பதைப் பார்த்துவிட்டு,  வந்த வழியில் திரும்பிச் சென்று விட்டான். இதனால் சீற்றம் கொண்ட இவரது தந்தை இவரைச் சிலுவையில் அறைந்து கொன்று போட்டார்.

இவர் கணவனால் சித்திரவதைக்கு உள்ளாகும் மனைவிகளின் பாதுகாவலராக இருக்கிறார்

Facts

Feastday: July 20

Patron: of relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated ("disencumbered") from abusive husbands

Wilgefortis, also known as Liberata, Kummernis in Germany, in England as Uncumber, and in France as Livrade, among other names, her story is a pious fiction more folktale than religious, according to which she was one of nine daughters of a pagan Portuguese King. When her father wanted her to marry the King of Sicily, despite her vow of virginity, she prayed for help in resisting the marriage, whereupon she grew a beard and mustache and the suit was withdrawn. Her father was so furious he had her crucified. Father Charles Cahier, S.J., wrote, for my part, I am inclined to think that the crown, beard, gown and gown and cross which are regarded as the attributes of this marvelous maiden (in pictorial representations), are only a pious devotion to the famous crucifix of Lucca, somewhat gone astray. This famous crucifix was completely dressed and crowned, as were many others of the same period. In course of time, the long gown caused it to be thought that the figure was that of a woman, who on account of the beard was called Vierge-forte. We may add that the crucifix of Lucca was shod with silver to prevent the wearing away of the wood by the kissing of the feet by pilgrims. This also has been turned to the glorification of St. Wilgefortis. For it is said that a poor minstrel playing an air before the saint's statue was rewarded by her giving him one of her precious shoes. St. Wilgefortis' feast day is July 20.

Wilgefortis (Portuguese: Vilgeforte) is a fictitious female folk saint venerated by Catholics whose legend arose in the 14th century,[1] and whose distinguishing feature is a large beard. Her name is thought to have derived from the Latin "virgo fortis" ("courageous virgin").[2] In England her name was Uncumber, and in Dutch Ontkommer (meaning one who avoids something, here specifically other people from suffering). In German lands she was known as Kümmernis ("grief" or "anxiety"). In Poland she was called Frasobliwa ("sorrowful"). She was known as Liberata in Italy and Librada in Spain ("liberated"), and as Débarras ("riddance") in France. In places such as Sigüenza, Spain, she was sometimes conflated with another Saint Liberata, the sister of Saint Marina of Aguas Santas, whose feast was also celebrated on 20 July.[3] She was never officially canonised by the church, but venerated by people seeking relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated ("disencumbered") from abusive husbands.

History

Art historians have argued that the origins of the art can be found with Eastern-style representations of the crucified Christ, and in particular the Holy Face of Lucca, a large 11th-century carved wooden figure of Christ on the Cross (now replaced by a 13th-century copy), bearded like a man, but dressed in a full-length tunic that might have appeared to be like that of a woman instead of the loin cloth familiar and by the Late Middle Ages normal in depictions in the West.[i]

The theory is that when the composition was copied and brought north of the Alps over the next 150 years, in small copies by pilgrims and dealers, this unfamiliar image led Northerners to create a narrative to explain the androgynous icon.[6] Some older images of the crucified Christ were repurposed as Wilgefortis, and new images clearly intended to represent the saint created, many with female clothes and breasts. Some older images of Christ on the cross are argued to have already deliberately included hints at an androgynous figure for theological reasons.[7] Single images normally showed Wilgefortis on her cross, but two prominent standing images where she carries a smaller cross as an attribute as part of a group of saints, are mentioned below. Images showing a set of scenes covering the whole legend are unusual, but a German one of 1513 is illustrated here.

Veneration

The popularity of prayer in the period of the Middle Ages has been connected to the Devotio Moderna and related devotion, where meditation on and identification with the sufferings of Christ was encouraged by writers such as Thomas à Kempis author of The Imitation of Christ or mostly encouraged by the Groote to focus on the personal structure of simplicity, obedience, and followed the book The Imitation of Christ circulating from the 1420s.[8]

According to the narrative of the life of this Saint, set in Portugal and Galicia, a teen-aged noblewoman named Wilgefortis had been promised in marriage by her father to a Muslim king. To thwart the unwanted wedding, she had taken a vow of virginity, and prayed that she would be made repulsive. In answer to her prayers she sprouted a beard, which ended the engagement. In anger, Wilgefortis's father had her crucified.

St Wilgefortis remained popular in the North of England until the end of the Gothic period; there is a carving in the Henry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey of Wilgefortis, standing while holding a cross, with a very long beard.[9] She also appears in a similar pose, very lightly bearded, on the outside of a triptych door by Hans Memling.[9] Her legend was decisively debunked during the late 16th century (after a period in the 15th and 16th centuries in which she was popular), and thereafter disappears from high art, although lingering well into the 20th century in more popular forms, especially in Bavaria and Austria,[10] but also in northern France and Belgium. In the 12th-century church of Saint-Etienne in Beauvais, there is a 16th-century wooden statue of Saint Wilgefortis on the cross. She is depicted in a full blue tunic with a substantial beard. She is venerated by the name of Santa Librada in Argentina and Panama.[

She is often shown with a small fiddler at her feet, and with one shoe off. This derives from a legend, also attached to the Volto Santo of Lucca, of a silver shoe with which the statue had been clothed dropping spontaneously at the feet of a poor pilgrim. In Wilgefortis's version, the poor devotee became a fiddler, perhaps in the 13th century.

Because of her appearance, Wilgerfortis has been described as a "transgender saint" and is sometimes seen as a patron saint of gender fluid people.

St. Thorlac Thorhallsson

Feastday: July 20

Patron: of Iceland

Birth: 1133

Death: 1193

Image of St. Thorlac ThorhallssonSaint Thorlac was born in the south of Iceland in 1133. His parents were quite poor. They lost their farm and the family broke up while he was still a boy. Thorlac had two sisters. Before he was 20 Thorlac became a priest. For a few years he served as a parish priest and is said to have been very conscious of his duties. He managed to save some money in order to study abroad. He was 6 years in Paris, France and then some time in Lincoln, England.

When he returned to Iceland he spent some time at Kirkjubaer in the south-east of Iceland. He supported his mother and sisters. He loved kirkjubaer very much and later as bishop, he established the first nunnery in Iceland at this place.

When Thorlac had spent 6 years at Kirkjubaer, the first Augustinian Canonry in Iceland was founded at Thykkvibaer. Thorlac became the first Abbot. He seems to have regulated the Augustinian Rule in Iceland.

Some years later Thorlac was elected Bishop of Skálholt. He was consecrated bishop in Norway on the 2nd July 1178. He was Bishop of Skálholt for 15 years, until his death in 1193, aged 60.

Thorlac worked hard to reform the Nation and to strengthen the Church. This proved to be a tremendous undertaking. Although not always successful, he did pave the way for future improvements.

Thorlac lived a holy life and after his death hundreds of miracles were attributed to his intercession. He was canonized locally in 1198 and on the 14th of January 1984, the Holy Father, John Paul II, declared Thorlac to be the Patron Saint of Iceland. Thorlac has 2 feast days, 20th July and 23rd December.

Thorlak Thorhallsson (Icelandic: Þorlákur Þórhallsson; 1133 – 23 December 1193) is the patron saint of Iceland. He was bishop of Skálholt from 1178 until his death.[1] Thorlak's relics were translated to the cathedral of Skalholt in 1198, not long after his successor as bishop, Páll Jónsson, announced at the Althing that vows could be made to Thorlak. His status as a saint did not receive official recognition from the Catholic Church until 14 January 1984, when John Paul II canonized him and declared him the patron saint of Iceland.[2] His feast day is 23 December, when Thorlac's mass is celebrated in Iceland.

St. Sabinus

Feastday: July 20

Martyr with Cassia, Julian, Macrobius, Maximus, Paula, and ten companions.They were put to death at Damascus, Syria, in some unknown year.

St. Flavian & Elias

Feastday: July 20

Death: 512 & 518

Two bishops. Flavian was patriarch of Antioch, and Elias the patriarch of Jerusalem. They were both exiled by Emperor Anastasius I, a Monophysite. The two bishops supported the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon. Flavian, and probably Elias, died in the city of Petra, Jordan.

St. Flavian II of Antioch (Latin: Flavianus II; Greek: Φλαβιανός Βʹ Ἀντιοχείας, Phlabianós II Antiokheías) was the Patriarch of Antioch from 498 until his deposition in 512.

Biography

Flavian was a Monk under the Rule of St Basil at the Monastery of Tilmognon and later became an apocrisiarius. After the death of Palladius in 498, Flavian was appointed by Emperor Anastasius I as Patriarch of Antioch on the condition that he accepted the Henotikon. However, during his reign as patriarch, Flavian did not show any opposition to Chalcedonianism.

As patriarch, Flavian and Patriarch Elias of Jerusalem, resisted the attempts to abolish the Council of Chalcedon.[1] However, due to the conflict between Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians in Antioch, Flavian endeavoured to please both parties by steering a middle course in reference to the Chalcedonian decrees, yet was forced by Anastasius to sign the Henotikon in 508/509. Furthermore, Flavian was accused of Nestorianism by Philoxenus, Bishop of Hierapolis.

In 511, Philoxenus convinced Monophysites of the surrounding Syrian countryside to storm Antioch and force Flavian to condemn the Council of Chalcedon but was met by fierce Chalcedonians who slaughtered the attackers and dumped their bodies into the River Orontes. The monks of Flavian's former monastery journeyed to Antioch to defend Flavian against the anti-Chalcedonians. These events drove Anastasius to adopt a Miaphysite ecclesiastical programme and thus Flavian and Elias lost imperial support.

A synod was convened in Sidon in 512 by Philoxenus and eighty other non-Chalcedonian bishops, with the support of Anastasius, to condemn Flavian and Elias and as a result he was deposed and banished to Petra, where he died in 518.[2] Flavian's deposition and subsequent resentment towards Anastasius caused Vitalian's rebellion in 513. Flavian was soon posthumously enrolled among the saints of the Eastern Church, and after some opposition, in the Western Church as well.

St. Etheidwitha

Feastday: July 20

Widowed queen of KingAlfred the Great of England. She was an Anglo-Saxon princess, also called Ealsitha. Etheldwitha founded a convent at Winchester in the Benedictine rule and became the abbess there.

Blessed Ángel Martínez Miquélez

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The eldest son of José Martínez Polo and Juana Miquélez, Ángel was baptized at the age of one day; his aunt and godmother, Magdalena Martínez, consecrated him to the Virgin Mary. To get work, the family moved to Argentina when Ángel was five years old, but they were forced to return to Spain two years later when things didn’t work out. The boy‘s mother died when Ángel was seven years old. His aunt, Magdalena, helped with the family and ensured that the boys received a proper religious education. He went to a Piarist school, and began to feel a call to religious life. When he was old enough, he entered the Redemptorist seminary in Espino, Spain; a few years later, his younger brother Juan attended the same seminary.

Ángel was considered an excellent student, serious about his vocation, and a little stubborn. He was professed in the Redemptorists on 18 September 1928. He continued his studies, and was ordained a priest on 20 September 1930.

Father Ángel wanted to become a missionary, but his superiors decided that his work ethic and intelligence meant he would serve better as professor of philosophy and literature at the seminary at Astorga, León, Spain. The combination of the heavy teaching load and his own continued studies led to a collapse in January 1934. He was assigned to El Espino, Burgos, Spain to rest and recover; he used his time to hear confessions and preach missions and retreats. On 11 May 1934 he was assigned to the Redemptorist community in Granada, Spain, and then assigned to work as secretary to the Community of Perpetual Help in Madrid, Spain on 6 October 1934. He organized the library there, preached retreats, and wrote articles for Revista del Perpetuo Socorro.

In July 1936, just as the Spanish Civil War broke out, Father Ángel was assigned to minister to young people in the community. On 20 July, the street fighting reached the Community, and the Redemptorist brothers were seized by militiamen, accused of being Fascists because they opposed Communism. The Communists considered this just as bad, beat the brothers severely, and then shot them. Martyr.

Born

2 March 1907 in Funes, Navarra, Spain

Died

shot on 20 July 1936 in Casa de Campo, Madrid, Spain

Venerated

24 April 2021 by Pope Francis (decree of martyrdom)

Saint Margaret of Antioch

அந்தியோக்கியா புனிதர் மார்கரெட் 

(St. Margaret of Antioch)

கன்னியர்-மறைசாட்சி/ பேயருவத்தின் வெற்றிவீராங்கனை:

(Virgin-Martyr and Vanquisher of Demons)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 289

அந்தியோக்கியா, பிசிடியா

(Antioch, Pisidia)

இறப்பு: கி.பி. 304 (வயது 15)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

ஆங்கிலிக்கன் திருச்சபை

(Anglican Church)

மேற்கத்திய மரபுவழி சடங்குகள்

(Western Rite Orthodoxy)

பைஸான்டைன் கிறிஸ்தவம்

(Byzantine Christianity)

காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்தவம்

(Coptic Christianity)

பாதுகாவல்:

கர்ப்பிணி பெண்கள் (Pregnant Women), பிரசவம் (Childbirth), இறக்கும் மக்கள் (Dying People), சிறுநீரக நோய் (Kidney Disease), விவசாயிகள் (Peasants), நாடுகடத்தப்பட்டவர்கள் (Exiles), பொய்க் குற்றம் சாட்டப்பட்டவர்கள் (Falsely Accused People); Lowestoft, இங்கிலாந்து (England); குயின்ஸ் கல்லூரி (Queens' College), கேம்பிரிட்ஜ் (Cambridge); செவிலியர் (Nurses); சன்னட் மற்றும் பாரோர்லா (Sannat and Bormla), மால்டா (Malta), லோவஸ்டோஃப்ட் நகரம் (Lowestoft).

மேற்கில், “அந்தியோக்கியா நகர மார்கரெட்” (Margaret of Antioch in the West) என்றும் கிழக்கில், “பெரிய மறைசாட்சி மெரீனா” (Saint Marina the Great Martyr in the East) என்றும் அழைக்கப்படும் புனிதர் மார்கரெட், ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை (Roman Catholic Church), ஆங்கிலிக்கன் திருச்சபை (Anglican Church), மேற்கத்திய மரபுவழி சடங்குகள் (Western Rite Orthodoxy), பைஸான்டைன் கிறிஸ்தவம் (Byzantine Christianity), காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்தவம் (Coptic Christianity) ஆகிய திருச்சபைகளால் புனிதராக ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளார்.

கி.பி. 304ம் ஆண்டு, மறைசாட்சியாக மரித்த இவர், ஐயத்திற்கிடமானவர் (Apocryphal) என்று, கி.பி. 494ம் ஆண்டு, திருத்தந்தை “முதலாம் கெலாசியஸால்” (Pope Gelasius I) அறிவிக்கப்பட்டார். ஆனால் அவருக்கான பக்தி, மேற்கு நாடுகளில் சித்திரவதைகளுடன் புத்தாக்கம் பெற்றது.

தனது வாழ்க்கையை எழுதியோ அல்லது படிப்பவர்களுக்கோ, அல்லது அவருடைய பரிந்துரையை வேண்டுவோர்க்கோ, மிகுந்த சக்திவாய்ந்த மனோபாவங்களை வாக்குறுதியளித்ததாகவும், பிரயோகிப்பதாகவும் அவர் புகழப்படுகின்றார். இவரது இந்த நம்பகத்தன்மை, இவரது புகழ் பரவிட காரணமானது.

பதினான்கு தூய உதவியாளர்களுள் (Fourteen Holy Helpers) ஒருவரான மார்கரெட், “புனிதர் ஜோன் ஆஃப் ஆர்க்கிடம்” (Joan of Arc) பேசிய புனிதர்களுள் ஒருவராகவும் கருதப்படுகின்றார்.

“பொன் புராணம்” (Golden Legend) எனும் புராணங்களில் சொல்லப்படும் கதைகளின்படி, இவர், அந்தியோக்கியா நகரைச் சேர்ந்த ஒரு பெண்ணாவார். இவரது தந்தை, பாகன் இனத்தைச் சேர்ந்த ஒரு குரு ஆவார். அவரது பெயர், “எடேசியஸ்” (Aedesius) ஆகும். இவர் பிறந்து சிறிது காலத்திலேயே இவரது தாயார் மரித்துப் போனதால், அந்தியோக்கியா நகரிலிருந்து சுமார் எட்டு மைல் தூரத்திலுள்ள ஒரு கிறிஸ்தவப் பெண்ணால் மார்கரெட் பராமரிக்கப்பட்டு வளர்ந்தார்.

கிறிஸ்தவத்தை தழுவியதாலும், தமது கன்னித்தன்மையை கடவுளுக்கு அர்ப்பணித்ததாலும், இவரது தந்தையார் இவரை கைவிட்டார். ஆகவே, இவரது செவிலித்தாய் இவரை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டார். தமது வளர்ப்புத் தாயுடன் நாட்டுப்புறங்களில் ஆடுகளை மேய்த்தபடி வளர்ந்தார். கிழக்கத்திய ரோமானிய மறைமாவட்ட ஆளுநரான “ஓலிப்ரியஸ்” (Olybrius) அவளை திருமணம் செய்துகொள்ளும்படி கேட்டார். ஆனால் கிறிஸ்தவத்தை கைவிட்டுவிடும் கோரிக்கையும் வைத்தார். இதற்கு மறுப்பு தெரிவித்த காரணத்தால், அவர் பலவிதமாக சித்திரவதை செய்யப்பட்டார். இதில் பல்வேறு அற்புதமான சம்பவங்கள் நிகழ்ந்தன. ஒரு டிராகன் வடிவத்தில் சாத்தானால் விழுங்கப்பட்ட சம்பவம் ஒன்றும் இந்த தொடர்புகளில் ஒன்று. தாம் வைத்திருந்த சிறு சிலுவை ஒன்றினால் எரிச்சல் அடைந்த டிராகனின் பிடியிலிருந்து அவர் உயிரோடு தப்பித்தார்.

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை (Eastern Orthodox Church) மார்கரெட்டை புனிதர் மெரினா (Saint Marina) என்று அறிந்திருக்கிறது. ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை (Roman Catholic Church) இவரை புனிதராக ஏற்கிறது. “ரோம மறைசாட்சிகள்” (Roman Martyrology) புத்தகத்தில் ஜூலை மாதம் 20ம் நாளாக குறிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Also known as

Margherita, Marina, Margaritha, Marine, Margaretha

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Virgin and martyr whose story is know to us from a collection of legends, but no contemporary history. Her father was a pagan priest in Pisidian Antioch, Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Her mother died when Margaret was an infant, and the girl was raised by a Christian woman. Margaret's father disowned her, her nurse adopted her, and Margaret converted, consecrating herself and her virginity to God.

One day a Roman prefect saw the beautiful young Margaret as she was tending sheep, and tried to get her into his bed. When she refused, the official denounced her as a outlaw Christian, and she was brought to trial. When she refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, the authorities tried to burn her, then boil her in a large cauldron; each time her prayers kept her unharmed. She was finally martyred by beheading.

Part of her story involves her meeting the devil in the form of a dragon, being swallowed by the dragon, and then escaping safely when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards; this accounts for this virgin's association with pregnancy, labour, and childbirth. She was one of the saints who appeared to Saint Joan of Arc. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Born

Antioch

Died

• beheaded, date unknown

• relics claimed by several locations

Saint Paphnutius of Skete

Also known as

• Paphnutius of Alexandria

• Paphnutius of Scete

• Paphnutius of Wadi Natrun

• Paphnutius the Ascetic

• Paphnutius the Buffalo (the word indicated his love of solitude)

• Paphnutius the Hermit

• Pafnutios, Pafnutius, Paphnutios

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Desert hermit in Egypt in the late 3rd and early 4th-century. Priest. Spiritual student of Saint Macarius the Great. The only times he would leave his hermit‘s cell was to attend Mass at a church 5 miles away on Saturday night and Sunday monring; he would carry back a bucket of water that was all the water he would consume until the next trip to Mass. During the persecutions of Diocletian, governor Hadrian sent troops to bring in Paphnutius; the hermit heard they were coming, went to the governor on his own, and made a public profession of Christianity. He was imprisoned and tortured to get him to give up his faith; he faith was so strong that he converted forty fellow prisoners (who were burned to death) and two of his torturers, Dionysius and Callimachus (who were beheaded). Released, Paphnutius was taken in by a local Christian name Nestorius, and spent his day preaching and teaching to the man’s family and anyone else who would listen; at least 546 people were brought to the faith, all of whom were later martyred. Hadrian finally sent the troublesome hermit to Diocletian whose forces finally killed him. Martyr. Paphnutius is most famous for his accounts of the lives of many holy hermits of the Egyptian desert, including Saint Onuphrius.

Born

Egypt

Died

• authorities tied a stone around his neck and threw him into a river; he floated to shore on the stone

• crucified on a date tree in the early 4th century

Elijah the Prophet

Also known as

Elias the Prophet

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Old Testament prophet. He announced to Achad, King of Israel, who under the influence of his Tyrian wife Jezabel had erected a temple to Baal, that Jehovah had determined to avenge the apostasy of Israel by bringing a long drought on the land. During the drought which lasted three years, Elias withdrew to the vicinity of the brook Carith, where he was fed by the ravens. After the brook had dried up he crossed over to Sarepta, where he was hospitably received by a poor widow, whose charity he rewarded by increasing her store of meal and oil and by raising her child to life. At length he once more confronted the king and challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest on Mount Carmel, when Elias's oblation was consumed by fire from heaven, and the false prophets were slain by the people at his command. He was obliged to flee from the wrath of Jezabel and while on Mount Horeb was commissioned by Jehovah to anoint Hazael to be King of Syria, Jehu to be King of Israel, and Eliseus to be his own successor. Subsequently he denounced Achab for the murder of Naboth and reprimanded Ochozias and Joram, King of Juda. While conversing with Eliseus on the hills of Moab he was translated to heaven in a fiery chariot. The Carmelite Order traces its origin to him. An apocryphal Apocalypse of Elias was partly recovered in a Coptic translation.

Patronage

• Air Forces

• Carmelites

• civil aeronautics

• Romanian Air Force

Blessed Rita Josefa Pujalte y Sánchez

Also known as

Sister Rita of Our Lady of Sorrows

Profile

Nun, a member of the Sisters of Charity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as was her sister Luisa. On the recommendation of the Order's fonder, Rita was chosen superior of the Sisters in 1900; she served in that position for 28 years. Started schools for girls, especially in the poorest areas, and was know for her care for the sick, especially fellow Sisters. Retiring to the Saint Susanna convent in Madrid, Spain, she worked the convent's college. In the persecutions of the Spanish Civil War, many fled, but Rita, 83 years old and nearly blind, stayed to care for orphans and those in hospital. Grabbed by a anti–Christian revolutionaries while she was in prayer in chapel, she was taken out of Madrid and executed. Martyr.

Born

18 February 1853 in Aspe, Alicante, Spain

Died

• shot at 3.30pm on 20 July 1936 in Canillejas, Madrid, Spain

• exhumed and found incorrupt in 1940

• re-interred in the cemetery of Almudena, Madrid, Spain

• body found incorrupt in 1954

• re-interred in the chapel in Madrid Villaverde, Spain

Beatified

10 May 1998 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Bernward of Hildesheim

Also known as

Berward, Bernward

Profile

Member of a noble Saxon family. Grandson of Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. Orphaned at an early age. Raised by his uncle Volkmar, bishop of Utrecht, and educated at the cathedral school at Heidelberg, where he was a schoolmate of Blessed Meinwerk of Paderborn and at Mainz. Ordained at Mainz. Imperial chaplain and tutor to the future Emperor Otto III beginning in 987. Bishop of Hildesheim, Germany from 993 till 1020. Encouraged the arts; commissioned religious paintings and sculpture, refurbished existing buildings, built new ones (thus his patronage of the builder's arts), and made altar vessels of gold and silver by hand, and dabbled in architecture and ornamental ironwork. His rule was marked with peace, and around 1020 he retired to a Benedictine monastary to spend his remaining days in prayer.

Born

c.960 at Utrecht, Netherlands

Died

20 November 1022 of natural causes

Canonized

1193 by Pope Celestine III

Patronage

• architects

• goldsmiths

• painters

• sculptors

Saint Frumentius of Ethiopia

Also known as

• Apostle to Ethiopia

• Abuna of Ethiopia

• Father of Ethiopia

• Fremonat, Fulgence

Additional Memorials

• 1 August (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church)

• 30 November (Eastern Orthodox Churches)

• 18 December (Coptic Orthodox Church)

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Brother of Saint Aedeius. Student of the philosopher Meropius. While on a voyage on the Red Sea, their ship wrecked on the Ethiopian shore, and only Frumentius and Aedeius survived. They were taken to the king at Axum as a curiosity, and became members of the court, Frumentius serving as secretary. When the king died they stayed as part of the queen's court. She permitted them to introduce Christianity to the country, and open trade between Ethiopia and the west. Frumentius convinced Saint Athanasius of Alexandria to send missionaries from Alexandria, Egypt, and was himself consecrated as bishop of Ethiopia. Converted many, including the princes Ezana and Sheazana, and established a firm foothold in Ethiopia for the faith.

Born

early 4th century, Tyre (modern Sur, Lebanon)

Died

c.383 in Ethiopia of natural causes

Patronage

• Abyssinia

• Ethiopia

Saint Apollinaris of Ravenna

புனித அப்போலினாரிஸ் (St.Apollinaris)

ஆயர் (Bishop)

2 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு

இவர் துருக்கி நாட்டில் பிரிஜியா(Brijiya) மாநிலத்திற்கு ஆயராக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டார். கிறிஸ்துவை அந்நாட்டில் பரப்ப பெரும்பாடுபட்டார். இதனால் அந்நாட்டு அரசன் மார்க்ஸ் அவுரேலியஸ்(Markus Aurelias) என்பவரால் பல துன்பங்களை அனுபவித்தார். ஆனால் ஆயர் தன்னுடைய செபத்தால் அரசனை வென்றார். ஆயரின் சொல்படி நடந்த அரசன், திருச்சபைக்காக பல உதவிகளை செய்தான். அந்நாட்டில் கிறிஸ்தவர்களுக்கு தேவையான எல்லாவற்றையும் செய்து கொடுத்தான். 

மார்க்ஸ் நாளடைவில் "கிறிஸ்துவர்களின் நண்பன்" என்ற பெயரை பெற்றான். அப்போலினாரிஸிடமிருந்து, பல விசுவாச போதனைகளை கற்றுக் கொண்டான். ஆயர் மன்னனின் மனதை கவர்ந்து விசுவாசத்தை அம்மண்ணில் நிலைநாட்டியதால் "வீரம் கொண்ட விசுவாச தந்தை" என்ற பெயரை பெற்றார். கிறிஸ்துவர்களின் முன்னேற்றத்திற்காக ஆயருக்கு, அரசர் உதவியதால் , அரசனின் எதிரிகளால் ஆயர் தாக்கப்பட்டார். அரசன் நிறைவேற்றிய சட்டங்கள் பல கிறிஸ்துவர்களுக்கு சாதகமாக இருந்ததால் அரசனும் அவமானத்திற்குள்ளாக்கப்பட்டான். இந்நிலையில் எழுந்த போராட்டங்களில், ஆயர் அப்போலினாரிஸ் எதிரிகளால் கொடூரமாக தாக்கப்பட்டுக் கொல்லப்பட்டார். துருக்கி நாட்டில், 2 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டில் இருந்த ஆயர்களில் "சிறந்தவர்" என்ற பெயர் பெற்றார்.

Also known as

Apollinare of Ravenna

Profile

Mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Spiritual student of Saint Peter the Apostle. First bishop of Ravenna, Italy; as such he faced nearly constant persecution. He and his flock were exiled from Ravenna during the persecutions of Emperor Vespasian. On his way out of the city he was identified, arrested as being the leader, tortured, and martryed. Noted miracle worker. Centuries after his death he appeared in a vision to Saint Romuald.

Born

Antioch, Turkey

Died

• run through with a sword c.79 at Ravenna, Italy

• relics at the Benedictine abbey of Classe, Ravenna and in Saint Lambert's church, Düsseldorf, Germany

Patronage

• against epilepsy

• against gout

• archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia, Italy

• 6 cities

Saint Joseph Barsabas

Also known as

• Joseph Basassas

• Joseph Justus

• Joseph of Barsabas

• Joseph the Just

• Barsabbas, Justus

Profile

A disciple of Jesus. Mentioned in Acts as the other candidate for the 12th Apostle's position, the one vacated by Judas Iscariot. The lot fell to Saint Matthias.

Died

1st century

Blessed Luigi Novarese

Profile

One of six children born to a farming family; his father died of pneumonia when the boy was very young. Due to a childhood illness, one of his legs was several inches shorter than the other, requiring him to wear special shoes all his life. Priest in the Diocese of Frascati, Italy, ordained on 17 December 1938. Had degrees in theology and canon law, but always found time for what he considered his primary work, ministering to the sick. Founded the Priestly Marian League in 1943. With Sister Elvira Myriam Psorulla, he founded the Volunteers of Suffering in 1947. Founded the Silent Workers of the Cross in 1950. Founded the Brothers and Sisters of the Sick in 1952.

Born

29 July 1914 in Casale Monferrato, Alessandria, Italy

Died

20 July 1984 in Rocca Priora, Rome, Italy

Beatified

• 11 May 2013 by Pope Francis

• beatification recognition celebrated at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls, Rome, Italy by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone

Blessed Gregorio López

Profile

Court page to King Philip II, Gregorio was well educated, especially in the sciences of his day. He lived six years as a hermit in the Navarre region of Spain before moving to Mexico in 1562 where he lived as a hermit among the natives near Zacatecas and the area of modern Mexico City. Because he was being sought out for spritiual guidance by local people, the archbishop of Mexico City had him examined for fidelity to the faith; the bishop and his priests were impressed with the man’s knowledge, piety and wisdom. This only increased the number of people who sought him out, so Gregorio withdrew to the small village of Santa Fe where he lived his remaining days in solitude. Devotion to him is widespread throughout Mexico, and his canonization cause has been pursued since 1620.

Born

4 July 1542 at Madrid, Spain

Died

20 July 1596 near Mexico City, Mexico of natural causes

Saint Chi Zhuze

Also known as

Xi Guizi

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Teenaged layman convert in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China who was still a catechumen when, during an anti-Western riot, he was dragged into the town square and murdered for being a Christian during the Boxer Rebellion. Martyr.

Born

c.1882 in Dezhaoin, Shenzhou, Hebei, China

Died

torn to pieces during June-July 1900 (records unclear) in Dechao, Shenzhou, Hebei, China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Maria Fu Guilin

Also known as

Mali

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Lay woman in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. Teacher. Turned over to the pagan persecutors in the Boxer Rebellion, she publicly prayed to Christ, and was immediately murdered. Martyr.

Born

c.1863 in Luopo, Shenzhou, Hebei, China

Died

beheaded on 20 July 1900 in Dailucun, Shenzhou, Hebei, China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint José María Díaz Sanjurjo

Also known as

Joseph Diaz Sanjurjo

Additional Memorial

24 November as one of the Martyrs of Viet Nam

Profile

Dominican priest, ordained on 23 March 1844. Missionary to Manila, Philippines, and then to Viet Nam. Coadjutor vicar apostolic of Central Tonking, Viet Nam and titular bishop of Plataea on 5 September 1848. Martyr.

Born

26 October 1818 at Santa Eulalia, Spain

Died

martyred on 20 July 1857 in Vietnam

Canonized

19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Ansegisus

Also known as

Ansegis

Profile

Benedictine monk at Fontenelle Abbey, France at age 18. Entrusted by Charlemagne and Louis le Débonnaire with the reform and restoration of the monasteries of Saint Sixtus, Saint Memius, Flay, and Luxeuil. He codified the laws of Charlemagne and Louis in the Capitulars. Abbot of Fontenelle; the monastery became famous for learning, discipline, and its library. He divided the riches he obtained from his diplomatic missions among various monasteries.

Born

c.770

Died

c.833 of natural causes

Blessed Francisca Aldea y Araujo

Also known as

Sister Francisca of the Heart of Jesus

Profile

Nun, a member of the Sisters of Charity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

17 December 1881 in Somolinos, Guadalajara, Spain

Died

20 July 1936 in Canillejas, Madrid, Spain

Beatified

10 May 1998 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Bernardo Sáiz Gutiérrez

Also known as

Gabriel

Profile

Member of the Redemptorists, making his profession on 25 March 1924. Priest. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

23 July 1896 in Melgosa, Burgos, Spain

Died

20 July 1936 in Casa de Campo, Madrid, Spain

Venerated

24 April 2021 by Pope Francis (decree of martyrdom)

Blessed Crescencio Ortiz Blanco

Profile

Member of the Redemptorists, making his profession on 24 September 1900. Ordained a priest on 23 December 1905. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

10 March 1881 in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

Died

20 July 1936 in Casa de Campo, Madrid, Spain

Venerated

24 April 2021 by Pope Francis (decree of martyrdom)

Blessed Anne Cartier

Also known as

Sister Saint Basil

Additional Memorial

9 July as one of the Martyrs of Orange

Profile

Ursuline nun. Martyred in the French Revolution.

Born

19 November 1733 in Livron, Drôme, France

Died

guillotined on 20 July 1794 in Orange, Vaucluse, France

Beatified

10 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI

Blessed Vicente López y López

Also known as

Virginio Pedro

Profile

Professed religious in the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers). Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

27 October 1884 in Miraveche, Burgos, Spain

Died

20 July 1936 in Almudena, Madrid, Spain

Beatified

13 October 2013 by Pope Francis

Saint Wulmar

Also known as

Ulmar, Ulmer, Vilmarus, Volmar, Vulmaro, Vulmarus

Profile

Uncle of Saint Eremberta of Wierre. Priest. Monk. Founded a convent at Wierre-aux-Bois, France and the monastery of Samer near Boulogne, France that was later renamed Saint-Vulmaire in his honour.

Born

near Boulogne, France

Died

689

Saint Paul of Saint Zoilus

Also known as

Paul of Cordoba

Profile

Deacon in Moorish-occupied Cordoba, Spain. Monk at the Saint Zoilus monastery in Cordoba. Had a special ministry caring for Christians imprisoned for their faith by the Muslims. Martyr.

Died

• beheaded in 851

• relics in the church of Saint Zoilus, Cordoba, Spain

Blessed Abraham Furones y Furones

Also known as

Arenas, Luis

Profile

Dominican priest. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

8 October 1892 in Abraveses de Tera, Zamora, Spain

Died

20 July 1936 in Madrid, Spain

Beatified

28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Elswith

Also known as

Etheldwitha, Ethelwitha, Ealsitha, Ealhswith

Profile

Born a princess in Mercia (in modern England). A queen, married to King Alfred the Great of West Saxons. Widowed in 899, she became a nun and later abbess at a convent she had founded in Winchester, England.

Died

903

Saint Aurelius of Carthage

Profile

Bishop of Carthage in North Africa. Worked with Saint Augustine of Hippo. One of the first to denounce the heresy of Pelagianism.

Died

c.426

Blessed Jacinto García Riesco

Profile

Dominican cleric. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

28 August 1894 in Calvillas, Somiedo, Asturias, Spain

Died

20 July 1936 in Madrid, Spain

Beatified

28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Rorice of Limoges

Profile

Married, he was known in his community as an honourable and upright man. Rorice one day had a conversion experience that led him to complete devotion to God and a more religious life. Bishop of Limoges, France in 484.

Died

507 of natural causes

Saint Cassian of Saint Saba

Also known as

Cassiano

Profile

Educated at the monastery of Saint Saba where he became a monk and then abbot.

Born

Scythopolis

Died

20 July 547 or 548 (records vary)

Saint Severa of Saint Gemma

Profile

Sister of Saint Modoald of Trier. Nun. First Abbess of Saint Gemma convent in Villeneuve, France; it was later renamed Sainte-Sevère in her honour.

Died

c.680

Saint Mère

Profile

The memorial has long been celebrating in the diocese of Auch, France, and the town of Sainte-Mère, France appears to have been named for this person, but no information about them has survived.

Saint Severa of Oehren

Profile

Abbess of the convent of Oehren in Trier, Germany.

Died

c.750

Saint Caramnan

Also known as

Carmnan

Profile

No information has survived.

Martyrs of Corinth

Profile

22 Christians who were martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names –

• Appia • Calorus • Cassius • Celsus • Cyriacus • Donatus • Emilis • Felix • Fructus • Magnus • Maximus • Nestita • Partinus • Pasterus • Paul • Romanus • Spretus • Tertius • Theodolus • Ueratia • Valerian • Victor •

Died

Corinth, Greece

Martyrs of Damascus

Profile

16 Christians who were martyred together. We know the names of six of then, but no details about any of them – Cassia, Julian, Macrobius, Maximus, Paul and Sabinus.

Born

Syria

Died

Damascus, Syria, date unknown

Martyrs of Seoul

Additional Memorial

20 September as one of the Martyrs of Korea

Profile

Eight lay native Koreans in various states of life who were murdered together for their faith.

• Anna Kim Chang-gum

• Ioannes Baptista Yi Kwang-nyol

• Lucia Kim Nusia

• Magdalena Yi Yong-hui

• Maria Won Kwi-im

• Martha Kim Song-im

• Rosa Kim No-sa

• Theresia Yi Mae-im

Died

20 July 1839 at the Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea

Canonized

6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II

Martyrs of Zhaojia

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Married lay woman and her two daughters in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. During the persecutions of the Boxer Rebellion, the three of them hid in a well to avoid being raped. They were found, dragged out, and killed for being Christian. Martyrs. They were - Maria Zhao Guoshi (mother), Maria Zhao and Rosa Zhao (sisters).

Died

late July 1900 in Zhaojia, Wuqiao, Hebei, China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Martyrs of Zhujiahe

Additional Memorial

28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Two Jesuit missionary priests and two local lay people who supported their work who were martyred together in the Boxer Rebellion during and immediately after Mass.

• Léon-Ignace Mangin

• Maria Zhu Wushi

• Paul Denn

• Petrus Zhu Rixin

Died

20 July 1900 in church in Zhujiahe, Jingxian, Hebei, China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II