இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் பெப்ரவரி 25

 St. Aventanus

Feastday: February 25

Death: 1380

Carmelite mystic and lay brother. A native of Limoges, France, he joined the Carmelites as a lay brother. With another Carmelite, Romaeus, Aventanus started on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Crossing the Alps they encountered many difficulties, including an outbreak of plague. Aventanus, who had a gift of ecstasies, miracles, and visions, succumbed to the plague near Lucca, Italy. His cult was approved by Pope Gregory XVI.

Bl. Constantius

Feastday: February 25

Early in the fifteenth century, there lived at Fabriano a boy of such extraordinary goodness that even his parents would sometimes wonder whether he were not rather an angel than a human child. Once, when his little sister was suffering from a disease which the doctors pronounced incurable, Constantius Bernocchi asked his father and mother to join him in prayer by her bedside that she might recover. They did so, and she was immediately cured. At the age of fifteen he was admitted to the Dominican convent of Santa Lucia and he seemed to have received the habit from the hands of Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, at that time prior of this house of strict observance. Constantius was one of those concerned with the reform of San Marco in Florence, and it was while he was teaching in that city that it was discovered that he had the gift of prophecy or second sight. Among other examples, the death of St. Antoninus was made known to him at the moment it took place, and this is mentioned by Pope Clement VII in his Bull for the canonization of that saint. He was also credited with the power of working miracles, and besides the care of his office, he acted as peacemaker outside the convent and quelled popular tumults. He was esteemed so holy that it was reckoned a great favor to speak to him or even to touch his habit. Upon the news of his death, the senate and council assembled, "considering his death a public calamity", and resolved to defray the cost of a public funeral. The cultus of Blessed Constantius was confirmed in 1821. His feast day is February 25th.

St. Ananias II

Feastday: February 25

Death: 1st century

Missionary, martyr, and patron of St. Paul. A Christian in the city of Damascus, Ananias was commanded by Christ in a vision to seek out Saul, the future Paul, who had staggered his way into the city following his dramatic encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. Finding Saul blind, Ananias cured him and baptized him. After seeing Paul start his missionary work, Ananias went to Eleutheropolis, where he was martyred for the faith.

Saint Walburga

துறவி வால்பூர்கா Walburga OSB

பிறப்பு 

710, 

இங்கிலாந்து

இறப்பு 

25 பிப்ரவரி 779, 

ஹைடன்ஹைம் Heidenheim, பவேரியா

பாதுகாவலர்: ஐஷ்டேட் மறைமாவட்டம் Eichstatt, விவசாயிகள், வீட்டு விலங்குகள், நாய்கடி, விஷபூச்சிக்கடியிலிருந்து

இவர் வேசெக்ஸ் ரிச்சர்ட் Richard von Wessex என்பவரின் மகள். புனித உன்னா Wunna, வில்லிபால்டு Willibald, உன்னிபால்டு Wunnibald என்பவர்களின் உடன் பிறந்த சகோதரி, இவர் விம்போர்னே Wimborne என்றழைக்கப்பட்ட துறவற இல்லத்தில் லியோபா Lioba என்பவருடன் சேர்த்து வளர்க்கப்பட்டார். வால்பூர்களின் தாயின் சகோதரரின் விருப்பப்படி இங்கிலாந்திலிருந்து ஜெர்மனி நாட்டிற்கு வரவழைக்கப்பட்டு, 750 ஆம் ஆண்டு துறவற இல்லத்தில் சேர்ந்தார். இவர் டவ்பர்பிஷோவ்ஸ்ஹைம் Tauberbischofsheim என்ற துறவற இல்லத்தில் இருக்கும்போது துறவியானார். 

இவரின் அண்ணன் உன்னிபால்டு 761 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறந்துவிட்டார். இதனால் அவர் தொடங்கிய இரு துறவற சபைகளையும் வால்பூர்கா பொறுப்பேற்று நடத்தினார். இவர் தனது பக்தி நிறைந்த ஞானம் மிகுந்த தன் பணியாலும் சொல்வன்மையாலும் ஹைடன்ஹைம் நகர் மக்களின் மனங்களில் பதிந்தார். இவர் இறந்த பிறகும் ஐரோப்பா கண்டத்தில் பல நாடுகளில் இவரின் பணியைப்பற்றி பெருமளவில் பேசப்பட்டது. இவர் கண்காணித்து வழிநடத்திய சபைகள், தீப்போல ஐரோப்பாவில் பரவியது. இன்றும் இவருக்கு ஐரோப்பாவில் சிறப்பான வணக்கம் செலுத்தப்படுகின்றது.

Also known as

Auboué, Avangour, Avongourg, Bugga, Falbourg, Gaubourg, Gauburge, Gaudurge, Gualbourg, Valborg, Valburg, Valpurge, Valpuri, Vaubouer, Vaubourg, Walbourg, Walburg, Walburge, Walpurd, Walpurga, Walpurgis, Waltpurde, Warpurg

Additional Memorials

• 12 October (translation of relics to Eichstätt)

• 24 September (translation of relics to Zutphen)

Profile

Daughter of Saint Richard the King. Sister of Saint Willibald and Saint Winebald. Student of Saint Tatta at Wimborne monastery, Dorset, England, where she later became a nun.

Beginning in 748, she evangelized and healed pagans in what is now Germany with Saint Lioba, Saint Boniface, and her brothers, a mission that was very successful. Abbess of communities of men and of women at Heidenheim. Cures are ascribed to the oil that exudes from a rock on which her relics were placed, which together with her healing skills in life explains her patronage of plague, rabies, coughs, etc.,/p>

The night of 1 May, the date of the translation of Walburga's relics to Eichstätt in 870, is known as Walpurgisnacht; it is also a pagan festival marking the beginning of summer and the revels of witches. Though the saint had no connection with this festival, her name became associated with witchcraft and country superstitions because of the date. It is possible that the protection of crops ascribed to her, represented by three ears of corn in her icons, may have been transferred to her from Mother Earth and the connection to this pagan holiday.

Born

c.710 at Devonshire, Wessex, England

Died

25 February 779 at Heidenheim, Swabia, Germany of natural causes

Canonized

by Pope Adrian II

Patronage

• against coughs

• against dog bites

• against famine

• against hydrophobia or rabies

• against mad dogs

• against plague

• against storms

• boatmen, mariners, sailors, waterman

• farmers

• harvests

• Eichstätt, Germany, diocese of

• Plymouth, England, diocese of

• 4 cities

Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani

Also known as

• Maria Adeodata

• Teresa Pisani

Profile

Daughter of Baron Benedict Pisani Mompalao Cuzker and Vincenza Carrano. Her father was rich, noble, Maltese, and an alcoholic, so the girl was raised by her grandmother. Her father was involved in a revolt, and exiled to Malta in 1821; Adeodata and her mother joined him in 1825.

Benedictine novice at age 21; she renounced her wealth and title when she took her final vows. Cloistered nun for the rest of her life. Seamstress, sacristan, porter, teacher, and novice mistress. Abbess from 1851 to 1853, her ill health forcing her to end her service early. Noted for her sanctity, her love of the poor, self-imposed austerities, and ecstacies so complete that she was seen to levitate.

Born

29 December 1806 at Naples, Italy

Died

25 February 1855 from heart problems at the Benedictine monastery at Mdina, Malta

Beatified

• 9 May 2001 by Pope John Paul II

• her beatification miracle occurred on 24 November 1897 when abbess Giuseppina Damiani from the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist Subiaco, Italy was suddenly healed of a stomach tumour following her request for Maria Pisani's intervention

• Blessed Maria's Cause was delayed for years due to lack of funds, and political problems between Malta and Italy

Patronage

against cancer

Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஃபெப்ரவரி 25)

✠ அருளாளர் செபாஸ்டியன் டி அபரிஸியோ ✠

(Blessed Sebastian de Aparicio)

மறைப்பணியாளர், ஒப்புரவாளர்:

(Religious and Confessor)

பிறப்பு: ஜனவரி 20, 1502

எ குடினா, ஔரென்ஸ், ஸ்பெயின்

(A Gudiña, Ourense, Spain)

இறப்பு: ஃபெப்ரவரி 25, 1600 (வயது 98)

புவெப்லா டி லாஸ் ஏஞ்சலிஸ், புவெப்லா, மெக்ஸிகோ, புதிய ஸ்பெயின்

(Puebla de los Ángeles, Puebla, Mexico, New Spain)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(மெக்ஸிகோ மற்றும் ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் இளம் துறவிகள் சபை)

(Roman Catholic Church)

(Mexico and the Order of Friars Minor)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: மே 17, 1789

திருத்தந்தை ஆறாம் பயஸ்

(Pope Pius VI)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஃபெப்ரவரி 25

பாதுகாவல்:

போக்குவரத்து தொழில் (மெக்ஸிகோ)

(Transport industry (Mexico)

அருளாளர் செபாஸ்டியன் டி அபரிஸியோ மெக்ஸிகோ நாட்டில் குடியேறி வாழ்ந்த ஒரு ஸ்பேனிஷ் காலணி வாசி (Spanish colonist) ஆவார். தமது வாழ்நாள் முழுதும் ஒரு கால்நடை வளர்ப்பு பண்ணைப் பணியாளராகவும் சாலைப் பணியாளராகவும் பணிபுரிந்த இவர், ஸ்பெயின் மெக்சிகோவை வெற்றிகொண்ட பிறகு, ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் இளம் துறவிகள் சபையில் (Order of Friars Minor) குருத்துவம் பெறாத ஒரு துறவியாக (Lay Brother) இணைந்தார். அடுத்து வந்த தமது வாழ்வின் நீண்ட இருபத்தாறு ஆண்டுகளையும் தாம் சார்ந்திருந்த துறவற சபைக்காக பிச்சை எடுப்பதில் கழித்த இவர், மரித்தபோது பெரும் கீர்த்தியுடன் மரித்தார்.

ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டின் "ஔரென்ஸ்" (Ourense) என்ற இடத்தில் அபரிஸியோ பிறந்தார். இவரது தந்தை பெயர் "ஜுவான் டி அபரிஸியோ" (Juan de Aparicio) ஆகும். தாயார் பெயர் "தெரெசா டெல் ப்ரடோ" (Teresa del Prado) ஆகும். அபரிஸியோ தமது பெற்றோருக்கு மூன்றாவதாக பிறந்தவர் ஆவார். இவரது பெற்றோர் மிகவும் பக்தியான ஏழை விவசாயிகளாவர். இவர் தமது சிறுவயதிலிருந்தே ஆடு மாடுகளை மேய்க்கும் பணி செய்தார். கல்வி கற்பதற்காக பள்ளிக்கூடம் சென்றறியாத அபரிஸியோ, செபிப்பதற்கு தமது பெற்றோரிடம் கற்றுக்கொண்டார். எழுதப் படிக்க அறியாவிடினும், தமது பக்தி முயற்சிகளில் அவர் சிறிதும் பின்தங்கிவிடவில்லை.

ஒருமுறை, கி.பி. 1514ம் ஆண்டு, கொடூரமான பிளேக் நோய் பரவியது. அந்நோய் அபரிஸியோ'வையும் பீடித்தது. தனிமைப்படுத்தப்பட்ட சமூகம் அவரை அங்கிருந்து தனிமைபடுத்தும்படி வற்புறுத்தியது. வேறு வழியற்ற அவரது பெற்றோர் அருகேயிருந்த காட்டில் அவருக்காக மறைவாக ஒரு சிறு குடிலை கட்டி அவரை அங்கே தனிமையில் விட்டுச் சென்றனர். உதவிகளற்ற அபரிஸியோ நோயால் தனிமையில் வாடினார். ஒருநாள் ஒரு பெண் ஓநாய் அங்கே வந்தது. அபரிஸியோ தங்கியிருந்த மறைவிடத்தை கண்டுபிடித்த அது, அவரது குடிலுக்குள் தலையை நுழைத்து அவரது நோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட உடலின் ஒரு பாகத்தை முகர்ந்து பார்த்தது. பின்னர் அதைக் கடித்து, நக்கிவிட்டு ஓடிப்போனது. அதன்பின்னர் அபரிஸியோ'வின் நோய் தீர ஆரம்பித்தது.

வளர்ந்த அபரிஸியோ தமது குடும்பத்திற்காக உழைத்துச் சம்பாதிக்கும் கட்டாயத்தில் இருந்தார். அதனால் அவர் தமது ஊரை விட்டு கிழக்கே "சலமான்கா" (Salamanca) என்ற இடத்திற்கும், தூர தென் பிராந்தியங்களுக்கும் பயணித்து விவசாய கூலிப் பணிகளை செய்தார். ஆனால், அவரது வெளிப்படையான, பார்வைக்கு நல்ல தோற்றத்தினால் கவரப்பட்ட பெண்கள் பலரால் அடிக்கடி பாலியல் தொல்லைகளுக்கு ஆளானார். அதனால் கற்பு நிலை மாறாத வாழ்க்கை வாழ வேண்டுமென்ற அவரது உறுதி நிலைகுலையும் என்பதை உணர்ந்தார்.

ஆகவே, அங்கிருந்து தப்பிச் சென்ற அபரிஸியோ, புதிதாக வெற்றி பெற்ற அமெரிக்க நாடுகளுக்கு பயணிக்க முடிவு செய்தார். வெற்றி பெற்ற ஸ்பெயின் மக்களுக்கும் உதவ எண்ணினார். அங்கேயே தமது கத்தோலிக்க விசுவாசத்தை ஊக்குவிக்க விரும்பினார். ஒருவிதமாக "புவேப்லா" (Puebla) மாநிலத்தில் தங்கிய அபரிஸியோ, உள்நாட்டு மக்காச் சோளம் மற்றும் ஐரோப்பிய கோதுமை ஆகியவற்றை பயிரிட்டார். பயிர்வகைகளை ஓரிடத்திலிருந்து மற்றோர் இடத்திற்கு கொண்டு செல்லும் முயற்சியாக எருது, குதிரை போன்ற கால்நடைகளை பயிற்சியளித்தல் மற்றும் சீரான சாலைகள் இல்லாத மெக்ஸிகோ நாட்டில் அவர் வசிக்கும் "புவேப்லா" (Puebla) மாநிலத்திலிருந்து "வெராக்ரூஸ்" (Veracruz) துறைமுகம் வரை சாலைகள் அமைத்து அதனை செப்பனிடல் போன்ற பணிகளைச் செய்தார்.

அபரிஸியோ ஓரளவு வசதி பெற்றார். பின்னர், அங்குள்ள கிராம மக்களுக்கு ஏர் உழவும், எருது மற்றும் குதிரை போன்ற கால்நடைகளை பழக்குவதற்கும் கற்று கொடுத்தார். பிறகு, மக்களின் ஏகோபித்த வற்புறுத்தலின் பேரில் திருமணம் செய்துகொள்ள ஒப்புக்கொண்டார். அறுபது வயதான அபரிஸியோ ஏழ்மையின் காரணமாக திருமணம் பற்றிய எதிர்பார்ப்பின்றி வாழ்ந்திருந்த ஒரு இளம்பெண்ணை கைப்பிடித்தார். அவர்கள் ஏற்கனவே பேசி வைத்து ஒப்பந்தம் செய்துகொண்டது போல தாம்பத்தியமற்ற வாழ்க்கை வாழ்ந்தனர். அவரை விட மிகவும் இளவயது பெண்ணான அவரது மனைவி ஒரு வருடத்திலேயே மரணமடைந்தார். இரண்டு வருடங்களின் பின்னர், ஏற்கனவே முதல் மனைவியுடன் செய்துகொண்டது போன்ற ஒப்பந்தம் செய்துகொண்டு, "மரிய எஸ்டேபன்" (María Esteban) என்ற இளம்பெண்ணை திருமணம் செய்துகொண்டார். அபரிஸியோ'வுக்கு எழுபது வயதாகையில் அவரது இரண்டாவது மனைவி "மரிய எஸ்டேபன்" மரணமடைந்தார்.

இரண்டாவது மனைவியையும் இழந்த அபரிஸியோ மிகவும் நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டார். தமது வாழ்க்கையை மறு மதிப்பீடு செய்யத் தொடங்கினார். மிகவும் சாதாரண ஆடைகளை உடுத்திய அவர் பெரும்பாலான நேரங்களை ஆலயங்களில் செலவிட்டார். யாரோ தம்மை அடிக்கடி அர்ப்பண வாழ்விற்கு அழைப்பதாக உணர்ந்தார். அவர் அடிக்கடி அங்குள்ள ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கன் துறவு மடத்திற்கு சென்றுவர ஆரம்பித்தார். அங்குள்ள துறவியரிடம் தாம் துறவறத்தில் இணைவது தொடர்பான சந்தேகங்களை கேட்பார்.

இங்ஙனம் ஒருநாள், அவருக்கு ஒப்புரவு அருட்சாதனம் வழங்கும் துறவி ஒருவர், அவருக்கு ஓர் ஆலோசனை சொன்னார். அதன்படி, சில வருடங்களுக்கு முன்னர் மெக்ஸிகோவில் நிறுவப்பட்டிருந்த “எளிய கிளாரா” (Monastery of Poor Clares in Mexico) துறவு மடத்திற்கு தமது சொத்துக்கள் அத்தனையையும் கொடுத்து விடுவது; அங்கேயே தங்கியிருந்து அடிப்படைத் தன்னார்வலராக சந்நியாசிகளின் புற தேவைகளுக்காக சேவை புரிவது. இந்த ஆலோசனைக்கு ஒப்புக்கொண்ட அபரிஸியோ கி.பி. 1573ம் ஆண்டு, டிசம்பர் மாதம், 20ம் நாளன்று, இதற்கான ஒப்பந்தத்தில் கையெழுத்திட்டார்.

ஒரு வருடத்தின் பின்னர், தமது நண்பர்களின் எதிர்ப்பையும் மீறி அவர் துறவு மடத்தின் "குருத்துவம் பெறாத அருட்சகோதரராக" (Lay Brother) விண்ணப்பித்தார். ஒருவருட கால பயிற்சி மற்றும் செபங்களின் பின்னர், துறவு மடத்தின் தலைமைத் துறவி அவரை "குருத்துவம் பெறாத அருட்சகோதரராக" ஏற்றுக்கொண்டார். கி.பி. 1574ம் ஆண்டு, ஜூன் மாதம், ஒன்பதாம் நாளன்று, தமது 72 வயதில் துறவறப்புகுநிலையில் இணைந்தார்.

"சாண்டியாகோ" (Santiago) என்னுமிடத்திலுள்ள துறவு மடத்திற்கு அபரிஸியோ அனுப்பப்பட்டார். அங்கே அவருக்கு சமையல் பணி, தோட்ட வேலைகள், சுமை தூக்கும் பணி, மற்றும் தேவாலயங்களில் உள்ள புனிதப் பொருட்களைக் காக்கும் பணி ஆகியன கொடுக்கப்பட்டன. சுமார் நூற்றுக்கும் மேற்பட்ட துறவியர் இருந்த மடத்தின் அனைத்துப் பணிகளும் இவர்முன் இருந்தன. வயதான மற்றும் நோயுற்ற துறவியர்க்காக உணவு மற்றும் பிற தேவைகளுக்காக தெருக்களில் சென்று பிச்சை எடுத்தார். ஒருகாலத்தில், மெக்ஸிகோவின் சாலைகளை கட்டியவர், இன்று அதே சாலைகளில் பிச்சைக் காரனாக அலைந்து திரிந்தார். தமது வயதையும் மீறி சுறுசுறுப்பாக பணியாற்றினார் அபரிஸியோ.

அவருக்கு ஒரு எருது வண்டியும், இரண்டு எருதுகளும் கொடுக்கப்பட்டன. அதில் அவர் மெக்ஸிகோ நகரெங்கும் சென்றார். சுற்றுப்புற கிராமங்களுக்கும் சென்று கூவி கூவி பிச்சை கேட்டார். மெக்ஸிகோ வாசிகளுக்கு அவர் மிகவும் பரிச்சயமாகிப்போனார். பல நாட்கள் இரவு நேரங்களில், மோசமான பருவ நிலைகளிலும் தெரு ஓரங்களிலேயே படுத்தார். ஒரு கையில் செபமாலையும் மறு கையில் எருதின் கயிறும் இருக்கும்.

இருபத்தாறு நீண்ட வருடங்கள் அவர் இதுபோலவே சேவை புரிந்தார். துறவி என்றால் இவர்போன்றே இருக்க வேண்டும் என்று மெக்ஸிகோ வாசிகள் கூறுமளவுக்கு அவர் துறவிகளின் முன்மாதிரியாகத் திகழ்ந்தார். அவர் போகுமிடமெல்லாம் தேவதூதர்கள் பின்செல்வார்கள் என்று மெக்ஸிகோ வாசிகள் அறிவித்தனர்.

குடலிறக்க நோயினால் வேதனையுற்ற அவர் தமது 98 வயதில், கி.பி. 1600ம் ஆண்டு, ஃபெப்ரவரி மாதம், 25ம் நாளன்று, மரணமடைந்தார். ஆறு மாதங்களின் பின்னர் அவரது உடல் தோண்டி எடுக்கப்பட்டபோது, அது சிதையாமல் காணப்பட்டது. இரண்டு வருடங்களின் பிறகு அது மீண்டும் தோண்டி எடுக்கப்பட்டபோதும், அது சிதையாமல் காணப்பட்டது. அவரது சிதையாத உடலை "புவேப்லா" (Puebla) நகரிலுள்ள “தூய ஃபிரான்சிஸ்கோ” (Church of San Francisco) தேவாலயத்தில் இன்றும் காணலாம்.

Also known as

• Angel of Mexico

• Sebastián de Aparicio Prado

Profile

Born of Spanish peasants. Shepherd as a child, and a hired field hand as a young man, helping to support his family. Gentleman's valet at Salamanca. He travelled to Puebla, Mexico at age 31 where he built plows and wagons, and worked as a farm hand. Spent 10 years building a 466 mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas, and conducting the postal and delivery service along the route; the road is still in use today.

Sebastian eventually became very wealthy, but lived simply, and gave freely of his money to the poor. He was married twice, the first time at age 60, but he never consummated the marriages, and outlived both brides. He gave away his wealth and became a Franciscan at age 72, spending his remaining 25 years begging alms for his brother Franciscans. Witnesses attest to over 300 miracles he performed in life.

Born

20 January 1502 in La Gudiña, Orense, Spain

Died

• 25 February 1600 of natural causes

• lies in the Chapel of the Virgin of the Conquest, Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Puebla, Mexico

• body incorrupt

Beatified

17 May 1789 by Pope Pius VI

Patronage

• drivers

• road builders

• travellers

Blessed Avertano of Lucca

Also known as

Aventanus

Additional Memorial

4 March (Carmelites)

Profile

Carmelite lay brother. Miracle worker who received visions, and was known for his deep, mystical prayer life. With a brother Carmelite, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, but died in a plague epidemic on the way home.

Born

diocese of Limoges, France

Died

• c.1366 in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy of plague

• buried in the hospice church of San Pietro

• so many miracles were reported at his grave that a series of paintings depicting some of them were made for the San Pietro church and the cathedral of Lucca

• relics transferred to the cathedral of Lucca in 1513

• relics returned to the church of San Pietro in 1646

• relics enshrined in the church of Saints Paolino and Donato in 1806

Beatified

• added to the Carmelite calendar in 1514

• Office made obligatory by the General Chapter of the Carmelies in 1564

• Office sanctioned by the Vatican in 1609

• approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 12 May 1672

• Office and Mass extended to the entire archdiocese of Lucca, Italy on 16 July 1828

• by Pope Gregory XVI (cultus confirmation)

Blessed Mariam Vattalil

#அருளாளர்_இராணி_மரியா (1954-1995)

பிப்ரவரி 25

இவர் (#BlRaniMaria) கேரளாவில் உள்ள எர்ணாகுளத்திற்கு அருகிலுள்ள புழுவாலி என்ற இடத்தில் பிறந்தவர்.

இவரது தந்தை பாய்லி, தாய் எலிஸ்வா என்பவராவர். இவர் பிறந்த ஏழாம் நாளிலேயே இவருக்குத் திருமுழுக்குக் கொடுக்கப்பட்டது. சிறு வயது முதலே இறைவன்மீது ஆழமான நம்பிக்கை கொண்டிருந்த இவர், வளர்ந்து பெரியவரான பிறகு புனித கிளாரா சபையில் சேர்ந்து துறவியானார்.

இதன் பிறகு இவர் உத்தரப்பிரதேச மாநிலம், பிஜ்னூர் பகுதியில் இருந்த ஏழைகள் நடுவில் பணி செய்தார். 

இப்பகுதியில் வட்டிக்குக் கடன்கொடுப்பவர்கள், நிலச்சுவான்தார்கள், கொலைக் குற்றவாளிகள் ஆகியோரின் தாக்கம் மிகுதியாகவே இருந்தது. அவர்களிடமிருந்து ஏழைகளுக்கு விடுதலை கிடைக்க இவர் கடுமையாக உழைத்தார். அதனாலேயே இவர் அவர்களுடைய எதிர்ப்புக்கு உள்ளானார்.

1995 ஆம் ஆண்டு, பிப்ரவரி திங்கள் 25 ஆம் நாள் இவர் பேருந்தில் சென்று கொண்டிருக்கும்போது, உதய்நகர் என்ற இடத்தில் சமந்தர் சிங் என்பவன் இவரைப் பலமுறை கத்தியால் குத்திக் கொன்று போட்டான். 

இதன் பிறகு இவரைக் கொன்ற சமந்தர் சிங்கிற்கு ஆயுள்காலத் தண்டனை வழங்கப்பட்டது. மேலும் 2006 ஆம் ஆண்டு இவரது தாயும் சகோதரியும் சிறையில் இருந்த சமந்தர் சிங்கைச் சந்தித்து, அவனை மனதார மன்னித்தனர். அதனால் அவன் மனம்மாறினார். 

2017 ஆம் ஆண்டு, திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் அவர்களால் இவருக்குப் புனிதர் பட்டம் கொடுக்கப்பட்டது.

.

Also known as

Sister Rani Maria

Profile

The second child of Paily and Eliswa of Vattalil, Mariam was baptized in the church of Saint Thomas at the age of 7 days. She joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, taking the name Rani Maria, and making her solemn vows on 22 May 1980. Missionary in the diocese of Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, India. Her work there to help the poor put her in conflict with the money lenders, landlords and criminals who exploited them, and she was murdered to stop her work. Martyr.

Born

29 January 1954 in Pulluvazhy, Ernakulam, India

Died

• stabbed and beaten to death on a bus on 25 February 1995 near Udainagar, Bagli, Dewas, India by Samandar Singh

• Singh was arrested, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder; he was released in 2006, has met with and was forgiven by Blessed Mariam’s family, and attended the beatification celebration

Beatified

• 4 November 2017 by Pope Francis

• the beatification recognition was celebrated at the Saint Paul Institute of Professional Studies in Indore, India with Cardinal Angelo Amato as the chief celebrant

Saint Laurentius Bai Xiaoman

Also known as

• Lawrence Pe-Man

• Laurence Pe-Man

• Luolong

Additional Memorial

• 24 November as one of the Martyrs of Cochin

• 28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Born to a poor family, and orphaned as a young boy. Layman. Day labourer in Guangxi, China, and then in the village of Yaoshan. Married in his early 30's, he was the father of one daughter, and was known as a kind and honest man. Convert, joining the Church c.1855 and taking the name Lawrence. Spiritual student of Saint Augustus Chapdelaine. When he protested the arrest of Augustus, local officials ordered Lawrence to renounce Christianity; when he refused he was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death. Martyr.

Born

c.1821 in Shuicheng, Guizhou, China as Loulong

Died

• beheaded on 25 February 1856 in Su-Lik-Hien, Kwang-Si province, China

• body dumped in a wooded area and left for wild animals

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Toribio Romo González

Additional Memorial

21 May as one of the Martyrs of the Mexican Revolution

Profile

Ordained at age 21; he had to receive special dispensation from the Vatican to be ordained so young. Parish priest in Tequila, Jalisco, archdiocese of Guadalajara, Mexico. Parish priest in Agua Caliente, Mexico. Known for a great devotion to the Eucharist. Murdered during the Mexican Revolution for being a priest. One of the Martyrs of the Cristero Wars.

Born

16 April 1900 in Santa Ana de Guadalupe, Jalostotitlán parish, San Juan de los Lagos diocese, Jalisco, Mexico

Died

• shot in the back around 5am on Saturday 25 February 1928 in his rectory in Agua Caliente, Jalisco, Mexico

• relics in the Santa Ana de Guadalupe Church, Jalisco

Canonized

Sunday 21 May 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Patronage

immigrants

Blessed Robert of Arbrissel

Profile

Son of a village priest, he became a priest himself. Archpriest at Rennes, France where he was known both as a reformer (which often stirs up trouble), and as a peace-maker. Teacher at Angers, France. Hermit in the forest of Craon, France where he founded a community of canons. He was a noted preacher, and when Pope Urban II heard him speak in 1095, the pope ordered Robert to devote himself to preaching. He travelled the region, preaching missions, attracting would-be students, and being accused by his detractors of sleeping with the local women who listened to him. He founded a double monastery that became the modern Fontevraud-l'Abbaye in Pays-de-la-Loire, France. He wrote a Rule for the community and handed over its administration to an abbess; it soon became the mother-house of the Order of Fontevraud, and the Rule received papal approval in Calixtus II in 1119.

Born

Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (modern Arbrissel, France)

Died

1116 of natural causes

Saint Domenico Lentini

Profile

Youngest of five children in a poor but pious family. By age 14 he felt a call to the priesthood, studied at the seminary in Salerno, Italy and was ordained in the diocese of Tursi-Lagonegro, Italy in 1794. He was assigned to his hometown of Lauria, Italy and worked there the rest of his life.

Known for his self-imposed poverty, his devotion to the Eucharist and Our Lady of Sorrows, as a noted homilist, for his work with the poor, and for being always available to his parishioners. He turned his home into a school, teaching catechism and theology, but also literature and philosophy. His humble devotion to the Church and his parishioners led all who knew him to consider him a model for priests, and a saint even in life.

Born

20 November 1770 at Lauria, Potenza, Italy

Died

25 February 1828 at Lauria, Potenza, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

12 October 1997 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy

Patronage

Lauria, Italy

Blessed Ciriaco María Sancha Hervás

Profile

Ordained on 27 June 1858. Auxiliary Bishop of Toledo, Spain, and Titular Bishop of Areopolis on 28 January 1876. Bishop of Avila, Spain on 27 March 1882. Bishop of Madrid, Spain on 10 April 1886. Archbishop of Valencia, Spain on 6 October 1892. Elevated to Cardinal-Priest of San Pietro in Montorio on 18 May 1894 by Pope Leo XIII. Founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha. Archbishop of Toledo, Spain and Patriarch of the West Indies on 24 March 1898. Participated in the conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Saint Pius X.

Born

18 June 1833 in Quintana del Pidio, Burgos, Spain

Died

25 February 1909 in Toledo, Spain of natural causes

Beatified

• 18 October 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI

• beatification recognition celebrated in the cathedral of Toledo, Spain, Archbishop Angelo Amato chief celebrant

Saint Caesarius of Nanzianzen

Profile

Son of Saint Gregory of Nazianzen the Elder and Saint Nonna. Brother of Saint Gorgonia and Saint Gregory of Nazianzen. Studied in Caesarea, Cappadocia, and Alexandria, Egypt. Noted and skillful physician. He moved to Constantinople c.355 where he became wealthy in his profession. Served in the court of Emperor Julian the Apostate who tried to get Caesarius to renounce his faith; when he refused, he was exiled. From there he moved to Bithynia where he served Emperor Valens as quaestor. Confirmed bachelor, though he had offers to marry into nobility. Upon his death he donated his entire estate to the poor.

Born

c.329 in Arianzus

Died

• c.369 of natural causes

• interred at Nazianzus

Patronage

bachelors

Saint Luigi Versiglia

Also known as

Aloisius Versiglia

Additional Memorial

• 13 November (Salesians)

• 28 September as one of the Martyrs of China

Profile

Studied at Don Bosco's Oratory from age 12. Salesian. Ordained on 21 December 1895. Missonary to China in 1906. Appointed vicar apostolic of Shiuchow, China, and titular bishop of Carystus, on 22 April 1920. On 25 February 1930, while travelling with Saint Callistus Caravario, his ship was boarded by Bolshevik pirates who planned to abduct and enslave the girls on their ship; Callistus and Luigi fought to prevent them. Marytr.

Born

5 June 1873 in Oliva Gessi, Padua, Lombardy, Italy

Died

shot on 25 February 1930 in Shiuchow [Shaoguan] China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Callistus Caravario

Also known as

Callisto Caravario

Profile

Known as a pious and prayerful child. Salesian missionary priest. He worked at Macao, China, then in Timor, and then on 18 May 1929 in Shiuchow, China. On 25 February 1930, while travelling with his bishop, Saint Luigi Versiglia, his ship was boarded by Bolshevik pirates who planned to abduct and enslave the girls on their ship; Callistus and Luigi fought to prevent them. One of the Martyrs of China.

Born

18 June 1903 in Cuorgné, Italy

Died

shot on 25 February 1930 off the coast of Shiuchow, China

Canonized

1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Gerland the Bishop

Also known as

• Gerland of Agrigento

• Gerlando, Giullannu

Profile

Bishop of Girgenti (Agrigento), Sicily. Worked for the restoration of Christianity throughout Sicily after the Saracens were driven out by his relative, Robert Guiscard of Normandy.

Born

at Besancon, France

Died

1104 on Sicily of natural causes

Patronage

Agrigento, Sicily

Saint Tharasius

Also known as

Father of the Poor

Profile

Ninth century patriarch of Constantinople. A man of great learning and personal piety, he led his flock through the Iconoclasm heresy, and worked against the cruel empress Irene. Pope Adrian I addressed an epistle to him in support of his work against the Iconoclasts. In addition to problems with the heretics, he was endlessly in trouble with the Byzantine courts and mobility for denouncing their vices and worldly ways.

Died

806 in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) of natural causes

Saint Nestor of Side

Also known as

• Nestor of Magydos

• Nestor of Perge

Profile

Bishop of Side, Pamphylia (in modern Antalya, Turkey), known for his personal piety and his zeal as an evangelist. Arrested and executed by order of governor Epolius during the persecutions of Decius. Martyr.

Died

crucified in 250 in Perge, Pamphylia (in modern Turkey)

Blessed Adelelmo of Engelberg

Profile

Benedictine monk at the Saint Blaise monastery in the Black Forest. Founded the abbey of Engelberg nell'Unterwalden in Switzerland, then served there as prior and abbot.

Died

• 25 February 1131 at the abbey of Engelberg nell'Unterwalden, Switzerland of natural causes

• relics enshrined in 1611

Blessed Didacus Yuki Ryosetsu

Profile

Jesuit priest. Martyr.

Born

c.1575 in Awa, Tokushima, Japan

Died

25 February 1636 in Osaka, Japan

Beatified

24 November 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Aldetrudis

Also known as

Adeltrudis, Aldetrude

Profile

Daughter of Saint Vincent Madelgarus and Saint Waldetrudis; sister of Saint Madalberta; niece of Saint Aldegund of Maubeuge. Nun and then abbess at the convent led by her aunt Aldegund.

Born

France

Died

c.696

Saint Ananias of Phoenicia

Also known as

Ananias III

Profile

Third-century priest. Martyred in the persections of Diocletian along with seven soldiers whose names have not come down to us.

Died

298 in Phoenicia

Saint Gothard the Hermit

Also known as

Gotthard

Profile

Hermit in a cell high in the Alps near a mountain range and pass now known as Saint Gothard in his honour.

Saint Victor of Saint Gall

Profile

Monk at Saint Gall in Switzerland. Hermit in the Vosges, France.

Died

995 in Vosges, France

Saint Donatus the Martyr

Profile

One of a group of 3rd-century Christians martyred in North Africa in the persecutions of Decius.

Saint Riginos

Profile

Bishop. Martyr.

Died

tortured to death in 362 on the island of Skopelos, Greece

Patronage

Skopelos Island, Greece

Saint Concordius of Saintes

Also known as

Concordio, Concorde

Profile

Bishop of Saintes, France c.600.

Saint Justus the Martyr

Profile

One of a group of 3rd-century Christians martyred in North Africa in the persecutions of Decius.

Saint Herena the Martyr

Profile

One of a group of 3rd-century Christians martyred in North Africa in the persecutions of Decius.

Martyrs of Egypt

Profile

A group of Christian men who were exiled to Egypt for their faith and were eventually martyred for their faith in the persecutions of Numerian. We know little more than the name - Claudianus, Dioscurus, Nicephorus, Papias, Serapion, Victor and Victorinus.

Died

283 in Diospolis (modern Hu), Egypt

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் பெப்ரவரி 24

 St. Montanus

Feastday: February 24

Death: 259

Martyr with Flavian, Julian, Lucius, Victoricus, and five others at Carthage. They were disciples of St. Cyprian of Carthage. Victoricus was a priest. These martyrs were tortured and then beheaded.

St. John Theristus

Feastday: February 24

Birth: 1049

Death: 1129

Benedictine monk, called Theristus or "Harvester." He was of Calabrian lineage, born in Sicily. His mother was a slave of the Saracens. John escaped at a young age and became a monk.

Saint John Theristus (Italian: Giovanni Theristis; 1049–1129) was an Italian Byzantine monk, called Theristus or “Harvester”.[1] Despite dying almost a century after the Great Schism of 1054, he is notably a saint in both the Catholic and Orthodox Church. The life of this monk is handed down by legends and popular beliefs.

Life

John's father, Arconte di Cursano, a Byzantine farmer near Botterio Signore in the territory of Stylus,[2] was killed in a Saracen raid on the coasts of Calabria. His Calabrian mother captured Saracens and brought to Palermo, where she gave birth. He grew up in the Christian faith in a Muslim environment. At the age of 14, he was encouraged by his mother to flee to his native country. He crossed the Strait of Messina in a boat without oars or sail, and reached Monasterace. The inhabitants, seeing him dressed as a Moor, took him to the Bishop, who interrogated him. The boy answered that he was seeking baptism, but the bishop subjected him to harsh trials before giving him his name.

Once he grew up, he felt more and more attracted to the life of the monks who lived in the caves around Stylus, fascinated by the example of two Basilian ascetics, Ambrose and Nicholas. After much insistence, despite his young age, he was admitted into the community.[3] He distinguished himself by virtue, so much so that he was later elected abbot. He found in Cursano a treasure that belonged to his family, and following the rule of Saint Basil he distributed it to the poor.

Once in June, at harvest time, he went to visit at Monasterace a knight who had provided food for the monastery. He took with him a flask of wine and some bread. When he arrived at two fields, called Marone and Maturavolo, he offered the farmers the bread and wine. A furious storm rose up, risking destruction of the harvest, but through John's prayer the storm held off until the wheat be harvested and gathered in sheaves. Thus he helped to miraculously harvest a large crop ahead of destructive weather, saving the locals from starvation.[4] This and other episodes testifying to the help given to the farmers, earned him the nickname of Therìstis, that is "reaper". The owner of the fields, struck by the incident, donated them to the monastery.

Veneration

View of the restored side of the monastery.

According to tradition, King Roger, suffering from an incurable wound on his face, was healed upon contact with John's tunic and many others were healed: crippled, blind, deaf, and demonic. Roger II then founded the monastery of St. John in Nemore (del Bosco), named after the saint.

The memory of the saint is found in all Greek menologies and synaxarions. It also entered the Roman Martyrology on 23 February.

In 1660 Pope Alexander VIII had his body transferred to Stylus to avoid the raids of brigands and earthquakes. On 12 March 1662, together with the relics of Saints Ambrose and Nicholas, the remains were placed in a church built by the Minims Fathers and later purchased by the Basilians who dedicated it to San Giovanni Teristi. In 1791 it passed to the Redemptorists, who embellished the church and convent with marble works. In the left aisle, under the altar, are venerated the relics of Teristi and his fellow monks. The convent is accessed through a marble portal worked in marble. In the centre of the cloister stands an ancient well in pink granite with four columns, covered by a canopy surmounted by a tin ship, with a praying child holding a cross inside, in memory of the young John's miraculous journey by sea.

Blessed Tommaso Maria Fusco

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஃபெப்ரவரி 24)

✠ அருளாளர் தாமஸ் மரிய ஃபஸ்கோ ✠

(Bl. Tommaso Maria Fusco)

குரு, நிறுவனர்:

(Priest and Founder)

பிறப்பு: டிசம்பர் 1, 1831

பகனி, சலேர்மோ, இரண்டு சிசிலிக்களின் அரசு

(Pagani, Salerno, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies)

இறப்பு: ஃபெப்ரவரி 24, 1891 (வயது 59)

பகனி, சலேர்மோ, இத்தாலி அரசு

(Pagani, Salerno, Kingdom of Italy)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: அக்டோபர் 7, 2001

திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் ஜான் பவுல்

(Pope John Paul II)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஃபெப்ரவரி 24

பாதுகாவல்:

மிக மதிப்புமிக்க திருஇரத்தத்தின் கருணையின் மகள்கள் சபை

(Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood)

அருளாளர் தாமஸ் மரிய ஃபஸ்கோ, ஒரு இத்தாலிய ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க குருவும், “மிக மதிப்புமிக்க திருஇரத்தத்தின் கருணையின் மகள்கள்” (Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood) எனும் சபையின் நிறுவனருமாவார்.

கி.பி. 1831ம் ஆண்டு, டிசம்பர் மாதம், முதல் நாள், அன்றைய இரண்டு சிசிலிக்களின் அரசின் சலேர்மோ’வின் (Salerno) பகனி (Pagani) நகரில் பிறந்த தாமஸின் தந்தையார் பெயர், “அந்தோனியோ ஃபஸ்கோ” (Antonio Fusco) ஆகும். தாயாரின் பெயர், ஸ்டெல்லா ஜியோர்டேனோ” (Stella Giordano) ஆகும். இவர், தமது பெற்றோருக்குப் பிறந்த எட்டு குழந்தைகளில் ஏழாவது குழந்தை ஆவார். இவருக்கு ஆறு வயதாகையில் இவரது தாயார் மரித்துப் போனார். பத்து வயதாகையில் இவரது தந்தையும் மரித்துப் போனார். இதன்காரனத்தால் இவரது தாய்மாமனான “ஜியுசெப்” (Giuseppe) இவரையும் இவரது சகோதரர்களையும் தத்தெடுத்தார்.

 

கி.பி. 1847ம் ஆண்டு, தென் இத்தாலியின் “கம்பானியா” (Campania) பிராந்தியத்திலுள்ள “நோசேரா” (Nocera) நகரில் தமது குருத்துவக் கல்வியை தொடங்கினார். அதே வருடம், அவரது தாய்மாமனும் மரித்துப் போனார். கி.பி. 1855ம் ஆண்டு, டிசம்பர் மாதம், 22ம் நாளன்று, தமது இருபத்துநான்கு வயதில் குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்றார்.

தமது சொந்த ஊரிலேயே பங்குத் தந்தையாக சேவையாற்றிய தாமஸ், அங்கேயே ஒரு பள்ளியையும் திறந்தார். கி.பி. 1857ம் ஆண்டு, “நோசேரா” (Nocera) நகரின் “மிஷனரிகளின் சபை” (Congregation of the Missionaries) உறுப்பினரானார். தென்திசை ஊர்களில் பிரசங்கிப்பதற்காக பயணிக்கத் தொடங்கினார். இவர், மிஷனரிகளின் சபையை ஆதரிப்பதற்காக, கத்தோலிக்க அப்போஸ்தலப் பணிகளுக்கான ஒரு குருக்களின் (Priestly Society of the Catholic Apostolate) சமுதாயத்தையும் நிறுவினார். கி.பி. 1874ம் ஆண்டு, இதற்கான ஒப்புதலும் திருத்தந்தை “ஒன்பதாம் பயசிடமிருந்து” (Pope Pius IX) பெறப்பட்டது.

அதன்பின்னர், கி.பி. 1873ம் ஆண்டு, ஜனவரி மாதம், 6ம் நாளன்று, “மிக மதிப்புமிக்க திருஇரத்தத்தின் கருணையின் மகள்கள்” (Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood) எனும் சபையினை நிறுவிய இவர், கி.பி. 1874 – 1887 ஆண்டு காலத்தில், “பகனி” (Pagani) நகரின் பங்குத் தந்தையாக சேவை புரிந்தார். தார்மீக இறையியல் உள்ளடங்கிய பல்வேறு தலைப்புகளில் அவர் பல பிரசுரங்களை எழுதினார்.

தாமஸ் மரிய ஃபஸ்கோ, கி.பி. 1891ம் ஆண்டின் தொடக்கத்திலேயே மரித்தார்.

Also known as

Thomas Mary Fusco

Profile

Son of Dr Antonio Fusco, a pharmacist, and Stella Giordano, an Italian noble; seventh of eight children in a pious family. His mother died of cholera in 1837 when Tommaso was six, his father in 1841 when the boy was ten, and he was educated by his fraternal uncle Giuseppe, a priest and school teacher. Entered the seminary at Nocera, Italy in 1847, the same year his uncle Giuseppe died. Ordained on 22 December 1855.

Opened a school for boys in his own home, and organized prayer groups at night in his parish. Joined the Congregation of the Missionaries of Nocera in 1857, and became a travelling missionary in southern Italy. Chaplain and spiritual director at the Shrine of Our Lady of Carmel (Our Lady of the Hens) in Pagani, Italy in 1860. Opened a school of moral theology in his home in 1862, and trained priests in the ministry of Confession. Founded the Priestly Society of the Catholic Apostolate to support missions, a congregation that received the approval of Pope Blessed Pius IX in 1874. Founded the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood on 6 January 1873, a congregation devoted to the care of orphans. Parish priest at San Felice e Corpo di Cristo at Pagani from 1874 to 1887. Confessor to cloistered nuns at Pagani and Nocera. Wrote on a number of topics including moral theology; his works always expressed his devotion to the Precious Blood.

Late in life he was the victim of slander when a brother priest became jealous of Tommaso's good works and consequent notoriety. But Father Fusco prayed his way through the matter, continued his work, and was vindicated in the end.

Born

1 December 1831 at Pagani, Salerno, parish of San Felice e Corpo di Cristo, diocese of Nocera-Sarno, Italy

Died

24 February 1891 of a chronic liver disease

Beatified

• 7 October 2001 by Pope John Paul II

• the beatification miracles involved the healing of Mrs Maria Battaglia on 20 August 1964 in Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicily

Blessed Josef Mayr-Nusser

Also known as

• Pepi (nickname)

• Martyr of the First Commandment

Profile

Raised in a pious, rural Italian farm family; his brother Jakob became a priest. Devotee of Blessed Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam and Saint Vincent de Paul. To follow their example, he joined the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in 1932, and by 1937 was the president of the Bolzano, Italy division. In addition to directly caring for the poor, he became a vocal spokesman for them. A member of Catholic Action, in 1934 he became the head of the organization in the diocese of Trent, Italy. Student of the writing of Saint Thomas More and Saint Thomas Aquinas, concentrating on their correspondence as he thought that letters would reveal the real men themselves. He joined the covert anti–Nazi group Andreas Hofer Bund in 1939. Married to Hildegard Straub on 26 May 1942; their son Alberto was born in 1943.

Drafted into the German army in World War II, assigned to an SS unit in 1944, and sent to Prussia for training. On 4 October 1944 he announced that his faith prevented him from taking the oath of loyalty and obedience to Hitler, or of cooperating with the anti–Christian Nazi ideology. Imprisoned for his belief, Josef was sentenced in February 1945 to be executed in the Dachau concentration camp, he died while en route there. Martyr.

Born

27 December 1910 in Bolzano, Italy

Died

• morning of 24 February 1945 in Erlangen, Germany of dysentery on a train en route to the Dachau concentration camp to be executed by firing squad

• re-buried at the church of San Giuseppe in Bolzano, Italy in 1958

Beatified

• 18 March 2017 by Pope Francis

• beatification celebrated at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Bolzano, Italy, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato

Blessed Constantius of Fabriano

Also known as

• Constantius Bernocchi

• Constantius Servoli

• Constantius di Meo

• Costanzo, Costante

Profile

Known as a pious child; Constantius once convinced his parents to pray with him for the healing of his terminally ill sister - and she was immediately cured. He joined the Dominicans at age 15 at the convent of Santa Lucia. Spiritual student of Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, Blessed Corradino of Brescia and Saint Antoninus of Florence. Reforming prior of friars in the Italian cities of Florence, Fabriano, Perugia and Ascoli Piceno. Noted preacher and peacemaker in local disturbances; worked with Blessed Peitro da Mogliano and Saint James of the March. Known for his deep prayer life, as a miracle worker. and for his gift of prophecy; he miraculously knew the instant of the death of Saint Antoninus. He was considered a saint in life by all who knew him.

Born

early 15th century Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy

Died

• c.1481 at Ascoli Piceno, Italy of natural causes

• the local senate and council assembled at the news of his death, proclaimed it a "public calamity", and voted to pay for the funeral

• buried at the Dominican church of Saint Peter Martyr in Ascoli Piceno

• some relics swiped by a fellow Domincan and taken to Frabriano, Italy

Beatified

1821 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmed)

Blessed Florentina Nicol Goni

Also known as

• Maria Ascension of the Heart of Jesus

• Mother Ascension del Corazon de Jesus

• Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi

Profile

Youngest of four children. Educated in the Saint Rose of Lima Dominican boarding school at Huesca, Spain where she became a Dominican nun in 1885, taking the name Ascensión. Teacher in 1886. In 1913 the Spanish state took over the school expelled the sisters. Missionary to Peru, arriving with eight others on 30 December 1913, teaching girls and caring for the poor and sick. Co-founded the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary on 5 October 1918, and served the rest of her life as its first superior. Today the congregation has 785 missionaries in 21 nations.

Born

14 March 1868 in Tafalla, Navarre, Spain as Florentina Nicol Goni

Died

24 February 1940 in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain of natural causes

Beatified

• 14 May 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI

• recognition celebrated by Cardinal Saraiva Martins in Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Saint Ethelbert of Kent

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஃபெப்ரவரி 24)

✠ புனிதர் ஏத்தல்பெர்ட் ✠

(St. Ethelberht of Kent)

கென்ட் நாட்டின் அரசன்:

(King of Kent)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 6ம் நூற்றாண்டு

கென்ட், இங்கிலாந்து

இறப்பு: ஃபெப்ரவரி 24, 616

இங்கிலாந்து

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஃபெப்ரவரி 24

புனித ஏத்தல்பெர்ட், கிறிஸ்தவ மதத்திற்கு மாறிய முதல் ஆங்கிலேய அரசனாவார். ஆங்கிலேய அரசரான "எயோர்மென்ரிக்" (Eormenric) அவர்களுக்குப் பின்னர் அரசாளும் உரிமையை அவரது மகனான ஏத்தல்பெர்ட் பெற்றார். இவரது ஆட்சியின்போதுதான் "கென்ட்" (Kent) மாநிலத்தில் முதன்முதலாக பணப்பரிமாற்றம் நிகழத் தொடங்கியது. இது, "ஆங்கிலோ - சாக்ஸன்" (Anglo-Saxon) படையெடுப்பின் பின்னர் தொடங்கியது. கிறிஸ்தவ மதத்தை நிறுவுவதில் இவர் ஆற்றிய பெரும்பங்கின் காரணமாக, பின்னாளில் இவர் கிறிஸ்தவ புனிதராக மதிக்கப்படுகின்றார்.

"ஃப்ராங்க்ஸ்" (Franks) நாட்டு அரசன் "சாரிபெர்ட்'டின்" கிறிஸ்தவ மகளான "பெர்த்தா'வை" (Bertha) ஏத்தல்பெர்ட் திருமணம் செய்தார். பெர்த்தா'வின் செல்வாக்கினால் திருத்தந்தை முதலாம் கிரகொரி (Pope Gregory I) "அகுஸ்தினா'ரை" (Augustine) ரோம் நகரிலிருந்து மறை பரப்பாளராக அனுப்பினார்.

597ல் அகுஸ்தினார் சுமார் நாற்பது துறவியருடன் "கிழக்கு கென்ட்" பிராந்தியத்தில் வந்து இறங்கினார். அவர் வந்து சேர்ந்த சிறிது காலத்திலேயே ஏத்தல்பெர்ட் கிறிஸ்தவராக மதம் மாறினார். அவரது இராச்சியத்தில் எண்ணற்ற தேவாலயங்கள் கட்டப்பட்டன. பரவலாக கிறிஸ்தவ மத மாற்றம் நிகழ்ந்தது. "காண்டர்பரி" (Canterbury) மாநிலத்தில் நிலங்களுடன் தேவாலயம் கட்டி கொடுத்தார். அவர் ஆரம்பித்து வைத்த இப்பணி, இறுதியில் "ஆங்கிலிக்கன் சமூகம்" (Anglican Communion) உருவாக காரணியானது.

ஆதியில், பிரிட்டன் நாட்டவர் ரோமன் சட்டங்களின்படி (Roman rule) கிறிஸ்தவர்களாக மதம் மாற்றம் செய்யப்பட்டனர். "ஆங்கிலோ - சாக்ஸன்" (Anglo-Saxon) படையெடுப்பு, பிரிட்டன் திருச்சபையை ஐரோப்பிய திருச்சபையிடமிருந்து நூற்றாண்டுகளுக்கு பிரித்து வைத்தது. ரோம ஆட்சியாளர்கள், பிரிட்டனில் தமது பிரதிநிதிகளோ, அதிகாரமோ இல்லாத காரணத்தாலும், பிரிட்டன் திருச்சபையைப் பற்றி ஏதும் அறியாத காரணத்தாலும் பிரிட்டன் நாட்டின் பழக்க வழக்கங்களில் ஏற்பட்ட பிளவுகளை அறியமுடியாமல் போனது.

இருப்பினும், ஏத்தல்பெர்ட் ரோம திருச்சபைகளைப் பற்றி தமது "ஃபிராங்கிஷ்" மனைவியான (Frankish wife) "பெர்த்தா" (Bertha) மூலம் சிறிது அறிந்து வைத்திருந்ததாலும் "பெர்த்தா" மூலம் "லியுதர்ட்" (Liudhard) என்ற கத்தோலிக்க ஆயரை அழைத்துவந்து "புனித மார்ட்டின்" (St Martin's) தேவாலயத்தை கட்டினார்.

கி.பி. 616ம் ஆண்டு, ஃபெப்ரவரி மாதம் 24ம் நாளன்று, ஏத்தல்பெர்ட் மரணமடைந்தார். ரோம மறைசாட்சிகளின் (Edition 2004 of Roman Martyrology) கி.பி. 2004ம் ஆண்டு பதிப்பின்படி, ஏத்தல்பெர்ட் ஃபெப்ரவரி 24 அன்று பட்டியலிடப்பட்டுள்ளார்.

Also known as

Ædilberct, Æthelberht, Aedilberct, Aethelberht, Aibert, Albert, Edilbertus

Profile

Son of Eormenric; great-grandson of Hengist, Saxon conqueror of Britain. Raised as a pagan worshipper of Odin. King of Kent in 560. Defeated by Ceawlin of Wessex at the battle of Wimbledon in 568, ending his attempt to rule all of Britain. Married the Christian Bertha, daughter of Charibert, King of the Franks; they had three children, including Saint Ethelburgh of Kent. Convert to Christianity, baptized by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in 597; his example led to the baptism of 10,000 of his countrymen within a few months, and he supported Augustine in his missionary work with land, finances and influence. Issued the first written laws to the English people in 604.

Born

552

Died

• 24 February 616 at Canterbury, England of natural causes

• buried in the side chapel of Saint Martin in the abbey church of Saints Peter and Paul

• relics later translated to Canterbury

Blessed Marco De' Marconi

Profile

Born to a pious Christian family. Joined the Order of the Hermits of Saint Jerome in Migliarino, Italy at age 16. Known during his short life for the depth and intensity of his prayer life.

Born

1480 in Mantua, Italy

Died

• 24 February 1510 in Mantua, Italy of natural causes

• body later found incorrupt

• when his home monastery was destroyed in war in the mid-17th century, his relics were moved to a new monastery and church in Mantua

• the church and monastery were suppressed in the late 18th century, and the relics were briefly hidden

• relics enshrined in the cathedral in Mantua

Beatified

2 March 1906 by Pope Pius X (cultus confirmation)

Blessed Josefa Naval Girbes

Also known as

Josepha Naval Girbes

Profile

Consecrated herself by a personal perpetual vow of chastity when a young woman. Very active in her parish life. Opened a school for girls in her own home where she taught needlework and prayer. Member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Teresa of Jesus. Great devotion for the Virgin Mary.

Born

11 December 1820 at Algemesi, archdiocese of Valencia, Spain

Died

• 24 February 1893 of natural causes

• buried in the parish church of Saint James, Algemesi, archdiocese of Valencia, Spain

Beatified

25 September 1988 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Praetexatus of Rouen

Also known as

Pretextat, Pretextatus, Prix

Profile

Bishop of Rouen, France from 549, a position he held for 35 years. Because of his involvement in political intrigue, the French king had him brought before a court of bishops on a charge of fomenting rebellion. Praetextatus denied the charges, but agreed to exile for several years instead of execution. He was formally reinstalled as bishop by the Council of Macon. Praetextatus continued correcting the queen and preaching against the evil practices of her regime, encouraging the monarch to set a holy example. Instead, she had him assassinated.

Died

murdered in 586 during morning prayers

Saint Sergius of Caesarea

Also known as

George, Georgi, Sergio, Syrgi

Profile

Monk in Caesarea, Cappadocia. May have been a priest; records are unclear. He was one of a group of Christians assembled and ordered to make a sacrifice to idols during the persecutions of Diocletian; when the sacrificial fire went out, Sergius immediately claimed it was the work of the true God. He was immediately "tried" and executed by order of the local governor. Martyr.

Died

• c.306 in Caesarea, Cappadocia

• relics translated to Úbeda, Spain

Blessed Berta of Busano

Profile

Born to the nobility, the daughter of Emilia della Rovere and Arduino II, Count of Valperga; sister of the Blessed Arduino of Turin; aunt of Blessed Boniface of Aosta. Benedictine nun in Busano, Italy as a young woman. Later chosen abbess of her house; she used the position and family connections to repair and expand her convent. Had the gift of prophecy.

Died

1195 in Busano, Turin, Italy of natural causes

Blessed Arnold of Carcassonne

Profile

A cousin of Saint Peter Nolasco, Arnold joined the Mercedarians on the first day of their founding in the early 13th century, and lived in the monastery in Valencia, Spain. He helped spread interest in the Order and its work by explaining the virtues that develop from living the Order’s Rule.

Saint Adela of Blois

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஃபெப்ரவரி 24)

✠ நார்மண்டியின் புனிதர் அடேலா ✠

(St. Adela of Normandy)

பிலாயிஸ், சார்ட்ரெஸ் மற்றும் மியூக்ஸ் நகரங்களின் கோமாட்டி:

(Countess of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 1067

நோர்மண்டி, ஃபிரான்ஸ்

(Normandy, France)

இறப்பு: மார்ச் 8, 1137 (வயது 69–70)

மர்ஸிக்னி-ஸுர்-லொய்ர், ஃபிரான்ஸ்

(Marcigny-sur-Loire, France)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஃபெப்ரவரி 24

புனிதர் அடேலா, ஃபிரான்ஸ் நாட்டின் “பிலாயிஸ்” (Blois), “சார்ட்ரெஸ்” (Chartres) மற்றும் “மியூக்ஸ்” (Meaux) நகரங்களின் கோமாட்டியும், “பிலாயிஸ்” கோமகன் (Count of Blois) “இரண்டாம் ஸ்டீஃபனின்” (Stephen II) மனைவியுமாவார். இவர் ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையினால் புனிதராக வணங்கப்படுகின்றார்.

கி.பி. 1096-1100 மற்றும் 1101-02 ஆண்டு காலங்களில், தமது கணவர் இல்லாத காலத்தில், “பிலாயிஸ்” நகரின் அரசாட்சிப் (Regent of Blois) பிரதிநிதியுமாவார். கி.பி. 1102 முதல் 1120ம் ஆண்டு வரையான காலத்தில், வயது வராத தமது மகனுக்குப் பதிலாக அரசாட்சிப் பிரதிநிதியாக ஆண்டார்.

இவர், இங்கிலாந்து நாட்டின் “முதல் நார்மன் அரசனான” (First Norman King of England) “முதலாம் வில்லியமின்” (William I) மகளாவார். இங்கிலாந்து நாட்டின் அரசியான “மெட்டில்டா” (Matilda of Flanders) இவரது தாயாராவார். இங்கிலாந்தின் அரசனான “ஸ்டீஃபன்” (Stephen) மற்றும் “வின்ச்செஸ்டர்” ஆயரான (Bishop of Winchester) “ஹென்றி” (Henry of Blois) ஆகியோர் இவரது குழந்தைகளாவர்.

இவர் பிறந்த வருடம் சரியாக தெரியாத காரணத்தால், கி.பி. 1066 மற்றும் 1070 ஆண்டுகளுக்கிடையேயான காலத்தில் இவர் பிறந்திருக்கலாம் என யூகிக்கப்படுகிறது. இவரது தந்தை இங்கிலாந்தின் ஆட்சிக்கு வந்த பிறகு பிறந்த காரணத்தால், இவர் கி.பி. 1067ம் ஆண்டு பிறந்திருக்கலாம். இவர், இங்கிலாந்தின் அரசன் முதலாம் ஹென்றிக்கு (King Henry I of England) மிகவும் பிடித்த சகோதரியாவார். லத்தீன் அறிவைக் கொண்ட அடேலா ஒரு சிறந்த கல்வியாளரும், சுறுசுறுப்பும், வீரமும் கொண்ட பெண்ணாவார்.

சுமார் கி.பி. 1083ம் ஆண்டு, அடேலா, தமது பதினைந்தாவது வயதில், பிலாயிஸ் கோமகனின் (Count of Blois) மகனான “ஸ்டீஃபன் ஹென்றியை” (Stephen Henry) திருமணம் செய்துகொண்டார். ஸ்டீஃபன் கிட்டத்தட்ட இருபது ஆண்டுகள் இவரைவிட மூத்தவராக இருந்தார். ஸ்டீஃபன், கி.பி. 1089ம் ஆண்டு, தமது தந்தையின் மரணத்தின் பின்னர், “பிலாயிஸ்” (Blois), “சார்ட்ரெஸ்” (Chartres) மற்றும் “மியூக்ஸ்” (Meaux) நகரங்களின் ஆட்சிப் பொறுப்புக்கு வந்தார்.

ஸ்டீஃபன் ஹென்றி, கி.பி. 1096ம் ஆண்டு, தமது மைத்துனரும், “நார்மண்டியின் பிரபுவுமான” (Duke of Normandy) “ராபர்ட் கர்தூஸ்” (Robert Curthose) என்பவருடன் இணைந்து, திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் அர்பன் (Pope Urban II) அவர்களால் “புனித பூமியை” (Holy Land) மீட்பதற்காக அழைக்கப்பட்ட முதலாம் சிலுவைப் போரில் (First Crusade) பங்குகொள்ள இணைந்தார். அடேலாவுக்கு ஸ்டீபன் எழுதிய கடிதங்களில் சிலுவைப் போரின் தலைவர்களின் அனுபவங்களையும், தாம் இல்லாத காலத்தில் அவர் பிலாய்சை சிறப்பாக ஆளுவார் என்ற தமது நம்பிக்கையையும் வெளிப்படுத்தியிருந்தார்.

கி.பி. 1095–1098ம் ஆண்டுகாலங்களில் முதலாம் சிலுவைப்போரின்போதும், பின்னர் இரண்டாம் தடவையாக கி.பி. 1101ம் ஆண்டும், தமது கணவர் நாட்டிலில்லாத காலங்களில் சிறப்பாக ஆட்சிப் பிரதிநிதியாக ஆட்சி செய்தார். இக்காலகட்டங்களில், புதிய தேவாலயங்கள் கட்டுவதற்கு துறவியருக்கு அனுமதியளித்தார். இவர், “சார்ட்ரஸ்” (Bishop of Chartres) ஆயரான “புனிதர் இவோ” (Saint Ivo of Chartres) என்பவருடன் இணைந்து பல்வேறு காரியங்களைச் செய்தார். தமது ஆட்சிக் காலத்தில், தவறான நடவடிக்கைகளில் ஈடுபடும் கன்னியாஸ்திரிகளை கட்டுப்படுத்துவது, மற்றும் ஏற்றுக்கொண்ட சத்தியப் பிரமாணங்கள் பற்றின பெரும் பிரச்சினைகள் சம்பந்தமாக இருவரும் கடிதங்களைப் பரிமாறிக்கொண்டனர். கணவர் இல்லாத காலங்களில் அடேலா நாடு முழுதும் பயணித்தார். பிரச்சனைகளை தீர்த்துவைத்தார். பொருளாதார வளர்ச்சிகளை ஊக்குவித்தார். அரசருடன் இணைந்து போருக்குச் செல்லுமாறு வீரர்களை தூண்டினார்.

கி.பி. 1100ம் ஆண்டின் ஆரம்பத்தில் நாடு திரும்பிய ஸ்டீஃபன், கி.பி. 1101ம் ஆண்டு இரண்டாம் சிலுவைப் போரில் கலந்துகொண்டார். இறுதியில், கி.பி. 1102ம் ஆண்டு, எகிப்து நாட்டின் “ஃபடிமிட் கலிபேட்” (Fatimid Caliphate) என்பவருடன் நடந்த “ரம்லா போரில்” (Battle of Ramla) பொறுப்பேற்றிருந்த ஸ்டீஃபன், நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டு மரித்துப் போனார்.

கணவரின் மரணத்தின் பின்னர், வயதுக்கு வராத மகன் “திபௌட்” (Thibaud) ஆட்சி பொறுப்பேற்கும் வரை அடேலா நாட்டை ஆண்டார். மகன் ஆட்சிப் பொறுப்பேற்ற பிறகும் ஆட்சியில் வழிகாட்டினார்.

பக்தியுள்ள, பெனடிக்டைன் துறவியர்பால் அனுதாபம் கொண்ட அடேலா, தமது குழந்தைகளுக்கு கல்வி கற்பிக்க பல்வேறு உயர் ஆசிரியர்களை நியமித்திருந்தார். அடேலா, தமது இளைய மகன் ஹென்றியை கருத்தரித்திருந்த வருடம், அவரது கணவரான ஸ்டீஃபன், சிலுவைப்போர் காரணமாக ஃபிரான்சிலிருந்தார். ஹென்றிக்கு இரண்டு வயதானபோது, அவரை கிழக்கு ஃபிரான்சின் “க்லுனி” (Cluny) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள முன்னாள் பெனடிக்டைன் (Former Benedictine monastery) துறவு மடமான “க்லுனி” (Cluny Abbey) துறவு மடத்திலுள்ள ஆலயத்தில் ஒப்புக்கொடுத்தார். மத்திய கால வழக்கங்களின்படி, ஹென்றி கடவுளின் சேவைக்கு அர்ப்பணிக்கப்பட்டார்.

வளர்ந்த ஹென்றி, இங்கிலாந்து நாட்டின் “சொம்ரேஸ்ட்” (Somerset) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள “பில்டொன்” (Pilton) பங்கிலுள்ள “கிளஸ்டோன்பரி” (Glastonbury) மடத்தின் மடாதிபதியானார். பின்னர், “வின்ச்செஸ்டர்” (Bishop of Winchester) ஆயரானார். அவர் பாலங்கள், கால்வாய்கள், அரண்மனைகள், கோட்டைகள், மற்றும் முழு கிராமங்கள் உள்ளிட்ட நூற்றுக்கணக்கான கட்டுமான பணிகளுக்கு நிதியுதவி செய்தார். மேலும், டஜன் கணக்கான மடாலயங்களையும் சிற்றாலயங்களையும் கட்டிய ஆயர் ஹென்றி, புகழ்பெற்ற, மதிப்பு மிக்க “வின்செஸ்டர் பைபிள்” (Winchester Bible) உள்ளிட்ட பல புத்தகங்களுக்கு நிதியுதவி செய்தார்.

அடேலா தனது மூத்த மகனான வில்லியம் (William) உடன் சண்டையும் சச்சரவுகளும் கொண்டிருந்தார். முன்னர், தமது வாரிசாக வில்லியமை நியமித்திருந்தபோதிலும், கி.பி. 1107ம் ஆண்டு, அவரை வாரிசாக மாற்றுவதற்காக தனது தம்பி தியோபல்டை (Theobald) நியமித்தார்.

அடேலா, கி.பி. 1120ம் ஆண்டு, “மார்சிக்னி பள்ளியில்” (Marcigny Convent) ஓய்வு பெற சென்றார். அவர் தமது குழந்தைகள், மற்றும் அவர் ஏற்கனவே ஆட்சி செய்த நிலப்பிரதேச தலைவர்களுடனும் தொடர்ந்து தொடர்புகொண்டிருந்தார். அவர்களுடன் தொடர்புகொள்வதோடு, தமது செல்வாக்கை பிரதேசங்களில் பராமரிக்கவும் செய்தார்.

அதே வருட இறுதியில், தமது கணவருடன் கடல் பயணம் செய்துகொண்டிருந்த அடேலாவின் மகளான “லூசியா-மஹௌட்” (Lucia-Mahaut) தாம் பயணம் செய்த “வெள்ளைக் கப்பல்” (White Ship) மூழ்கியதால் மரணமடைந்தார். ஆங்கிலேயர் சிம்மாசனத்தில் தனது மகன் ஸ்டீஃபனைக் காண்பதற்காக அடேலா நீண்ட காலமாக வாழ்ந்தார். அவர், கி.பி. 1137ம் ஆண்டு, “மார்சிக்னியில்” (Marcigny) மரித்தார்.

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Princess. Youngest daughter of King William the Conqueror of England. Married Stephen of Blois, France in 1080. Mother of eleven children. Active in English politics throughout her life. Endowed several churches and monasteries.

Born

c.1067 in Normandy, France

Died

8 March 1137 Marcigny-sur-Loire, France of natural causes

Saint Liudhard

Also known as

Letard

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Chaplain of Queen Bertha of Kent. Bishop. Helped convert King Ethelbert of Kent, which led to the conversion of all of Kent, England.

Born

France

Died

• c.600 in Canterbury, England

• buried at the monastery of Saint Augustine in Canterbury

Saint Modestus of Trier

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Bishop of Trier, Germany in 486 during a period of great political turmoil when the city came under the rule of the Franks.

Died

• 489 of natural causes

• relics enshrined in the church Saint Matthias, Trier, Germany

Saint Cumine the White

Also known as

Cummian Albus of Iona

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Brother of Saint Comman of Iona. Monk. Abbot of Iona, Scotland. Wrote a biography of Saint Columba of Iona.

Born

Ireland

Died

669 of natural causes

Saint Evetius of Nicomedia

Also known as

Euhetis, Evezio

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When a copy of Diocletian's edict against Christianity was posted in public, Evetius vandalized it. Martyr.

Died

303 at Nicomedia

Saint Paulian of Le Puy

Also known as

Paolino, Pauliano, Paulien

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Sixth century bishop of the Le Puy area of Gaul (modern Le Puy-en-Velay, France) based in the city of Ruessium (modern Saint-Paulien).

Blessed Antonio Taglia

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Mercedarian friar.

Died

convent of Santa Maria in Toulouse, France of natural causes

Blessed Lotario Arnari

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Mercedarian friar.

Died

convent of Santa Maria in Toulouse, France of natural causes

Blessed Simon of Saint Bertin

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Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint-Bertin, France. Abbot at Auchy, France. Abbot at Saint-Bertin in 1138.

Died

1148 of natural causes

Blessed Ida of Hohenfels

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Married to Eberhard, Count of Spanheim. Widow. Benedictine nun at Bingen.

Died

c.1195 of natural causes

Saint Peter the Librarian

Also known as

Peter Palatine

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Martyr.

Died

burned alive in 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia

Saint Betto

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Benedictine monk at Saint-Colombe abbey, Sens, France. Bishop of Auxerre, France in 889.

Died

918 of natural causes

Saint Primitiva

Also known as

Primitivus

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An early martyr in Rome, Italy.

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் பெப்ரவரி 23

 St. Polycarp of Smyrna

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஃபெப்ரவரி 23)

✠ புனிதர் பொலிகார்ப் ✠

(St. Polycarp)

மறைசாட்சி, திருச்சபை தந்தையர், ஆயர்:

(Martyr, Church Father and Bishop)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 69

இறப்பு: கி.பி. 156

ஸ்மைரனா, ஆசியா, ரோமப் பேரரசு

(Smyrna, Asia, Roman Empire)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

ஆங்கிலிக்கன் ஒன்றியம்

(Anglican Communion)

லூதரனியம்

(Lutheran Church)

ஓரியண்டல் மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Oriental Orthodox Church)

நினைவுத் திருவிழா: ஃபெப்ரவரி 23

சித்தரிக்கப்படும் வகை :

பாலியம் அணிந்தவாறு, ஒரு நூலினை ஏந்தியவாறு

பாதுகாவல்:

காது வலியால் அவதியுறுவோர், இரத்தக்கழிசல்

குறிப்பிடத்தக்க படைப்புகள்:

பொலிகார்ப் பிலிப்பியர்களுக்கு எழுதிய திருமுகம்

புனிதர் பொலிகார்ப், கி.பி. 2ம் நூற்றாண்டில் வாழ்ந்த, “ஸ்மைரனா” (Smyrna) நகரின் ஆயராவார். “பொலிகார்ப்பின் மறைசாட்சியம்” (Martyrdom of Polycarp) என்னும் நூலின்படி, அடுக்கப்பட்ட விரகுகளின்மீது இவரை வைத்து உயிருடன் தீயிட்டு கொளுத்த முயன்றபோது, தீ இவரை தொட தவறியதால், இவர் கத்தியால் குத்திக் கொலை செய்யப்பட்டார். கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை, கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை, ஓரியண்டல் மரபுவழி திருச்சபை, ஆங்கிலிக்கன் மற்றும் லூதரனியம் இவரை புனிதர் என ஏற்கின்றன.

இவரை “திருத்தூதர் யோவானின்” (John the Apostle) சீடர் என “இரனேயுஸ்” (Irenaeus) மற்றும் “டேர்டுல்லியன்” (Tertullian) ஆகியோர் குறிக்கின்றனர். பொலிகார்ப், யோவானின் சீடர் என்றும், யோவானே இவரை ஸ்மைர்னா நகரின் ஆயராக திருப்பொழிவு செய்தார் எனவும் புனிதர் ஜெரோம் (Saint Jerome) கூறியுள்ளார்.

“ரோமின் கிளமெண்ட்” (Clement of Rome) மற்றும் “அந்தியோக்குவின் இஞ்ஞாசியார்” (Ignatius of Antioch) ஆகியோரோடு புனித பொலிகார்ப்பும், அப்போஸ்தலிக்க தந்தையர்களுல் (Apostolic Fathers) மிக முக்கியமானவராகக் கருதப்படுகின்றார்.

இவரால் எழுதப்பட்டதாக தற்போது உள்ள ஒரே ஆவணம், பொலிகார்ப் பிலிப்பியர்களுக்கு எழுதிய திருமுகம் (Letter to the Philippians) ஆகும். இதனை முதன் முதலில் பதிவு செய்தவர் இரனேயு (Irenaeus of Lyons) ஆவார்.

பொலிகார்ப், ஆரம்பகால கிறிஸ்தவ திருச்சபை வரலாற்றில் ஒரு முக்கியமான இடத்தை ஆக்கிரமித்துள்ளார். ஆரம்பகால கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் பலருள் இவரது எழுத்துக்கள் இன்னமும் இருக்கின்றன. இவர், கிறிஸ்தவ திருச்சபைகளை நிறுவுவதில், பெரும் பங்களிப்பாக இருந்த ஒரு முக்கிய சபையின் மூப்பராவார். முக்கிய மரபுகளைக் கொண்டிருந்த இவருடைய சகாப்தம் அனைத்து திருச்சபைகளாலும் பரவலாக ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டன. விவிலிய அறிஞரான “டேவிட் ட்ரோபிக்” (David Trobisch) என்பவரின் கூற்றுப்படி, பொலிகார்ப் புதிய ஏற்பாட்டினை தொகுத்து, திருத்தி, வெளியிட்டவர்களுள் ஒருவராக இருந்திருக்கலாம். இவையனைத்தும், இவரது எழுத்துக்களை பெரும் ஆர்வம் கொண்டவைகளாக ஆக்கின.

Feastday: February 23

Patron: against earache, dysentery

Birth: 69

Death: 155

Bishop of Smyrna, martyr, and one of the foremost leaders of the Church in the second century. Few details of his life are extant with any reliability beyond his famous martyrdom, which was recounted in the Martyrium Polycarpi. It is believed, however, that he was converted to the faith by St. John the Evangelist about 80 A.D. and became bishop of Smyrna about 96 A.D. He was, as was his friend St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the most important intermediary links between the apostolic and the patristic eras in the Church, especially in Christian Asia Minor. A defender of orthodoxy, he opposed such heretical groups as the Marcionites and Valentinians. He also authored a surviving epistle to the Philippians, exhorting them to remain strong in the faith. The letter is of great interest to scholars because it demonstrates the existence of New Testament texts, with quotes from Matthew and Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, and the first letters of Peter and John. When Ignatius was being taken to Rome to be put to death, he wrote of Polycarp being clothed "with the garment of grace." Polycarp was himself arrested by Roman officials in Smyrna soon after returning from a trip to Rome to discuss the date for Easter. He refused to abjure the faith, telling his captain that he had served Christ for eighty six years. The Romans burned him alive with twelve companions. The year of his death has been put at 155 or 156, although Eusebius of Caesarea places the year at 167 or 168, meaning it would have fallen in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. If so, changes in the year of his birth would be necessary. The most detailed account of his death was the Martyrium Polycarpi.

For other uses, see Polycarp (disambiguation).

Polycarp (/ˈpɒlikɑːrp/; Greek: Πολύκαρπος, Polýkarpos; Latin: Polycarpus; AD 69 – 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna.[1] According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body.[2] Polycarp is regarded as a saint and Church Father in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches. His name means "much fruit" in Greek. Both Irenaeus and Tertullian[3] record that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Jesus’ disciples.[4] In Illustrious Men.17, Jerome writes that Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle and that John had ordained him as a bishop of Smyrna.[5] Polycarp is regarded as one of three chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.

Surviving writings and early accounts

The sole surviving work attributed to him is the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, a mosaic of references to the Greek Scriptures, which, along with an account of The Martyrdom of Polycarp, forms part of the collection of writings called Apostolic Fathers. After the Acts of the Apostles, which describes the death of Stephen, the Martyrdom is considered one of the earliest genuine accounts of a Christian martyrdom.[1] Charles E. Hill argues extensively that the teachings Irenaeus ascribes to a certain apostolic "presbyter" throughout his writings represent lost teachings of Polycarp, his teacher.[6]

Life

The chief sources of information concerning the life of Polycarp are The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Adversus Haereses, The Epistle to Florinus, the epistles of Ignatius, and Polycarp's own letter to the Philippians. In 1999, the Harris Fragments, a collection of 3rd- to 6th-century Coptic texts that mention Polycarp, were published.[7]

Papias

According to Irenaeus, Polycarp was a companion of Papias, another "hearer of John", and a correspondent of Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius addressed a letter to him and mentions him in his letters to the Ephesians and to the Magnesians.[8]

Irenaeus regarded the memory of Polycarp as a link to the apostolic past. In his letter to Florinus, a fellow student of Polycarp who had become a Roman presbyter and later lapsed into heresy, Irenaeus relates how and when he became a Christian:[9]

I could tell you the place where the blessed Polycarp sat to preach the Word of God. It is yet present to my mind with what gravity he everywhere came in and went out; what was the sanctity of his deportment, the majesty of his countenance; and what were his holy exhortations to the people. I seem to hear him now relate how he conversed with John and many others who had seen Jesus Christ, the words he had heard from their mouths.[10]

In particular, he heard the account of Polycarp's discussion with John and with others who had seen Jesus. Irenaeus reports that Polycarp was converted to Christianity by apostles, was consecrated a presbyter, and communicated with many who had seen Jesus. He writes that he had had the good fortune, when young, to know Polycarp, who was then far advanced in years.[11]

Visit to Anicetus

According to Irenaeus, during the time his fellow Syrian Anicetus was Bishop of Rome, Polycarp visited Rome to discuss differences in the practices of the churches of Asia and Rome. Irenaeus states that on certain things the two speedily came to an understanding, while as to the observance of Easter, each adhered to his own custom, without breaking off full communion with the other.[12] Polycarp followed the Eastern practice of celebrating the feast on the 14th of Nisan, the day of the Jewish Passover, regardless of the day of the week on which it fell, while Anicetus followed the Western practice of celebrating the feast on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. Anicetus allowed Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his own church, which was regarded by the Romans as a great honor.[12]

Date of martyrdom

Polycarp miraculously extinguishing the fire burning the city of Smyrna

In the Martyrdom, Polycarp is recorded as saying on the day of his death: "Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong." This could indicate either that he was then eighty-six years old[13] or that he had lived eighty-six years after his conversion.[2] Polycarp goes on to say: "How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? You threaten me with a fire that burns for a season, and after a little while is quenched; but you are ignorant of the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked."[10] Polycarp was burned at the stake and pierced with a spear for refusing to burn incense to the Roman Emperor.[14] On his farewell, he said: "I bless you, Father, for judging me worthy of this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ."[10]

The date of Polycarp's death is in dispute. Eusebius dates it to the reign of Marcus Aurelius, c. 166–167. However, a post-Eusebian addition to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, dates his death to Saturday, February 23, in the proconsulship of Lucius Statius Quadratus, c. 155 or 156. These earlier dates better fit the tradition of his association with Ignatius and John the Evangelist.

Great Sabbath

The Martyrdom of Polycarp states that Polycarp was killed on "the Great Sabbath". English patristic scholar William Cave (1637–1713) believed that this was evidence that the Smyrnaeans under Polycarp observed the seventh-day Sabbath, i.e. assembled on Saturdays.[15] J. B. Lightfoot records as a common interpretation of the expression "the Great Sabbath" to refer to Pesach or another Jewish festival.[16] This is contradicted by the standard Jewish calendar, under which Nisan 14, the date of the Pesach, can fall no earlier than late March and hence at least a month after the February 23 dating. Hence, Lightfoot understood the expression in reference to the Purim festival, celebrated a month before Pesach,[17] while other scholars suggest that at the time the Jewish calendar had not yet been standardized, and that this day, both Jews and Christians celebrated Pesach and a (Quartodeciman) Christian Passover, respectively.[18]

Importance

Engraving by Michael Burghers, ca 1685

Polycarp occupies an important place in the history of the early Christian Church.[7] He is among the earliest Christians whose writings survived. Jerome wrote that Polycarp was a "disciple of the apostle John and by him ordained presbyter of Smyrna".[19] He was an elder of an important congregation that was a large contributor to the founding of the Christian Church. He is from an era whose orthodoxy is widely accepted by Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Church of God groups, Sabbatarian groups, mainstream Protestants and Catholics alike.

According to Eusebius, Polycrates of Ephesus cited the example of Polycarp in defense of local practices during the quartodeciman controversy.[20]

Irenaeus, who as a young man had heard Polycarp preach, described him as[21] "a man who was of much greater weight, and a more steadfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics". Polycarp lived in an age after the deaths of the apostles, when a variety of interpretations of the sayings of Jesus were being preached. His role was to authenticate orthodox teachings through his reputed connection with the apostle John: "a high value was attached to the witness Polycarp could give as to the genuine tradition of old apostolic doctrine"[2] "his testimony condemning as offensive novelties the figments of the heretical teachers". Irenaeus states (iii. 3) that on Polycarp's visit to Rome, his testimony converted many disciples of Marcion and Valentinus.

Relics

In the church Sant' Ambrogio della Massima in Rome, Italy, there are guarded relics of Polycarp.

St. Jurmin

Feastday: February 23

Death: 7th century

Prince of East Anglia, England, and a relative of King Anna . He is honored as a confessor, and his relics were enshrined at Bury St. Edmunds.

Anna (or Onna; killed 653 or 654) was king of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death.

He was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles, and one of the three sons of Eni who ruled the kingdom of East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia. Anna was praised by Bede for his devotion to Christianity and was renowned for the saintliness of his family: his son Jurmin and all his daughters – Seaxburh, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh and possibly a fourth, Wihtburh – were canonised.

Little is known of Anna's life or his reign, as few records have survived from this period. In 631 he may have been at Exning, close to the Devil's Dyke. In 645 Cenwalh of Wessex was driven from his kingdom by Penda and, due to Anna's influence, he was converted to Christianity while living as an exile at the East Anglian court. Upon his return from exile, Cenwalh re-established Christianity in his own kingdom and the people of Wessex then remained firmly Christian.

Around 651 the land around Ely was absorbed into East Anglia, following the marriage of Anna's daughter Æthelthryth. Anna richly endowed the coastal monastery at Cnobheresburg. In 651, in the aftermath of an attack by Penda on Cnobheresburg, Anna was forced to flee into exile, perhaps to the western kingdom of the Magonsæte. He returned to East Anglia in about 653, but soon afterwards the kingdom was attacked again by Penda and at the Battle of Bulcamp the East Anglian army, led by Anna, was defeated by the Mercians, and both Anna and his son Jurmin were killed. Anna was succeeded by his brother, Æthelhere. Botolph's monastery at Iken may have been built in commemoration of the king. After Anna's reign, East Anglia seems to have been eclipsed by its more powerful neighbour, Mercia.

Sources

The kingdom of East Anglia (Old English: Ēast Engla Rīce) was a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps the eastern part of the Cambridgeshire Fens.[1]

In contrast to the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex, little reliable evidence about the kingdom of the East Angles has survived, because of the destruction of its monasteries and the disappearance of the two East Anglian sees that occurred as the result of Viking raids and settlement.[2] The main primary sources for information about Anna's life and reign are the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed in Northumbria by Bede in 731, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, initially written in the ninth century, which mentions Anna's death. The mediaeval work known as the Liber Eliensis, written in Ely in the twelfth century, is a source of information about Anna's daughters Æthelthryth and Seaxburh, and also describes Anna's death and burial.[3]

Early life and marriage

Colour photograph

The Devil's Dyke, near Exning. Anna may have been at Exning in 631.

Anna was the son of Eni, a member of the ruling Wuffingas family, and nephew of Rædwald, king of the East Angles from 600 to 625.[4] East Anglia was an early and long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom in which a duality of a northern and a southern part existed, corresponding with the modern English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.[5]

Anna was married: Bede refers to the saint Sæthryth as "daughter of the wife of Anna, king of the East Angles".[6] In Abbott Folcard's Life of St Botolph, written in the 11th century, Botolph is described as having been at one time the chaplain to the sisters of a king, Æthelmund, whose mother was named Sæwara. Folcard names two of Sæwara's kinsmen as Æthelhere and Æthelwold. Since these are the names of two of Anna's brothers, Steven Plunkett suggests that it is "tempting" to consider that Sæwara was married to Anna, and that Æthelmund might either be Anna's full name, or the name of an otherwise unknown East Anglian sub-king.[7]

The Liber Eliensis, on the other hand, names Hereswith, the sister of Hild, abbess of Whitby, as Anna's wife and the mother of Sæthryth, Seaxburh of Ely and Æthelthryth.[8] However, the Liber Eliensis is regarded with caution by historians: Rosalind Love says that the mediaeval writers who interpreted Bede's information about Hereswith made an "erroneous assumption" regarding her connection with Anna and his family.[4][9] Bede is clear that Hereswith had left East Anglia as a widow before Hild visited the kingdom, at which time Anna was very much alive. Historians now believe that Hereswith was Anna's sister-in-law, and some have thought that around the time that she married into the East Anglian royal family, Anna had already been king for a decade.[10]

In 631 Anna was probably at the Suffolk village of Exning, an important settlement with royal connections,[11] and, according to the Liber Eliensis, the birthplace of his daughter Æthelthryth.[12] By tradition, Æthelthryth is said to have been baptised at Exning in a pool known as St Mindred's Well.[13] Exning was an important place strategically, as it stood just on the East Anglian side of the Devil's Dyke, a major earthwork stretching between the Fen edge and the headwaters of the River Stour, built at an earlier date to defend the East Anglian region from attack. An early Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered there suggests the existence of an important site nearby, possibly a royal estate or regio.[14]

King of the East Angles

Accession and rule

Map of Anglo-Saxon Britain

The main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms

During 632 or 633 Edwin of Northumbria, with his centre of Christian power north of the River Humber, was overthrown. Edwin was slain and Northumbria was ravaged by Cadwallon ap Cadfan, supported by the Mercian king, Penda.[15] The Mercians then turned on the kingdom of the East Angles and their king, Ecgric. At an unknown date (possibly in the early 640s),[16] they routed the East Anglian army and Ecgric and his predecessor Sigeberht were both slain.[17] D. P. Kirby has suggested that as Sigeberht was alive when the Irish monk Fursey left for Gaul and found Erchinoald, (which happened after Erchinoald became Mayor of the Neustrian palace in 641), Sigeberht was probably killed around 640 or 641.[18] Penda's victory marked the end of the line of kings of the East Angles who were directly descended from Rædwald.[19] Some time after Penda's victory, Anna became king of the East Angles, though the date of his accession is quite uncertain. The Liber Eliensis says that Anna died in the nineteenth year of his reign, and since he died in the mid-650s this would indicate a date around 635.[20] However, the Liber Eliensis is regarded by some historians as unreliable on this point,[4] and Barbara Yorke suggests a possible date in the early 640s for Anna's accession, noting that it could not have been after 645 as Anna is recorded as giving refuge to Cenwalh of Wessex in that year.[21][note 1] It is probable that Anna became king with the assistance of the northern Angles.[24] Throughout his reign he was the victim of Mercian aggression under Penda, but he also seems to have challenged the rise of Penda's power.[25] The British medievalist David Dumville has written that due to their rivalry for control over the Middle Anglian people, Mercia and East Anglia probably became hereditary enemies and Penda repeatedly attacked the East Angles from the mid-630s to 654.[26]

Anna arranged an important diplomatic marriage between his daughter Seaxburh and Eorcenberht of Kent, cementing an alliance between the two kingdoms.[27] It was by means of marriages such as this that the kings of Kent became well-connected to other royal dynasties.[28] Not all of Anna's daughters were married into other royal families. During the 640s Anna's daughter Æthelburg and his stepdaughter Sæthryth entered Faremoutiers Abbey in Gaul to live religious lives under abbess Fara.[27] They were the first royal Anglo-Saxons to become nuns, making religious seclusion "an acceptable and desirable vocation for ex-queens and royal princesses", according to Barbara Yorke.[note 2]

D. P. Kirby uses the presence of East Anglian princesses living under the veil in Gaul as evidence of the Frankish orientation of Anna's kingdom at this time, continued since the reign of his predecessor Rædwald.[31] The Wuffingas dynasty may have been connected with monastic foundations in the area around Faramoutiers through Anna's predecessor Sigeberht, who had spent several years as an exile in Gaul and had become a devout and learned Christian due to his experiences of monastic life.[32]

The kingdom of East Anglia during the reign of Anna

In 641 Oswald of Northumbria was slain in battle by Penda (probably at Oswestry in Shropshire). Due to his death, Northumbria was split into two. The northern part, Bernicia, accepted Oswald's brother Oswiu as their new king, but the southern Deirans refused to accept him and were ruled instead by a king of the original Deiran house, Oswine.[33] Soon afterwards Cenwalh of Wessex, the brother of Oswald's widow and himself married to Penda's sister, renounced his wife.[34] In 645, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Penda drove Cenwalh from his kingdom and into exile. During the following year, while a refugee at Anna's court, he was converted to Christianity,[35] returning in 648 to rule Wessex as a Christian king.[4] Anna probably provided military support for Cenwalh's return to his throne.[36]

Anna's hold on the western limits of his kingdom, which bordered on the Fen lands that surrounded the Isle of Ely, was strengthened by the marriage in 651 (or slightly later) of his daughter Æthelthryth to Tondberht, a prince of the South Gyrwe, a people living in the fens who may have been settled in the area around Ely.[21][note 3] Æthelthryth, accompanied by her minister Owine, travelled from Ely to Northumbria when she married for the second time, to Ecgfrith.[38]

Exile

Monochrome drawing

The ruins of Burgh Castle, the possible site of the monastery at Cnobheresburg, as depicted in 1845

During his reign Anna endowed the monastery at Cnobheresburg with rich buildings and objects.[39] The monastery was built in about 633 by Fursey after he arrived in East Anglia. In time, weary of attacks on the kingdom, Fursey left East Anglia for good, leaving the monastery to his brother Foillan.[17] When in 651 Penda attacked the monastery, Anna and his men arrived and held the Mercians back. This gave Foillan and his monks enough time to escape with their books and valuables, but Penda defeated Anna and drove him into exile, possibly to the kingdom of Merewalh of the Magonsætan, in western Shropshire.[40] He returned to East Anglia in about 654.[41]

Death, burial place and successors

Soon after 653, when Penda made his son Peada the ruler of the Middle Angles (but still continued to rule his own country),[42] the Mercian assault on East Anglia was repeated. The opposing armies of Penda and Anna met at Bulcamp, near Blythburgh in Suffolk. The East Anglians were defeated and many were slain, including King Anna and his son Jurmin.[17] Anna's death is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the entry for 653 or 654, "Her Anna cining werð ofslagen ..."  – 'Here Anna was killed' – but no other details of the battle in which he died are given.[43][note 4]

drawing

A drawing of the writing-tablet found near a possible monastic site at Blythburgh

Blythburgh, a mile from Bulcamp and situated near the fordable headwaters of the Blyth estuary, was afterwards believed to be the location of the tombs of Anna and Jurmin.[4][38] It is a candidate for a monastic site or a royal regio (estate). According to Peter Warner, the Latin derivation of part of the nearby place-name 'Bulcamp' indicates its ancient origins, and mediaeval sources which claim continuous Christian worship at Blythburgh throughout the Anglo-Saxon period provide circumstantial evidence of its connections with East Anglian royalty and Christianity.[45] Part of an 8th-century whalebone diptych or writing-tablet, used for liturgical purposes, has been found near the site.[46]

Saint Botolph began to build his monastery at Icanho, now conclusively identified as Iken, Suffolk,[47] in the year that Anna was killed, possibly to commemorate the king.[38] Anna was succeeded in turn by his two brothers Æthelhere and Æthelwold, who may have ruled jointly.[48] It is possible that Æthelhere was set up as a puppet ruler by Penda or was his ally, as he was one of the 30 duces that accompanied Penda when he attacked Oswiu of Northumbria at an unidentified location called the Winwæd in 655 or 656. Penda himself was killed at the Winwæd, after having steadily increased his power over a period of 13 years.[49] Æthelhere (who was also slain at the Battle of the Winwæd) and Æthelwold were succeeded by the descendants of Anna's youngest brother, Æthelric.[50]

Bede praised Anna's piety in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People,[51] and modern historians have since regarded Anna as a devout king,[52] but his reputation as a devoted Christian is mainly because he produced a son and four daughters who were all made into Anglo-Saxon saints.[53] Five hundred years after his death, his tomb at Blythburgh was (according to the Liber Eliensis) still "venerated by the pious devotion of faithful people".[54]

Descendants

Anna's children were all canonised. The eldest, Seaxburh, was the wife of Eorcenberht of Kent. She ruled Kent from 664 until her son Ecgberht came of age. Æthelthryth, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, founded the monastery at Ely in 673. Another daughter, Æthelburh, spent her life at the nunnery of Faremoutiers. Anna's son, Jurmin, was of warrior age in 653 when he was killed in battle.

By tradition, Anna is said to have had a fourth daughter, Wihtburh, an abbess at Dereham (or possibly West Dereham), where there was a royal double monastery.[55] She may never have existed: Bede fails to mention her and she first appears in a calendar in the late 10th century Bosworth Psalter.[56] She may have been a character specifically created by the religious community at Ely, where her remains were supposed to have been taken after being stolen from Dereham[38][57] and subsequently used as visual proof of the incorruptibility of a saint's body, a substitute for her sister Æthelthryth, whose body had to remain unexamined in her tomb.[58] Manuscript F of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which dates from about 1100, mentions Wihtburh's death when it records that her body was found uncorrupted in 798, 55 years after she died. The resulting date for her death of 743 is far too late for her to have been a sister of Æthelthryth, who was born in 636

St. Lazarus Zographos

Feastday: February 23

Death: 867

Lazarus (Greek: Λάζαρος), surnamed Zographos (Ζωγράφος, "the Painter"), is a 9th-century Byzantine Christian saint.[1] He is also known as Lazarus the Painter and Lazarus the Iconographer. Born in Armenia on November 17, 810, he lived before and during the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm.[2] Lazarus is the first saint to be canonized specifically as an iconographer. He was later followed by Saint Catherine of Bologna.

Life and times

Lazarus became a monk at an early age and is thought to have studied the art of painting at the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople.[3][4] Lazarus was noted to possess the following virtues: love for Christ, asceticism, prayer, and rejection of the vanities of the world.[5] He was further recognized for his acts of self-control, discipline and alms-giving, then made a priest. In his lifetime he was highly regarded and well known for his frescos. He used faith and ritual as a means to transcribe his inner contemplation onto the images he painted.[6] Thus, his ability to paint icons was seen as a gift given by God. During the reign of Theophilos (r. 829–842), an iconoclast emperor opposed to all holy images, Lazarus stubbornly continued his craft of painting icons and began restoring images defaced by heretics.[7] Theophilos sought out Lazarus, who was then famous for his painting, and intended to make an example of him. After being asked several times to cease painting, Lazarus was brought before the emperor where he refused to destroy any of the images he painted. The emperor soon found that Lazarus was above flattery and bribery.[8] He was then threatened with the death penalty, which at the time was not an uncommon outcome for those who favored icons (iconodules). However, Lazarus being a man of the cloth, could not be put to death and so he was instead thrown in prison. During his imprisonment he was subjected to such “severe torture that the ladders flesh melted away along with his blood.”[9] He was left to die of his wounds but recovered. He then began to paint holy images on panels from his prison cell. Hearing of this, Theophilos gave orders to have “sheets of red hot iron to be applied to the palms of his hands where, as a result, he lost consciousness and lay half dead.”[10] It is also said his hands were burned with red-hot horseshoes until his flesh melted to the bone.

As Lazarus lay on his deathbed, the Empress Theodora, an iconodule, convinced Theophilos to release Lazarus from prison. Lazarus found refuge at Tou Phoberou, a secluded church of St. John the Forerunner once located in Phoberos on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus.[11] The Church is believed to have once functioned as an imperial monastery that housed as many as one-hundred and seventy monks.[12] After the death of Theophilos in 842, Theodora asked Lazarus to forgive her husband’s actions, to which he replied “God is not so unjust, O, Empress, as to forget our love and labors on his behalf, and attach greater value to that mans hatred and extraordinary insanity.”[13] Lazarus served as a model of perseverance for those who had suffered from iconoclast persecution.[14]

Attributed artworks

After the restoration of the icons in 843, Lazarus was again free to pursue his painting. Despite his previous wounds, Lazarus was said to have painted a large fresco of St. John at the Phoberos Monastery.[15] The painted icon was known to have the power to perform cures and miracles.[16] That same year, he also famously restored a portrait of Christ known as the Christ Chalkites (Christ of the Chalke) over the Chalke Gate, a ceremonial entrance of the Great Palace of Constantinople.[17] Neither of these two works survive today. Lazarus was also accredited with the mosaic decoration of the apse of Hagia Sophia within the pilgrim accounts of Antony, Archbishop of Novgorod during a visit to Constantinople. Antony described the mosaic as depicting the Mother of God holding a Child Christ flanked by two angels, which was noted to have been seen by both Emperor Basil l and Michael III (r. 842–867) before his death the same year. However, these accounts are dated several centuries later in c. 1200.[18]

Ambassador to Rome

In 856, Lazarus was served as a diplomat for Michael III, Theophilos and Theodora’s son, who sent him as an emissary to visit Pope Benedict III to discuss the possibility of reconciliation between the Catholic Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, who at this point had very strained relations.[3][19] In 865, during his second mission to the Pope, Lazarus died at Rome on 28 September, although Raymond Janin disputes the date.[3][20] He was buried in the Monastery of Evanderes, near Constantinople.[21]

The feast day of Saint Lazarus Zographos is 17 November in the Orthodox calendar, and 23 February in the Roman Catholic calendar.

Bl. Daniel Brottier

Feastday: February 23

Birth: 1876

Death: 1936

Beatified: November 25, 1984 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Daniel Jules Alexis Brottier, C.S.Sp. (September 7, 1876 - February 28, 1936) was a French Roman Catholic priest in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. He was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur for his services as a chaplain during World War I, did missionary work in Senegal, and administered an orphanage in Auteuil, a suburb of Paris. He was declared venerable in 1983, and beatified on November 25, 1984, by Pope John Paul II.

Daniel Jules Alexis Brottier, C.S.Sp. (7 September 1876 – 28 February 1936), was a French Roman Catholic priest in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (who currently refer to themselves as Spiritans). He was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur for his services as a chaplain during World War I, did missionary work in Senegal, and administered an orphanage in Auteuil, a suburb of Paris. He was declared venerable in 1983, and then beatified on the 25 November 1984, by Pope John Paul II.

Early life

Brottier was born in La Ferté-Saint-Cyr, a commune in the Loir-et-Cher Department of France on 7 September 1876, the second son of Jean-Baptiste Brottier, coachman for the Marquis Durfort, and his wife Herminie (née Bouthe).[1] A story from his childhood recounts that his mother asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. Daniel's answer was, "I won't be either a general or a pastry chef—I will be the Pope!" His mother reminded him that to be the pope, he would first have to become a priest. Little Daniel piped up, "Well, then I'll become a priest!" [a] At the age of 10, Brottier made his First Communion, and enrolled a year later in the minor seminary at Blois. In 1896, at the age of 20, he did one year of military service at Blois.[2] He was ordained on 22 October 1899, after which he was assigned to teach for three years at a secondary school in Pontlevoy, France.[1]

Missionary work in Africa

A young Father Brottier in 1903, ready to set out for Senegal, posed for a picture with his parents, Jean-Baptiste and Herminie

Restless in his life as a teacher and determined to be a missionary, the young Abbé Brottier joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit at Orly in 1902. After completing his novitiate, Brottier was sent by the congregation to serve as a vicar in a mission parish in Saint-Louis, Senegal in 1903. He was disappointed that he had been assigned to a city rather than the more difficult interior.[3]

Nevertheless, Brottier immediately set to work. He gave weekly instructions to secondary school students, founded a center for child welfare, and published a parish bulletin, The Echo of St. Louis.[3] His health suffered from the climate, however, and he spent a six-month period of convalescence in France in 1906.[1] In 1911 his poor health would force him to return to France for good.[4]

After his final departure from Senegal, Brottier spent a brief, but personally significant, stay at the Trappist monastery at Lérins—the same island monastery associated with Saint Patrick's preparation for evangelization in Ireland. Brottier had felt called to a more contemplative life than he had been living as a missionary in Africa, but the stay at Lérins rid him of that idea. As Brottier wrote to his sisters, "I lived unforgettable hours in the recollection of the cloister in an atmosphere of sacrifice and immolation. But the lack of sleep, and especially of food, wore me down, and after a few days I had to yield to the evidence: I was not made for this kind of life".[3]

Even after he had left Senegal, Brottier was asked by Bishop Hyacinthe Jalabert, the Apostolic Vicar of Senegal, to conduct a fund-raising campaign to build a cathedral in Dakar.[1] To this end, Brottier was appointed the Vicar General of Dakar, even though he was residing in Paris.[3] Brottier focused on this project for seven years over two periods (i.e., 1911–1914 and 1919–1923), the interlude being a result of the First World War.[3] The so-called "African Memorial Cathedral" was consecrated on February 2, 1936, just a few weeks before Brottier's death.

My secret is this: help yourself and heaven will help you. ... I have no other secret. If the good God worked miracles [at Auteuil], through Thérèse's intercession, I think I can say in all justice that we did everything, humanly speaking, to be deserving, and that they were the divine reward of our work, prayers and trust in providence.

—Daniel Brottier[3]

Service during World War I

At the outbreak of the First World War, Brottier became a volunteer chaplain for France's 121st Infantry Regiment. He was cited six times for bravery, and awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur. He attributed his survival on the front lines to the intercession of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and built a chapel for her at Auteuil when she was canonized: the first church dedicated to the saint.[5] After the war, Brottier founded the National Union of Servicemen (L'Union Nationale des Combattants), an organization of French veterans of various conflicts.[1]

Work with the orphans of Auteuil

In November 1923, the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Louis-Ernest Dubois, asked the Congregation of the Holy Spirit to assume charge of an orphanage in an arrondissement of Paris, the Orphan Apprentices of Auteuil. Brottier, with his associate chaplain Yves Pichon, labored for 13 years to expand the facilities and worked for the welfare of the orphans. He dedicated his work to two aims: to save the most poor and unfortunate, and to dedicate those efforts to the intercession of Saint Thérèse.[1] In 1933, Brottier pioneered a program that placed the children in the households of Catholic paysans associated with the Orphan Apprentices. The fruit of his labors at Auteuil included the construction of workshops, opening a printing house and a cinema, and launching magazines. At the time of his arrival, the facility was in charge of 140 orphans; when Brottier died, there were more than 1,400.[1]

Particularly notable of Brottier's work with the orphans of Auteuil, and perhaps of his work in general, was his eagerness to expand to previously unexplored means of seeking financial support. An example of this is that he mastered the art of the camera and offered instruction on film making to the children. He even produced a popular film on the life of his personal patron, Saint Thérèse.[3]

Brottier died on 28 February 1936 in the Hospital of St. Joseph in Paris.[1] Fifteen thousand Parisians attended his funeral Mass.[2] He was buried in the Chapel of St. Thérèse in Auteuil on 5 April 1936.[1]

Veneration

Brottier was declared venerable on 13 January 1983 with a decree of heroic virtue by Pope John Paul II. He was beatified by John Paul II in Paris on 25 November 1984.[4] The cause for his canonization was greatly advanced by the claim, in 1962, that his body was as intact as on the day of his burial.[2] In addition, many miracles have been attributed to his intercession.[3] His feast day is celebrated by the Spiritan Fathers on 28 February.

Legacy

A residence hall at Duquesne University—an American university founded and administered by the Spiritan Fathers—is named Brottier Hall in memory of Blessed Daniel Brottier.[6]

Brottier Refugee Services is a Non Profit organization set up to assist private sponsors welcome refugees to Canada

St. Cerneuf

Feastday: February 23

Serenus, the Gardener, also known as Cerneuf, according to his probably fictious legend, was born in Greece. He imigrated to Sirmium (Metrovica, Yugoslavia), and was known for his gardening. He went into hiding for a time to escape a persecution of Christians that had just begun, and on his return, rebuked a lady for walking in his garden at an unseemly time. She reported to her husband that he had insulted her, and the husband, a member of the imperial guards, reported the matter to Emperor Maximian. Upon orders from the Emperor the governor investigated the matter, found Serenus innocent of insulting the woman, but while examining him, found that he was a Christian. When Serenus refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, he was beheaded. His feast day is February 23rd.

Saint Serenus the Gardener, also known as "Serenus of Billom", "Sirenatus", and, in French, French: Cerneuf is a 4th-century martyr who is venerated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Biography

According to pious legend, he was born in Greece;[3] quit his life there and decided to live a celibate life of penance and prayer; emigrated to Sirmium, Pannonia in the Roman Empire (presently Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia); purchased, cultivated, and lived off of a garden there; and was known for his horticultural skill. He rebuked the wife of a Roman imperial guard for walking in his garden with her daughters, this purportedly being contrary to the mores of the time without male accompaniment. Her pride wounded, the wife informed her husband of the affair in writing, and he reported Serenus to Emperor Maximian, who gave the husband a letter to deliver to the governor of Pannonia that permitted the governor to remedy the supposed injustice. On the testimony of Serenus to the governor, the husband retracted his accusation and the governor judged Serenus innocent of insulting the wife. However, the governor suspected from the words of Serenus' testimony that he might be a Christian, and inquired of his religion. When Serenus testified to being one and refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, the governor had him decapitated on 23 February 307.[1][2]

Parts of this narrative are probably fictitious,[4] however according to Butler there may possibly be some historical basis to the story.[5]

A tradition centered in Clermont-Ferrand, France maintains that St. Austremonius sent Serenus to evangelize Thiers, also in Auvergne.[6]

Veneration

The Church of Saint-Cerneuf à Billom

The commune of Billom, Auvergne, France claimed a portion of Serenus' relics.[5] Serenus became known as "Saint Cerneuf" in France, and "L'église Saint-Cerneuf" (the Church of Saint Serenus" in Billom is dedicated to him).

Saint Willigis of Mainz

மைன்ஸ் பேராயர் வில்லிஜிஸ் Willigis von Mainz

பிறப்பு 

10 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு, 

நீடர்சாக்சன், ஜெர்மனி

இறப்பு 

23 பிப்ரவரி 1011, 

மைன்ஸ் Mainz, ஜெர்மனி

இவர் ஓர் ஏழைக் குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்தவர். இவரது இளம் பருவத்தைப் பற்றி குறிப்புகள் ஏதும் வழங்கப்படவில்லை. 970 ஆம் ஆண்டு அரசர் 2 ஆம் ஓட்டோ என்பவர் இவரை மைசன் Meißen நகருக்கு ஆயராகத் தேர்ந்தெடுத்தார். அதன்பிறகு ஆயர் அரசரின் ஆலோசகராகவும் இருந்தார். பிறகு 975 ஆம் ஆண்டு மைன்ஸ் நகரின் பேராயராக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டார். முதல் ஜெர்மனி ஆயர் என்றழைத்த திருத்தந்தை 5 ஆம் கிரகோர் வில்லிஜிஸை உரோமிற்கு மாற்றினார். 

வில்லிஜிஸ் உரோமையில் 1002 ஆம் ஆண்டு அரசர் 2 ஆம் ஹென்றிக்கு அரசராக முடிசூட்டும் பட்டத்தை முன்னின்று வழிநடத்தினார். அதன்பிறகு அரசர் ஜெர்மனியிலுள்ள பாம்பெர்க்கிற்கு தன் இருப்பிடத்தை மாற்ற தேவையான உதவிகளை வில்லிஜிஸ் செய்துக் கொடுத்தார். பின்னர் ஏழை மக்களின் நல்வாழ்வுக்காக அரசரிடம் பெரிதும் பரிந்து பேசினார். ஒவ்வொரு நாளும் ஏறக்குறைய 30 ஏழைகள் தேவையான அளவு உணவு உட்கொள்ள ஏற்பாடு செய்து உதவினார். இவர் ஏழைகளின் தந்தை என்றழைக்கப்பட்டார். 

இவர் இறந்தபிறகு, மைன்சில் உள்ள புனித ஸ்டீபன் பேராலயத்தில் அடக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டு வணக்கம் செலுத்தப்பட்டது. செயின் ஸ்டீபன் ஆலயமானது வில்லிஜிஸ் அவர்கள்தான் ஆயராக இருக்கும் எழுப்பினார் என்று கூறப்படுகின்றது.

Profile

Son of a wheelwright. Well educated. Priest. Canon at Hildesheim, Germany. Noted speaker. Chaplain to Emperor Otto II. Chancellor of Germany in 971. Archbishop of Mainz, Germany in 973. Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire in 975. Vicar apostolic to Germany in 975, ordained by Pope Benedict VII. He crowned the infant Otto III as Holy Roman Emperor in 983, and served in the regencies of Empress Theophano and Empress Adelaide. Assisted at the consecration of Pope Gregory V in 996. Participated in the synod in 996, and spoke for the return of Saint Adalbert of Prague, whom he had consecrated as bishop, to his diocese. Worked to insure the choice of Emperor Henry II in 1002, and consecrated the the emperor. Presided at the Synod of Frankfort in 1007. He sent missionaries to Scandinavia, founded churches, built roads and bridges, supported artists and monasteries, and rebuilt the cathedral of Mainz. Though he was known as a brilliant statesman and politician, he was a Church man first, and was also known for the care he took in educating priests, and choosing them for their assignments.

Born

at Schoningen, Germany

Died

• 23 February 1011 of natural causes

• interred in the Church of Saint Stephen

Blessed Josephine Vannini

Also known as

• Giuditta Vannini

• Giuseppina Vannini

Profile

Orphaned as a small child. Raised in the Torlonia Conservatory on Via Sant' Onofrio, under the guidance of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Entered the Daughters' novitiate in Siena, Italy, but was forced to leave due to poor health.

On retreat in 1891 she met Blessed Louis Tezza, procurator general of the Camillians. He had been thinking of founding a women's community for the care of the sick. He invited Josephine to help establish the new community, she prayed over it, and decided "yes." In 1892 she and two companions received the scapular of Camillian tertiaries, and a year later professed private vows, adding service to the sick, even at risk of their lives. They took their perpetual vows in 1895, and Josephine was elected Superior General. Blessed Louis was sent to Lima, Peru in 1900, responsibility for the new congregation rested with Mother Vannini, and under her leadership the congregation spread to France, Belgium and Argentina.

Born

7 July 1859 at Rome, Italy

Died

23 February 1911 in Rome, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

16 October 1994 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized

on 13 May 2019 Pope Francis promulgated a decree of a miracle received through the intercession of Blessed Josephine

Blessed Ludwik Mzyk

Also known as

• Ludivico Mzyk

• Ludvig Mzyk

Additional Memorial

12 June as one of the 108 Polish Martyrs

Profile

The fifth of ten children born in the family of a pious coal miner. Early feeling a call to the priesthood, Ludwyk entered the seminary in Heiligenkreuz in his teens; when there was a break in the classes, he would go home to work in the mines to help support his family. Joined the Society of the Divine Word. He continued his theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Ordained a priest on 30 October 1932. Served three years as director of novices at the Chludowie monastery near Poznan, Poland where he taught theology, and became rector of the house. When the German army invaded Poland in 1939, Father Ludwyk came into immediate conflict with the Gestapo for trying to defend his novices against Nazi demands and propaganda. He was arrested on 25 January 1940, and assigned to barracks 7 at the Poznan death camp. Between bouts of torture, Ludwyk ministered to other prisoners until the Nazis finally gave up trying to break him and simply killed him. Martyr.

Born

22 April 1905 in Chorzów, Slaskie, Poland

Died

23 February 1942 in Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland

Beatified

13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Giovanni Theristi

Additional Memorial

24 February (monastery of Bivongi, Italy)

Also known as

• Giovanni Terestes

• Giovanni Theristus

• John the Reaper

Profile

When his mother was pregnant with Giovanni, she was enslaved and taken to Palermo, Sicily by Saracen raiders; his father was killed in the same attack. At age 14, Giovanni returned to his parent’s home town of Stilo, Italy and was baptized by his bishop, Giovanni, at one of the old monasteries around the town. The area Christians, including the bishop, were surprised and suspicious that a young man dressed as an Arab wanted to become a Christian. As an adult, Giovanni was drawn to religious life, and became an Eastern style monk. He would help reapers in the field and then give all he had earned to the poor. A miracle worker, he once prayed for help to save a harvest that was about to be destroyed by a storm; an angel appeared and instantly harvested the crop, saving the peasants from starving. Founded the monastery at Bivongi, Italy; the house was later re-named in his hounour.

Born

c.995 in Palermo, Italy

Died

• c.1050 in Stilo, Calabria, Italy of natural causes

• relics in the church of San Giovanni Theristi in Stilo, Italy

Patronage

Stilo, Italy

Blessed Alerinus de Rambaldis

Also known as

Alerino Rembaudi

Profile

Born to the Italian nobility, from his youth Alerinus was drawn to religious life. He became a canon of the cathedral of Alba, Italy, and was chosen bishop of Alba by Pope Martin V on 10 September 1419; he led the diocese for over 36 years.

Following a vision, Bishop Alerino rediscovered the lost burial site and relics of Blessed Theobald Roggeri on 31 January 1429; legend says that all the bells of the local churches rang out on their own the next morning. Alerino conducted the Synod of Alba in 1434. He invited the Augustinians to work in his diocese, supported the vocation and work of Blessed Margaret of Savoy, and in 1446 he laid the first stone of her Dominican monastery. On 27 April 1455, he translated the relics of Saint Frontiniano and others to the cathedral in Alba, and proclaimed 27 April to be the feast of the patrons of the city of Alba.

Born

late 14th century in Alba, Cuneo, Italy

Died

21 July 1456 of natural causes

Blessed Rafaela Ybarra Arambarri de Villalonga

Profile

Born to a wealthy and pious family, the daughter of Gutiérrez de Cabiedes and Rosaria de Arambarri y Mancebo. Rafeala was a pious girl, made her first Communion at age 11, and was given to long meditations on the suffering of Christ. In 1861, at age 18, she married the wealthy and pious Giuseppe Vilallonga of Catalonia. The couple had seven children of their own, and took in many relatives who were poor, sick, frail or neglected. In her mid-thirties, and with Giuseppe’s approval, Rafaela took personal vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. Widowed, she spent her life and fortune caring for others. She founded the Institute of the Sisters of Guardian Angels to work with abandoned and neglected children.

Born

16 January 1843 in Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain

Died

23 February 1900 in Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain

Beatified

30 September 1984 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Alexander Akimetes

Also known as

Alexandros

Profile

Born to the nobility. Studied in Constantinople. Soldier and officer in the imperial army for four years. Adult convert to Christianity who read himself into the faith, and took his example from the words of Christ to the young rich man - he sold all his goods and became a hermit in Syria for several years. At one point he came back to the city; there he burned a pagan temple, and was imprisoned; he spent his time there bringing his jailers to Christianity. Released, he returned to the life of a hermit for several years, but felt called missionary work, and worked in Antioch, but with no success. Founded monasteries in Mesopotamia, Constantinople and Gomon, and at one point led 400 monks. Converted Rabulas, bishop of Edessa. Alexander began the liturgical service in which his monks sang the Divine Office continuously day and night.

Born

4th century on one of the Aegean Islands of Greece

Died

403 in Gomon of natural causes

Saint Romana

Profile

Daughter of an imperial Roman official, Romana was drawn to Christianity. Around age 16, to avoid marriage, she fled her family home. With the help of an angel, she made it to the cave on Mount Soracte where Pope Saint Sylvester was hiding from the persecutions of Diocletian. She explained to him her desire for Christian religious life; he baptized her and left, leaving her the cave as a home. Her reputation for holiness soon spread, and she attracted so many students that they founded a community around her cave.

While such a saint may well have lived in the cave, and such people certainly attracted would-be students and followers, the tales that grew up around her are likely pious fiction that was later mistaken for history.

Born

c.308

Died

• c.324 in her cave on Mount Soracte near Rome, Italy of natural causes

• her parents were brought to the cave, and buried her there

Saint Milburga

#புனித_மில்பர்கா (-715)

பிப்ரவரி 23

இவர் (#StMilburga) இங்கிலாந்தில் உள்ள மெர்சியாவை ஆண்ட ஒரு குறுநில மன்னரின் மகள்.

இவர் சிறு வயது முதலே கடவுள்மீது ஆழமான பற்றுறுதி கொண்டிருந்தவர். அதனால் இவர் வளர்ந்து பெரியவரானதும் புனித பெனடிக்ட் துறவற சபையில் சேர்ந்து, துறவியானார்.

சோபிஷேர் என்ற இடத்தில் துறவுமடத்தைத் தொடங்கிய இவர், அம்மடத்தின் தலைவியாக உயர்ந்தார்.

இவரது பகுதியில் இருந்த விளைநிலங்களில் பறவைகள் புகுந்து, கதிர்களையெல்லாம் நாசம் செய்தன. அப்பொழுது இவர் அதற்காக வேண்ட, பறவைகளின் தொந்தரவு  முற்றிலுமாகக் குறைந்தது.

இப்படிப் பல வல்ல செயல்களைச் செய்த 715 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.

Also known as

Milburg, Milburge, Mildburg, Mildburga, Milburgh

Additional Memorial

25 June (translation of relics)

Profile

Daughter of Merewalh, King of Mercia, and Saint Ermenburga. Sister of Saint Mildred and Saint Mildgytha. Took the veil from archbishop Saint Theodore. Benedictine nun. Founded Much Wenlock abbey in Shropshire, England, and was abbess there. Miracle worker. Had a mysterious power over birds; they would avoid damaging the local crops when she asked them to.

Born

7th century England

Died

• 715 at the Much Wenlock Abbey, Shropshire, England of natural causes

• relics re-discovered in 1101 and enshrined in the nearby priory church

Patronage

birds

Blessed Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski

Profile

Ordained on 13 March 1937. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1939, Stefan was shuttled through the concentration camps Fort Seven, Stutthof, Grenzdorf, Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen and finally Dachau. Spiritual leader of other prisoners wherever he was imprisoned. He contracted typhus while working with fellow prisoners dying of the disease, and is thus considered a martyr of charity.

Born

22 January 1913 in Chelmza, Poland

Died

23 February 1945 of typhus at the Dachau concentration camp, Germany

Beatified

7 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II at Torun, Poland

Blessed Nicolas Tabouillot

Profile

Priest in the diocese of Verdun, 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

16 February 1745 in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse, France

Died

23 February 1795 of unspecified disease aboard the prison ship Washington, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France

Beatified

1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Milo of Benevento

Also known as

• Milo of Auvergne

• Milone...

Profile

Studied for the priesthood in Paris, France. Priest in Auvergne, France. Canon of the cathedral of Auvergne. He was the teacher of the young Saint Stephen of Muret. Milo’s reputation for piety led to the people of Benevento, Italy to choose him as their bishop where he served the remaining two years of his life.

Born

Auvergne, France

Died

c.1073 in Benevento, Italy of natural causes

Blessed Giovannina Franchi

Profile

Born to a wealthy family, she grew up wanting and working to help the poor. Nun in the diocese of Como, Italy. Founded the Nursing Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Born

24 June 1807 in Como, Italy

Died

23 February 1872 in Como, Italy of smallpox

Beatified

20 September 2014 by Pope Francis

Saint Boswell

Also known as

Boisil

Profile

Spiritual student of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne. Monk. Abbot at the abbey of Melrose, Scotland. Teacher and spiritual director of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne and Saint Eghert. Bible scholar. Had the gift of prophecy. Noted preacher.

Born

Northumbrian (in modern England)

Died

• 661 of the yellow plague

• relics at Durham, England

Blessed Juan Lucas Manzanares

Also known as

Braulio Carlos

Profile

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

Born

10 December 1913 in Cortiji-Lorca, Murcia, Spain

Died

23 February 1937 in Madrid, Spain

Beatified

13 October 2013 by Pope Francis

Blessed Anselm of Milan

Profile

15th century Franciscan friar. His body is enshrined in the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Milan, Italy, but all records about him have been lost, and we know nothing about him.

Died

1481

Saint Martha of Astorga

Profile

Virgin martyr in the persecutions of Decius.

Died

• beheaded in 250 at Astorga, Spain

• relics enshrined in the abbey of Ribas de Sil and at Ters

Saint Zebinus of Syria

Profile

Hermit in Syria. Spiritual teacher of many monks, including Saint Maro and Saint Polychronius.

Died

5th century of natural causes

Saint Medrald

Also known as

Merald, Merault, Meraut

Profile

Benedictine monk at Saint-Evroult, Ouche, France. Abbot of Vendome, France.

Died

850 of natural causes

Saint Felix of Brescia

Profile

Bishop of Brescia, Italy for 40 years. Fierce opponent of Arianism.

Born

6th century

Died

650

Saint Polycarp of Rome

Profile

Priest in Rome, Italy who was known for his ministry to people imprisoned for their faith.

Died

c.300

Saint Dositheus of Egypt

Profile

Sixth-century desert hermit whose deep prayer life led to deep personal holiness.

Born

Egypt

Blessed John of Hungary

Profile

Born

French

Died

1287 of natural causes

Saint Ordonius

Profile

Benedictine monk in Sahagun, Leon, Spain. Bishop of Astorga, Spain in 1062.

Died

1066 of natural causes

Saint Florentius of Seville

Profile

Martyr.

Died

c.485 in Seville, Spain

Martyrs of Syrmium

Profile

73 Christians who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know no details about them, and only six of their names - Antigonus, Libius, Rogatianus, Rutilus, Senerotas and Syncrotas.

Died

c.303 at Syrmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia)