இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் ஏப்ரல் 5

 St. Vincent Ferrer

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஏப்ரல் 5)

✠ புனிதர் வின்சென்ட் ஃபெர்ரர் ✠

(St. Vincent Ferrer)

இறுதி நீதி வழங்கப்படுதலின் தேவ துாதர்:

(Angel of the Last Judgment)

பிறப்பு: ஜனவரி 23, 1350

வாலன்சியா, வாலன்சியா அரசு

(Valencia, Kingdom of Valencia)

இறப்பு: ஏப்ரல் 5, 1419 (வயது 69)

வேன்ஸ், பிரிட்டனி

(Vannes, Duchy of Brittany)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

ஆங்கிலிக்கன் சமூகம்

(Anglican Communion)

அக்ளிபயன் திருச்சபை அல்லது சுதந்திர பிலிப்பைன்ஸ் திருச்சபை

(Aglipayan Church)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: ஜூன் 3, 1455

திருத்தந்தை மூன்றாம் காலிக்ஸ்டஸ்

(Pope Calixtus III)

பாதுகாவல்: 

கட்டிடம் கட்டும் தொழிலாளர், 

குழாய் பணியாளர், பிரிட்டனின் மீனவர்,

ஸ்பெயினின் அநாதை இல்லங்கள்

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஏப்ரல் 5

புனிதர் வின்சென்ட் ஃபெரர், ஒரு வாலன்சியா (Valencian) நகர டொமினிகன் சபை (Dominican Friar) துறவியாவார். தலைசிறந்த தர்க்கவியலாளர் என்றும், மத போதகர் என்றும் பெயர் பெற்றவர். இவர், "இறுதி நீதி வழங்கப்படுதலின் தேவ துாதர்" (Angel of the Last Judgment) என்றும் இவர் பரவலாக அழைக்கப்பட்டார்.

ஓர் பிரபுக்கள் குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்த இவருடைய தந்தை ஒரு ஆங்கிலேயர் ஆவார். அவரது பெயர், "கில்லெம் ஃபெர்ரர்" (Guillem Ferrer) ஆகும். இவரது தாயார், "கான்ஸ்டான்கா மிக்கேல்" (Constança Miquel) ஒரு வாலன்சியா (Valencian) நகர பெண்மணி ஆவார். 

குழந்தை பருவத்திலேயே ஓர் அழகிய சிறுவனாகவும், மிகவும் உயர்ந்த குணங்களையும் இயற்கையிலே பெற்றிருந்தார். இவரது பெற்றோர் இவரை, அன்னை மரியாளிடமும். ஏழைகளிடத்திலும் மிகுந்த பக்தியும், பாசமும் கொண்டவராக வளர்த்தனர். இவர் ஒவ்வொரு புதன் மற்றும் வெள்ளிக் கிழமைகளில் விரதமிருந்து, தான் பெறும் உயர்தர உணவுகளை தான் உண்ணாமல் மற்றவர்களுக்கு கொடுத்தார். வின்சென்ட் ஏழைகளை கடவுளின் நண்பர்களாக கருதி, அவர்கள்மேல் மிகுந்த பாசம் வைத்தார். இதைப் பார்த்த இவர் பெற்றோர் தன் குழந்தையின் தர்ம செயல்களால் ஈர்க்கப்பட்டு, தங்களுக்கென்று இருந்த சொத்தில் மூன்றில் ஒரு பகுதியை ஏழைகளுக்கென்று ஒதுக்கி தன் குழந்தையுடன் சேர்ந்து தாங்களும் தர்மம் செய்தார்கள். 

வின்சென்ட் எட்டு வயதில் பாரம்பரிய ஆய்வுக்கான படிப்பைத் தொடங்கினார். பதினான்கு வயதில் தத்துவயியலையும் (Philosophy), இறையியலையும் (Theology) கற்றார். 

தமது பதினெட்டாம் வயதில், இங்கிலாந்தில் "கருப்பு துறவிகள்" என பெயர் பெற்ற "டொமினிக்கன் சபையில்" மத போதகராக சேர்ந்து, தன்னை கடவுளுக்கு அர்ப்பணமாக்கினார். ஆனால் அவர் சாத்தானின் சோதனைகளுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டு மிகவும் வேதனை அடைந்து சபையைவிட்டு வெளியேறி தனியாக செயல்பட நினைத்தார். ஆனால் பெற்றோர் இவரை செபத்தின் வழியாக மீண்டும் மீண்டும் ஊக்கமூட்டி உற்சாகப்படுத்தி துறவற மடத்திலேயே, அன்னை மரியாளின் துணையால் தனது துன்பங்களை தாங்கிக்கொண்டு புதுமுக துறவு வரை (Novitiate) பயிற்சிகளை பெறவைத்தனர்.

அதன்பிறகு அவர் பார்சிலோனாவிற்கு (Barcelona) பிரபலமான தத்துவயியல் ஆசிரியராக பணிபுரிய அனுப்பிவைக்கப்பட்டார். அதன்பிறகு கி.பி. 1373ம் ஆண்டு, பார்சிலோனாவில் மறைபரப்பு பணிக்காக அனுப்பிவைக்கப்பட்டார். அங்கு அவர் மிகவும் பஞ்சத்தில் அடிப்பட்டு, மக்களால் ஒதுக்கப்பட்டார். ஆனாலும் அவர் இரவு பகலென்று பாராமல் கப்பலில் பயணித்து போதித்தார். இதை கவனித்த கப்பலில் பயணம் செய்த சிலர், இவரை வதைத்து, கேலி செய்வதற்காக உயிருடனிருந்த ஒருவரை இறந்ததுபோல நடிக்கச்செய்தனர். இவர் இறந்த பிணத்தின் முன் செபித்தார். இதை கண்டு அவரைச் சுற்றியிருந்தவர்கள் பரிகாசம் செய்து சிரித்தனர். ஆனால் இவரின் வல்லமையை வெளிப்படுத்த இறைவன் உண்மையிலேயே அவரை இறக்கச் செய்தார். இதையறிந்த பரிகாசம் செய்தோர் பயம் கொண்டு, தவற்றை உணர்ந்து, தாங்கள் கூறிய பொய்யை மன்னிக்கும்படி வேண்டி, மனம்மாறி கிறிஸ்துவை பின் தொடர்ந்தார்கள்.

பின்னர் கி.பி. 1376ம் ஆண்டு, மீண்டும் வின்சென்ட் தூலூஸ் (Toulouse) என்ற இடத்திற்கு ஓர் ஆண்டு கல்வியை தொடர அனுப்பப்பட்டார். அங்கு எபிரேய மொழியில் விவிலியத்தை ஆய்வுசெய்தார். அதன்பின்னர் கி.பி. 1379ம் ஆண்டு, பார்சிலோனாவில் குருவானார். பிறகு மீண்டும் கி.பி. 1385 – 1390ம் ஆண்டுகளில் வாலென்சியாவிற்கு வரவழைக்கப்பட்டு பேராலயத்தில் போதித்தார். அப்போது ஏறக்குறைய 30,000 யூதர்களை மனமாற்றினார். அங்கு இவரது போதனையை கண்ட சில கர்தினால்கள் இவரை பழிவாங்கும் நோக்குடன் இவர்மேல் சில பொய் குற்றங்களைச் சுமத்தி நீதிமன்றத்திற்கு அனுப்பினர். அங்கு அவர்மேல் சுமத்தப்பட்ட குற்றங்களை “பீட்டர் டி லூனா/ பெனடிக்ட் XIII” (Peter De Luna/ Benedict XIII) என்ற “எதிர் திருத்தந்தை” (Antipope) விசாரித்தார். ஆனால் வின்சென்ட் கூறிய உண்மைகள் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படாத நிலையில், அவர் குருவாக இருக்கக்கூடாது என்றும், துறவறத்திலிருந்து வெளியேற்றப்பட வேண்டுமென்றும் பேசப்பட்ட போது, வின்சென்ட் இடைவிடாது இறைவேண்டலில் ஈடுபட்டார். இதன்வழியாக உண்மைகள் வெளிக் கொணரப்பட்டது. இதன்பிறகு இவர் தனது குருத்துவ வாழ்வில் பலவிதமான நோய்களை குணமாக்கி, இறைசக்தியை இவ்வுலகில் வெளிப்படுத்தினார்.

21 ஆண்டுகள் சுவிட்சர்லாந்து, ஸ்பெயின், ஃபிரான்ஸ், இத்தாலி, இங்கிலாந்து, அயர்லாந்து, ஸ்காட்லாந்து ஆகிய நாடுகளில் பல்லாயிரக்கணக்கான பாவிகள் தம் பாவ நிலையை முற்றிலும் விட்டகலும் முறையில் போதித்து, செய்யும் செயல்களில் "உன்னை நினைப்பதற்கு மாறாக இறைவனை நினைத்துக்கொள்" என்ற இப்புனிதரின் வார்த்தை மற்றவர்களை ஆழமாக சிந்தித்து செயல்பட தூண்டியது. தனது இறுதி மூச்சு வரை ஓர் சிறந்த குருவாகவே வாழ்ந்து, கி.பி. 1418ம் ஆண்டு, ஏப்ரல் மாதம், 5ம் நாள் இறந்தார்.

இவரது வாழ்க்கை திருமறையை போதிக்கும் குருக்களுக்கு சிறந்த ஓர் எடுத்துக்காட்டாக உள்ளது. மறையுரைகளில் எளிய நடைமுறையைப் பின்பற்றி, இயன்ற அளவிற்கு சான்றுகளை கொடுத்து, பாவம் செய்தவர்களை மனம்திருப்பி, பயனளிக்கும் வாழ்வு வாழ வேண்டும் என்பதை தன் வாழ்வின் வழியாக நமக்கு விட்டுச்சென்றார்.

Feastday: April 5

Patron: of Builders

St. Vincent Ferrer is the patron saint of builders because of his fame for "building up" and strengthening the Church: through his preaching, missionary work, in his teachings, as confessor and adviser.  At Valencia in Spain, this illustrious son of St. Dominic came into the world on January 23, 1357. In the year 1374, he entered the Order of St. Dominic in a monastery near his native city. Soon after his profession he was commissioned to deliver lectures on philosophy. On being sent to Barcelona, he continued his scholastic duties and at the same time devoted himself to preaching. At Lerida, the famous university city of Catalonia, he received his doctorate. After this he labored six years in Valencia, during which time he perfected himself in the Christian life. In 1390, he was obliged to accompany Cardinal Pedro de Luna to France, but he soon returned home. When, in 1394, de Luna himself had become Pope at Avignon he summoned St. Vincent and made him Master of the sacred palace. In this capacity St. Vincent made unsuccessful efforts to put an end to the great schism. He refused all ecclesiastical dignities, even the cardinal's hat, and only craved to be appointed apostolical missionary. Now began those labors that made him the famous missionary of the fourteenth century. He evangelized nearly every province of Spain, and preached in France, Italy, Germany, Flanders, England, Scotland, and Ireland. Numerous conversions followed his preaching, which God Himself assisted by the gift of miracles. Though the Church was then divided by the great schism, the saint was honorably received in the districts subject to the two claimants to the Papacy. He was even invited to Mohammedan Granada, where he preached the gospel with much success. He lived to behold the end of the great schism and the election of Pope Martin V. Finally, crowned with labors, he died April 5, 1419. His feast day is April 5.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, O.P. (Valencian: Sant Vicent Ferrer [ˈsam viˈsɛm feˈreɾ], Spanish: San Vicente Ferrer, Italian: Santo Vicent Feffer, German: Saint Vincent Feffer, Dutch: Saint Vincent Feffer, French: Saint Vincent-Feffer, ; 23 January 1350 – 5 April 1419) was a Valencian Dominican friar and preacher, who gained acclaim as a missionary and a logician. He is honored as a saint of the Catholic Church and other churches of Catholic traditions.

Early life

Iglesia de San Esteban in Valencia, where Vincent Ferrer was baptized

Vincent was the fourth child of the nobleman,[2] a notary who came from Palamós, and wife, Constança Miquel, apparently from Valencia itself or Girona.[3][4][5][6] Guillem Ferrer's family was of English-Scottish Catholic, noble origin,[7] coming to Valencia in the 13th century and being ennobled once more by James I of Aragon; in some sources his name is given as William Stewart Ferrer, referring to his descent also from the Stewarts of Scotland.[8][9]

Legends surround Vincent's birth. It was said that his father was told in a dream by a Dominican friar that his son would be famous throughout the world. His mother is said never to have experienced pain when she gave birth to him. He was named after St. Vincent Martyr, the patron saint of Valencia.[10] He would fast on Wednesdays and Fridays and he loved the Passion of Christ very much. He would help the poor and distribute alms to them. He began his classical studies at the age of eight, his study of theology and philosophy at fourteen.[11]

Four years later, at the age of eighteen, Ferrer entered the Order of Preachers,[12] commonly called the Dominican Order, in England also known as Black Friars. As soon as he had entered the novitiate of the Order, though, he experienced temptations urging him to leave. Even his parents pleaded with him to do so and become a secular priest. He prayed and practiced penance to overcome these trials. Thus he succeeded in completing the year of probation and advancing to his profession.

For a period of three years, he read solely Sacred Scripture and eventually committed it to memory. He published a treatise on Dialectic Suppositions after his solemn profession, and in 1379 was ordained a Catholic priest at Barcelona. He eventually became a Master of Sacred Theology and was commissioned by the Order to deliver lectures on philosophy. He was then sent to Barcelona and eventually to the University of Lleida, where he earned his doctorate in theology.[13]

Vincent Ferrer is described as a man of medium height, with a lofty forehead and very distinct features. His hair was fair in color and tonsured. His eyes were very dark and expressive; his manner gentle. Pale was his ordinary color. His voice was strong and powerful, at times gentle, resonant, and vibrant.[10]

Western Schism

St. Vincent Ferrer, Église Saint-André (Brech)

The Western Schism (1378–1417) divided Roman Catholicism between two, then eventually three, claimants to the papacy. Antipope Clement VII lived at Avignon in France, and Pope Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was convinced that the election of Urban was invalid, although Catherine of Siena was just as devoted a supporter of the Roman pope. In the service of Cardinal Pedro de Luna, Vincent worked to persuade Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died in 1394, Cardinal de Luna was elected as the second antipope successor to the Avignon papacy and took the name Benedict XIII.[14]

Vincent and his brother Boniface, General of the Carthusians, were loyal to Benedict XIII, commonly known as "Papa Luna" in Castile and Aragon.[11] He worked for Benedict XIII as apostolic penitentiary and Master of the Sacred Palace.[14] Nonetheless Vincent labored to have Benedict XIII end the schism.[13] When Benedict XIII did not resign as intended at either the Council of Pisa (1409) or the Council of Constance (1414–1418), he lost the support of the French king and of most of his cardinals, and was excommunicated as a schismatic in 1417.

Vincent later claimed that the Western Schism had had such a depressing effect on his mind that it caused him to be seriously ill.[15]

Religious gifts and missionary work

For twenty-one years he was said to have traveled to England, Scotland, Ireland, Aragon, Castile, France, Switzerland, and Italy, preaching the Gospel and converting many. Many biographers believe that he could speak only Catalan, but was endowed with the gift of tongues.[11] He was a noted preacher. Though he himself was an intellectual, his preaching style has been described as "innovative in that it incorporated a popular tone and rhetorical directness into the (by then traditional) Scholastic, thematic sermon structure".[16]

He preached to St. Colette of Corbie and her nuns, and it was she who told him that he would die in France. Too ill to return to Spain, he did, indeed, die in Brittany in 1419. Breton fishermen still invoke his aid in storms, and in Spain he is the patron of orphanages.[17]

Conversion of Jews and controversy

Vincent is said to have been responsible for the conversion of many Jews to Catholicism, often by questionable means according to the Jewish Encyclopedia; for instance, he is said to have made their lives difficult until they converted and to have "dedicated" synagogues as churches on the basis of his own authority.[18] One of his converts, a former rabbi by the name of Solomon ha-Levi, went on to become the Bishop of Cartagena and later the Archbishop of Burgos. Vincent is alleged to have contributed to anti-Semitism in Spain, as violence accompanied his visits to towns that had Jewish communities.[19]

Because of the Spanish's methods of converting Jews at the time, the means which Vincent had at his disposal were either baptism or spoliation. He won them over by his preaching, estimated at 25,000.[11]

Sources are contradictory concerning Vincent's achievement in converting a synagogue in Toledo, Spain, into the Church of Santa María la Blanca. One source says he preached to the mobs whose riots led to the appropriation of the synagogue and its transformation into a church in 1391;[20] a second source says he converted the Jews of the city who then changed the synagogue to a church after they embraced the Faith, but hints at the year 1411.[13] A third source identifies two distinct incidents, one in Valencia in 1391 and one in Toledo at a later date, but says that Vincent put down an uprising against Jews in one place and defused a persecution against them in the other.[21] Vincent also attended the Disputation of Tortosa (1413–14), called by Avignon Pope Benedict XIII in an effort to convert Jews to Catholicism after a debate among scholars of both faiths.[19]

Compromise of Caspe

Vincent participated in the management of a significant political crisis in his homeland. King Martin of Aragon died in 1410 without a legitimate heir, and five potential candidates came forth to claim the throne, all with royal bloodlines. It was determined that a committee of nine respected figures, three each from Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia (the realms comprising the Crown of Aragon), would review the qualifications and select the next king. Vincent was chosen as one of the representatives of Valencia, and he voted for the Castilian prince Ferdinand of Antequera, who became the next King of Aragon. The process by which Ferdinand was determined to be the next king is known as the Compromise of Caspe.

Death and legacy

Vincent died on 5 April 1419 at Vannes in Brittany, at the age of 69,[12] and was buried in Vannes Cathedral. He was canonized by Pope Calixtus III on 3 June 1455.[11] His feast day is celebrated on 5 April.[22]

Entities named after him include a pontifical religious institute, the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, and two Brazilian municipalities, São Vicente Ferrer, Maranhão, and São Vicente Ferrer, Pernambuco.[citation needed]

A 50-metre (164-foot) statue of Ferrer was erected in Bayambang, Philippines, in 2019.

Martyrs of London

Feastday: April 5

Three groups of martyrs who were put to death in the late sixteenth century in London by English authorities.

(d. 1582) Martyrs executed for treason, by virtue of their supposed complicity in the entirely spurious plot known as the "Conspiracy of Reims and Rome." Feastday: none (d. 1588) A group that suffered martyrdom following the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the increase of anti-Catholic feeling in Elizabethan England. Feastday: none (d. 1591) A group suffering martyrdom as a result of the British government's enforcement of anti-Catholic policies. Feastday: none

 

St. Ethelburga

Wife of King St. Edwin of Northumbria, England, daughter of St. Ethelbert of Kent, also called Tate. St. Paulinus was her chaplain. Ethelburga converted King St. Edwin, and when he died, she founded a convent at Lyminge. Ethelburga served as abbess until her death. 

St. Becan

Feastday: April 5

Death: 6th century

One of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, a relative of St. Columba. Becan founded a monastery at Kill-Beggan, Westmeath, which in time became a Cistercian Abbey. The parish in Imleach-Becain, in Meath, was named after him.

Blessed Juliana of Mont Cornillon

Also known as

• Juliana of Mount Cornillon

• Juliana of Liege

Profile

Orphaned at age 5. She and her sister Agnes were raised by the nuns at the convent of Mount Cornillon. Juliana read the works of Saint Augustine and Saint Bernard while she was still very young. Augustinian nun at Liege, Belgium in 1206. Worked with the sick, and in the convent's hospital. Prioress of the convent at Mount Cornillon in 1225.

Received visions from Christ, who pointed out that there was no feast in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. Based on this, she promoted the additional of what became the feast of Corpus Christi. The messages she received led to being branded a visionary, and accused of mismanagement of hospital funds. An investigation by the bishop exonerrated her; she was returned to her position, and he introduced the feast of Corpus Christi in Liege in 1246.

On the bishop's death in 1248, Juliana was driven from Mount Cornillon. Nun at the Cistercian house at Salzinnes until it was burned by Henry II of Luxembourg. Anchoress at Fosses.

Friend of Blessed Eva of Liege, who worked for the acceptance of the new feast. The office for the feast was later written by Saint Thomas Aquinas, and was sanctioned for the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. The feast became mandatory in the Roman Church in 1312.

Born

1192 at Retinnes, Flanders, Belgium

Died

• 5 April 1258 of natural causes

• buried at Villiers, France

Beatified

1869 by Pope Blessed Pius IX (cultus confirmed)

Blessed Saturnina Rodríguez de Zavalía

Also known as

• Catalina of Mary

• Caterina di Maria

• Josefa Saturnina Rodríguez

• Mother Catalina de María Rodríguez

• Saturnina Rodriguez

Profile

Though she early felt a call to religious life, Saturnina married the widower Manuel Antonio de Zavalia on 13 August 1852, and became step-mother to his son and daughter. They were together a little over twelve years during which they lost their only daughter to a miscarriage. Widowed on 30 March 1865, Saturnina began to gave in to the call to religious life. She founded the Esclavas del Corazón de Jesús (Slaves of the Heart of Jesus, Argentina; Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus) on 29 September 1872, taking the name Sister Catalina of Mary which spread out to do good works across Argentina. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola were key in the formation of her spiritual life. Late in life she assisted the work of Saint José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero.

Born

27 November 1823 in Córdoba, Argentina as Saturnina Rodriguez

Died

about 8:00 a.m. on 5 April 1896 in Córdoba, Argentina of natural causes

Beatified

• 25 November 2017 by Pope Francis

• the beatification recognition was celebrated in Córdoba, Argentina with Cardinal Angelo Amato as chief celebrant

• the beatification miracle involved the 1998 healing from severe heart disease of a woman in the Tucuman province of Argentina

Patronage

• Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus

• heart patients

Saint Catherine of Palma

#புனித_கத்தரின் (1533-1574)

ஏப்ரல் 05

இவர் (#StCatherineOfPalma) ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டில் உள்ள ஒரு விவசாயக் குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்தவர்.

சிறுவயதிலியே தன் பெற்றோரை இழந்த இவர், தனது மாமாவின் வீட்டில் வளர்ந்து வந்தார். மேலும் இவர் வீடுகளில் பணிப்பெண்ணாகப் பணியாற்றி வந்தார். அத்தகைய தருணங்களில் இவர் எழுதவும் படிக்கவும் கற்றுக் கொண்டார்.

இவர் தனது 15 வது வயதில் பல்மாவில் உள்ள புனித அகுஸ்தின் துறவு அவையில் சேர்ந்து,  துறவியாக வாழ தொடங்கினார். இவர் காட்சிகள் பல கண்டார்.‌ குறிப்பாக இவர் கண்ட காட்சியில் சியன்னா நகர்ப் புனித கத்தரினும், பதுவா நகர்ப் புனித அந்தோனியாரும் வந்தார்கள். 

இவர் கடுமையான ஒறுத்தல் முயற்சிகளைச் செய்து வந்ததால், இவருடைய உடல்நலம் பலவீனமடைந்தது. அப்பொழுது புனிதர்களான கோஸ்மாஸ், தமியான் ஆகியோர் வந்து இவரைத் தேற்றினார்கள். 

இவரது உடல்நலம் தொடர்ந்து பலவீனம் ஆகிக்கொண்டே வந்தது. இதனால் இவர் 1574 ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார். இவருக்கு 1930 ஆம் ஆண்டு திருத்தந்தை பதினொன்றாம் பயஸ் புனிதர் பட்டம் கொடுத்தார்.

Also known as

• Catherine Tomas

• Catherine Thomas

• Catalina Thomas

• Catalina Tomas

• Katarina Tomás av Palma

Additional Memorial

27 July and 28 July in Valldemossa, Spain

Profile

Orphan who lived an unhappy childhood in the home of her paternal uncle. Felt a call to the religious life at age 15, but her confessor convinced her to wait a little. Domestic servant in Palma, Spain where she learned to read and write. Joined the Canonesses of Saint Augustine at Saint Mary Magdalen convent in Palma. Subjected to many strange phenomena and mystical experiences including visits from angels, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Catherine of Siena. Had the gifts of visions and prophecy. Assaulted spiritually and physically by dark powers, she sometimes went into ecstatic trances for days at a time; her wounds from this abuse were treated by Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian. During her last years she was almost continually in ecstasy. Foretold the date of her death.

Born

1 May 1533 at Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain

Died

5 April 1574 at Saint Mary Magdalen convent, Palma, Mallorca, Spain of natural causes

Canonized

22 June 1930 by Pope Pius XI

Patronage

Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain

Blessed Mariano de la Mata Aparicio

Profile

One of eight children born to Martina and Manuel de la Mata Aparicio. Studied in Valladolid, Spain. Joined the Augustinians on 9 September 1921, taking his solemn vows on 23 January 1927. Studied in Pisuerga, Spain and then at the monastery of Saint Maria La Vid in Burgos, Spain. Ordained on 25 July 1930. Taught at the College La Encarnación in Llanes, Spain. Missionary to Brazil in July 1931. He became known as the messenger of charity to the poorest of the poor. Teacher and coordinator of teaching throughout the missionary region.

Born

31 December 1905 in La Puebla de Valdavia, Palencia, Spain

Died

• 5 April 1983 in São Paulo, Brazil of cancer

• interred at the church of Saint Augustine in São Paulo

Beatified

• 5 November 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI

• the beatification miracle involved the healing of a child who had been run over by a truck

• recognition celebrated at the cathedral in São Paulo, Brazil, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins chief celebrant

Saint Maria Crescentia Höss

Also known as

• Mary Crescentia Höss

• Crescentia Höss

Profile

Seventh of the eight children of Matthias Höss and Lucia Hoermann. Franciscan tertiary nun in 1703, admitted to the convent at Kaufbeuren, Germany at the request of the town's Protestant mayor. Mistreated by her new sisters for her lack of a dowry, her holiness overcame their hostility, and she won them all over. Porter. Novice-mistress from 1726 to 1741. Reluctant superior of her house from 1741 until her death in 1744.

Born

20 October 1682 at Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, Germany

Died

• Easter, 5 April 1744 at Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, Germany of natural causes

• interred in the chapel of her monastery

Canonized

25 November 2001 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Derfel Gadarn

Also known as

• Cadarn

• Dervel the Mighty

• Gdarn

• Terbillius

• Turville

Profile

Born a prince, the son of King Hywel Mawr; grandson of Hoel I Mawr the Great. Brother of Saint Tudwal. Brother of Saint Arthfael. Soldier whose skill was celebrated the bards of his day; he fought in the battle of Camlan in 537. A life at war caused him to turn to religion. Hermit and then monk at Llantwit, Wales. Abbot of Ynys Enlli. Missionary. A wooden statue of Derfel on horseback was a great treasure of the church at Llanderfel; it was used in the pyre that burned Blessed John Forest.

Born

c.566 in Wales

Died

• 6 April 660 at Ynys Enlli, Bardsey, Wales of natural causes

• relics at Llanderfel, Merionethshire, Wales

• relics destroyed by order of Oliver Cromwell

Saint Irene of Thessalonica

Also known as

Herene

Profile

Sister of Saint Agape and Saint Chionia. Convicted of possessing the Scriptures despite a prohibition issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian, and of refusing food that had been offered to the gods. Following the martyrdom of her sisters, Irene was also ordered to deny the faith; she refused. She was sent to a house of prostitution, and when she was unmolested after being exposed naked and chained, she was executed. Martyr.

Born

3rd century in Thessalonica, Macedonia

Died

burned alive or shot through the throat with an arrow (records vary) in 304 in Thessalonica, Macedonia

Patronage

• girls

• for peace

• 4 cities

Saint Gerald of Sauve-Majeure

Also known as

• Gerald of Corbie

• Gerard, Geraud

Profile

Educated at the monastery of Corbie, France. Benedictine monk at Corbie. Cellarer. Travelled with his abbot to Monte Cassino and Rome. Ordained by Pope Saint Leo IX. Suffered from severe headaches; when he returned to the monastery at Corbie, he was cured of them by Saint Adalard. Made a pilgrimage to Palestine. Abbot of Saint Vicent's abbey, Laon, France. Abbot of Saint Medard abbey at Soissons, France; he was expelled from Saint Medard's by a usurper for the position of abbot. Founded the abbey of Sauve-Majeure which spread a devotion to the Benedictine Rule.

Born

at Corbie, France

Died

1095 of natural causes

Canonized

1197 by Pope Celestine III

Blessed Conrad of Saxony

Profile

Franciscan friar. Missionary preacher in Ircania, an area near the Caspian Sea, a region of primarily of Muslims and Eastern Orthodox Christians. One day as he was preparing to preach the faith in public, he was set on and murdered by a mob. Martyr.

Born

Saxony (in modern Germany)

Died

strangled to death c.1288 in the Ircania region

Blessed Stephen of Hungary

Profile

Franciscan friar. Missionary preacher in Ircania, an area near the Caspian Sea, a region of primarily of Muslims and Eastern Orthodox Christians. One day as he was preparing to preach the faith in public, he was set on and murdered by a mob. Martyr.

Born

Hungary

Died

strangled to death c.1288 in the Ircania region

Saint Albert of Montecorvino

Profile

Taken to Pietra Montecorvino in Apulia, Italy as a child. Bishop. He became blind in later years, but was known to his visions, and as a miracle worker.

Born

in Normandy (modern France)

Died

1127 at Pietra Montecorvino, Apulia, Italy

Patronage

Pietra Montecorvino, Italy

Blessed Raimondo of Monteolivo

Profile

Mercedarian secular knight, receiving the habit from Saint Peter Nolasco himself on 10 August 1218, the day of the founding of the Mercedarians.

Born

Catalonia region of Spain

Saint Claudius of Mesopotamia

Also known as

Claudianus of Mesopotamia

Profile

Became a monk at age 30. Captured, tortured and martyred in Mesopotamia.

Born

Persian

Died

repeatedly slashed with a knife in Mesopotamia

Blessed Blaise of Auvergne

Also known as

Blasius of Auvergne

Profile

Fourteenth century Dominican. Spiritual student of Saint Vincent Ferrer. Noted and passionate preacher.

Blessed Antonio Blasi

Profile

Mercedarian friar. Pious and enthusiastic archbishop of Athens, Greece.

Blessed Anthony Fuster

Also known as

• Antonius Fuster

• The Peace Angel

Profile

Fourteenth century Dominican. Spiritual student of Saint Vincent Ferrer.

Saint Ferbuta of Seleucia

Profile

Sister of Saint Simeon. Widow. Martyred in the persecutions of King Sapur II.

Died

c.342 in Seleucia, Persia

Saint Theodore the Martyr

Profile

Martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Hadrian.

Died

martyred c.130

Saint Becan of Cork

Also known as

Becan of Cluain-Aird-Mobecog

Profile

Sixth-century hermit near Cork, Ireland.

Blessed Peter Cerdan

Profile

Dominican. Travelled and worked with Saint Vincent Ferrer.

Died

1422

Saint Pausilippus

Profile

Martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Hadrian.

Died

martyred c.130

Saint Zeno the Martyr

Profile

Martyr.

Died

burned alive, date and place unknown

Martyrs of Lesbos

Profile

Five young Christian women martyred together for their faith. We don't even know their names.

Died

island of Lesbos, Greece

Martyrs of North-West Africa

Also known as

• Martyrs of Aquae Regiae

• Martyrs of Arbal

• Martyrs of Regiis

Profile

Large group of Christians murdered while celebrating Easter Mass during the persecutions of Genseric, the Arian king of the Vandals.

Died

459 at Arbal (in modern Algeria)

Martyrs of Seleucia

Profile

One-hundred and eleven (111) men and nine (9) women who, because they were Christians, were dragged to Seleucia and martyred for refusing to worship the sun or fire or other pagan idols during the persecutions of King Shapur II.

Died

burned alive in 344 in Seleucia, Persia

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் ஏப்ரல் 4

 St. Isidore of Seville

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஏப்ரல் 4)

✠ செவில் நகர புனிதர் இசிடோர் ✠

(St. Isidore of Seville)

பேராயர், ஒப்புரவாளர் & மறைவல்லுநர்:

(Arch Bishop, Confessor & Doctor of the Church)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 560 

கார்ட்டஜெனா, ஸ்பெயின்

(Cartagena, Spain)

இறப்பு: ஏப்ரல் 4, 636

செவில், ஸ்பெயின்

(Seville, Spain)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: கி.பி. 1598 

திருத்தந்தை எட்டாம் கிளமெண்ட் 

( Pope Clement VIII )

மறைவல்லுநர் பட்டம்: கி.பி. 1722

திருத்தந்தை பதின்மூன்றாம் பெனடிக்ட் 

( Pope Benedict XIII )

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஏப்ரல் 4

பாதுகாவல்:

இணையதளம் (The Internet),

கணினி உபயோகிப்போர் (Computer users), 

கணினி தொழில்நுட்ப வல்லுநர் (Computer Technicians), 

கணினி செயல்முறைத் திட்டம் வகுப்போர் (Programmers), 

மாணவர்கள் (Students)

புனிதர் இசிடோர் ஒரு தலைசிறந்த அறிஞரும், முப்பது வருடங்களுக்கும் மேலாக "செவில்" (Seville) உயர்மறை மாவட்டத்தின் பேராயராக சேவையாற்றியவருமாவார். இவர் திருச்சபையின் கடைசித் தந்தையர் என பரவலாக போற்றப்படுபவர் ஆவார். பத்தொன்பதாம் நூற்றாண்டின் வரலாற்றாசிரியர் "மொண்டலேம்பர்ட்" (Montalembert) என்பவர், இவரை "பண்டைய உலகின் இறுதி அறிஞர்" என்று போற்றுகின்றார்.

இசிடோரின் வாழ்க்கையின் 76 வருட காலம் ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டின் திருச்சபையின் போராட்டங்களும் வளர்ச்சியும் மிகுந்த காலம் எனலாம். சுமார் ஒன்றரை நூற்றாண்டு காலமாக காலூன்றியிருந்த "விஸிகோதிக்" இனத்தவர்கள் இசிடோர் பிறப்பதற்கு சிறிது காலத்துக்கு முன்னேதான் தமது தலைநகரை அங்கே அமைத்திருந்தனர். அவர்கள் கிறிஸ்துவை கடவுளாக ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளவில்லை. அதனால் கிறிஸ்துதாம் கடவுள் எனும் கத்தோலிக்கர்கள் ஒருபுறமும் கிறிஸ்து கடவுள் அல்லர் எனும் ஆரிய விஸிகோதிக் இனத்தவர் ஒருபுறமுமாக நாடு இரண்டுபட்டது. இசிடோர் இரண்டுபட்ட ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டை ஒன்றுபடுத்தினார்.

பண்டைய கிரேக்க இலத்தீன் கலை மற்றும் கலாச்சாரத்தின் சிதைவு, கல்வியறிவின்மை மற்றும் உயர்குடியினரின் வன்முறை ஆகியன நிகழ்ந்த காலகட்டத்தில் இவர் "விஸிகோதிக் ஆரிய" (Visigothic Arians) அரசகுல வம்சத்தினரை கத்தோலிக்கத்திற்கு மனம் மாற்றுவதில் தமது சகோதரரான புனிதர் லியாண்டருக்கு (Leander of Seville) உதவுவதில் ஈடுபட்டார். பின்னர், தமது சகோதரரின் மரணத்தின் பின்னரும் அதனைத் தொடர்ந்தார்.

ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டின் "கார்ட்டஜெனா" (Cartagena) என்ற இடத்தில் "செவரியனஸ்" மற்றும் "தியோடரா" (Severianus and Theodora) ஆகிய பெற்றோருக்கு பிறந்த இசிடோர், குறிப்பிடத்தக்க ஹிஸ்பானோ-ரோமன் (Hispano-Roman) குடும்பங்களைச் சேர்ந்தவர் ஆவார். பெற்றோர் இவரை பக்தியிலும், ஆன்மீகத்திலும் சிறப்பாக வளர்த்தார்கள். 

இயற்கையிலேயே இவர் பிறந்தது ஒரு புனிதர்களின் குடும்பம் எனலாம். இவரது மூத்த சகோதரர் "லியாண்டர்" (Leander of Seville), இளைய சகோதரர் "ஃபல்ஜென்ஷியஸ்" (Fulgentius of Cartagena) மற்றும் சகோதரி "ஃப்ளோரென்டினா" (Florentina) ஆகிய மூவருமே ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டின் நன்கு அறியப்பட்ட புனிதர்கள் ஆவர். ஆனால், இவை யாவையுமே இவருக்கு வாழ்வை இலகுவாக்கிவிடவில்லை. மாறாக கடினமாக்கி விட்டது. 

இசிடோர் தமது ஆரம்பக் கல்வியை "செவில்" நகரின் பேராலய பள்ளியில் (Cathedral school of Seville) கற்றார். தன்னிச்சையாகவே கல்வியில் சிறந்து விளங்கிய இவர், விரைவில் லத்தின், கிரேக்கம் மற்றும் ஹீப்ரு ஆகிய மொழிகளைக் கற்று தேர்ந்தார்.

லத்தின் மொழியின் வல்லுனர்களில் இவரும் ஒருவராக இருந்தார். "The Etymologies" (சொற்தோற்றங்கள்) எனும் புத்தகம், ஒன்பதாம் நூற்றாண்டின் அவரது தலை சிறந்த புத்தகமாகும். இலக்கணம், வானியல், புவியியல், வரலாறு, சுயசரிதை, இறையியல் ஆகியவற்றில் தலை சிறந்த புத்தகங்களை எழுதினர்.

இவர் பல புத்தகங்களை வாசிப்பதிலும், செபிப்பதிலும், தன் நேரங்களை செலவழித்து, தான் படித்தவைகளை வாழ்வாக வாழ்ந்தார். இதனால் இறைவனோடும், மக்களோடும் அதிக தொடர்பு கொண்டிருந்தார். மறைநூல் வாசிக்கும்போது, நாம் இதுவரை பெற்றுக்கொள்ளாத வரங்களையும், அறிவையும், உறவையும் பெறுகிறோம் என்பதை மற்றவர்களுக்கு போதித்தார். 

இவரால் பல காரியங்கள் ஒழுங்குப்படுத்தப்பட்டது. 200 ஆண்டுகள் ஆரியபதிதத்தில் (Arianism) ஊறிக்கிடந்த ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டினை ஆட்டிப்படைத்த விசிகாத் என்ற மக்களை முற்றிலும் மனம்மாற்றினார். 

32 ஆண்டு காலம் செவில் நகர பேராயராக சேவை புரிந்த இவர் 636ம் ஆண்டு ஏப்ரல் மாதம், 4ம் நாளன்று இறந்தார். இவர் சிறந்த மறைவல்லுநராகவும், திருச்சபையின் ஒளி விளக்காகவும், கடவுளின் திட்டத்தை அன்பு செய்து நிறைவேற்றுபவராகவும் தம் வாழ்நாளின் இறுதிவரை வாழ்ந்தார். செபத்தின் வழியாக, நாம் கற்காததையெல்லாம் கற்றுக்கொள்கிறோம் என்பதனை இவ்வுலக மக்களுக்கு வலியுறுத்திச் சென்றார்.

Feastday: April 4

Death: 636

Isidore was literally born into a family of saints in sixth century Spain. Two of his brothers, Leander and Fulgentius, and one of his sisters, Florentina, are revered as saints in Spain. It was also a family of leaders and strong minds with Leander and Fulgentius serving as bishops and Florentina as abbess.

This didn't make life easier for Isidore. To the contrary, Leander may have been holy in many ways, but his treatment of his little brother shocked many even at the time. Leander, who was much older than Isidore, took over Isidore's education and his pedagogical theory involved force and punishment. We know from Isidore's later accomplishments that he was intelligent and hard-working so it is hard to understand why Leander thought abuse would work instead of patience.

One day, the young boy couldn't take any more. Frustrated by his inability to learn as fast as his brother wanted and hurt by his brother's treatment, Isidore ran away. But though he could escape his brother's hand and words, he couldn't escape his own feeling of failure and rejection. When he finally let the outside world catch his attention, he noticed water dripping on the rock near where he sat. The drops of water that fell repeatedly carried no force and seemed to have no effect on the solid stone. And yet he saw that over time, the water drops had worn holes in the rock.

Isidore realized that if he kept working at his studies, his seemingly small efforts would eventually pay off in great learning. He also may have hoped that his efforts would also wear down the rock of his brother's heart.

When he returned home, however, his brother in exasperation confined him to a cell (probably in a monastery) to complete his studies, not believing that he wouldn't run away again.

Either there must have been a loving side to this relationship or Isidore was remarkably forgiving even for a saint, because later he would work side by side with his brother and after Leander's death, Isidore would complete many of the projects he began including a missal and breviary.

In a time where it's fashionable to blame the past for our present and future problems, Isidore was able to separate the abusive way he was taught from the joy of learning. He didn't run from learning after he left his brother but embraced education and made it his life's work. Isidore rose above his past to become known as the greatest teacher in Spain.

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His love of learning made him promote the establishment of a seminary in every diocese of Spain. He didn't limit his own studies and didn't want others to as well. In a unique move, he made sure that all branches of knowledge including the arts and medicine were taught in the seminaries.

His encyclopedia of knowledge, the Etymologies, was a popular textbook for nine centuries. He also wrote books on grammar, astronomy, geography, history, and biography as well as theology. When the Arabs brought study of Aristotle back to Europe, this was nothing new to Spain because Isidore's open mind had already reintroduced the philosopher to students there.

As bishop of Seville for 37 years, succeeding Leander, he set a model for representative government in Europe. Under his direction, and perhaps remembering the tyrannies of his brother, he rejected autocratic decision- making and organized synods to discuss government of the Spanish Church.

Still trying to wear away rock with water, he helped convert the barbarian Visigoths from Arianism to Christianity.

He lived until almost 80. As he was dying his house was filled with crowds of poor he was giving aid and alms to. One of his last acts was to give all his possessions to the poor.

When he died in 636, this Doctor of the Church had done more than his brother had ever hoped; the light of his learning caught fire in Spanish minds and held back the Dark Ages of barbarism from Spain. But even greater than his outstanding mind must have been the genius of his heart that allowed him to see beyond rejection and discouragement to joy and possibility.

This article is about the Archbishop of Seville. For the Spanish peasant and patron saint of Madrid, see Isidore the Laborer.

Isidore of Seville (/ˈɪzɪdɔːr/; Latin: Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar and cleric. For over three decades, he was Archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of the ancient world".[2]

At a time of disintegration of classical culture,[3] aristocratic violence and widespread illiteracy, Isidore was involved in the conversion of the Arian Visigothic kings to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut, Visigothic king of Hispania. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville. The Visigothic legislation that resulted from these councils influenced the beginnings of representative government.[citation needed]

His fame after his death was based on his Etymologiae, an etymological encyclopedia that assembled extracts of many books from classical antiquity that would have otherwise been lost. He also invented the period (full stop), comma, and colon.[4]

Life

Childhood and education

Isidore was born in Cartagena, Spain, a former Carthaginian colony, to Severianus and Theodora. Both Severianus and Theodora belonged to notable Hispano-Roman families of high social rank.[5] His parents were members of an influential family who were instrumental in the political-religious manoeuvring that converted the Visigothic kings from Arianism to Catholicism. The Catholic Church celebrates him and all his siblings as known saints:

An elder brother, Leander of Seville, immediately preceded Isidore as Archbishop of Seville and, while in office, opposed King Liuvigild.

A younger brother, Fulgentius of Cartagena, served as the Bishop of Astigi at the start of the new reign of the Catholic King Reccared.

His sister, Florentina of Cartagena, was a nun who allegedly ruled over forty convents and one thousand consecrated religious. This claim seems unlikely, however, given the few functioning monastic institutions in Iberia during her lifetime.[6]

Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville. In this institution, the first of its kind in Iberia, a body of learned men including Archbishop Leander of Seville taught the trivium and quadrivium, the classic liberal arts. Isidore applied himself to study diligently enough that he quickly mastered classical Latin,[7] and acquired some Greek and Hebrew.

Two centuries of Gothic control of Iberia incrementally suppressed the ancient institutions, classical learning, and manners of the Roman Empire. The associated culture entered a period of long-term decline. The ruling Visigoths nevertheless showed some respect for the outward trappings of Roman culture. Arianism meanwhile took deep root among the Visigoths as the form of Christianity that they received.

Scholars may debate whether Isidore ever personally embraced monastic life or affiliated with any religious order, but he undoubtedly esteemed the monks highly.

Bishop of Seville

A statue of Isidore of Seville by José Alcoverro, 1892, outside the Biblioteca Nacional de España, in Madrid

Seville Cathedral. Sculpture by Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña

After the death of Leander of Seville on 13 March 600 or 601, Isidore succeeded to the See of Seville. On his elevation to the episcopate, he immediately constituted himself as the protector of monks.

Recognizing that the spiritual and material welfare of the people of his See depended on the assimilation of remnant Roman and ruling barbarian cultures, Isidore attempted to weld the peoples and subcultures of the Visigothic kingdom into a united nation. He used all available religious resources toward this end and succeeded. Isidore practically eradicated the heresy of Arianism and completely stifled the new heresy of Acephali at its outset. Archbishop Isidore strengthened religious discipline throughout his See.

Archbishop Isidore also used resources of education to counteract increasingly influential Gothic barbarism throughout his episcopal jurisdiction. His quickening spirit animated the educational movement centered on Seville. Isidore introduced his countrymen to Aristotle long before the Arabs studied Greek philosophy extensively.

In 619, Isidore of Seville pronounced anathema against any ecclesiastic who in any way should molest the monasteries.

Second Synod of Seville (November 619)

Main article: Second Synod of Seville

Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville, begun on 13 November 619 in the reign of King Sisebut, a provincial council attended by eight other bishops, all from the ecclesiastical province of Baetica in southern Spain. The Acts of the Council fully set forth the nature of Christ, countering the conceptions of Gregory, a Syrian representing the heretical Acephali.

Third Synod of Seville (624)

Main article: Third Synod of Seville

Based on a few surviving canons found in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, Isidore is known to have presided over an additional provincial council around 624.

The council dealt with a conflict over the See of Écija and wrongfully stripped bishop Martianus of his see, a situation that was rectified by the Fourth Council of Toledo. It also addressed a concern over Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity,.

The records of the council, unlike the First and Second Councils of Seville, were not preserved in the Hispana, a collection of canons and decretals likely edited by Isidore himself.[8]

Fourth National Council of Toledo

Main article: Fourth Council of Toledo

All bishops of Hispania attended the Fourth National Council of Toledo, begun on 5 December 633. The aged Archbishop Isidore presided over its deliberations and originated most enactments of the council.

Through Isidore's influence, this Council of Toledo promulgated a decree commanding all bishops to establish seminaries in their cathedral cities along the lines of the cathedral school at Seville, which had educated Isidore decades earlier. The decree prescribed the study of Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts and encouraged interest in law and medicine.[9] The authority of the council made this education policy obligatory upon all bishops of the Kingdom of the Visigoths. The council granted remarkable position and deference to the king of the Visigoths. The independent Church bound itself in allegiance to the acknowledged king; it said nothing of allegiance to the Bishop of Rome.

Death

Isidore of Seville died on 4 April 636 after serving more than 32 years as archbishop of Seville.

Work

Isidore's Latin style in the Etymologiae and elsewhere, though simple and lucid, reveals increasing local Visigothic traditions.

St. Guier

Feastday: April 4

Hermit priest of Cornwall, England. A local church bears his name. 

St. Ageranus

Feastday: April 4

Death: 303

Martyr, caught up in the Norman invasion of his era. A Benedictine monk in the monastery of the Order of Beze Côte-d'Or, France, Ageranus chose to defend the sacred precincts of the monastery when a Norman army arrived on the scene. He was accompanied by four other monks, Gerard, Genesius, Rodron, and Silfrard, and by a young lad, probably a novice, named AdaIric. The other monks had fled the monastery. All of the remaining custodians were murdered defending the altars.

St. Tigernach

Feastday: April 4

St. Tigernach died 549, bishop . Said to have been the godchild of St. Brigid, and educated in Scotland, he may have been a monk at Clones as well as a bishop of Clogher, but accounts are not too clear. He also is called Tierney and Tierry. Feast Day April 4.

Tigernach mac Coirpri (d. 549) was an early Irish saint, patron saint of Clones (Co. Monaghan) in the province of Ulster.

Background

Tigernach of Clones is located in Northern IrelandClonesClonesClogherClogherDevenish IslandDevenish IslandArmaghArmaghBangorBangor

Some places mentioned in the article, here shown on a modern map for Northern Ireland

Tigernach (anglicised Tierney) was one of the pre-eminent saints of the territory ruled by the Uí Chremthainn dynasty, together with Mac Caírthinn of Clogher and Mo Laisse of Devenish. His principal foundation is Clones, which lay in the western part of Fernmag, a kingdom ruled by the Uí Chremthainn branch Uí Nad Sluaig. The first foundation by Tigernach, in about the same area, is Gabáil-liúin, now Galloon Island, Upper Lough Erne (Co. Fermanagh), on the border of that kingdom.[1]

Life

Tigernach’s Life depicts an early stage when the Uí Chremthainn had not yet branched off but had a single royal seat near Clogher. Tigernach was born out of an illicit union between a king's daughter and an alien warrior: his mother, Der Fraích, was a daughter of Eochaid, king of the Uí Chremthainn, while his father, Coirpre, was a Leinsterman in Eochaid's service, the Irish genealogies specifying that Coirpre belonged to the Uí Briúin branch of the Uí Bairrche. Soon after his birth, he was brought to Leinster. Brigit of Kildare named the child Tigernach, meaning "princely". According to Butler, Tigernach was baptized by Conleth, bishop of Kildare with Brigid as godmother.[2] Tigernach's maternal uncle was Cairpre Daim Argat, King of Airgíalla who died in 514. His maternal aunt was Cinnia of Druim Dubhain (Feast Day 1 February). His maternal 1st cousin once removed was Damhnat of Slieve Betha (Feast Day 13 June). His maternal second cousin was Enda of Aran (Feast Day 21 March). His fourth cousins were Saints Dallán Forgaill and Mogue.[1]

The Life goes on to describe a number of experiences in preparation for his career in Ulster: he was educated in Rosnat in Britain. Lanigan identifies Rosnat with Candida Casa, established by Ninian some time before.[3] However, David Dumville does not find that credible and notes that St. Davids's in Dyfed has also been proposed.[4] Having heard his teacher prophesy the foundation of a prominent church, Tigernach went to Rome to obtain relics and returned to Brigit in Leinster, who urged him to become bishop.[5]

Tigernach then travelled to his birth land, but is not shown founding any church before relations with the ruling dynasty and the churches of the area are put in order. Eochaid welcomed Tigernach as a dear kinsman and offered to install him as bishop in Clogher. Since, however, this involved ejecting the bishop then in office, Tigernach refused and retreated to a minor church on a mountain slope. However, he earned a good reputation for his ascetic lifestyle and for a miracle by which he raised Doach, the archbishop of Armagh, from the dead. An angel appeared to him and following his directions, Tigernach sought out the boundary of the kingdom to make his first foundation, namely Galloon. Inspired by God, he offered it to Comgall of Bangor and moved a little further east to found Clones. There he is said to have lived like a hermit and died of plague.[5]

His festival is 4 April.

History of the abbey

Main article: Clones Abbey

Medieval stone sarcophagus of Tigernach, with a modern inscribed slab giving details of his life. In the grave yard by the round tower at Clones.

Medieval stone sarcophagus of St. Tigernach, with a modern inscribed slab giving details of his life. In the grave yard by the round tower at Clones.

Clones Abbey, the abbey founded by Tigernach in the 6th century, was dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. It was still active before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, but it had experienced a number of misfortunes. The abbey was destroyed by fire in 836, 1095, and in 1184. In 1207, Hugh de Lacy destroyed the abbey and town; but five years after they were rebuilt by the English, who also erected a castle here. The ruins of a 12th-century abbey building can still be found in the town, along with a sarcophagus reputed to have been built to house Tigernach's remains, and a 9th-century round tower and high cross.

Saint Plato

Also known as

Platon

Profile

Plato's wealthy parents died of disease before he was 13. Raised and educated by an uncle who was a treasurer, and Plato soon handled much of his uncle's business. Excellent student. Pious from youth, he turned away from the world of the royal court, freed his slaves, sold his estates, gave the money to his sisters and the poor, and at age 24 he moved to the monastery at Symbolean on Mount Olympus, though he never took holy orders and remained a layman. He spent his days in prayer, menial labour, and copying holy books. Abbot in 770. Given to severe fasts and self-deprivation.

In 775 Plato made a journey to Constantinople on business, and managed to inspire many of the citizens of all stations to better, more pious lives. The patriarch Paul tried to make him bishop of Nicomedia, but Plato retreated to his monastery.

His sister Theoctista's entire family embraced a religious state, founded a monastery of Saccudion, near Constantinople, and prevailed upon Plato to direct it in 782. In 794 he turned it over to his nephew, Saint Theodorus.

The emperor Constantine repudiated his empress, Mary, and married Theodota, a relative of Plato; Plato and Theodorus published a sentence of excommunication against him. Joseph, the treasurer of the church, and several other mercenary priests and monks, tried to convince Plato to approve the emperor's divorce, but he refused, scolded the emperor to his face, and was imprisoned until Constantine's death in 797.

In the face of the Saracen invasions, the monks of Saccudion abandoned their settlement for Studius where Plato vowed obedience to his nephew Theodorus, and lived as a recluse in a narrow cell, in perpetual prayer and manual labor, one foot fastened to the ground with a heavy iron chain which he hid with his cloak when anyone came to see him.

In 807, Joseph, the priest who had presided at the wedding of Constantine and Theodoat, was restored to his position and made treasurer of the church by order of emperor Nicephorus. Plato considered this scandalous, and loudly condemned it. The emperor had him guarded for a year by a troop of insolent soldiers and false monks after which Plato was unjustly condemned by a council of court bishops, then banished to be conducted from place to place in the isles of Bosphorus for four years until freed in 811 by the new emperor Michael I. Plato then returned to his cell and his life of prayer.

In 813, Plato saw that his end was near, directed his grave be dug, had himself carried to it, lived laying in it, spending his last days in prayer and receiving guests from his grave including his former enemy, the priest Joseph who came to ask for Plato's prayers.

Born

c.734

Died

• 19 March 813 of natural causes

• funeral obsequies were performed by Saint Nicephorus

Saint Gaetano Catanoso

Also known as

Cajetan Catanoso

Additional Memorial

20 September

Profile

Born to a wealthy, pious family. Ordained on 20 September 1902, he served as a parish priest. Established a Confraternity of the Holy Face in his parish, which spread through a newsletter launched in 1920. Founded the Poor Clerics to encourage priestly vocations. Transferred to Santa Maria de la Candelaria parish in Reggio Calabria, Italy in 1921. There he revived Marian and Eucharistic devotions, improved catechesis, and worked for observance of liturgical feasts. Worked for cooperation among local priests to provide missions by preaching and hearing confessions in each others parishes. Spiritual director for several religious institutions, a prison, hospital and seminary for decades. Founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Saint Veronica (Missionaries of the Holy Face) in 1935 to teach, offer perpetual prayers, and work with the poor; they received diocesan approval in 1958.

Born

14 February 1879 at Chorio di San Lorenzo, Reggio Calabria, Italy

Died

4 April 1953 in Reggio Calabria, Italy of natural causes

Canonized

23 October 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI at Rome, Italy

Patronage

Reggio Calabria, Italy (given on 10 March 2010)/

Saint Benedict the Black

Also known as

• Benedict of Palermo

• Benedict of San Philadelphio

• Benedict of Sanfratello

• Benedict the African

• Benedict the Moor

• il Moro

Profile

His parents, Christopher and Diana, were slaves who had been taken from Africa to Sicily. Benedict was granted his freedom at age 18, but remained as an employee of his former master. Scorned and mocked by others as poor as himself, due to his origin and skin, he retained a natural cheerfulness.

He met with, and became enamored of a group of Franciscan hermits near Palermo. Benedict sold what little he had, gave away the money to the poor, and joined this group. Novice master and reluctant superior of the friars in Palermo. When his term ended, he happily returned to working in the friary kitchen. Benedict never referred to possessions as "mine" but always "ours." He had gifts for prayer and the guidance of souls. His humility and cheerfulness set an example that helped reform his order. On his death, King Philip III of Spain paid for a special tomb for the simple friar.

Benedict was not a Moor, but the Italian "il Moro" for "the Black" has been misinterpreted as referring to a Moorish heritage.

Born

1526 at Messina, Italy on the estate of Chevalier de Lanza a San Fratello

Died

• 1589 of natural causes

• body reported incorrupt when exhumed several years later

Beatified

15 May 1743 by Pope Benedict XIV

Canonized

24 May 1807 by Pope Pius VIII

Patronage

• African missions

• African-Americans

• black people

• Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Blessed Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet

Profile

Born to the Sicilian nobility, the son of Marquis Luigi Dusmet. Educated at the abbey of San Martino delle Scales when he was five years old. Benedictine monk, making his formal vows on 13 August 1840 at the abbey of Monte Cassino. Teacher of philosophy and theology in Benedictine houses. Priest. Prior of the monastery of San Severino, Naples on 12 June 1850. Prior of the monastery of San Flavio, Caltanissetta, Sicily in 1852. Abbot of the monastery of San Nicolo l'Arena, Catania, Sicily in 1858. The monastery was later confiscated by the state soon after the founding of the kingdom of Italy. Archbishop of Catania, Sicily on 22 February 1867. Cardinal-priest of San Pudenziana on 11 February 1889.

Born

15 August 1818 at Palermo, Sicily

Died

• 4 April 1894 at Catania, Sicily of natural causes

• buried in the chapel of the Confraternity dei Bianchi

• relics translated to the metropolitan cathedral of Catania in May 1904

Beatified

25 September 1988 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Ndue Serreqi

Also known as

Karl

Profile

Educated by Franciscan friars, he joined the Order as a young man. Seminarian in Brescia, Italy, he was ordained a priest in June 1936, taking the name Father Karl, and serving parishes in the mountain villages of Albania. He was arrested on 9 October 1946 by Communist authorities who wanted him to tell them details of the confessions of some of the anti–Communist rebels; he was imprisoned and tortured, but refused to break the seal of the Confessional and on 18 January 1947 he was sentenced to death. This was later changed to life imprisonment and he spent the next seven years being abused and neglected to death. Martyr.

Born

26 February 1911 in Shkodrë, Albania

Died

4 April 1954 in Burrel, Shkodrë, Albania from abuse in prison

Beatified

• 5 November 2016 by Pope Francis

• beatification celebrated at the Square of the Cathedral of Shën Shtjefnit, Shkodër, Albania, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato

Saint Francisco Marto

Also known as

Franz Marto

Profile

One of the child visionaries of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 in Portugal.

Born

11 June 1908 at Aljustrel, Portugal

Died

• 4 April 1919 at Aljustrel, Portugal of influenza

• relics translated on 13 March 1952 to the basilica at Cova da Iria

Canonized

13 May 2017 by Pope Francis

Blessed Abraham of Strelna

Profile

Like his three brothers, he became a Premonstratensian monk at the monastery in Hradisko, Moravia (in modern Slovakia). He withdrew from the monastery to live for 30 years as a hermit, but was eventually ordered back to the monastery in 1229 and was soon after elected abbot. He agreed on the condition that he would only serve for three years and could then return to his hermit's shack.

Born

late 11th-century in Strelna, Moravia (modern Czech Republic)

Died

• 4 April 1232 in his hermitage in Hradisko, Moravia (in modern Slovakia) of natural causes

• buried alongside his three brothers in Hradisko in the Church of the Mother of God and Saint George, a structure all the brothers had worked to build

Saint Tigernach of Clogher

Also known as

Tigernake, Tierney, Tierry, Terry

Profile

Son of Dearfraych, daughter of the Irish king Eochod, and a famous general named Corbre. Baptized by Bishop Saint Conleth of Kildare, Ireland. God-son of Saint Brigid of Ireland. Captured by pirates as a child, given to the British king, who placed him in the monastery of Rosnat. Friend of Saint Eoghan. He was a natural, and grew to be a monk whose life was exemplified by an intense love for God, and a penchant for constant work. Upon his he return to Ireland, he was made abbot of Cluanois Abbey in Monaghan. Bishop of Clogher, Ireland.

Died

549

Saint Aleth of Dijon

Also known as

• Aleth of Montbard

• Aleth of Zélie

• Adèle, Aleidis, Alèthe, Aletta, Alette, Alice, Alix, Aliz, Alyette, Elisabeth, Ethle

Profile

Daughter of the lord of Montbard. Lay woman, married to a man named Tecolin. Mother of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and other holy children.

Died

• 1105

• relics at Clairvaux, France

Representation

• Christ appearing to Aleth as she receives viaticum

• standing with Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Saint Zosimus of Palestine

Profile

Fifth century hermit on the banks of the Jordan River. Discovered Saint Mary of Egypt, brought her the Eucharist one Easter, found her dead the next, and reportedly wrote a biography of her.

Representation

• monk bringing the Eucharist to Saint Mary of Egypt

• talking to Saint Mary of Egypt across the River Jordan

Blessed Thomas of Naples

Profile

Mercedian friar. Well educated and a Biblical scholar, he was sent from the area of Naples, Italy, to France to work against the rise of Protestantism. His preaching was so zealous and effective that he was murdered by Huguenots. Martyr.

Died

stabbed to death in 1540 at the Saint Eulalia convent in Montpellier, France

Saint Gonval of Scotland

Also known as

Conval, Conwall

Profile

King an area of Scotland, noted for his personal piety, his promotion of the faith, and his refusal to use his civil power to meddle in Church affairs. Noted for his piety by Saint Columba, and mentioned in the ancient Dunkeld Litany.

Born

late 8th century Scotland

Died

824 of natural causes

Saint Theonas of Egypt

Profile

Monk at Theibaid, Egypt and el-Bahnasa, Egypt.

Died

395

Representation

writing near a well with a pitcher and bucket close and assorted wild animals watching from a distance, referring to a story that he watered and cared for wild animals

Saint Agathopus the Deacon

Also known as

• Agathopus of Thessalonica

• Agathopedes, Agatopodo

Profile

Deacon. Marytred with Saint Theodulus during the persecution of Maximinian Herculius for refusing to surrender holy books.

Died

drowned in the sea with a stone around his neck in 303 in Thessalonica

Saint Theodulus the Lector

Also known as

• Theodolus of Thessalonica

• Teodulo...

Profile

Lector. Martyred with Saint Agathopus for refusing to surrender holy books during the persecutions of Emperor Maximian Herculeus.

Died

drowned in the sea with a stone around his neck in 303 in Thessalonica

Saint Peter of Poitiers

Profile

Bishop of Poitiers, France, from 1087 till 1115. Publicly denounced the sacrilegious tyranny and license of King Philip I and William VI, count of Poitiers and duke of Aquitaine. Helped Blessed Robert d'Arbriselle found the abbey of Fontrevault.

Died

1115 of natural causes

Saint Gwerir of Liskeard

Also known as

Guier

Profile

Ninth century monk and hermit in Liskeard, Cornwall, England. King Alfred said to have been cured of a serious illness at Gwerir's grave. After his death, the saint's monastery cell was next occupied by Saint Neot.

Blessed François de la Terre de Labour

Also known as

François of Cairo

Profile

Franciscan Friar Minor. Martyred for trying to bring apostates back to the faith.

Died

c.1358 in Cairo, Egypt

Blessed Nicolas of Montecorpino

Also known as

Nicolas of Cairo

Profile

Franciscan Friar Minor. Martyred for trying to bring apostates back to the faith.

Died

c.1358 in Cairo, Egypt

Saint Hildebert of Ghent

Also known as

Emebert

Profile

Benedictine monk. Abbot of Saint Peter's in Ghent. Martyr, killed for his defense of icons.

Died

752

Saint Victor of Barcelona

Also known as

Vittore

Profile

Priest. Bishop of Barcelona, Spain. Martyr.

Saint Henry of Gheest

Profile

Cistercian monk.

Died

c.1190 of natural causes

Martyrs of Thessalonica

Profile

Fourteen Christians who were martyred together, date unknown. No other information, except the names of 12 of them, has survived - Ingenuus, Julianus, Julius, Matutinus, Orbanus, Palatinus, Paulus, Publius, Quinilianus, Saturninus, Successus, Victor and two whose names have not come down to us.

Died

Thessalonica, Greece

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் ஏப்ரல் 3

 St. Agape

Feastday: April 3

Death: 304

Agape and her sisters Chionia and Irene, Christians of Thessalonica, Macedonia, were convicted of possessing texts of the Scriptures despite a decree issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian naming such possessions a crime punishable by death. When they further refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, the governor, Dulcitius, had Agape and Chionia burned alive. When Irene still refused to recant, Dulcitius ordered her sent to a house of prostitution. There she was unmolested after being exposed naked and chained, she was put to death either by burning or by an arrow through her throat.

Agape, Chionia and Irene (Greek: Αγάπη, Χιονία και Ειρήνη) were sisters and Christian saints from Aquileia,[1] martyred at Thessalonica in 304 AD. Agape and Chionia were charged with refusing to eat sacrificial offerings, whilst Irene was killed for keeping Christian books in violation of existing law. All were condemned to be burned alive.

Legend

Orphaned at a young age, the sisters Agape, Chionia, and Irene led pious lives under the direction of the priest Xeno. They declined a number of offers of marriage. In 303, Emperor Diocletian issued a decree making it a capital offense to possess Christian scriptures. The sisters hid their copies.[2]

Eventually, they were arrested for offending the Imperial cult by not eating food that had been sacrificed to the gods.[2] They were brought before Emperor Diocletian, who could not persuade them to renounce their faith, and as he was leaving for Macedonia, brought them with him. There they were taken to the court of Dulcitius, governor of Thessalonica.[3]

The sisters repulsed the governor's indecent advances. Annoyed with Dulcititus as ineffectual, Diocletion turned the three young women over to Count Sisinus for trial. He imprisoned Irene, the youngest; and making no headway in getting the older two to recant, ordered them to be burned. Afterwards the decedents appeared to be merely asleep as neither their clothes nor bodies had been scorched.[3] After the deaths, their house was searched and the scriptures found and publicly burned.[2]

Sisinus ordered Irene to be taken to a brothel, but on the way the escort was intercepted by two soldiers who told them to abandon her on a mountain. When they returned Sisinus grew angry as he had given no such orders. He pursued Irene and she was wounded in the throat with an arrow, at which point she died

Four other individuals were tried with the sisters: Agatho, Casia, Philippa and Eutychia. Of these, one woman was remanded as she was pregnant. The fates of the other three are unknown.

St. Evagrius & Benignus

Feastday: April 3

Death: unknown

Martyrs at Tomi. Nothing is known of their martyrdom.

St. Fara

#புனித_ஃபரா (595-657)

ஏப்ரல் 03

இவர் (#StFara) பிரான்ஸ் நாட்டில் பிறந்தவர். இவரது தந்தை பிரான்ஸ் நாட்டை ஆண்ட இரண்டாம் தியோடபர்ட் என்பவருடைய அரசவையில் முக்கிய பணியாற்றி வந்தவர்.

சிறுவயது முதலே இறையன்பிலும் பிறரன்பிலும் சிறந்து விளங்கிவந்த இவரை இவரது தந்தை ஒருவருக்கு மணம் முடித்துக் கொடுக்க முடிவு செய்தார். அதற்கு இவர் மறுப்புத் தெரிவித்ததால் இவரது தந்தை இவரது விருப்பம் போன்றே ஒரு துறவியாக வாழ அனுமதித்தார்.

இதன்பிறகு இவர் 37 ஆண்டுகள் துறவியாக வாழ்ந்து வந்தார். இறைப்பற்றிற்கும்  நிர்வாகத் திறனுக்கும் பெயர்போன இவர் பல பெரிய ஆளுமைகளை உருவாக்கினார். அவர்களில் ஒருவர்தான் புனித எதல்பர்கா.

இவ்வாறு ஆண்டவருக்குத் தன்னை அர்ப்பணித்து வாழ்ந்த இவர் 657 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.

Feastday: April 3

Burgundofara (Fara) was the daughter of Count Agneric, courtier of King Theodebert II. She refused her father's demands that she marry, and became Abbess of a convent she convinced him to build, and ruled for thirty-seven years. Named Evoriacum, the convent was renamed for her after her death, and in time became the famous Benedictine Abbey of Faremoutiers. She is also known as Fare. Her feast day is April 3rd.

Burgundofara (died 643 or 655), also Saint Fara or Fare, was the founder and first Abbess of the Abbey of Faremoutiers. Her family is knowns as the Faronids, named after her brother Saint Faro. Her name may mean: 'She who moves the Burgundians' (as in Latin verb: Fero, fers, ferre, tuli, latum)

Jonas of Bobbio's life of Columbanus reports that she was blessed by the Irish monk when a child:

Then Columban went to the city of Meaux. There he was received with great joy by a nobleman Hagneric (Chagneric, father of Burgundofara), who was a friend of Theudebert [King Theudebert II], a wise man, and a counsellor grateful to the king, and was fortified by nobility and wisdom. ... Columban blessed his house and consecrated to the Lord his daughter Burgundofara, who was still a child, and of whom we shall speak later.[2]

Jonas's life of Burgundofara picks up the tale. She is betrothed against her will, and against Columbanus' prediction, and straight away falls deathly sick. Her father Chagneric says to Eustasius of Luxeuil, who happens to be present, "Would that she might return to health and devote herself to divine service!" Burgundofara recovers, thanks to Eustasius's prayers, but her father goes back on his word and decides to give her away in marriage. She discovers this, and flees to the church of Saint Stephen in Meaux. There her brothers Faro and Chagnoald catch her, and are set on killing her for disobeying their father Chagneric, but the timely arrival of Eustasius settles matters.

With Eustasius's support, and the approval of Bishop Gundoald of Meaux, Burgundofara established an abbey on her father's lands. First called Evoriacum, it was later renamed Faremoutiers in her honour.

Studies of Burgundofara's life, and those of noble heiresses in similar situations, lead some writers to conclude that in fact the abbey was very likely established with her father's blessing, and the supposed parental insistence upon her marriage may have been no more than a front, especially if the marriage was proposed by the King. An edict of King Chilperic I a generation earlier had favoured the claims of daughters in inheritance over those of uncles and nephews, making the marriage of an heiress of considerable importance to the wider family.

The feast of Saint Burgundofara is celebrated on 3 April, probably in error. At Faremoutiers, she was commemorated on 7 December.

St. Richard of Wyche

† இன்றைய புனிதர் †

(ஏப்ரல் 3)

✠ சிச்செஸ்டர் நகர் புனிதர் ரிச்சர்ட் ✠

(St. Richard of Chichester)

சிச்செஸ்டர் ஆயர்:

(Bishop of Chichester)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 1197

ட்ராய்ட்விச், வொர்செஸ்டெர்ஷைர், இங்கிலாந்து

(Droitwich, Worcestershire, England)

இறப்பு: ஏப்ரல் 3, 1253 

டோவர், கென்ட், இங்கிலாந்து

(Dover, Kent, England)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: ஜனவரி 25, 1262

திருத்தந்தை நான்காம் அர்பன்

(Pope Urban IV)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: ஏப்ரல் 3

பாதுகாவல்:

குதிரை வண்டி ஓட்டுனர் (Coachmen), 

சிசெஸ்டர் மறைமாவட்டம் (Diocese of Chichester),

சஸ்செக்ஸ் (Sussex), இங்கிலாந்து (England)

புனிதர் ரிச்சர்ட், "சிசெஸ்டர்" மறை மாவட்ட (Bishop of Chichester) ஆயர் ஆவார். இவர் பெயரில் அர்ப்பணிக்கப்பட்டிருந்த "சிசெஸ்டர்" மறை மாவட்ட பேராலயம் ஒன்று மிகவும் அலங்கரிக்கப்பட்ட திருத்தலமாக இருந்தது. கி.பி. 1538ம் ஆண்டு, அரசன் எட்டாம் ஹென்றியின் (Henry VIII) ஆட்சியின்போது, "தாமஸ் குரோம்வெல்" (Thomas Cromwell) என்பவனது உத்தரவின்பேரில் இத்திருத்தலம் சூறையாடி அழிக்கப்பட்டது.

இப்புனிதர், கி.பி. 1197ம் ஆண்டு, இங்கிலாந்து நாட்டில் உள்ள "வொர்செஸ்டெர்ஷைர்" (Worcestershire) என்ற இடத்தில் பிறந்தார். இவர் பிறந்த சிறிது காலத்திலேயே இவரது பெற்றோர் இறந்துவிட்டனர். இவரது தந்தையின் தோட்டங்கள், வாரிசான இவரது மூத்த சகோதரருக்கு போனது. ஆனால், தந்தையின் மரண அத்தாட்சி சான்றிதழுக்காக கட்ட வேண்டிய வரிப்பணம் இவர்களிடம் இல்லாததால் சொத்துக்கள் கைவிட்டுப் போயின. இவர்கள் வறியவர்கள் ஆனார்கள். ரிச்சர்ட் ஒரு தோட்டத்தில் பணியாற்றினார்.

ஆக்ஸ்ஃபோர்ட் (University of Oxford) பல்கலைகழகத்தில் கல்வி கற்ற ரிச்சர்ட், பின்னர் அதே பல்கலையிலேயே கற்பிக்கும் பணியும் செய்தார். அங்கிருந்து பாரிஸ் (Paris) நகருக்கும், பின்னர் "பொலொக்னா" (Bologna) நகருக்கும் சென்றார். அங்கே, தமது சமய சட்ட விதிமுறைகளின் திறமையால் மேன்மை பெற்றார். கி.பி. 1235ம் ஆண்டு இங்கிலாந்து திரும்பிய இவர் ஆக்ஸ்ஃபோர்ட் பல்கலைகழகத்தின் வேந்தராக தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டார்.

கி.பி. 1240ம் ஆண்டு, மதகுருவாக் முடிவெடுத்த ரிச்சர்ட், "ஒர்லியான்" (Orléans) மாநிலத்திலுள்ள "டோமினிக்கன்" (Dominicans) சபையில் இரண்டு வருடங்கள் இறையியல் கற்றார். இங்கிலாந்து திரும்பிய அவர், :சாரிங்" மற்றும் "டீல்" (Charing and at Deal) ஆகிய பங்குகளின் பங்குத்தந்தையாக நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். ஆனால், விரைவிலேயே "காண்டர்பரி'யின்" (Canterbury) வேந்தராக பேராயர் "போனிஃபேஸ்" (Boniface of Savoy) நியமிக்கப்பட்டார்.

கி.பி. 1244ம் ஆண்டு, ரிச்சர்ட் "சிசெஸ்டர்" மறைமாவட்டத்தின் ஆயராக (Bishop of Chichester) தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டார். திருத்தந்தை "நான்காம் இன்னொசென்ட்" (Innocent IV) அவருக்கு மார்ச் மாதம் கி.பி. 1245ம் ஆண்டு, "லியோன்ஸ்" (Lyons) நகரில் ஆயராக அருட்பொழிவு செய்வித்தார்.

ரிச்சர்டின் தனிப்பட்ட வாழ்க்கை மிகவும் கடினமானதாக இருந்தது. எளிமை, பணிவு, தாழ்ச்சி, அடிபணிதல் ஆகியவற்றின் எடுத்துக்காட்டாக வாழ்ந்தார். ஆடம்பரங்களை அறவே வெறுத்த அவர், தமது உணவு முறைகளைக்கூட மிகவும் எளிதானாதாகவே வைத்திருந்தார். புலால் உண்பதை முழுதும் தவிர்த்தார். காய்கறி வகைகளையே உண்டார்.

வட்டித்தொழில் செய்வோர், ஊழல் செய்யும் மறை பணியாளர்கள் மற்றும் தெளிவாக அல்லாது முணுமுணுப்பாக திருப்பலி நிறைவேற்றும் மதகுருமார் ஆகியோரை வெறுத்தார். அவர்கள்மீது இரக்கமற்ற விதமாக நடவடிக்கை எடுத்தார்.

56 வயதான ரிச்சர்ட், கி.பி. 1253ம் ஆண்டு, ஏப்ரல் மாதம், மூன்றாம் நாளன்று, டோவர் (Dover) என்னுமிடத்திலுள்ள புனித எட்மண்ட் சிற்றாலயத்தை (St. Edmund's Chapel) அர்ச்சித்ததன் பின்னர், திருத்தந்தையின் உத்தரவின்படி, சிலுவைப்பாடுகளை பிரசங்கித்துக்கொண்டிருந்தார். பிரசங்கத்தின் இடையில் அவர் மரணமடைந்தார்.

Feastday: April 3

Patron: of Coachmen; Diocese of Chichester; Sussex, England

Birth: 1197

Death: 1253

Richard of Wyche, also known as Richard of Chichester, was born at Wyche (Droitwich), Worcestershire, England. He was orphaned when he was quite young. He retrieved the fortunes of the mismanaged estate he inherited when he took it over, and then turned it over to his brother Robert. Richard refused marriage and went to Oxford, where he studied under Grosseteste and met and began a lifelong friendship with Edmund Rich. Richard pursued his studies at Paris, received his M.A. from Oxford, and then continued his studies at Bologna, where he received his doctorate in Canon Law. After seven years at Bologna, he returned to Oxford, was appointed chancellor of the university in 1235, and then became chancellor to Edmund Rich, now archbishop of Canterbury, whom he accompanied to the Cistercian monastery at Pontigny when the archbishop retired there. After Rich died at Pontigny, Richard taught at the Dominican House of Studies at Orleans and was ordained there in 1243. After a time as a parish priest at Deal, he became chancellor of Boniface of Savoy, the new archbishop of Canterbury, and when King Henry III named Ralph Neville bishop of Chichester in 1244, Boniface declared his selection invalid and named Richard to the See. Eventually, the matter was brought to Rome and in 1245, Pope Innocent IV declared in Richard's favor and consecrated him. When he returned to England, he was still opposed by Henry and was refused admittance to the bishop's palace; eventually Henry gave in when threatened with excommunication by the Pope. The remaining eight years of Richard's life were spend in ministering to his flock. He denounced nepotism, insisted on strict clerical discipline, and was ever generous to the poor and the needy. He died at a house for poor priests in Dover, England, while preaching a crusade, and was canonized in 1262. His feast day is April 3.

"Saint Richard" redirects here. For other uses, see Saint Richard (disambiguation).

Richard of Chichester (1197 – 3 April 1253), also known as Richard de Wych, is a saint (canonized 1262) who was Bishop of Chichester.

In Chichester Cathedral a shrine dedicated to Richard had become a richly decorated centre of pilgrimage. In 1538, during the reign of Henry VIII, the shrine was plundered and destroyed by order of Thomas Cromwell. Richard of Chichester is the patron saint of Sussex in southern England; since 2007, his translated saint's day of 16 June has been celebrated as Sussex Day.

Life

Richard was born in Burford, near the town of Wyche (modern Droitwich, Worcestershire) and was an orphan member of a gentry family.[1][2] On the death of their parents Richard's elder brother was heir to the estates but he was not old enough to inherit, so the lands were subject to a feudal wardship. On coming of age his brother took possession of his lands, but was required to pay a medieval form of death duty that left the family so impoverished that Richard had to work for him on the farm.[3] His brother also made Richard heir to the estate.[3] According to Richard's biographers, friends tried to arrange a match with a certain noble lady.[3] However Richard rejected the proposed match, suggesting that his brother might marry her instead; he also reconveyed the estates back to his brother, preferring a life of study and the church.[4]

Educated at the University of Oxford, Richard soon began to teach in the university.[5] From there he proceeded to Paris and then Bologna, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency in canon law. On returning to England in 1235, Richard was elected Oxford's chancellor.[6]

His former tutor, Edmund of Abingdon, had become archbishop of Canterbury.[7] Richard shared Edmund's ideals of clerical reform and supported papal rights even against the king.[7] In 1237, Archbishop Edmund appointed Richard chancellor of the diocese of Canterbury.[5] Richard joined the archbishop during his exile at Pontigny, and was with him when the archbishop died circa 1240.[6][8] Richard then decided to become a priest and studied theology for two years with the Dominicans at Orléans.[7] Upon returning to England, Richard became the parish priest at Charing and at Deal, but soon was reappointed chancellor of Canterbury by the new archbishop Boniface of Savoy.[7]

In 1244 Richard was elected Bishop of Chichester. Henry III and part of the chapter refused to accept him, the king favouring the candidature of Robert Passelewe (d. 1252).[5] Archbishop Boniface refused to confirm Passelew, so both sides appealed to the pope.[7] The king confiscated the see's properties and revenues, but Innocent IV confirmed Richard's election and consecrated him bishop at Lyons in March 1245.[7][9] Richard then returned to Chichester, but the king refused to restore the see's properties for two years, and then did so only after being threatened with excommunication.[7] Henry III forbade anyone to house or feed Richard.[10] At first, Richard lived at Tarring in the house of his friend Simon, the parish priest of Tarring, visited his entire diocese on foot, and cultivated figs in his spare time.[7][10]

Richard's private life was supposed to have displayed rigid frugality and temperance.[11] Richard was an ascetic who wore a hair-shirt and refused to eat off silver.[10] He kept his diet simple and rigorously excluded animal flesh; having been a vegetarian since his days at Oxford.[11][12]

Richard was merciless to usurers, corrupt clergy and priests who mumbled the Mass. He was also a stickler for clerical privilege.[10]

Richard's episcopate was marked by the favour which he showed to the Dominicans, a house of this order at Orléans having sheltered him during his stay in France, and by his earnestness in preaching a crusade.[5] After dedicating St Edmund's Chapel at Dover, he died aged 56 at the Maison Dieu, Dover at midnight on 3 April 1253, where the Pope had ordered him to preach a crusade.[9] His internal organs were removed and placed in that chapel's altar. Richard's body was then carried to Chichester and buried, according to his wishes, in the chapel on the north side of the nave, dedicated to his patron St. Edmund.[13] His remains were translated to a new shrine in 1276.[13]

Episcopal statutes

Sculpture of Richard of Chichester outside St Margaret's Church, Rottingdean

After the full rights of the see and its revenues were returned to him in 1246, the new bishop showed much eagerness to reform the manners and morals of his clergy, and also to introduce greater order and reverence into the services of the Church.[5][11] Richard overruled Henry on several occasions. Richard defrocked a priest who had seduced a nun out of her convent, turning aside a petition from the king in the priest's favour.[14]

Richard was militant in protecting the clergy from abuse. The townsmen of Lewes violated the right of sanctuary by seizing a criminal in church and lynching him, and Richard made them exhume the body and give it a proper burial in consecrated ground.[11] He also imposed severe penance on knights who attacked priests.[14]

Richard produced a body of statutes with the aid of his chapter, for the organisation of the church in his diocese and the expected conduct of its clergy. It seems that many of the clergy still secretly married, though such alliances were not recognised by canon law, and as such their women's status was that of a mistress or concubine. The Bishop endeavoured to suppress the practice in his diocese with relentless austerity.

By Richard's statutes:[11]

It was decreed that married clergy should be deprived of their benefices; their concubines were to be denied the privileges of the church during their lives and also after death; they were pronounced incapable of inheriting any property from their husbands, and any such bequests would be donated for the upkeep of the cathedral. A vow of chastity was to be required of candidates for ordination. Rectors were expected to reside in their parishes, to be hospitable and charitable and tithes were to be paid on all annual crops. Anyone who did not pay their tithe would not be granted penance until they did.

Vicars were to be priests and have only one freehold to live on, they were not allowed to have another parish held under an assumed name.

Deacons were not to be allowed to receive confessions or to provide penances, or to baptise except in the absence of a priest. Children had to be confirmed within a year of baptism. The Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer were to be learned in the mother tongue; priests were to celebrate mass in clean robes, to use a silver or golden chalice; thoroughly clean corporals and at least two consecrated palls were to be placed on the altar; the cross was to be planted in front of the celebrant; the bread was to be of the purest wheaten flour, the wine mixed with water. The elements were not to be kept more than seven days; when carried to a sick person to be enclosed in a pyx, and the priest to be preceded by a cross; a candle, holy water and bell.

Practices such as gambling at baptisms and marriages is strictly forbidden.

Archdeacons were to administer justice for their proper fees, not demanding more either for rushing or delaying the business. They were to visit the churches regularly, to see that the services were duly ministered, the vessels and vestments are in proper order, the canon of the mass correctly observed and distinctly read, as also the ‘'hours’’. Priests who clipped or slurred the words by rushing were to be suspended.

The clergy should wear their proper dress and not imitate what the lay people wore. They were not allowed to wear their hair long or have romantic entanglements. The names of excommunicated persons to be read out four times a year in the parish churches.

A copy of these statutes was to be kept by every priest in the diocese and be brought by him to the episcopal synod.

Saint Luigi Scrosoppi of Udine

Also known as

Aloisius, Aloysius

Profile

Youngest of three brothers born to Domenico Scrosoppi, a jeweler, and Antonia Lazzarini; his brother Carlo was ordained when Luigi was six, and his brother Giovanni several years later. When Luigi was 11 or 12 years old, his home region was struck by drought, famine, typhus, and smallpox in quick succession; the sight of such misery, complete poverty, and the number of orphans had a lasting effect on the boy.

In his teens, Luigi felt a call to the priesthood, and he entered the same seminary as his brother Giovanni. Deacon in 1826; ordained on 31 March 1827 at the cathedral in Udine; he was assisted at his first Mass by his brothers.

Director of the Pious Union of the Heart of Jesus Christ. Helped manage the children's center run by his brother Carlo. Franciscan tertiary. Assistant director of Carlo's orphanage in 1829. The orphanage fell on harder times than usual; Luigi, in desperation, hit the streets to beg for their support, and the school soon had a great lesson in faith - and enough money to buy their building.

As there were more orphans than space, the brothers decided to enlarge the house; Luigi went through the countryside to beg building materials and labor. Work began in 1834 with Luigi coordinating, begging, supervising, and working construction; it was completed in 1836, and named the House for the Destitute. That year also saw another cholera epidemic, and the orphanages, again, were full.

The need of the orphans, and the constant work of the brother priests, attracted the attention of several area women who were also working with the poor and the abandoned. Among them were Felicita Calligaris, Rosa Molinis, Caterina Bros, Cristina and Amalia Borghese and Orsola Baldasso. These women, under the spiritual direction of Carlo and Luigi, founded what would become the Congregation of Sisters of Providence who taught basic academic subjects and needle crafts. Luigi placed them under the patronage of Saint Cajetan, and the Congregation received final approval from Pope Blessed Pius IX on 22 September 1871.

In 1846 Luigi joined the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, a congregation devoted to charity and learning; elected provost of the community on 9 November 1856. On 4 October 1854 he finished work on the Rescue Home for abandoned girls. On 7 March 1857 he opened the school and home for deaf-mute girls; sadly, it survived only 15 years. He opened Providence House for his unemployed former students, and he worked in hospitals with the sickest and poorest of patients.

In his later years, Luigi had to combat anti-clerical sentiments that swept through the Italian peninsula during the political unification of the country; many houses and groups, including the Oratory, were seized, closed, and their assets sold off. While he could not save the Oratory or parish property, Luigi did protect his charitable institutions, and saw the Congregation grow and spread.

Born

4 August 1804 at Udine Italy

Died

3 April 1884 at Udine Italy of fever and the postulant skin disease pemphigus

Canonized

• 10 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II

• his canonization miracle was the cure of a Zambian AIDS victim, Peter Changu Shitima in 1996

Blessed Maria Teresa Casini

Also known as

Sister Maria Serafina of the Heart of Jesus Pierced

Additional Memorial

29 October (Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; diocese of Frascati, Italy; based on the date of her baptism)

Profile

Born to a wealthy family, the eldest daughter of Tommaso Casini, an engineer, and Melania Rayner, she was baptized at the age of two days at the cathedral of Frascati, Italy. Her father died when Teresa was about ten years old, and she and her mother moved in with her maternal grandparents. In 1875 she began studying at the school at Santa Rufina in Rome, Italy, which was run by Society of the Sacred Heart nuns. Teresa early felt a call to religious life, and though she had a number of set-backs due to health problems, and faced some family opposition, she entered Poor Clare Sepolte Vive monastery in Rome on 2 February 1885, taking the name Sister Maria Serafina of the Heart of Jesus Pierced.

Poor health caused her to leave the cloister on 2 December 1886. She returned to her family, and spent as much time as she could in prayer in the chapel of the Sacred Heart in the parish church of San Rocco in Frascati. The church and chapel were badly neglected, and Sister Maria worked to restore them. All the while, she kept hearing in inner voice calling her to console the sufferings of the Heart of Jesus, particularly those caused by faithless or undisciplined priests. With this as her goal, and on the advice of her spiritual director, she became part of the community called True Lovers of the Heart of Jesus. When the group's leader died, Sister Maria gathered everal like-minded sisters, and using her inheritance, on 2 February 1894 she founded the Victims of the Sacred Heart as a cloistered community. They received diocesan approval on 1 April 1896.

With the encouragment of their bishop, Cardinal Francesco Satolli, in the early 20th century the Victims moved from being a clositered order to an active one, working to help priests in their parishes. They founded a school for girls in 1910. On 1 November 1916 changed its name to the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to better reflect their status and mission. In 1925 she starting working with the Little Friends of Jesus, which educated boys, helped support vocations, and later expanded to assist priests with health problems.

Late in 1925 Mother Maria's health collapsed completely, and she was eventually paralyzed for the final decade of her life. She never stopped working, running the Sisters from bed, meeting, teaching and consoling sisters, priests and seminarians until the end. The Oblate Sisters continue their good work today, assisting and supporting priests and vocations in Italy, the United States, Brazil, Peru and Guinea-Bissau.

Born

27 October 1864 in Frascati, Italy

Died

• around 5am on 3 April 1937 at Oblate monastery on the via del Casaletto in Grottaferrata, Rome, Italy of natural causes

• buried in the chapel of the Zealots of the Sacred Heart in a nearby cemetery

• re-interred at the Generalate of the Oblates of the Sacred Heart in Grottaferrata on 20 May 1965

Beatified

• 31 October 2015 by Pope Francis

• beatification recognition celebrated at the Piazza San Pietro at the cathedral in Frascati, Italy, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato

• her beatification miracle involved the 25 – 27 June 2003 healing of the brain lesions and trauma of Jacob “Jack” Ronald Sebest, a five year old drowning victim in Youngstown, Ohio

Patronage

Oblates of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Saint Richard of Chichester

Also known as

• Richard de Wych

• Richard Backedine

• Richard of Wich

Profile

Second son of Richard and Alice de Wych. His father died when the boy was young. The family fell upon hard times, but as soon as he became old enough, Richard took over management of their estates and brought them back to profit. Educated at Oxford, England, in Paris, France, and in Bologna, Italy. Chancellor of Oxford University. Legal advisor to Saint Edmund Rich and Saint Boniface of Savoy, the Archbishops of Canterbury. Priest. Bishop of Chichester. Miracles and cures occured at his shrine in Chichester. His patronage of coachmen began with the Milanese Guild of Coachmen, possibly because Richard drove carts and wagons on the family farm.

Born

c.1197 at Droitwich, Worcestershire, England as Richard de Wych

Died

3 April 1253 at Dover, Kent, England of natural causes

Canonized

1262 by Pope Urban IV at Viterbo, Papal States (part of modern Italy)

Patronage

• coachmen

• diocese of Chichester, England

• Sussex, England

Blessed Gandulphus of Binasco

Also known as

• Gandulphus Sacchi

• Gandulphus of Polizzi Generosa

• Gandulphus of Polizzo

• Gandolf, Gandolfo, Gandulf

Additional Memorial

relics processed in Polizzi Generosa, Italy on the 3rd Sunday of September

Profile

Born to the nobility, a member of the wealthy and powerful Sacchi family. He joined the Franciscans while Saint Francis was still alive, and made his final vows c.1224. Priest. Father Gandulphus spent his life praying and preaching throughout Sicily. Founded the Franciscan convent at Termini Imerese, Italy in 1256. He cured a young mute man outside Polizzi Generosa, Italy in 1260 which led to his preaching having great affect on the local people.

Born

c.1200 at Binasco, Lombardy, Italy

Died

• Holy Saturday 3 April 1260 at the San Nicolò Hospital in Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, Italy of natural causes

• legend says that birds gathered to sing in the church where his body was laid out

• relics enshrined in a wooden reliquary in Polizzi soon after his death

• relics re-enshrined in a marble ark in 1482

• relics re-enshrined and the reliquary covered in silver leaf in 1549

Beatified

10 March 1881 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmation)

Patronage

Polizzi Generosa, Italy (chosen by citizens and confirmed in 1320)

Blessed Juan Otazua y Madariaga

Also known as

Juan de Jesús y María

Profile

Member of the Trinitarians, beginning his novitiate at the Shrine of Bien Aparecida in Cantabria, Spain, and making his simple vows on 11 October 1914. He studied at several convents, and made his final profession on 17 May 1918 in Cordoba, Spain. Ordained a priest in Madrid, Spain on 23 October 1921, he began to serve at the church of Sant’Ignazio de Loyola dei vaschi. A musician familiar with several instruments, Father Juan was an excellent cello player.

On 13 March 1936, the church was burned by anti–Christian forces in the Spanish Civil War. The Trinitarians left their convent, sought shelter with locals, and Father Juan was assigned to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Cabeza. On 28 July 1936 the Trinitarians were expelled from the Sanctuary by Communist forces, and Juan found shelter with the Duke de la Quinteria in Andújar, Spain. In the spring of 1937, the Communists imprisoned him, tried him for the crime of being a priest, sentenced him to 20 years in prison, but decided instead to execute him for the offense of his vocation. Martyr.

Born

8 February 1895 in Rigoitia, Vizcaya, Spain

Died

shot at dawn on 3 April 1937 in the cemetery of Mancha Real, Jaén, Spain

Beatified

28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Liutberga of Windenhausen

Also known as

• Liutberga of Michaëlstein

• Liutberga of Rosstreppe

• Liutberga of Thale

• Liutberga of Wendhausen

• Leutpurga, Liudbirg, Liutbirg, Liutbirga, Liutburga, Luitberga, Luitburg, Lutberga, Lutbirg

Profile

Born to the nobility, related to Duke Hessi of Ostfalen. Noted by the nobles for her exceptional skill at managing the estates and houses of her family, and by the poor for her almsgiving and care for the sick and dying as she travelled from estate to estate. She spent her days managing the estates and caring for the needy, and her nights in prayer. In her later years, she retired to the convent at Wendhausen, Germany and with the approval of Bishop Thiatgrim von Halberstadt, eventually was locked into a cell next to the church of the cloister, and lived the rest of her life as an anchoress, praying, doing penance, and giving wisdom and spiritual training to any who visited her, rich and poor, lay, ordained and consecrated. Reported to have had the gift of prophesy. A monk of her aquaintance was so impressed by her piety that he wrote a biography of her soon after her death.

Born

in Solszburg in the area of Sulzgau, Bavaria (in modern Germany)

Died

of natural causes in Thale near Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt (in modern Germany) on 3 April; the year is variously recorded as 863, 865, 876, 882 or sometimes just c.870

Blessed Francisco Solís Pedrajas

Profile

Born to a poor and pious family. Ordained a priest in the diocese of Jaén, Spain on 22 December 1900. Served six years in the parish of Santiago Apóstol in Valdepeñas de Jaén, Spain while earning a degree in theology. Known in all his postings as "a learned, zealous and pious pastor". Archpriest of Mancha Real, Spain in 1914. Founded a Catholic Union. Established men's and women's branches of Catholic Action. Imprisoned with other priests and parishioners at the outbreak of the anti–Christian persecutions of the Spanish Civil War, Father Francesco ministered as best he was allowed to the physical and spiritual needs of his fellow prisoners. Sentenced to death for the crime of being a priest, he was the last of his group of prisoners to be murdered as none of the men wanted to shoot him; he took advantage of this to hear confessions and give absolution to the other prisoners. Martyr.

Born

9 July 1877 in Marmolejo, Jaén, Spain

Died

• shot at dawn on 3 April 1937 in the parish cemetery of Mancha Real, Jaén, Spain

• body dumped into a common grave in the cemetery

Beatified

• 27 October 2013 by Pope Francis

• beatification recognition celebrated at Tarragona, Spain

Blessed Laurentius Pak Chwi-deuk

Also known as

Lorenzo Pak Chwi-deuk

Additional Memorial

20 September as one of the Martyrs of Korea

Profile

Layman convert to Christianity in the apostolic vicariate of Korea. Zealous about his new found faith, he learned the catechism, then returned to his home village to try to convert his family and neighbors. When the anti–Christian Sinhae persecutions began in 1791, he protested the arrest of other Christians, and visited them in prison; for this, he was imprisoned for several weeks. When the anti–Christian Jeongsa persecutions began in 1797, Lawrence was ordered arrested; he went into hiding, but when the persecutors arrested his father in his place, Lawrence surrendered. He was imprisoned for two years and repeatedly tortured; records indicate that, along with other forms of torture, he received over 400 beatings. When the authorities questioned him, he would simply explain points of Catholic doctrine no matter what they had asked him. They finally gave up trying to break him, and simply killed him instead. Martyr.

Born

c.1769 in Myeoncheon, Chungcheong-do, South Korea

Died

hanged on 3 April 1799 in Hongju, Chungcheong-do, South Korea

Beatified

16 August 2014 by Pope Francis at Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul, South Korea

Pope Saint Sixtus I

Also known as

Xystus I

Profile

Little known about his life before he was chosen seventh pope in 116. He concerned himself with the liturgy, and instituted elements still in use today. He decreed that only priests may touch the sacred vessels, that bishops returning from the Apostolic See to their dioceses must present Apostolic letters, and that the priest shall recite the Sanctus with the people during the Mass. Reigned during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Trajan. Martyr.

Born

Rome, Italy

Papal Ascension

116

Died

125 in Rome, Italy

Patronage

• Alife-Caiazzo, Italy, diocese of

• Anagni-Alatri, Italy, diocese of

• Alatri, Italy

• Alife, Italy

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer

Also known as

Joseph of the Studium

Profile

Born to Christian parents. He fled Sicily in 830 due to Arab invasion, and became a monk in Thessalonica. He joined the monastery of the Studium in Constantinople, but was forced to flee Constantinople in 841 due to iconoclast persecution. On his way to Rome, Italy he was captured by pirates and spent several years as a slave in Crete. He ministered to his fellow slaves, converting many. He finally managed to escape and return to Constantinople where he founded a monastery. When he opposed the Iconoclast emperor Theophilus, Joseph was exiled to the Chersonese. Bishop of Salonica. One of the great liturgical poets and hymnists of the Byzantine Church, credited with approximately 1,000 works.

Born

c.810 in Sicily

Died

886 of natural causes

Blessed Piotr Edward Dankowski

Also known as

Peter Edward Dankowski

Additional Memorial

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

Profile

Priest in the Archdiocese of Kraków, Poland. Vicar of the parish of Zakopane, he was known for his service to the people, especially the poor. During World War II he helped escapees hiding from the Nazis. Arrested in May 1941 and sentenced to the extermination camp in Oswiecim (Auschwitz). Martyr.

Born

21 June 1908 in Jordanów, Malopolskie, Poland

Died

Good Friday, 3 April 1942 in Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Malopolskie, Poland

Beatified

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

Readings

See you in the kingdom of God! - Blessed Piotr's dying words

Saint Urbicius of Clermont

Also known as

Ubricius, Urbice, Urbicus, Urbique, Urbitius

Profile

Born a member of an imperial Roman senatorial family, Urbicius was drawn to the Church and lived a pious married life. His reputation for learning and piety led to him being chosen the second bishop of the diocese of Clermont in the Auvergne region of modern France in 288; his wife entered a convent and he went to his diocese. However, his wife was unsatisfied with her new life, left the convent, returned to Urbicius and said she did not wish to give up married life. Seeing her, Urbicius realized how much he had missed her, and let her move in with him; they told people she was his sister who was there to keep house for him. The bishop‘s conscience soon got the best of him, and he left both wife and diocese to live in penance in a nearby monastery.

Died

c.312 of natural causes

Blessed John of Penna

Also known as

• Juan de Pina

• Juan da Penna San Giovanni

• Giovanni, Johannes

Additional Memorial

31 October (Franciscans)

Profile

Joined the Franciscan in Recanati, Italy c.1213. Priest. Founded several Franciscan houses in Provence, France during a 25 year apostolate there. Returned to Italy in 1242, and lived the bulk of his remaining 30 in cloistered retirement. Experienced many highs and lows in his spiritual life, with lengthy periods of aridity and doubt, but periods of ecstacies, visions, and mystic union. Had the gift of prophecy.

Born

c.1193 at Penna San Giovanni, diocese of Fermo, Italy

Died

3 April 1271 at Recanati, Italy

Beatified

20 December 1806 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmed)

Martyrs of Greece

Profile

A group of young Christian men who protested to city authorities that gifts to temples of pagan gods should be used to feed the poor during a regional famine. When the officials refused, the group went to local temples, broke up the idols and fixtures, and gave the gold and silver bits to the poor to use to buy food. The group was imprisoned and executed. The only other thing we know about these martyrs are the names – Bythonius, Elpideforus, Dius and Galycus

Died

3rd century at an unknown location in Greece

Blessed José Luciano Ezequiel Huerta-Gutiérrez

Profile

Married layman and father in the archdiocese of Guadalajara, he worked as a mechanic. Brother of Blessed José Luciano Ezequiel Huerta-Gutiérrez. Noted for his devotion to the Eucharist and attendance at daily Mass. Imprisoned, tortured and executed in the persecutions of the Mexican Revolution. Martyr.

Born

18 March 1880 in Magdalena, Jalisco, Mexico

Died

shot on 3 April 1927 in the cemetery in Mezquitán, Jalisco, Mexico

Beatified

20 November 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI

Blessed José Salvador Huerta-Gutiérrez

Profile

Married layman and father in the archdiocese of Guadalajara, he worked as a mechanic. Brother of Blessed José Luciano Ezequiel Huerta-Gutiérrez. Noted for his devotion to the Eucharist and attendance at daily Mass. Imprisoned, tortured and executed in the persecutions of the Mexican Revolution. Martyr.

Born

18 March 1880 in Magdalena, Jalisco, Mexico

Died

shot on 3 April 1927 in the cemetery in Mezquitán, Jalisco, Mexico

Beatified

20 November 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI

Blessed Thurstan Hunt

Also known as

Thurstan Greenlow

Additional Memorials

• 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai

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

Profile

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

Born

c.1555 Carlton Hall, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Died

late March 1601 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England

Beatified

22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Nicetas of Medicion

Also known as

• Nicetas of Constantinople

• Nicetas the Confessor

• Niketas, Nikita

Profile

Monk and abbot of Medicion Abbey in Bithynia (in modern Turkey). He and his brother monks suffered in the persecutions of iconclast Emperor Leo, and he was imprisoned for many years.

Born

Bithynia (in modern Turkey)

Died

824 of natural causes

Saint Thiento of Wessobrunn

Also known as

Tientone

Profile

Benedictine monk. Abbot of Saints Peter and Paul abbey at Wessobrunn in Bavaria (in modern Germany). Martyred along with six of his brother monks by invading Hungarians.

Died

955 in Wessobrunn, Bavaria, Germany

Blessed Robert Middleton

Additional Memorial

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

Profile

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

Born

1571 in York, North Yorkshire, England

Died

late March 1601 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England

Beatified

22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II

Blessed Iacobus Won Si-bo

Also known as

Jacob

Additional Memorial

20 September as one of the Martyrs of Korea

Profile

Layman martyr in the apostolic vicariate of Korea.

Born

1730 in Hongju, Chungcheong-do, South Korea

Died

3 April 1799 in Cheongju, Chungcheong-do, South Korea

Beatified

15 August 2014 by Pope Francis

Blessed Alexandrina di Letto

Profile

Joined in the Poor Clares at age 15. Founded a Poor Clare convent in Foligno, Italy in 1423, served as its first abbess. Known for her reforms that emphasized Franciscan spirituality, she has the support of Pope Martin V.

Born

in 1385 in Sulmona, Italy

Died

1458 of natural causes

Saint Vulpian of Tyre

Also known as

Ulfianus, Ulpian, Ulpiano, Ulpianus, Vulpianus

Profile

Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximian Galerius.

Born

Syria

Died

sewed up in a leather sack with a serpent and a dog and then thrown into the sea to drown in 304 at Tyre, Lebanon

Saint John I of Naples

Profile

Fifth-century bishop of Naples, Italy. Translated the body of Saint Januarius to Naples.

Born

Campania, Italy

Died

Holy Saturday night in 432 of natural causes

Saint Illyricus the Wonder Worker

Also known as

Illyricus Thaumaturgos

Profile

Monk. Hermit on a mountain near Pyrgos, Elis, Greece where his reputation for holiness, and as a miracle worker, caused many other monks to seek him out as a spiritual teacher.

Saint Agatho of Thessalonica

Also known as

Agathon

Profile

Convicted of possessing the Scriptures despite a prohibition issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian. He was ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods; he refused. Martyr.

Died

c.304 in Thessalonica, Greece

Saint Eutychia of Thessalonica

Profile

Widow. During the persecutions of Diocletian and governor Dulcetius, Eutychia was exposed as a Christian when she refused to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Martyr.

Died

c.304 in Thessalonica, Greece

Saint Philippa of Thessalonica

Profile

Convicted of possessing the Scriptures despite a prohibition issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian. She was ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods; she refused. Martyr.

Died

c.304 in Thessalonica, Greece

Saint Casia of Thessalonica

Profile

Convicted of possessing the Scriptures despite a prohibition issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian. She was ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods; she refused. Martyr.

Died

c.304 in Thessalonica, Greece

Saint Benatius of Kilcooley

Profile

Mentioned in early Irish martyrologies, but no details about him have survived.

Patronage

Kilcooley (Cill-Chuile; Kill-Chuile), County Roscommon, Ireland

Saint Attala of Taormina

Also known as

Attalus of Taormina

Profile

Benedictine monk and then abbot of a monastery in Taormina, Sicily.

Died

c.800

Saint Donatus of Nicomedia

Profile

Martyr.

Died

Nicomedia, Bitynia (in modern Turkey)

Saint Agathamerus of Mysia

Profile

Martyr.

Died

1st century Mysia (in modern Turkey)

Saint Comman

Profile

Son of Domangen. Listed in the 9th century Irish martyrologies, but no other information has survived.

Martyrs of Tomi

Profile

Nine Christians who were martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Arestus, Benignus, Chrestus, Evagrius, Papo, Patricius, Rufus, Sinnidia and Zosimus.

Died

at Tomi, Scythia (modern Constanta, Romania)