Augustinian bishop. Born at Fuentellana, Castile, Spain, he was the son of a miller. He studied at the University of Alcala, earned a licentiate in theology, and became a professor there at the age of twenty-six. He declined the chair of philosophy at the university of Salamanca and instead entered the Order of St Augustine at Salamanca in 1516. Ordained in 1520, he served as prior of several houses in Salamanca, Burgos, and Valladolid, as provincialofAndal usia and Castile, and then court chaplain to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519-1556). During his time as provincial of Castile, he dispatched the first Augustinian missionaries to the New World. They subsequently helped evangelize the area of modern Mexico. He was offered but declined the see of Granada, but accepted appointment as archbishop of Valencia in 1544. As the see had been vacant for nearly a century, Thomas devoted much effort to restoring the spiritual and material life of the archdiocese. He was also deeply committed to the needs of the poor. He held the post of grand almoner of the poor, founded colleges for the children of new converts and the poor, organized priests for service among the Moors, and was renowned for his personal saintliness and austerities. While he did not attend the sessions of the Council of Trent, he was an ardent promoter of the Tridentine reforms throughout Spain.
"St. Thomas of Villanova" redirects here. For other uses, see St. Thomas of Villanova (disambiguation).
Thomas of Villanova (1488 – 8 September 1555), born Tomás García y Martínez, was a Spanish friar of the Order of Saint Augustine who was a noted preacher, ascetic and religious writer of his day. He became an archbishop who was famous for the extent of his care for the poor of his see.
Contents
1Life
1.1Bishop
2Veneration
3Legacy
4See also
5References
6External links
Life
He was born Tomás García y Martínez in Fuenllana, Spain, in 1488.[1] His father was a miller,[2] who regularly distributed food and provisions to the poor, as did his mother.[3] He grew up and was educated in Villanueva de los Infantes, in the Province of Ciudad Real, Spain, therefore the name Thomas of Villanueva. Part of the original house still stands, with a coat of arms in the corner, beside a family chapel. In spite of his family's wealth, as a young boy he often went about naked because he had given his clothing to the poor.
At the age of sixteen years, Thomas entered the University of Alcalá de Henares to study Arts and Theology. He became a professor there, teaching arts, logic, and philosophy, despite a continuing absentmindedness and poor memory.[4] In 1516, he decided to join the Augustinian friars in Salamanca and in 1518 was ordained a priest.
He became renowned for his eloquent and effective preaching in the churches of Salamanca.[3] Thomas composed beautiful sermons, among which stands out the Sermon on the Love of God, one of the great examples of sacred oratory of the 16th century. Charles V, upon hearing him preach, exclaimed, "This monsignor can move even the stones!".[citation needed] Charles named Thomas one of his councilors of state and court preacher in Valladolid, the residence of the Emperor when on his visits to the Low Countries.[1]
His scathing attacks on his fellow bishops earned him the title of reformer.[2] Some of his sermons attacked the cruelty of bullfighting. He also had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, whose heart he compared to the burning bush of Moses that is never consumed.
Within the Order, he successively held the positions of prior of his local monastery, Visitor General, and Prior Provincial for Andalusia and Castile. In 1533, Thomas sent out the first Augustinian friars to arrive in Mexico.[1] Charles V offered him the post of Archbishop of Granada but he would not accept it.
Bishop
Thomas of Vilanueva Heals The Sick, Murillo
In 1544 he was nominated as Archbishop of Valencia and he continued to refuse the position until ordered to accept by his superior. Given a donation to decorate his residence, he sent the money to a hospital in need of repair.[3] He began his episcopacy by visiting every parish in the Archdiocese to discover what the needs of the people were.[5] Aided by his assistant bishop, Juan Segriá, he put in order an archdiocese that for a century had not had direct pastoral government. He organized a special college for Moorish converts, and in particular an effective plan for social assistance, welfare, and charity. In 1547 he ordained as a priest Luis Beltrán, a noted missionary in South America. Thomas started Presentation Seminary in 1550.[5]
He was well known for his great personal austerity (he sold the straw mattress on which he slept in order to give money to the poor) and wore the same habit that he had received in the novitiate, mending it himself.[4] Thomas was known as “father of the poor.”[2] His continual charitable efforts were untiring, especially towards orphans, poor women without a dowry, and the sick. He possessed, however, an intelligent notion of charity, so that while he was very charitable, he sought to obtain definitive and structural solutions to the problem of poverty; for example, giving work to the poor, thereby making his charity bear fruit. "Charity is not just giving, rather removing the need of those who receive charity and liberating them from it when possible," he wrote. He established boarding schools and high schools.[6]
Thomas died in Valencia on September 8, 1555 of angina at the age of 67. His remains are preserved at the Cathedral there.[5]
Veneration
He was canonized by Pope Alexander VIIon November 1, 1658.[7][4] His feast dayis celebrated on September 22.
Legacy
Barangay Santo Tomas Lubao, Pampanga (a Kapilya or Church) in Lubao Pampanga, Philippines, dedicated to Saint Thomas De Villanueva.
Thomas is the author of various Tracts,among which is included the Soliloquy between God and the soul, on the topic of communion. Francisco de Quevedowrote his biography. His complete writings were published in six volumes as Opera omnia, in Manila in 1881.
Thomas is the namesake and patron saint of Villanova University, near Philadelphia in the United States, which was founded and is administered by the friars of his Order; Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva in Havana, Cuba; St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; and Villanova College, a Catholic school for boys located in Brisbane, Australia. In the Philippines, some churches and towns are dedicated in honor of the saint with grand feast or fiesta celebrations with much food on the table for the guests and visitors. He is the patron saint of the towns of Alimodian and Miag-ao, both in Iloilo. He is also the patron saint of Barangay Santolan in Pasig City.
A congregation of sisters is also named after him.[6]
Abbess and founder. She was cured of blindness while still a child by St. Eustace of Lisieux. She was twice married, first to a manwho died after two months and then a nobleman, St. Blandinus, by whom she had five children, including two saints. After some years, they agreed mutually to separate and assume contemplative lives. He became a hermit and she went into a nunnery at Poulangey; Salaberga was subsequently foundress of the conventof St. John the Baptist at Laon. She died there.
Saint Sadalberga (or Salaberga) (c. 605[1]– c. 670) was the daughter of Gundoin, Duke of Alsace and his wife Saretrude. Sadalberga founded the Abbey of St John at Laon. She is the subject of a short hagiography, the Vita Sadalbergae.
Life
Gundoin of Alsace was on close terms with Waldebert, a Frankish nobleman who later became abbot of Luxeuil. Waldebert would come to guide Sadalberga in her monastic endeavors.[2]According to her anonymous vita, Gundoin had extended hospitality to Waldebert's predecessor, Saint Eustace of Luxeuil upon the Abbot's return from Bavaria, and Eustace had cured the child Sadalberga of blindness.[3]
Although she was drawn to religious life, her parents forced her to marry. Her first husband, Richramn, died after two months.[2] Then she was wed to a nobleman, Blandinus, a close counselor of King Dagobert. She had five children, Saretrude, Ebana, Anstrudis, Eustasius (died in infancy), and Baldwin (Baudoin). Her husband Blandinus and two of her children, Baldwin (feast day October 16) and Anstrudis, became saints. Sadalberga's brother was Saint Bodo (d. 670). After some years, she and Blandinus agreed mutually to separate and assume contemplative lives. He became a hermit and she went into a nunnery at Poulangey, accompanied by Anstrudis.
Encouraged by Waldebert, Salaberga founded the abbey of St. John the Baptist at Laon.[4] One of her kinsman had been bishop there, and his successor supported her efforts. She died there c. 670,[5]and was succeeded as abbess by her daughter, Anstrudis.[6
Martyred bishop of Sinope, a diocese on the Black Sea. He was martyred during the reign of Emperor Trajan.
For the other saint of this name, see Saint Phocas.
Hieromartyr Phocas was born in the city of Sinope. During his adult years he became Bishop of Sinope. At the time of a persecution against Christians under the emperor Trajan (98–117), the governor demanded that the saint renounce Christ. After fierce torture they enclosed St Phocas in a hot bath, where he died a martyr's death in the year 117.[2]
A homily in his honour was composed by Saint John Chrysostom on the occasion of the translation of his relics to Constantinople. The translation of his holy relics from Pontus to Constantinople about the year 404 A.D. is celebrated on July 23. His primary feast is on September 22, and he is called a wonderworker.[1][2][3]
The Hieromartyr Phocas is especially venerated as a defender against fires, and also as a helper of the drowning.[
Phocas earned his living by cultivating a garden near the city gate of Sinope (now in Turkey). The quiet and beauty of the plot he cultivated proved quite conducive to his exercise of prayer in the course of his labors. He shared with the poor what he earned from his gardening, and opened his home to travelers lacking a place to stay. Phocas' Christian identity became known to the pagan Roman authorities. Soldiers were dispatched to find and arrest him. Upon nearing Sinope, they stopped at Phocas' door and received lodging from him, unaware that their host was the man they were charged to capture. At his table, they spoke openly of their mission before retiring for the night. As the soldiers slept, Phocas kept watch in prayer to prepare himself for martyrdom. The next morning, he revealed to them his identity. In a turn of events similar to the martyrdom of Saint Eudoxius (see September 5), the stunned soldiers were at first reluctant to carry out their orders against their kind host, but in the end they beheaded him. Phocas is venerated as a patron saint of both gardeners and mariners.
For the bishop-saint, see Phocas, Bishop of Sinope.
Saint Phocas, sometimes called Phocas the Gardener (Greek:Φωκᾶς), is venerated as a martyr by the Catholicand Eastern Orthodox Churches. His life and legend may have been a fusion of three men with the same name: a Phocas of Antioch, a Phocas the Gardener and Phocas, Bishop of Sinope.[2]
Contents
1History
2Veneration
3Other Gardener Saints
4Notes
5External links
History
Christian tradition states that he was a gardener who lived at Sinope, on the Black Sea, who used his crops to feed the poor and aided persecuted Christians.[3] During the persecutions of Diocletian, he provided hospitality to the soldiers who were sent to execute him. The soldiers, not knowing that their host was their intended victim, agreed to his hospitality. Phocas also offered to help them find the person they were seeking.[4]
As the soldiers slept, Phocas dug his own grave and prayed. He made arrangements for all his possessions to be distributed to the poor after his death.[3] In the morning, when the soldiers awoke, Phocas revealed his identity.
The soldiers hesitated and offered to report to their commander that their search had been fruitless. Phocas refused this offer and bared his neck. He was then decapitated and buried in the grave that he had dug for himself.[3]
Veneration
He is mentioned by Saint Asterius of Amasia (ca. 400). The name Phocas seems to derive from the Greek word for "seal" (phoke/φώκη), which may explain his patronage of sailors and mariners. A sailors' custom was to serve Phocas a portion of every meal; this was called "the portion of St. Phocas." This portion was bought by one of the voyagers and the price was deposited in the hands of the captain. When the ship came into port, the money was distributed among the poor, in thanksgiving to their benefactor for their successful voyage. He is mentioned in the work by Laurentius Surius. This tradition may be connected to a similar practice among sailors in the Baltic Sea of giving food offerings to an invisible sprite known as the Klabautermann.[5]
Other Gardener Saints
Saint Conon the Gardener (or of Pamphylia, Palestine, or Magydos)
The members of a Roman legion composed largely of Egyptians and serving in the army of co-Emperor Maximian, colleague of the famed hater of Christians, Emperor Diocletian. While serving in France, the legion marched to Agaunum, where it encamped for pagan rituals. Maurice, a commander, and Exuperius, Candidus, Innocent, Vitalis, two Victors, and the men of the legion refused to worship pagan deities, or possibly refused to massacre the local innocent populace. They were supposed to be pressured to obey by witnessing the beheading of some of their officers, but refused to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods. Reportedly, Maximian brought in another legion to slay the 6,600 Christians. A basilica, St. Maurice-en-Valais, was built from about 369-391 to commemorate this remarkable martyrdom. This cult is now confined to local calendars.
The Theban Legion (also known as the Martyrs of Agaunum) figures in Christianhagiography[1] as an entire Roman legion— of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men"[2] — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyredtogether, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's saints. Their feast day is held on September 22.
Contents
1The account
2Interpretations
3Historicity
4Saints associated with the Theban legion
5Gallery
6References
7External links
The account
According to Eucherius of Lyon,[3] ca. 443–450, the Legion was the garrison of the city of Thebes in Egypt. The Legion were quartered in the East until the emperor Maximian ordered them to march to Gaul, to assist him against the rebels of Burgundy. The Theban Legion[4]was commanded in its march by Saint Maurice (Mauritius), Candidus, Innocent, and Exuperius, all of whom are veneratedas saints. At Saint-Maurice, Switzerland, then called Agaunum, the orders were given— since the Legion had refused to sacrifice to the Emperor— to "decimate" it by putting to death a tenth of its men. This act was repeated twice before the entire legion was put to death.[5][6]
Statue of Saint Maurice; leader of the Theban Legion.
According to a letter written about 450 by Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon, bodies identified as the martyrs of Agaunum were discovered by Theodore (Theodulus), the first historically identified Bishop of Octudurum, who was present at the Council of Aquileia, 381and died in 391. The basilica he built in their honor attracted the pilgrim trade; its remains can still be seen, part of the abbey begun in the early sixth century on land donated by King Sigismund of Burgundy.
Coptic icon of Theban Legion
The earliest surviving document describing "the holy Martyrs who have made Agaunum illustrious with their blood" is the letter of Eucherius, which describes the succession of witnesses from the martyrdom to his time, a span of about 150 years. The bishop had made the journey to Agaunum himself, and his report of his visit multiplied a thousandfold the standard formula of the martyrologies:
We often hear, do we not, a particular locality or city is held in high honour because of one single martyr who died there, and quite rightly, because in each case the saint gave his precious soul to the most high God. How much more should this sacred place, Agaunum, be reverenced, where so many thousands of martyrs have been slain, with the sword, for the sake of Christ.
As with many hagiographies, Eucherius' letter to Bishop Salvius reinforced an existing pilgrimage site. Many of the faithful were coming from diverse provinces of the empire, according to Eucherius, devoutly to honor these saints, and (important for the abbey of Agaunum) to offer presents of gold, silver and other things. He mentions many miracles, such as casting out of devils and other kinds of healing "which the power of the Lord works there every day through the intercession of his saints."[citation needed]
In the late sixth century, Gregory of Tourswas convinced of the miraculous powers of the Theban Legion, though he transferred the event to Cologne, where there was an early cult devoted to Maurice and the Theban Legion:
At Cologne there is a church in which the fifty men from the holy Theban Legion are said to have consummated their martyrdom for the name of Christ. And because the church, with its wonderful construction and mosaics, shines as if somehow gilded, the inhabitants prefer to call it the "Church of the Golden Saints". Once Eberigisilus, who was at the time bishop of Cologne, was racked with severe pains in half his head. He was then in a villa near a village. Eberigisilus sent his deacon to the church of the saints. Since there was said to be in the middle of the church a pit into which the saints were thrown together after their martyrdom, the deacon collected some dust there and brought it to the bishop. As soon as the dust touched Eberigisilus' head, immediately all pain was gone.[7]
The tale of steadfast conduct and faith was embroidered in later retellings and figured in the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine and was included among the persecution of Christians detailed in John Foxe's 1583 Actes and Monuments, an early Protestant stand-by.[8]
Accounts of the moral inculcated by the exemplum of the Theban Legion resonate with the immediate culture of each teller. The miraculous whole-hearted unanimity of the Legion to the last individual, was downplayed by Hugo Grotius, for whom the moral of the Theban Legion was employed to condemn atrocities committed under military orders.[9] For Donald O'Reilly, an apologist for the historicity of the account in 1978, it was "the moral issue of organized violence".[10]
Interpretations
Thebaei is the proper name of one particular military unit, the Legio I Maximiana, also known as Maximiana Thebaeorum, recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum.[11]
According to Samir F. Girgis, writing in the Coptic Encyclopedia, there were two legions bearing the name "Theban," both of them formed by Diocletian sometime after the organization of the original Egyptian legion, stationed at Alexandria. It is not certain which of these was transferred from Egypt to Europe in order to assist Maximian in Gaul.[12]
The monastic accounts themselves do not specifically state that all the soldiers were collectively executed; an eleventh-century monk named Otto of Freisingwrote that most of the legionaries escaped, and only some were executed.[13] It is possible that the legion was simply divided during Diocletian's re-organization of units (breaking up legions of 6000 men to create smaller units of 1000), and that some of the soldiers had been executed, and that this was where the story of the legion's destruction originated from.[13] Henri Leclercq suggests that it is quite possible that an incident at Agaunum may have had to do not with a legion, but with a simple detachment.[14]
Johan Mösch, after comparing information from the various chronicles on the events and geography of the martyrdoms of the legionaries, concluded that only a single cohort was martyred at Agaunum. The remainder of the cohorts (battalion sized units of which there were ten to a legion) were either on the march or already stationed along the Roman road that ran from Liguria through Turin and Milan, then across Alps and down the Rhine to Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne).[12]
L. Dupraz and Paul Müller, by examining the military titles and ranks of the legionnaires and thereby determining the total number of soldiers involved, estimated that the Thebans martyred at Agaunum consisted of but one cohort whose number did not exceed 520 men.[12] Thus the execution of an entire cohors is equivalent to decimation of a legion.
Historicity
Denis Van Berchem, of the University of Geneva, proposed that Eucherius' presentation of the legend of the Theban legion was a literary production, not based on a local tradition.[15] David Woods, Professor of Classics at the University College Cork, alleges that the model of Maurice and the Theban Legion based on Eucherius of Lyon's letter was a complete fiction.[16]
The strength of the account is based on the historical reputation for the first monks in the Christian tradition, the hermits of the Egyptian desert known as the "Desert Fathers", and the almost fanatical Christian following they inspired during the first two centuries. The most famous of the Desert Fathers was Anthony the Great. The persecution of high-ranking Christian nobility under Emperor Valerian following his edict in 258 and the purge of Christians from the military from 284 through 299 under Emperor Diocletian indicate that noncompliance with emperor worship was the common method for detecting Christian soldiers and eventually executing them.
Donald F. O'Reilly argues that evidence from coins, papyrus, and Roman army lists supports the story of the Theban Legion. A papyrus dated "in the sixth year of our Lord the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Probus Pius Augustus, Tubi sixteenth" (13 January 282 CE), shows rations which would sustain a legion for about three months to be delivered to Panopolis to the "mobilized soldiers and sailors". Coins from Alexandria from the same time period were minted in a style used only when troops for a new legion were leaving port. During the trial of the martyr Maximilian, it was noted that there were Christians serving in the Roman army, and the existence of Theban Christian legionnaires in the same units as mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum was shown.[13]
Henri Leclercq also notes that the account of Eucherius "has many excellent qualities, historical as well as literary."[14] L. Dupaz countered Denis Van Berchem's assertion by sifting through the stories, carefully matching them with archeological discoveries at Agaunum, thus concluding that the martyrdom is historical and that the relics of the martyrs were brought to Agaunum between 286 and 392 through the office of the bishop Theodore.[17] Dom Ruinart, Paul Allard, and the editors of the "Analecta Bollandiana" are of opinion that "the martyrdom of the legion, attested, as it is by ancient and reliable evidence, cannot be called in question by any honest mind."[18]
Feastday: September 22 Death: 1934, 1936-1939 Beatified: Pope John Paul II
Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War is the name given by the Catholic Church to the people who were killed by Republicans during the war because of their faith. As of July 2008, almost one thousand Spanish martyrs have been beatified or canonized. For some two thousand additional martyrs, the beatification process is underway.
The martyrs of the Spanish Civil War are the Catholic Church's term for the people killed by Republicans during the Spanish Civil War for their faith.[1] More than 6,800 clergy and religious were killed in the Red Terror. As of June 2019, 1,915 Spanish martyrs have been beatified; 11 of them being Canonized. For some 2,000 additional martyrs, the beatification process is underway.
Contents
1History
1.1Pope John Paul II
1.2Pope Benedict XVI
1.3Pope Francis
2Individual cases
2.1Martyrs of Turon
2.2Saint Innocencio of Mary Immaculate
2.3Saint Jaime Hilario Barbal
2.4Saint Pedro Poveda
2.5Passionist Martyrs of Daimiel
2.6Blessed Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera
2.7Blessed Bartolomé Blanco Márquez
2.8Blessed Victoria Díez Bustos de Molina
2.9Blessed Pedro Asúa Mendía
2.10Blessed Mariano Mullerat i Soldevila
3List of martyrs
3.1Beatification
3.2Canonization
4Background
5Controversy
6See also
7External links
8References
History
During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, and especially in the early months of the conflict, individual clergymen were executed while entire religious communities were persecuted, leading to a death toll of 13 bishops, 4,172 diocesan priests and seminarians, 2,364 monks and friars and 283 nuns, for a total of 6,832 clerical victims, as part of what is referred to as Spain's Red Terror.[2]
Pope John Paul II
See also: 233 Spanish Martyrs
Pope John Paul II beatified 473 martyrs in the years 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001. Some 233 executed clergy were beatified by John Paul II on 11 March 2001.[3] In 1999 he also canonized a Christian Brother and the nine Martyrs of Turon, the first group of Spanish Civil War martyrs to reach sainthood. Regarding the selection of Candidates, Archbishop Edward Novackfrom the Congregation of Saintsexplained in an interview with L'Osservatore Romano: "Ideologies such as Nazism or Communism serve as a context of martyrdom, but in the foreground the person stands out with his conduct, and, case by case, it is important that the people among whom the person lived should affirm and recognize his fame as a martyr and then pray to him, obtaining graces. It is not so much ideologies that concern us, as the sense of faith of the People of God, who judge the person's behavior."[4]
Pope Benedict XVI
See also: 498 Spanish Martyrs
Benedict XVI beatified 530 martyrs in the years 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2011, with the biggest being the 498 Spanish martyrs in October 2007,[5] in the largest beatification ceremony in the history of the Catholic Church.[6] In this group of people, the Vatican has not included allSpanish martyrs, nor any of the 16 priests who were executed by the nationalist side in the first years of the war. This decision has caused numerous criticisms from surviving family members and several political organisations in Spain.[7]
The beatification recognized the extraordinary fate and often brutal death of the persons involved. Some have criticized the beatifications as dishonoring non-clergy who were also killed in the war, and as being an attempt to draw attention away from the church's support of Franco (some quarters of the Church called the Nationalist cause a "crusade").[8] Within Spain, the Civil War still raises high emotions. The act of beatification has also coincided in time with the debate on the Law of Historical Memory (about the treatment of the victims of the war and its aftermath) promoted by the Spanish Government.
Responding to the criticism, the Vatican has described the October 2007 beatifications as relating to personal virtues and holiness, not ideology. They are not about "resentment but ... reconciliation". The Spanish government has supported the beatifications, sending Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinosto attend the ceremony.[9] Among those present was Juan Andrés Torres Mora, a relative of one of the martyrs and the Spanish MP who had debated the memory law for PSOE .[10]
The October 2007 beatifications have brought the number of martyred persons beatified by the Church to 977, eleven of whom have been canonized as saints.[6]Because of the extent of the persecution, many more cases could be proposed; as many as 10,000 according to Catholic Church sources. The process for beatification has already been initiated for about 2,000 people.[6]
At 28 October 2007 beatifications, Pope Benedict underscored the call to sanctity for all Christians, saying it was "realistic possibility for the entire Christian people".[11] He also noted, "This martyrdom in ordinary life is an important witness in today's secularized society." [11]
Pope Francis
See also: 522 Spanish Martyrs
Pope Francis beatified 522 martyrs on 13 October 2013, at Tarragona, Spain; among them was Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera from Manila, Philippines, who became the first Filipino martyr of the Spanish Civil War. He also approved additional beatifications for Spanish martyrs that took place for a priest on 1 November 2014 as well as two sets of group martyrs on both 5 September 2015 and 3 October 2015. The pope also approved the beatification of 26 Capuchin martyrs, which took place on 21 November 2015. The beatification for Valentín Palencia Marquina and his four companions took place on 23 April 2016 in Burgos.[12] The beatification for Genaro Fueyo Castañon and his three companions was celebrated in Oviedo on 8 October 2016 and the beatification of José Antón Gómez and 3 companions was celebrated in Madrid on 29 October 2016.[citation needed] The 114 Almerian martyrs were beatified on 25 March 2017, and Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and his six companions were beatified on 6 May 2017 in Girona.[13][14] The beatification of Mateo Casals Mas & 108 companions were beatified in Barcelona on 21 October 2017 and Vicenç Queralt Lloret & 20 companions as well as José Maria Fernández Sánchez & 38 companions were beatified in Madrid on 11 November 2017. The beatification of Teodoro Illera del Olmo & 15 Companions was held on 10 November 2018. The beatification of Ángel Cuartas Cristobal and his 8 companions was held in Oviedo on 9 March 2019 while María Isabel Lacaba Andia and her 13 companions were beatified in Madrid on 22 June 2019.
Individual cases
Martyrs of Turon
Main article: Martyrs of Turon
The martyrs of Turon were a group of eight De La Salle Brothers, and the Passionist priest who was with them, who were executed by striking miners at Turon in October 1934. Although this was nearly two years before the outbreak of the civil war, their deaths were part of the same violence and anti-clerical feeling of that period in Spain's history, and are regarded as martyrs of the Spanish Civil War. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II on 29 April 1990, and were canonized by him on 21 November 1999.
Saint Innocencio of Mary Immaculate
Main article: Innocencio of Mary Immaculate
Saint Innocencio of Mary Immaculate, born Emanuele Canoura Arnau, was a member of the Passionist Congregation and martyr of the Spanish Civil War. Born on 10 March 1887 in Santa Cecelia del Valle de Oro in Galicia, Spain, he died at Turon, with his eight companions, on 9 October 1934. He was beatified on 29 April 1990 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 21 November 1999.
Saint Jaime Hilario Barbal
Main article: Jaime Hilario Barbal
Jaime Hilario Barbal, born Manuel Barbal Cosán, was raised in a pious and hardworking family near the Pyrenees mountains. Entered the seminary at age 12, but when his hearing began to fail in his teens, he was sent home. Joined the Brothers of the Christian Schools at age 19, entering the novitiate on 24 February 1917 at Irun, Spain, taking the name Jaime Hilario. Exceptional teacher and catechist, he believed strongly in the value of universal education, especially for the poor. However, his hearing problems grew worse, and in the early 1930s, he was forced to retire from teaching, and began work in the garden at the La Salle house at San Jose, Tarragona, Spain. Imprisoned in July 1936 at Mollerosa, Spain when the Spanish Civil War broke out and religious people were swept from the street. Transferred to Tarragona in December, then confined on a prison ship with some other religious. Convicted on 15 January 1937 of being a Christian Brother. Two rounds of volley fire from a firing squad did not kill him, possibly because some of the soldiers intentionally shot wide; their commander then murdered Jaime with five shots at close range. First of the 97 La Salle Brothers killed in Catalonia, Spain during the Spanish Civil War to be recognized as a martyr. He was beatified on 29 April 1990, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 21 November 1999.
Saint Pedro Poveda
Main article: Pedro Poveda Castroverde
He was a priest, the founder of the Teresian Association and a Martyr of the Spanish civil war. He was beatified on 10 October 1993 and canonized on 4 May 2003.
Passionist Martyrs of Daimiel
See also: Martyrs of Daimiel
They were a group of priests and brothers of the Passionist Congregation killed by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 1989. Eyewitnesses reported that all of the Passionists had forgiven their murderers before they died. A witness to the murder of Father Niceforo reported that after being shot the priest turned his eyes to heaven then turned and smiled at his murderers. At this point one of them, now more infuriated than ever, shouted:
What, are you still smiling?[15]
With that he shot him at point blank range.
Blessed Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera
Main article: Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera
Eugenio Sanz-Orozco Mortera (Jose Maria of Manila) was born on 5 September 1880 in Manila, Philippines. He was a Franciscan Capuchin priest. He died a martyr on 17 August 1936, in Madrid, Spain, during the Spanish civil war. He is venerated in the Catholic Church, which celebrates his feast on 6 November. He was beatified on 13 October 2013.
Blessed Bartolomé Blanco Márquez
Main article: Bartolomé Blanco
Bartolomé Blanco Márquez was born in Cordoba, Spain in 1914. He was arrested as a Catholic leader—he was the secretary of Catholic Action and a delegate to the Catholic Syndicates—on 18 August 1936. He was executed on 2 October 1936, at age 21, while he cried out, "Long live Christ the King!" Born in Pozoblanco 25 November 1914, Bartolome was orphaned as a child, and raised by family with whom he worked. He was an excellent student, studying under the tutelage of the Salesians.
Blessed Victoria Díez Bustos de Molina
Main article: Victoria Díez Bustos de Molina
She was a religious, the member of the same congregation and also a Martyr of the Spanish civil war. She was beatified on 10 October 1993.
Blessed Pedro Asúa Mendía
Main article: Pedro Asúa Mendía
Pedro was educated by Jesuits. Trained as an architect, graduating in 1915. he worked on schools, churches and houses for religious. He was ordained priest in the diocese of Vitoria, Spain in 1924. He was executed on 29 August 1936. He was beatified on 1 November 2014.
Blessed Mariano Mullerat i Soldevila
Main article: Mariano Mullerat i Soldevila
Mariano was a Spanish Roman Catholicdoctor who also served as the mayor for Arbeca from 1924 until March 1930. He died on 13 August 1936. He was beatified on 23 March 2019.
List of martyrs
Beatification
(*) means they are Canonized.
Canonization
Background
During the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, the Catholic Church in Spain supported and was strongly supported by and associated with the Spanish monarchy. The Second Spanish Republicsaw an alternation of leftist and conservative coalition governments between 1931 and 1936. Amidst the disorder caused by the military coup of July 1936, many supporters of the Republican government pointed their weapons against individuals they considered local reactionaries, including priests and nuns.
A paradoxic case for foreign Catholics was that of the Basque Nationalist Party, at the time a Catholic party from the Basque areas, who after some hesitation supported the Republican government in exchange for an autonomous government in the Basque Country. Although virtually every other group on the Republican side was involved in the anticlerical persecution, the Basques did not play a part.[16] The Vatican diplomacy tried to orient them to the National side, explicitly supported by Cardinal Isidro Goma y Tomas, but the BNP feared the centralism of the Nationals. Some Catalan nationalists also found themselves in the same situation, such as members of de Unió Democràtica de Catalunya party whose most relevant leader, Manuel Carrasco i Formiguerawas killed by the Nationalists in Burgosin 1938.
Controversy
A number of controversies have arisen around the beatification of some of these clerics. Some objectors oppose the notion of these priests being killed for mere religious hatred and, while not excusing their brutal murders, putting them in the context of the historical moment. Others question the appropriateness of beatification for some individuals who have less than saintly backgrounds. A third objection is the perceived partiality of the Church, where victims of the left have been proposed for beatification, while victims of the right have been ignored.
Of the first objection, one of the most notable cases has centered on Cruz Laplana y Laguna, Bishop of Cuenca, a well-known supporter of the monarchist regime. After the proclamation of the Second Republic he carried out a number of right-wing political campaigns throughout the province, and had established close contacts with military officials such as General Joaquín Fanjul, a supporter of the Nationalist rebellion. Laplana y Laguna was described by his biographer as "supreme advisor" to the general, as well as being closely involved with the Falange. In 1936 he personally endorsed Falangista leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera as a candidate in the 1936 local elections. When the Nationalist uprising in Cuenca failed, Laplana y Lagun was arrested by Republican militiamen for treason. He was tried for conspiring against the Republican government and executed on 8 August.[17]
Another is Fulgencio Martínez, a priest in the village of La Paca in Murcia, who was shot after the uprising, who was reported by many locals to be closely allied to the local landowners. Over several days before the uprising, Father Fulgencio met with these landowners in the village casino—the hub of social life for the local elites in rural Spain—to organize support for the rebellion. He offered guns and money to anyone who would join an improvised militia. On 18 July, the day of the uprising, Father Fulgencio was among the persons who went through the village streets on lorries, rallying support for the uprising with shouts of "Viva el Ejército!" ("Long live the Army") and "Viva General Queipo de Llano!"[18]
Public statements by some of these clerics have also been widely publicised as a form of criticism against their beatification. Rigoberto Domenech, Archbishop of Zaragoza, declared publicly on 11 August 1936 that the military uprising was to be supported, and its defensive actions approved, because "it is not done in the service of anarchy, but in the benefit of order, fatherland, and religion" in response to the Red Terror. Another statement was that given in November 1938 by Leopoldo Eijo Garay, Bishop of Madrid-Alcalá, regarding a possible truce between Republican and rebel forces: "To tolerate democratic liberalism... would be to betray the martyrs."[19]
Of the second, the controversy surrounding the beatification of Augustinian Friar Gabino Olaso Zabala, listed as a companion of Avelino Rodriguez Alonso, concerns his previous life. Friar Zabala was martyred during the Civil War and was beatified. Attention was called to the fact that Fr. Olaso had been a missionary in the Philippines during the Katipunan rebellion against Spanish rule, and had been accused of torturing Friar Mariano Dacanay, an alleged rebel sympathizer.[20] However this objection ignores the Church proclamation that even sinners can repent and turn into saints, such as in the case of Augustine of Hippo.[citation needed]. It also misunderstands the nature of a cause for martyrdom, where the primary factor is the person's death due to religious hatred of the faith, rather than the saintliness of his previous life.
The third objection refers to the Church's attitude to victims of Nationalist repression. Regarding the attitude of the Vatican, Manuel Montero, lecturer of the University of the Basque Countrycommented on 6 May 2007:
The Church, which upheld the idea of a 'National Crusade' in order to legitimize the military rebellion, was a belligerent part during the Civil War, even at the cost of alienating part of its members. It continues in a belligerent role in its unusual answer to the Historical Memory Law by recurring to the beatification of 498 "martyrs" of the Civil War. The priests executed by Franco's Army are not counted among them... Its selective criteria regarding the religious persons that were part of its ranks are difficult to fathom. The priests who were victims of the republicans are "martyrs who died forgiving", but those priests who were executed by the Francoists are forgotten.[21]
While much of Republican Spain was anti-clerical in sentiment, the Basque region, which also supported the Republic, was not; the clergy of the region stood against the Nationalist coup, and suffered accordingly. At least 16 Basque nationalist priests (among them the arch-priest of Mondragón) were killed by the Nationalists,[22] and hundreds more were imprisoned or deported.[23] This included several priests who tried to halt the killings.[24]To date, the Vatican has failed to consider these clergy as martyrs of the Spanish Civil War.
Benedictine abbess, a relative of St. Boniface. Born in Wessex, England, she was trained by St. Tetta, and became a nun at Wimboume Monastery in Dorsetshire. Lioba, short for Liobgetha, was sent with twenty-nine companions to become abbess of Bischofheim Monastery in Mainz, Germany She founded other houses as well and served as abbess for twenty-eight years. She was a friend of St. Hildegard, Charlemagne's wife.
Bishop of Constance in Normandy, France. His family estate became the village of Saint Lo. He is sometimes listed as Lo, Laudo, or Laudus, and he was bishop for forty years.
Bishop and martyr. A native of Poitiers, France, Emmeramus went to Bavaria, Germany, at the request of Duke Theodo. He became a Benedictine and abbot of Regensburg Monastery and then bishopof that city. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he was attacked by hired assassins at Kleinhelfendorf, near Munich, GermanyDuke Theodo appears to have been the source of the assassination. Emmeramus is venerated as a martyr in Regensburg, where his relics are enshrined.
Saint Emmeram of Regensburg (also Emeramus, Emmeran, Emmerano, Emeran, Heimrammi, Haimeran, or Heimeran) was a Christian bishop and a martyr born in Poitiers, Aquitaine. Having heard of idolatry in Bavaria, Emmeram travelled to Ratisbon (Regensburg) some time after the year 649 to the court of Theodo I, Duke of Bavaria. He supposedly travelled up the Loire, crossed through the Black Forest and then followed the Danube to Regensburg. Theodo welcomed Emmeram to his court, where he laboured for three years carrying out missionary work. During this time, he gained a reputation as a pious man. He died circa 652 and is buried in St. Emmeram's in Regensburg, Germany. His feast day in the Catholic Calendar of saints is September 22.
Contents
1Life
2Veneration
3See also
4Notes
5Sources
6External links
Life
Arbeo of Freising wrote a biography of Emmeram in 750, the Vita Sancti Emmerami, about 100 years after the saint's death. The literature tells the story of Emmeram, born to a noble family in Aquitaine. According to some people, he became Bishop of Poitiers,[1] even if his name does not appear on the rolls. There is speculation that he held the office briefly between the death of Dido and the accession of Ansoaldus. Having heard of idolatry in Bavaria, he decided to travel to Ratisbon (Regensburg) some time after the year 649 to the court of Agilofing, Theodo I, Duke of Bavaria. He supposedly travelled up the Loire, crossed through the Black Forest and then followed the Danube to Regensburg. Theodo welcomed Emmeram to his court, where he laboured for three years carrying out missionary work. During this time, he gained a reputation as a pious man.
As the story goes, Uta (or Ota), the daughter of the duke, confided to Emmeram that she was expecting a child out of wedlock. According to Arbeo, the father was one Sigipaldus from her father's own court. Moved with compassion, Emmeram advised her to name himself, whom everyone respected, as the father hoping to mitigate some of her shame.[1] Shortly thereafter, the legend goes, Emmeram abruptly went on a pilgrimage to Rome. At this point, Uta named Emmeram as the father.
When Duke Theodo and his son Lantpertlearned of Uta's pregnancy, Lantpert went after the bishop. Lantpert caught up with Emmeram in Helfendorf (now part of the Munich suburb of Aying) on the old Roman road between Salzburg and Augsburg on the Via Julia Augusta and greeted him as "bishop and brother-in-law". According to popular tradition, wanting to protect the real culprit, Emmeram did not defend himself, and received numerous wounds.[2] Lantpert and his followers tied Emmeram to a ladder and proceeded to torture and cut him into pieces.
His companions, Vitalis and Wolflete, found him still alive, lying in his own blood, and tried to bring him quickly back to Aschheim,[2] where a walled church of Apostle Peter stood. The day of his martyrdom is also his name day, 22 September.
Veneration
The legend of Emmeram's torturedescribes how he was bound to a ladder, and was hacked to pieces. Later his eyeswere taken out and his nose was cut off. Still living, he asked for water. His companion Vitalis answered, "Why do you seek relief, when nothing of you remains but your stubby trunk, undecorated with limbs? I would think you should wish for your death rather than live with such shame." Emmeram answered that one should not attempt to hurry death, rather drag it out, in order to persuade the face of God's mercy through divine intervention. At this Emmeram was beheaded. As proof of Emmeram's innocence, a ladder was lowered to bear him to Heaven. As they carried his body to Aschheim a wondrous light shone from his body.[citation needed]
The Martyrdom of Saint Emmeram (Salzburg), from the Cathedral Treasury and Diocese Museum, Eichstätt
A text printed in Munich in 1743, Officium oder Tageszeiten des wunderthätigen Bayerischen Apostels und Blutzeugen Christi St. Emmerami, zu täglichen und andächtigen Gebrauch in allen Anliegen und Widerwärtigkeiten etc., states that the cart was accompanied by
men and women of two hundred persons with great sympathy and prayer. A half hour before reaching Aschheim, the saint called for a halt, as within the hour his reward of heaven was before him. Then it happened that they lifted him down from the cart and laid him upon a beautiful sward, where he gave up his ghost at once. ...The place where this happened remained fresh and green for all time until finally the alms of travelers (because all four roads come together there) and other good-hearted Christians had a church built, where even today many wonders still occur!
Arbeo of Freising depicted the place of his death as a "lovely, ever spring-green place, upon which a spring appeared and the local people later built a little church."
When the misunderstanding of Emmeram's relationship to Uta was revealed, he was entombed in Aschheim, whereupon legend states that it rained for forty days. Emmeram was exhumed and put upon a raft in the Isar. When the raft reached the Danube, it miraculously floated upstream to Regensburg, where Emmeram was interred in the church of St. George.[2](A somewhat similar tale is told of Lubentius of Dietkirchen.)[3]
His remains were later moved to a church dedicated to the martyr. This church burned down in 1642. Emmeram's bones were found under the altar in 1645 and moved to St. Emmeram's Abbey. The church, now a basilica minor, houses his leg bones in a silver reliquary in the eastern portion under the altar.[1]
At the spot Saint Emmeram died in the year 652, a small chapel was erected in the year 1842. The church of St. Lorenzin Oberföhring has a side altar dedicated to St. Emmeram. In the church of Saints Peter and Paul in Aschheim, a plaquememorializes the first grave of Emmeram with an inscription.
Roman maidens martyred in the Eternal City. They both died while praying before their judges. Their relics are in St. Marcellus Church in Rome.
For the 9th century St. Digna, see Martyrs of Córdoba.
Saints Digna and Emerita (died 259 AD) are venerated as saints by the Catholic Church. They were martyred at Rome.
Their feast day is celebrated on September 22.
Their relics are said to lie at the church of San Marcello al Corso, in Rome, although it is recorded that on April 5, 838, a monknamed Felix appeared at Fulda with the remains of Saints Cornelius, Callistus, Agapitus, Georgius, Vincentius, Maximus, Cecilia, Eugenia, Digna, Emerita, and Columbana.[1]
Feastday: September 22 Birth: 1890 Death: 1936 Beatified: 11 March 2001 by Pope John Paul II
Carmelo Sastre Sastre was ordained in 1919 and was a priest in the Archdiocese of Valencia. Carmelo was noted for his ministry to the poor. One of the Spanish Civil War.
இவர் பிரான்ஸ் நாட்டைச் சார்ந்த, தூர்ஸ் நகர்ப் புனித மார்ட்டினின் மாணவர். அவரிடம் பாடம் கற்று வந்த இவர், அவராலேயே அருள் பணியாளராக அருள்பொழிவு செய்யப்பட்டார்.
இதன் பிறகு இவர் பிரான்ஸ் நாட்டில் உள்ள போய்டோவு (Poitou) என்ற இடத்திற்கு நற்செய்தி அறிவிக்க அனுப்பி வைக்கப்பட்டார்.
அங்குச் சென்றதும், க்ளோன்னி மலையில் ஒரு துறவு மடம் அமைத்துத் துறவியாக வாழத் தொடங்கினார். இதைச் சுற்றிலும் இருந்த இளைஞர்கள் பார்த்துவிட்டு, இவருடைய சீடராக வந்து சேர்ந்தார்கள்.
இவரோ, தான் இறக்கும்வரை தனக்குக் கீழ் இருந்த துறவிகளுக்கு முன் மாதிரியான வாழ்க்கையை வாழ்ந்து காட்டினார்.
St. Florentius
Feastday: September 22
Death: 5th century
Hermit and disciple of St. Martin of Tours, France. A Bavarian, Florentius was ordained by St. Martin of Tours and sent to Poitou, France, as a missionary. He became a hermit on Mount Glonne in Anjou, and attracted so many disciples that he had to erect an abbey for them, now called St. Florent le Vieux.
இறப்பு : 302,அகாவ்னும் Agaunum(செயிண்ட் மௌரிஸ் St.Maurice), சுவிட்சர்லாந்து
பாதுகாவல்: போர் வீரர்கள், வியாபாரிகள்,சாயத் தொழிலாளிகள், ஆடை நிறுவனங்கள்,காது, மூட்டு நோய்களிலிருந்து
இவர் எகிப்து நாட்டில் முதன்முதலில் இராணுவப் படையை உருவாக்கினார். இவர், தன் படைவீரர்களுடன் சேர்ந்து சிலுவைப்போரை புரிந்தனர். இவரின் படைவீரர்களை, தன் படைக்கு கொடையாக தருமாறு, எதிர்படையினர்,
மவுரிசியஸிடம் கேட்டனர். அப்படி தந்தால் வெற்றியடைய செய்வோம் என்றும் கூறினர். ஆனால் மவுரிசியஸ் இதனை ஏற்க மறுத்தார். இதனால் மீண்டும் போர் மூண்டது. மவுரிசியசின் படையிலிருந்த படைவீரர்கள் சிலரின் அந்த
செயல்களால், மவுரிசியஸ், அப்படையை விட்டு விலக வேண்டியதாயிற்று. இவர் அப்படையிலிருந்து விலகியப்பின் படைவீரர்கள் மிகக் கடினமான ஒழுங்குகளை கடைபிடிக்க வற்புறுத்தப்பட்டார்கள். இதனை கடைபிடிக்க மறுத்ததால், பலம் வாய்ந்த வீரர்கள் பலர் கொல்லப்பட்டனர். அதன்பிறகு இராணுவவீரர்கள் 6000 பேர், மாக்சிமில்லியனுடன் (Maxmilian)
சேர்ந்து, ஜெனிவா என்ற ஏரியின் அருகே எதிரிகளுடன் போரிட்டனர். இப்போரில் மீண்டும் பலர் இறந்தனர். இதனால் இராணுவத்தில் மிகக்குறைவான பலம் வாய்ந்த வீரர்களே இருந்தனர். இவற்றை கண்ட மவுரிசியஸ், மீண்டும் ராணுவத்தில் நுழைந்தார். இராணுவ வீரர்களுக்கு சிறப்பான பயிற்சியை கொடுத்தார். வீரர்களை மீண்டும்
திடப்படுத்தி பலமூட்டினார். அத்துடன் அவர்களுக்கு கிறிஸ்துவ நெறியை கற்பித்து நல்ல கிறிஸ்துவர்களாகவும் வாழ வைத்தார். இந்நிலையில் எதிரிகள் மீண்டும் படையெடுத்து வந்து மவுரிசியசையும் அவரின் படைவீரர்களையும் கொன்றார்கள்
செபம்:
கருணையின் மறு உருவே எம் கடவுளே! எதிரிகளால் இரக்கமின்றி கொல்லப்பட்ட ஒவ்வொரு படைவீரர்களையும் நீர் நினைவு கூர்ந்தருளும். உமது மகிமைக்காக போரிட்டு மடிந்த ஆன்மாக்களின் பாவங்களை மன்னித்து, நீர்தாமே
அவர்களுக்கு உமது வான்வீட்டில் நிலையான வாழ்வை தந்தருளும்படியாக இறைவா உம்மை இறைஞ்சுகின்றோம்.
---JDH---தெய்வீக குணமளிக்கும் இயேசு /திண்டுக்கல்.
Saint of the Day: (22-09-2020)
St. Maurice and companions
Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, and Candidus were leaders of a legion of Christians in the Roman army who were killed for their Christian leadership and complete allegiance to Christ.
Around the year 287, the Roman army marched out to suppress a revolt in what is now Switzerland. The emperor, Maximian, led the army, which was composed of troops conscripted from various parts of the empire. One legion of 6,600 soldiers was recruited from northern Egypt and was composed entirely of Christians.
When the Roman legions arrived on the battlefield, Maximian ordered all soldiers to offer sacrifice to the gods for the success of the enterprise. The Christian legion withdrew from the army and refused to participate in the rites.
Several times, Maximian ordered them to obey. They refused, and he ordered that the other soldiers decimate the Christian legion—every tenth, randomly-selected soldier was executed. Maximian threatened to continue the decimations until the legion obeyed—he warned them he was willing to execute the entire legion.
Maurice, Exuperius, and Candidus led the legion, and they responded to Maximian by saying, “We are your soldiers, but we are also servants of the true God. We owe you military service and obedience, but we cannot renounce God who is our creator and master… We have arms in our hands, but we do not resist because we would rather die innocent than live by any sin.”
Maximian ordered the other legions to surround the Christians and kill them all. The ground was covered with bodies and blood, and the other soldiers looted what they could from the slain legion. One soldier, Victor, refused to participate in the massacre and looting. Soldiers asked him if he was Christian. When he answered that he was, he was killed as well.
A shrine was built above the ground where these brave soldiers died, and miracles began to be attributed to the intercession of these martyrs.
The traditional story of these martyrs has been scrutinized for its historical accuracy. As there is little supporting evidence for the slaughter of an entire legion of Roman soldiers, the account of the martyrdom has probably been exaggerated. What seems historically likely, however, is that a soldier named Maurice and a number of his companions were martyred in the third century. What remains unknown is the number who were killed; perhaps the story of the martyrdom of a small, brave squadron of Christian soldiers, over repeated tellings over many years, became the slaughter of a legion.
Exuperius, Candidus, and Victor all rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. The bust of St. Maurice pictured above stands in the Snite Museum of Art—it is designed to be a reliquary vessel itself, although today it stands empty in the museum’s medieval gallery.
St. Maurice is patron saint of the Pontifical Swiss Guards at the Vatican, and also of soldiers, swordsmiths, and weavers.
Sts. Maurice, Exuperius, Candidus, and Victor, you faithfully led your legion to martyrdom - pray for us!
Phocas earned his living by cultivating a garden near the city gate of 
