இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் ஜீன் 27

 St. Laszlo

புனித லதிஸ்லாஸ்

இவர் ஹங்கேரி நாட்டைச் சார்ந்தவர். இவருடைய தந்தை ஹங்கேரி நாட்டு மன்னரான பெலா என்பவர். இவர் தனது தந்தையின் மறைவுக்குப் பிறகு, அதாவது 1077 ஆம் ஆண்டு ஹங்கேரி நாட்டின் மன்னராக பொறுப்பேற்றார். 

இவரது நாட்டில் பல மதங்களைச் சார்ந்தவர்கள் இருந்தார்கள். அவர்கள் தங்களுக்குப் பிடித்த மதத்தை பின்பற்றுவதற்கு இவர் முழுச் சுதந்திரமும் அளித்தார்.

இவர் கத்தோலிக்கத் திருஅவைக்கு முழு ஆதரவு அளித்து வந்தார். குறிப்பாக இவர் திருத்தந்தை ஏழாம் கிரகோரிக்கு எப்போதும் துணையாய் இருந்தார். மேலும் இவர் மறைப்பணியாளர்கள் நற்செய்தி அறிவிக்கப் பெரிதும் ஒத்துழைப்புத் தந்தார் பல கோயில்களைக் கட்டியெழுப்பினார்.

முதல் சிலுவைப்போருக்கு இவர்தான் தலைமை தாங்கவேண்டியதாக இருந்தது. அதற்குள் இவர் நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார்.

இவர் ஹங்கேரி நாட்டைக் கட்டியெழுப்பிய சிற்பிகளுள் ஒருவர் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. இவர் கட்டடக் கலைஞர்களுக்குப் பாதுகாவலராக இருக்கிறார்.

Feastday: June 27

Laszlo was the son of King Bela of Hungary. He was born at Neustra on July 29 and was elected King of Hungary by the nobles in 1077. He was at once faced with the claims of a relative and son of a former King, Solomon, to the throne, and defeated him on the battlefield in 1089. He supported Pope Gregory VII in his investiture struggle against Emperor Henry IV, and Rupert of Swabia, Henry's rival; Laszlo married Adelaide, daughter of Duke Welf of Bavaria, one of Rupert's supporters. Laszlo successfully repelled Cuman attempts to invade Hungary, encouraged Christian missionaries, and built many churches, but allowed religious freedom to the Jews and Mohammedans in his realms. In 1091, he marched to the aid of his sister Helen, Queen of Croatia, against the murderers of her husband, and when she died childless, annexed Croatia and Dalmatia despite objections from the Pope, the Emperor in Constantinople, and Venice. At the Synod of Szabolcs in 1092, he promulgated a series of laws on religious and civil matters. He was chosen to lead the armies of the First Crusade but before he could do so died at Nitra, Bohemia, on July 29 when he was fifty-five years old. He is one of the great national heroes of Hungary and made Hungary a great state, extending its borders and defending it successfully against invasion. He was venerated from the time of his death for his zeal, piety, and moral life, and was canonized in 1192 by Pope Celestine III. Laszlo is known in Polish as Ladislaus. His feast day is June 27.

Bl. Vasyl Velychkovsky

Feastday: June 27

Birth: 1903

Death: 1973

Beatified: 27 June 2001, Lviv Hippodrome, Ukraine by Pope John Paul II

Image of Bl. Vasyl VelychkovskyHaving entered the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, Vasyl Velychkovsky, of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, was ordained a Byzantine Rite Catholic priest at the age of twenty-two. In 1945, while serving as hegumenos (prior) of his order's monastery in Ternopil, Father Velychkovsky was arrested by the Russian Communists' secret police (the KGB) and sentenced to death. The sentence was subsequently commuted to a ten-year prison term of hard labor. Following his release in 1955, Father Velychkovsky resumed his priestly labors. In 1963, he was secretly consecrated metropolitan (archbishop) of Moscow by his predecessor in this office, who had just been ordered to leave the country by the Soviet government. In 1969, Metropolitan Velychkovsky was again arrested and imprisoned. Three years later, he was deported out of the Soviet Union. Stricken with a heart disease stemming from his imprisonment, the metropolitan told a Canadian audience, "The prisons and camps ruined my health and my strength, but this was my fate; the Lord God placed this cross on my shoulders." Metropolitan Velychkovsky died two weeks later, on June 30, 1973.

Vasyl Velychkovsky (June 1, 1903 – June 30, 1973) was a priest, and later bishop, of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome. He is a martyr of the Catholic Church, dying in 1973 of his injuries sustained while imprisoned by the Soviet Union for his Christian faith.

Velychkovsky was born in Stanislaviv, in then-Austria-Hungary. In 1920 he entered the seminary in Lviv. In 1925 he took his first religious vows in the village of Holosko near Lviv in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (better known as the Redemptorists) and was ordained a priest. As a priest-monk Vasyl Velychkovsky taught and preached in Volyn. In 1942 he became abbot of the monastery in Ternopil. Because of religious persecution by the Communist Soviet Union he was arrested in 1945 by the NKVD and sent to Kiev. The punishment of death was commuted to 10 years of hard labor.[1][2]

On release in 1955 he went back to Lviv, and was ordained a bishop in 1963. In 1969 he was imprisoned again for three years for his religious activities.[1] Released in 1972, he was exiled outside the USSR. He died of his injuries from prison in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on June 30, 1973, aged 70.[3]

Thirty years after his death, Vasyl Velychkovsky's body was found to be almost incorrupt (his toes had fallen off and were subsequently divided to be used as holy relics).[3] Beatified in 2001, the intact remains of Vasyl Velychkovsky are enshrined at St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Today, his shrine is located at 250 Jefferson Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

St. Joseph Hien

Feastday: June 27

Death: 1840

Dominican martyr of Vietnam. He was beheaded by anti-Christian authorities and was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

St. Deodatus

Feastday: June 27

Death: 473

A bishop of Nola, in Italy. He was the successor of St. Paulinus. His relics were translated to Benevento in 839

St. John Southworth

Feastday: June 27

Birth: 1592

Death: 1654

One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born in Lancashire and became a priest in 1619 in Douai. Sent to England that same year, he was arrested but released through the intercession of Queen Henrietta Maria. He joined St. Henry Morse, subsequently working diligently during the plague of 1636. Arrested again, he was martyred by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum. His relics are in Westminster Cathedral in London, discovered there in 1927. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.

John Southworth (c. 1592, Lancashire, England - 28 June 1654, Tyburn, London) was an English Catholic martyr. He is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

History

John Southworth came from a Lancashire family who lived at Samlesbury Hall. They chose to pay heavy fines rather than give up the Catholic faith.[1]

He studied at the English College in Douai, in northern France. (The college later relocated to St Edmund's College, Ware in Hertfordshire.) In 1585 a law had been passed branding as treasonable any priest who dared to come back to England. The law was later extended to all who assisted such priests.

Southworth was ordained priest before he returned to England 13 October, 1619,[2] where he remained until 1624,[1] when he was then recalled to serve as chaplain to Benedictine nuns in Brussels.[3]

After about a year, he returned to Lancashire, where he was arrested in 1627 and imprisoned in Lancaster Castle along with Edmund Arrowsmith. Arrowsmith was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Lancaster on 28 August 1628.[4] Southworth was later moved to The Clink in London. He was sentenced to death for professing the Catholic faith, but in 1630, at the insistence of Queen Henrietta Maria, he and seventeen others were delivered to the French ambassador and deported to France.[3]

By 1636 he had returned to England and lived in Clerkenwell, London, during a plague epidemic. He and Henry Morse ministered to the sick in Westminster,[5] and raised money for the families of victims. Southworth was arrested again in November 1637 and sent to the Gatehouse Prison and again transferred to The Clink, where he remained for three years.[2] Four times Southworth was arrested, and three times released by the Secretary of State Sir Francis Windebank at the direction of the Queen. The fourth time he managed to escape.[3] From 1640 and 1654 he continued his clandestine ministry.

He was again arrested under the Interregnum and was tried at the Old Bailey under Elizabethan anti-priest legislation. He pleaded guilty to exercising the priesthood and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. He was executed at Tyburn, London.[2]

The Spanish ambassador returned his corpse to Douai for burial.[6] His corpse was sewn together and parboiled, to preserve it. Following the French Revolution, his body was buried in an unmarked grave for its protection. The grave was discovered in 1927 and his remains were returned to England. They are now kept in the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs in Westminster Cathedral in London.

Veneration

Reliquary of Saint John Southworth in Westminster Cathedral.

He was beatified in 1929. In 1970, he was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.[6]

His feast day is 27 June celebrated in the Westminster diocese.[6] He is a patron saint of priests.[7]

In 2014, The Guild of Saint John Southworth was established in Westminster Cathedral. Its members are volunteers who will meet visitors, answer their questions and guide them around the cathedral if they wish. This service is free.

Bl. Zenon Kovalyk

Feastday: June 27

Birth: 1903

Death: 1941

Beatified: Pope John Paul II

Blessed Zynoviy Kovalyk (August 18, 1903 - 1941) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and martyr.

Зенон (Ковалик)

Zynoviy Kovalyk (Ukrainian: Зиновій Ковалик – sometimes spelled Zenon or Zenobius; 18 August 1903 - ? 1941) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and martyr.

Family background

Zynoviy Kovalyk was born in the village of Ivachiv Dolishniy, near Ternopil in Austrian Galicia (western Ukraine). His family were peasant workers and, like many of that time and place, were devout Christians. Perhaps it was due to his family's devotion that Zynoviy developed a vocation to the Catholic priesthood while he was still young. He was known to have a good singing voice and a joyful temperament,[1] and also to be a person of strong character.[2]

Ministry as a Redemptorist

After teaching in a primary school for a short period of time, he entered the novitiate of the Redemptorists (Congregation of the Holy Redeemer) when he was 25, which made him older than most novices of that period; he made his first religious profession on 26 August 1926.

After the novitiate he studied philosophy and theology in Belgium. He returned to Ukraine and was ordained a priest on 9 August 1932, celebrating his first Liturgy in his village of Ivachiv on 4 September 1932.[3]

Kovalyk then travelled with Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky (who was also to become a martyr) to Volhynia to work amongst the Ukrainians of the Orthodox Church in order to promote ecumenism. Kovalyk was a good singer and a preacher. It is said he had a golden mouth, and that his preaching drew thousands of people and led them to a greater devotion to Jesus and Mary. After several years he went to Stanislaviv (today Ivano-Frankivsk) to take up the post of provincial bursar, while being also very engaged in the traditional Redemptorist practice of conducting missions throughout the area.[4]

Immediately before the Soviet invasion of 1939 he travelled to the Redemptorist monastery in Lviv and assumed the position of bursar. Due to the Communist presence many clergy concentrated on spiritual matters when they gave a homily and avoided issues of freedom and justice. As a preacher, Kovalyk showed no reluctance to publicly condemn the ideology and atheistic customs then being introduced by the Soviets, and to preach on matters affecting the everyday lives of the people. Even though he was warned by his friends that the Communist authorities were suspicious of him and that he should be less vocal, he is said to have replied, "If it is God's will, I am ready to die, but I cannot be quiet in the face of such injustice."[5] On the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, 15 August 1940, he gave a homily which reportedly drew some ten thousand faithful.

Arrest and death

On 20 December 1940, the Soviet secret police took Kovalyk from his monastery on account of the sermon he had preached on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (8 December). He was accused of being a spy. For the six months of his incarceration at Brygidki prison, like many others, he was subjected to interrogation and torture. In prison, he continued his ministry by praying with the other prisoners, hearing confessions, giving spiritual exercises, teaching catechism classes, and comforting them with religious tales and stories from the Bible.[6]

On 22 June 1941, German troops began their offensive against the Soviet Union and the city of Lviv fell seven days later. As the German army advanced, the Soviets guards executed 7,000 prisoners prior to retreat. Witnesses claim that, rather than simply shooting Kovalyk, he was crucified on a corridor wall of the prison, his stomach ripped open and a dead human foetus inserted.[7] Official Soviet statements claim that Kovalyk was shot and not crucified.[8]

On 24 April 2001, along with several other Redemptorists, Kovalyk was recognised by the Holy See as being a martyr. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 June 2001 during that pope's pastoral visit to Ukraine. June 27 is the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the patroness of the Redemptorists.

Legacy

In his memoirs, Yaroslav Levytskyi recounts Kovalyk's sermons and the risk they invoked. '[His] sermons made an incredible impression on his listeners. But in the prevailing system of denunciations and terror this was very dangerous for a preacher. So I often tried to convince Father Kovalyk... that [he] needed to be more careful about the content of his sermons, that he shouldn't provoke the Bolsheviks, because here was a question of his own safety. But it was all in vain. Fathey Kovalyk only had one answer:"If that is god's will, I will gladly accept death, but as a preacher I will never act against my conscience

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Also known as

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

About

The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is painted on wood, with background of gold. It is Byzantine in style and is supposed to have been painted in the thirteenth century. It represents the Mother of God holding the Divine Child while the Archangels Michael and Gabriel present before Him the instruments of His Passion. Over the figures in the picture are some Greek letters which form the abbreviated words Mother of God, Jesus Christ, Archangel Michael, and Archangel Gabriel respectively.

It was brought to Rome towards the end of the fifteenth century by a pious merchant, who, dying there, ordered by his will that the picture should be exposed in a church for public veneration. It was exposed in the church of San Matteo, Via Merulana, between Saint Mary Major and Saint John Lateran. Crowds flocked to this church, and for nearly three hundred years many graces were obtained through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. The picture was then popularly called the Madonna di San Matteo. The church was served for a time by the Hermits of Saint Augustine, who had sheltered their Irish brethren in their distress.

These Augustinians were still in charge when the French invaded Rome, Italy in 1812 and destroyed the church. The picture disappeared; it remained hidden and neglected for over forty years, but a series of providential circumstances between 1863 and 1865 led to its discovery in an oratory of the Augustinian Fathers at Santa Maria in Posterula. The pope, Pius IX, who as a boy had prayed before the picture in San Matteo, became interested in the discovery and in a letter dated 11 Dececember 1865 to Father General Mauron, C.SS.R., ordered that Our Lady of Perpetual Succour should be again publicly venerated in Via Merulana, and this time at the new church of Saint Alphonsus. The ruins of San Matteo were in the grounds of the Redemptorist Convent. This was but the first favour of the Holy Father towards the picture. He approved of the solemn translation of the picture (26 April 1866), and its coronation by the Vatican Chapter (23 June 1867). He fixed the feast as duplex secundae classis, on the Sunday before the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, and by a decree dated May 1876, approved of a special office and Mass for the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. This favour later on was also granted to others. Learning that the devotion to Our Lady under this title had spread far and wide, Pius IX raised a confraternity of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and Saint Alphonsus, which had been erected in Rome, to the rank of an arch-confraternity and enriched it with many privileges and indulgences. He was among the first to visit the picture in its new home, and his name is the first in the register of the arch-confraternity.

Two thousand three hundred facsimiles of the Holy Picture have been sent from Saint Alphonsus's church in Rome to every part of the world. At the present day not only altars, but churches and dioceses (e.g. in England, Leeds and Middlesbrough; in the United States, Savannah) are dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. In some places, as in the United States, the title has been translated Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Patronage

• Haiti

• archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

• diocese of Buxar, India

• diocese of Hallam, England

• diocese of Leeds, England

• diocese of Middlesbrough, England

• diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota

• diocese of Salina, Kansas

• diocese of Savannah, Georgia

• Labrador City, Labrador

• Yorkton, Saskatchewan

• Porto Cesareo, Italy

Martyrs Killed Under Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe

Profile

Among the thousands of Christians murdered by various Communist regimes in their hatred of the faith, there were 25 members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Russian Byzantine Catholic Church, priests, bishops, sisters and lay people, whose stories are sufficiently well documented that we know they were murdered specifically for their faith in eastern Europe, and whose Causes for Canonization were opened. Their Causes were combined, and they were beatified together. They have separate memorials, but are remembered together today. They are -

• Andrii Ischak • Hryhorii Khomyshyn • Hryhorii Lakota • Ivan Sleziuk • Ivan Ziatyk • Klymentii Sheptytskyi • Leonid Feodorov • Levkadia Harasymiv • Mykola Konrad • Mykola Tsehelskyi • Mykolai Charnetskyi • Mykyta Budka • Oleksa Zarytskyi • Ol'Ha Bida • Ol'Ha Matskiv • Petro Verhun • Roman Lysko • Stepan Baranyk • Symeon Lukach • Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovskyi • Volodomyr Bairak • Volodymyr Ivanovych Pryima • Yakym Senkivsky • Yosafat Kotsylovskyi • Zenon Kovalyk

Beatified

27 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II in Ukraine

Saint Cyril of Alexandria

அலெக்ஸாண்ட்ரியா நகர தூய சிரில் (ஜூன் 27)

இன்று நாம் நினைவுகூரும் சிரில் எகிப்தில் உள்ள அலெக்ஸாண்ட்ரியா நகரத்தில் 376 ஆம் ஆண்டு பிறந்தார். இவர் தன்னுடைய தொடக்க மற்றும் உயர் கல்வியை தன்னுடைய சொந்த மண்ணிலே கற்றார்.

412 ஆம் ஆண்டு அப்போது அலெக்ஸாண்ட்ரியா நகரின் மறைத்தந்தையாக இருந்த தியோபிலிஸ் இறந்துவிட சிரில் அலெக்ஸாண்ட்ரியா நகரின் மறைத்தந்தையாக, ஆயராகப் பொறுப்பேற்க வேண்டிய சூழ்நிலை ஏற்பட்டது. இதனால் அவர் அப்பொறுப்பினை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டு மிகச் சிறப்பான முறையில் பணிசெய்து வந்தார்.

சிரில் அலெக்ஸாண்ட்ரிய நகர ஆயராக இருந்து பணிசெய்த காலங்களில் திருச்சபை பல்வேறு விதமான தப்பறைக் கொள்கைகளை எதிர்கொள்ளவேண்டிய சூழ்நிலை ஏற்பட்டது. குறிப்பாக கொன்ஸ்டாண்டிநோபில் நகரத்தின் ஆயராக இருந்த நொஸ்டோரியஸ் என்பவர், ‘இயேசு படைக்கப்பட்ட பொருள். அவர் மனித இயல்புடையவர். அவரிடம் இறையியல்பு என்பது இல்லவே இல்லை. ஆகையால் மரியா இயேசுவின் தாய் மட்டுமே, இறைவனின் தாய் அல்ல’ என்று சொல்லி வந்தார். இதனை சிரில் மிகக் கடுமையாக எதிர்த்தார்.

மேலும் நொஸ்டாரியஸ் பரப்பி வந்த இந்த தப்பறைக் கொள்கையை அப்போது திருத்தந்தையாக இருந்த முதலாம் செலஸ்டினின் கவனத்திற்குக் கொண்டு சென்றார். அவர் சிரிலை தன்னுடைய பிரிதிநிதியாக நியமித்து, பிரச்னைக்கு முற்றுப்புள்ளி வைக்க சிரிலை முடுக்கிவிட்டார். அதனால் எபேசு நகரில் 431 ஆம் ஆண்டு பொதுச்சங்கம் கூட்டப்பட்டது. அந்த சங்கத்தில் இருநூறுக்கும் மேற்பட்ட ஆயர்கள் கலந்துகொண்டார்கள். அவர்கள் அனைவரும் சேர்ந்து, இயேசு மனித மற்றும் இறையியல்பினைக் கொண்டவர் என்றும் அதனால் மரியா இறைவனுக்கே தாய் என்று அறிக்கையிட்டனர். இதனால் நொஸ்டோரியஸ் தப்பறைக் கொள்கைக்கு முற்றுப்புள்ளி வைக்கப்பட்டது.

இதன் பிறகு சிரில் அமைதியான வாழ்க்கை வாழத் தொடங்கினார், விவிலியம் தொடர்பாக பல நூல்களை எழுதினர். இப்படிப்பட்டவர் 444 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார். இவருக்கு 1882 ஆம் ஆண்டு அப்போது திருத்தந்தையாக இருந்த பதிமூன்றாம் சிங்கராயர் அவர்களால் மறைவல்லுனர் பட்டம் கொடுக்கப்பட்டது.

Profile

Nephew of Theophilus the Patriarch. Monk. Priest. Bishop and patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt on 18 October 412. Suppressed the Novatians. Worked at the Council of Ephesus. Fought against Nestorius who taught the heresy that there were two persons in Christ. Catechetical writer. Wrote a book opposing Julian the Apostate. Greek Father of the Church. Doctor of the Church.

Born

376 at Alexandria, Egypt

Died

• 444 at Alexandria, Egypt of natural causes

• relics in Alexandria

Patronage

Alexandria, Egypt

Blessed Louise-Thérèse de Montaignac de Chauvance

Profile

Related to the French nobility, Louise was the fifth of six children born to Raimondo Amato and Anna de Raffin; her father was a civil servant. Louise studied at the Faithful Companions of Jesus College, made her First Communion on 6 June 1833, and beginning in 1837 studied at the Paris des Oiseaux conducted by the Canonesses of Saint Augustine of the Congregation of Our Lady. In her teens she began reading Bible, the writings of Saint Teresa of Avila, and became known for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In her early 20's she developed a bone disease that left in pain, occassionally bed-ridden, and late in life nearly crippled her. On 8 September 1843 she made a private vow of devotion to the Sacred Heart, and began her work to spread the devotion throughout France. In 1848 she founded a catechetical center, and orphange, and the Society of Tabernacles to encourage devotion to the Eucharist. In 1854 she founded the Opera Adoration of Reparation to encourage Eucharistic Adoration. In March 1874 she founded the Oblates of the Heart of Jesus with a mission to aid poor parishes, orphans and support for priestly vocations; she served as its superior from 17 May 1880, and Pope Leo XIII granted them papal approval on 4 October 1881. Secretary General of the Apostolate of Prayer in December 1875. Late in life she was bed-ridden due to her illness, but she continued working for the Oblates to the end.

Born

14 May 1820 in Le Havre-de-Grâce, Seine Maritime, France

Died

27 June 1885 in Moulins, Allier, France of natural causes

Beatified

4 November 1990 by Pope John Paul II at Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, Rome, Italy

Blessed Marguerite Bays

Profile

The second of seven children born to Pierre-Antoine Bays and Josephine Morel, she grew up in a pious farm family. Lifelong lay woman in the archdiocese of Lausanne, Switzerland, she supported herself as a dress maker and seamstress. She never married, but devoted herself and her life to caring for the people of her parish and city especially sick, children, young women, and the poor. Marguerite was known for a deep prayer life, devotion to Our Lady, and for lengthy periods spent in Eucharistic adoration. She joined the Secular Franciscans in 1860.

Marguerite developed intestinal cancer at age 35, asked for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and was miraculously healed on 8 December 1854, the day that Blessed Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Following the healing, each Friday Marguerite would experience a period of paralysis during which she would relive the Passion of Jesus. She received the stigmata.

Born

8 September 1815 in Siviriez, Fribourg, Switzerland

Died

3pm on Friday 27 June 1879 in Siviriez, Fribourg, Switzerland of natural causes

Beatified

• 29 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II

• the beatification miracle involved the healing on 25 March 1940 of a middle school student (who grew up to become a priest) who was injured in a mountain climbing accident

Canonized

on 15 January 2019, Pope Francis issued a decree acknowledging a miracle obtained through the intercession of Blessed Marguerite

Saint Ferdinand of Aragon

Also known as

• Ferdinand of Caiazzo

• Ferdinando of...

Additional Memorials

• 29 April (procession in Alvignano, Italy)

• 29 October (Caiazzo, Italy)

• 3rd Sunday in July (Dragoni, Italy)

Profile

Born to the royal family of Aragon, Spain, and the rulers of the two Sicilies, the fourth child of King Sancho III and Elvisa, Countess of Castile. Ferdinand was early drawn to religious and contemplative life. Hermit in the forest near Caiazzo, Italy where he became renowned in the region for his piety. Had the gift of healing by prayer. Fifth bishop of Caiazzo. Died while on pilgrimage.

Born

1030 in Aragon, Spain

Died

• 27 June 1082 in Alvignano, Italy of a fever

• buried at the church of Santa Maria di Cubulteria in Alvignano

• relics enshrined in an urn under as statue of Ferdinand at the church San Sebastiano Martire in Alvignano

• legends says that anytime people tried to return his relics to his see city of Caiazzo, Italy, the pack animals would refuse to move; they knew he belonged in Alvignano

Patronage

• Alvignano, Italy

• Dragoni, Italy

Saint Arialdus of Milan

Also known as

Arialdo

Profile

Well-educated deacon in the archdiocese of Milan, Italy. Taught at the cathedral school of Milan. Led the Pataria, the anti-nicolaism and anti-simony efforts in Milan, begining in 1057. He had the support of the Vatican, but was opposed by his simoniac archbishop Guido da Velate. More than just a theological argument, the dispute led to violence. Arialdus went into hiding outside the city, Pope Alexander II excommunicated the archbishop who then had Arialdus arrested, imprisoned and executed. Martyr.

Died

• 1066 at a castle on a small island in Lago Maggiore near Milan, Italy

• re-interred in a monastery in Milan in 1067

Canonized

• 1067 by Pope Alexader II (decree of martyrdom)

• 1904 by Pope Pius X (cultus confirmation)

Saint Joanna the Myrrhbearer

Profile

First century lay woman. Married to Chusa, steward of King Herod Antipas. Disciple of Jesus, and mentioned in Luke (8:3) as providing for Jesus and the Apostles. Eastern tradition says that she gave the head of John the Baptist an honourable burial. One of the women Luke says (24.10) discovered the empty tomb on the first Easter when she went to anoint the body, and celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of Pascha in the Orthodox Church as the Myrrh-bearers. She is especially venerated by the Jesuits.

Representation

• ointment box

• woman carrying an ointment box

• woman with a cross in her arms and a lamb standing nearby

• woman carrying a pitcher in a basket

• woman standing with her husband among court ladies hearing Jesus preach

Blessed Davanzato of Poggibonsi

Profile

Spiritual student of Blessed Luchesius. Franciscan tertiary. Priest. Pastor of Saint Lucia parish in Casciano, Italy. Known for his prayer life, his charity, his spirit of penance.

Born

c.1200 in Poggibonsi, Italy

Died

• 7 July 1295 of natural causes

• miracles reported at his grave

• relics known to have been enshrined in the church of Santa Lucia in Barberino Val d'Elsa, Italy by 1655

• relics enshrined in the church of San Bartolomeo in Barberino Val d'Elsa in 1787

Patronage

Barberino Val d'Elsa, Italy

Blessed Benvenutus of Gubbio

Also known as

Benvenuto

Profile

Soldier; he later said that soldiers became good monks as they had learned discipline, endurance and obedience. Franciscan lay brother in 1222. At his own request, he was assigned to care for lepers, worked hard, was a beloved nurse, and was known as an ideal Franciscan.

Born

12th-century Gubbio, Italy

Died

• 1232 in Corneto, Italy of natural causes

• buried at the parish church in Corneto

• relics translated to Deliceto, diocese of Bovino, Italy c.1243

Beatified

1697 by Pope Innocent XII (cultus confirmation)

Saint John of Chinon

Also known as

• John of Caion

• John of Moutier

• John of Tours

Profile

Priest. Spiritual advisor to Queen Saint Radegunde. Known as a healer and prophet. Hermit in Chinon, Diocese of Tours, France. He lived in a small cell and planted a laural orchard next to it where he spent his time in prayer and study, and avoiding the would-be spiritual students he attracted.

Born

in the British Isles

Died

• 6th century near Chinon, France of natural causes

• buried by being sealed in his hermit's cell

• many healing miracles reported in the orchard surrounding the cell

Saint Tôma Toán

Also known as

• Tommaso Toan

• Thomas Toan

Profile

Layman in the apostolic vicariate of East Tonkin, Vietnam. Member of the lay Dominicans. Catechist and head of Mission Linh Trung. Arrested, tortured and left to die of hunger and thirst in the persecutions of Emperor Minh Mang. Martyr.

Born

c.1764 in Can Phán, Nam Ðinh, Vietnam

Died

starved to death on 27 June 1840 in prison in Nam Ðinh, Vietnam

Canonized

19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Crescens of Galatia

Profile

First century disciple of the Apostles. Companion of Saint Paul the Apostle during his second Roman captivity; he left to go to Galatia (2nd Timothy 4:10). Bishop in Galatia. Some traditions say he was a missionary to Dauphine in Gaul, and founded the diocese of Mentz, Germany. Martyred in the persecutions of Trajan.

Died

c.100

Saint Crescentius of Mainz

Profile

Friend of Bishop Aureus of Mainz, Germany. He may have served as bishop when Aureus was driven into exile. Martyred by invading Huns. There are several variations in his story due to the similarity of his name with others, some variants in the records of Aureus, and simply sixteen centuries between then and now.

Born

4th century in the area of modern Germany

Died

c.406 in Mainz, Germany

Saint Sampson of Constantinople

Also known as

• Sampson Xenodochius

• Sampson the Hospitable

• Samson...

• Father of the Poor

Profile

Priest and physician in Constantinople, noted for his care for the poor.

Died

c.530 of natural causes

Saint Desideratus of Gourdon

Also known as

Désiré, Desert, Didier

Profile

Sixth-century priest and hermit in Gourdon the area of modern Burgundy, France. Pope Saint Gregory the Great wrote of the admirable holiness of Desideratus. Had the gift of healing by prayer, especially helping those with tooth pain.

Died

c.569

Saint Adeodato of Naples

Profile

33rd bishop of Naples, Italy, serving from 653 to 671. Built the oratory of Saint Restituta of Carthage and enshrined that saint's relics there. Performed the burial of Saint Patrizia of Naples.

Died

• 671 of natural causes

• relics enshrined at the abbey of Montevergine, Italy

Saint Anectus of Caesarea

Profile

Loudly encouraged Christians to not abandon their faith during the persecutions of Diocletian. Overthrew pagan idols; legend says he simply prayed near them and they collapsed. Martyr.

Died

scourged, mutilated and beheaded in Caesarea, Palestine in 304

Saint Zoilus of Cordoba

Also known as

Zoilo

Profile

Young man martyred with 19 unnamed Christian companions in the persecutions of Diocletian. The monastery of San Zoil de Carrión in León, Spain was founded to enshrine his relics.

Died

c.301 in Cordoba, Spain

Blessed Daniel of Schönau

Profile

Cistercian monk at Himmerod Abbey in Grosslittgen, Germany. Prior of the house. Abbot of the Schönau Abbey in Heidelberg, Germany.

Born

12th century Germany

Died

1218 of natural causes

Saint Gudene of Carthage

Also known as

Guddene

Profile

Tortured, imprisoned for a long period and finally executed in the persecutions of proconsul Rufino. Martyr.

Died

beheaded in Carthage, North Africa (modern Tunis, Tunisia)

Saint Arianell

Profile

Sixth century member of the Welsh royal family. She became possessed by an spirit, and was exorcised by Saint Dyfrig. Soon after, Arianell became a nun and spiritual student of Dyfrig.

Born

Gwent, Wales

Saint Felix of Rome

Profile

One of a group of nine Christians, including seven brothers, martyred together.

Died

Rome, Italy, date unknown

Saint Spinella of Rome

Profile

One of a group of nine Christians, including seven brothers, martyred together.

Died

Rome, Italy, date unknown

Saint Dimman

Also known as

Dioman, Diman

Profile

Priest. May have been a monk first, and may have been assigned a parish by Saint Patrick; records are a bit unclear.

Saint Aedh McLugack

Profile

No information has survived.

Born

Irish

Saint Brogan

Profile

Mentioned in the Gorman Martyrology.