St. Victor
Feastday: October 17
Death: 554
Bishop of Capua, Italy, from 541 and an ecclesiastical writer, He authored several notable works, including the Codex Fuldensis , De cyclo paschali , and Capitula de Resurrectione Domine . He is perhaps to be identified with Victor, bishop of Capua of the same century. He is honored for his learning and historical concerns.
St. Francois Gagelin
Feastday: October 17
Birth: 1799
Death: 1833
Image of St. Francois GagelinDuring the French Revolution, priests that remained faithful to the pope found a refuge in the home of the Gagelin family of Montperreux, France. As a five-year-old son of this devout family, Francois Gagelin told his parents, "I want to be a priest." Years later, after joining the Paris-based Society for Foreign Missions, Francois embarked for the Asian missions and was ordained a priest at Quang Tri, Vietnam. As a missionary in Vietnam, he observed, "In these countries, we suffer from pains of body and of spirit...But we ought not to count for anything all that in comparison to the great glory that God prepares for those who serve faithfully." A renewal of persecution against Vietnam's Catholics prompted Father Gagelin to surrender himself to the pagan authorities in 1833 in order to give courage to the faithful. He was charged with "hiding religious pictures and statuettes." While in prison, he confided to a friend that he had longed for martyrdom since his childhood, and as a priest had asked God for this fate every time he elevated the Precious Blood during Mass. Father Gagelin was executed by beheading.
François-Isidore Gagelin (10 May 1799 – 17 October 1833) was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Vietnam. He died a martyr,[1] and became the first French martyr of the 19th century in Vietnam. He was born in Montperreux, Doubs.[2] He left for Vietnam in 1821. In 1826, when Emperor Minh Mạng ordered all missionaries to gather at the capital Huế, he fled to the south to Đồng Nai in Cochinchina. He was captured once and released.
On 6 January 1833, a new edict of prohibition was promulgated by Minh Mạng and immediately put in application. Churches were destroyed, and missionaries had to live in hiding. Gagelin surrendered in August 1833, and he was brought to Huế. He was killed by strangulation on 17 October 1833,[3] which is the date of his feast.[4]
He was beatified in 1900, and canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
St. Victor, Alexander, and Marianus
Feastday: October 17
Death: 303
Martyrs put to death at Nicomedia under Emperor Dioclctian.
St. Francis Isidore Gagelin
Feastday: October 17
Death: 1833
Canonized: Pope John Paul II
Martyr of Vietnam. Born in Montperreux, France, in 1799, he entered the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. He was sent to Vietnam in 1822, where he was ordained a priest. In 1833, Francis was seized by anti-Christian forces and was martyred by strangulation. He was canonized in 1988.
François-Isidore Gagelin (10 May 1799 – 17 October 1833) was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Vietnam. He died a martyr,[1] and became the first French martyr of the 19th century in Vietnam. He was born in Montperreux, Doubs.[2] He left for Vietnam in 1821. In 1826, when Emperor Minh Mạng ordered all missionaries to gather at the capital Huế, he fled to the south to Đồng Nai in Cochinchina. He was captured once and released.
On 6 January 1833, a new edict of prohibition was promulgated by Minh Mạng and immediately put in application. Churches were destroyed, and missionaries had to live in hiding. Gagelin surrendered in August 1833, and he was brought to Huế. He was killed by strangulation on 17 October 1833,[3] which is the date of his feast.[4]
He was beatified in 1900, and canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
St. Florentius
Feastday: October 17
Death: 526
Bishop of Orange, in France. He was known for his patronage of monastic scholarship and his personal sancity. Florentius defended his see against the heresies of the era.
St. Ethelbert and Etheired
Feastday: October 17
Death: 670
Martyred great grandsons of King Ethelbert of Kent, England (d. 616), at Eastery near Sandwich. Their shrine is at Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire.
St. Berarius
Feastday: October 17
Death: 680
Bishop of Le Mans, France. He is remembered for translating the relics of St. Scholastica from Monte Cassino to Le Mans.
St. Anstrudis
Feastday: October 17
Death: 668
Benedictine abbess, also known as Astrude. She is believed to be the daughter of Sts. Salaberga and Blandinus. Anstrudis succeeded her mother as abbess of the abbey at Laon, France. When Anstrudis' brother, Baldwin, was murdered, Anstrudis opposed Ebroin, the mayor of the royal palace. Ebroin, a politically powerful man, sought many petty vengeances against Anstrudis and made her life difficult. Blessed Pepin of Landen entered the dispute and put a stop to Ebroin's harassment.
Saint Anstrudis (Anstrude, Austru, or Austrude) (b. unknown - 688). Anstrudis was the daughter of Saint Blandinus and Saint Sadalberga, the founder of the Abbey of St. John at Laon. She was also the sister of Saint Baldwin.
Background
In Merovingian Gaul, founding a monastery was a noble family's way of expressing and reinforcing its power. The founder gave the land, and retained the right to appoint the abbot or abbess, but also guaranteed its protection. Regine Le Jan describes it as part of the family's honor. The ruling abbot/abbess was frequently a family member and controlled access to the premises, a matter of some importance during a time of recurrent feuds and power struggles between neighboring families.[1] They served as a power base for families, and as such were not exempt from the political disturbances of the time.
Life
When St. Sadalberga withdrew from the world to become abbess at the convent, Anstrudis went with her. Sadalberga died in 655. Before her death, in order to ensure the stability of the abbey, Sadalberga determined to turn over its direction to her daughter as soon as Anstrudis reached the age of twenty. Anstrudis was then consecrated abbess.[2] She was noted for the care for her sisters, her all-night vigils, and her self-imposed austerities. Except on Sundays and on Christmas Day she never took any nourishment but one moderate refection at three o’clock in the afternoon, and on fast-days after sunset.[3]
Her tenure as abbess was marked by the unsettled political conditions of the period.[4] Anstrudis was caught up in the dynastic struggle between Dagobert II of Austrasia and Ebroin, mayor of the place of Neustria, who supported Theuderic III.[5]
Her brother Baldwin was treacherously assassinated while attempting to negotiate a settlement of some dispute regarding the convent. She herself was accused of wrongdoing by Ebroin. However, he was at length softened by her intrepid constancy and virtue and innocence, and from a persecutor became her patron and friend. Pepin, when Mayor of the palace, declared himself her strenuous protector.[3]
Anstrudis died in 688 of natural causes. Her feast day is celebrated on 17 October. Anstrudis is remembered in the Gallican and Benedictines calendars.[3]
The ten-petaled sunflower, which blooms in late summer or early fall is identified with Anstrudis.[6][7]
St. Vitalis
Feastday: October 16
Death: 740
Benedictine hermit. An Anglo-Saxon by descent, he became a Benedictine monk at Noirmoutier, France, later embracing the eremitical life on Mont Scobrit, near the Loire River.
St. Saturninus & Companions
Feastday: October 16
Death: 450
A group of some 365 martyrs (including Saturninus and Nereus) who were put to death in Africa during the persecution of the Church by the Arian Vandals who had conquered the region under their king, Geiseric. It is considered possible that they are to be identified with the martyrs who died under the leadership of Sts. Martinian and Saturian.
St. Mummolinus
Feastday: October 16
Death: 686
Benedictine bishop also called Mommolenus or Mommolinus. Born in Constance, Switzerland, he resided at Luxeuil, St. Omer, and Saint-Mommolin. He then went to Sithin, founded by St. Bertimus. In 660, Mummolinus was consecrated the bishop of Noyon-Tournai.
St. Maxima
Feastday: October 16
Martinian, his brother Saturian and their two brothers were slaves in Africa at the time of Arian King Jenseric's persecution of Catholics. They were converted to Christianity by another slave, Maxima. When their master insisted that Martinian marry Maxima, who had taken a vow of virginity, they fled to a monastery but were brought back and beaten for their attempt to escape. When their master died, his widow gave them to a Vandal, who freed Maxima (she later entered a monastery) and sold the men to a Berber chief. They converted many, petitioned the Pope to send them a priest, and were then tortured and dragged to their deaths by horses for their Faith. Their feast day is October 16.
