St. Anne
Feastday: October 29
Death: 820
Also called Euphemianus, a widow, born in Constantinople. From a good family, Anne was forced to marry. When widowed, she assumed a male disguise and the name of Euphemianus. As this male, Anne entered an abbey on Mount Olympus. Revered for holiness, she was asked to become an abbess but remained in an obscure monastery.
St. Abraham of Rostov
Feastday: October 29
Death: 11th century
Apostle to the Russian people and founder of religious institutions. He received many graces even before converting to Christianity and becoming a model of the faith. Born in Galicia, Russia, Abraham followed the pagan beliefs of the region. He was stricken with a severe disease and called upon Christ in his sufferings, whereupon he was healed miraculously. In gratitude, Abraham became a Christian and was baptized. He became a monk, and went to the city of Rostov where he began his apostolate among the pagans. He built two parish churches as well as a monastery. Many institutions for the poor and suffering were also started by this apostle of the faith.
Saint Abraham of Rostov, Archimandrite of Rostov, in the world Abercius, was born in tenth century in Chuhloma, which is in Kostroma region near Galich, Russia.[1]
Born Abercius, he was very ill as a child. He converted to Christianity in his youth after being cured from illness through prayer.[2] He decided to become a monk at Valaam and with the new name Abramius (Abraham) settled at Rostov on the shore of Lake Nero.[3]
Not far from his hut was a temple where the local tribes worshiped the stone idol of Veles, a source of superstitious fright in the whole neighborhood. His legend recounts a miraculous vision of Saint John the Evangelist, who gave him a staff, crowned with a cross, to destroy the idol. In commemoration of this, at the site of the temple, Abraham erected a monastery in honor of the Theophany. He also built a church dedicated to Saint John the Theologian, and preached the Gospel in his area. Convinced by his preaching, many pagans were baptized.[3]
At the petition of the Rostov princes Avraham was ordained to the rank of archimandrite of the monastery of the Theophany.[4]
His death and veneration
Abraham Reposed in old age and was buried in the church of the Theophany by his disciples.[5] His relics were found during the time of Grand Prince Vsevolod Georgievich (1176-1212).[6] According to Golubinsky the general church canonization of the Monk Abraham was held already by the time of the Makaryev Sobors of 1547-1549.[7] The divine service devoted to Abraham of Rostov, compiled in the imitation of the like to the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, was first mentioned in the manuscript collection of the 15th century.[8]
In 1551 Ivan the Terrible, during his military campaign against Khanate of Kazan, made a pilgrimage to the Abraham Monastery before the battles. He took the staff of the saint and upon successful defeat of Kazan khans he returned it back and ordered construction of the stone Cathedral of the Theophany in 1553- 1555.[9][6]
His feast days are: October 29 (November 11) (new style) - finding relics - in the Synaxis of the Kostroma saints, May 23 - in the Synaxis of Rostov-Yaroslavski Saints and in the Synaxis of the Karelian Saints - May 21 (dates are given according to the Julian calendar).[8]
Years of life and activity
The legend of the saint indicates 1010 as the date of his death, but most historians recognize this date to be wrong.[1] Nikolay Karamzin indicated, that Abraham was acting in Rostov during or after Andrey Bogolyubsky (c. 1111 – 1174). The activity of Abraham in Rostov dates from 1073–1077 years according to Vasily Klyuchevsky; Macarius Bulgakov refers it to (?)-1045 years, Andrei Titov - the end of the XI - the beginning of the XII century, Filaret (Gumilevsky) - the beginning of the XII century.[10]
Evgeny Golubinsky was skeptical about the very fact of the existence of Abraham, apparently considering him a single person with Abraham Galitzki and referring his activity to the last quarter of the fourteenth century (according to the legend, the latter lived the same years as Yury Dmitrievich, born in 1374). Arseny Kadlubovsky does not consider Abraham to be the founder of the Theophany Monastery, and also relates his life to the fourteenth century.
St. Abraham Kidunaja
Feastday: October 29
Death: 366
Hermit and apostle who faced the pagan priests of Edessa in Mesopotamia. Born in that city, Abraham refused to enter into a marriage arranged by his prosperous parents and went out into the nearby desert to live in a sealed cabin. Food was provided for him through a single opening by disciples, and his influence attracted other hermits to the region. When Abraham's parents died, he gave away his large inheritance. Soon after, he was asked by the bishop of Edessa to start a hermitage at Beth-Kiduna, near the city. The pagans in the region persecuted him after he destroyed their idols, but Abraham won them over and claimed the area for the Church. He then returned to his hermitage, where he is reported to have reached the age of seventy before dying.
Saint Abraham the Great of Kidunja (or Kidunaja) (died c. 366) was a 4th-century hermit and priest. He is venerated as a saint in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy.
Biography
The Vita of St. Abraham was written by his friend, St. Ephrem.[1]
Abraham was born to a wealthy family near Edessa, during the third century.[2] After receiving an excellent education, Abraham was encouraged to get married. He followed the wishes of his parents, but shortly before the wedding ceremony, he told his bride his desire to dedicate his life to God.[3] His bride accepted this resolution and Abraham retired to a cell near the city, where he walled up the cell door, leaving only a small window open for food to be brought him.
Ten years after he retreated from the world, his parents died, leaving Abraham a wealthy man.[4] He had the inheritance distributed to the poor. Abraham became known throughout the region as a holy man and many came to him for guidance.[1] Reports of his reputation came to the Bishop of Edessa who ordained him a priest and sent Abraham to Beth-Kidunaa. When Abraham destroyed the pagan idols and altars, the outraged townspeople drove him away. Abraham would return and urge them to give up their superstitions, and be driven out again. Eventually his persistence began to yield results.[5]
Abraham worked among them for the three years, when fearing that he would begin to desire material possessions he returned to his cell near Edessa where he spent the next fifty years in prayer and penance.[5] He was known never to reprove anyone sharply but always with charity and gentleness.
Around the year 360 Abraham died at the age of seventy after a long life of service to God.[3]
Legend
A popular story recounts that his orphan niece Mary had been entrusted to his care. He built a cell near his own and trained her in learning and piety until she was twenty. At this point, seduced by a false monk, she ran away ashamed and went to Troas, where she wound up a prostitute. For two years he lamented her departure not knowing what happened. When he finally learned where she was, he boldly went and recovered her.[3]
Veneration
The feast day of Saint Abraham is October 29 in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Roman Catholic Church.[6] The Syriac Catholic Church commemorates him on December 14, the Coptic Church on July 29, the Syriac Orthodox Church on October 24.
St. Godwin
Feastday: October 28
Death: 690
Benedictine abbot of the monastery of Stravelot Malmedy, Belgium, and a noted scholar.
St. Honoratus of Vercelli
Feastday: October 28
Birth: 330
Death: 415
Bishop of Vercelli, Italy, and a disciple of Sts. Eusebius and Ambrose. Born in Vercelli, Honoratus served St. Eusebius, who governed that see. When St. Eusebius went into exile in 355, Honoratus accompanied him to Scythopolis, Palestine. They traveled to Cappadocia , Egypt, and Illyricum, also Dalmatia. In 396, Honoratus was nominated as a bishop by St. Ambrose. Honoratus attended St. Ambrose on his deathbed.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vercelli (in Latin, Archidioecesis Vercellensis) is a Latin rite Metropolitan see in northern Italy, one of the two archdioceses which form the ecclesiastical region of Piedmont.
The archbishop's seat is in Basilica Cattedrale di S. Eusebio, a minor basilica dedicated to its canonized first bishop, in Vercelli, Piemonte (Piedmont). The city also has two Minor basilicas: Basilica di S. Andrea and Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore
St. Joachim Royo
Feastday: October 28
Death: 1748
Canonized: Pope John Paul II
Dominican martyr in China. A Spaniard, Joachim was sent to China with Blessed Peter Sanz and was ordained there. He was strangled to death in a prison after horrible atrocities. Pope Leo XIII beautified him in 1893.
This article is about the Catholic martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion. For the Protestant martyrs, see China Martyrs of 1900. For other martyrs, see Chinese Martyrs.
The Martyr Saints of China, or Augustine Zhao Rong and his 119 companions, are saints of the Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western missionaries[1] from the mid-17th century to 1930 were martyred because of their ministry and, in some cases, for their refusal to apostatize.
Many died in the Boxer Rebellion, in which anti-colonial peasant rebels slaughtered 30,000 Chinese converts to Christianity along with missionaries and other foreigners.
In the ordinary form of the Latin Rite, they are remembered with an optional memorial on July 9.
St. John Dat
Feastday: October 28
Death: 1798
Martyr of Vietnam. He was a native of that land, ordained in 1798, and arrested in that same year and imprisoned for three months before being beheaded. He was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
St. Remigius
Feastday: October 28
Death: 875
Archbishop of Lyons, France, and theologian. After serving as the arch-chaplain to the royal court of the Carolingian ruler Charles the Bald, he was named archbishop of Lyons in 852. During his time as archbishop, he became involved in the controversy surrounding the theologian Gottschalk of Fulda. While he was opposed to Gottschalk's teachings and ideas on predestination, he was firmly against the harsh treatment of the theologian as a result of his incarceration at the hands of Hincmar of Reims. Feast day: October 28.
St. Salvius
Feastday: October 28
Death: 6th century
Hermit, sometime identified with Salvius of Albi. Saint-Saire, Normandy, is named after him, from the French Saire , for Salvius.
St. Fidelis of Como
Feastday: October 28
Death: 304
Image of St. Fidelis of Como
A Roman soldier stationed in Milan, Italy. He aided Christian prisoners in an escape and was slain by his superiors. St. Charles Borromeo took Fidelis' relics to Milan, but some are venerated in Como.
Saint Fidelis of Como (Italian: San Fedele) (died c. 304) was an Italian soldier-saint, according to Christian tradition.
Contents
1 Legends
2 Veneration
3 Notes
4 External links
Legends
Fidelis' cult is associated with Carpophorus and Exanthus, two soldier-saints. Variations on their legend are applied to Fidelis. The first says that he, with Carpophorus and Exanthus, were Roman soldiers, members of the legendary Theban Legion, who deserted during the persecution of Christians by Maximian. They were caught and executed at Como. The second says that Fidelis was an army officer who was guarding Christian prisoners at Milan, including Saint Alexander of Bergamo. He managed to procure the freedom of five of these prisoners. With Carpophorus and Exanthus, he and these five attempted to make their way to the Alps, but were executed at Como.[1] The martyrdom of Fidelis is considered to have occurred on the north side of Lake Como, near Samolaco.[2]
Veneration
The Basilica of San Fedele in Como.
The cult of Fidelis at Como is ancient.[3] Magnus Felix Ennodius describes, in the early sixth century, a tomb at Como containing the relics of the martyr.[3] Reports of miracles at the tomb fomented the popularity of his cult. Sometime before 1000, the church of Sanfedelino, which was dedicated to him, was built on the site of a much earlier simple chapel, which dates from around the fourth century.[3]
Milan, Como, and Arona claim the relics of Fidelis.
Relics are said to have been transferred to Arona during a time of war between Milan and Como. In Arona, the presence of the relics of Fidelis and Carpophrous is attested in documents dating back to 1259 and 1321.[2]
Como's claim is based on an account of 964 that describes the translation of Fidelis' relics from the spot where he was killed to Como in that year.[4]
The church of San Fedele in Milan.
In 1576, Charles Borromeo transferred to Milan relics of Carpophorus and Fidelis. Though until then their veneration in Arona was minimal, Borromeo's proposed transfer angered the people of the city. As a compromise, Borromeo brought back to Arona the two left forearms of the saints. This occurred on March 13. The city council, which had been pressured by the populace to bring back the relics, decreed that an annual festival occur on that day, which in succeeding centuries has increased in importance. The purpose of the festival was extended to include the celebration for the martyrs Felinus and Gratian, thereby uniting their cult to that of Carpophorus and Fidelis.[2]
At Milan, Borromeo commissioned the church of San Fedele to Pellegrino Tibaldi (1559).
St. Ferrutius
Feastday: October 28
Death: unknown
A Roman soldier at Mainz, Germany, who refused to take part in pagan ceremonies. Thrown into prison, Ferrutius died of abuse and starvation.
St. Faro
Feastday: October 28
Death: 675
Image of St. Faro
Bishop of Meaux France, andbrother of Sts. Chainoaldus and Burgundofara. also called Pharo. He was raised in the court of King Thibert of Austrasia and married Blidechild. He also served King Clotaire II but then became a monk when Bhidechild entered a nunnery. In 628, he was named a bishop, then became chancellor to King Dagobert I of the Franks.
Saint Faro (or Burgundofaro; died c. 675 AD), Count of Guines, was bishop of Meaux. The family to which Faro belonged is known as the Faronids and is named after him.[1]
He is canonized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.
History
Burgundofaro was of an ancient noble Burgundian family. His brothers were Saint Waldebert, count of Guines, Ponthieu and Saint-Pol[2] who became abbot of Luxeuil, and Chagnoald, who was bishop of Laon, while his sister was Saint Burgundofara,[3] who founded the convent of Faremoûtiers. They were the children of Chagnoric, chancellor to Dagobert I.[4]
Faro spent his youth at the court of King Theodobert II. He served his successor, Theodoric, and then Clotaire II. At court he employed his credit with the king to protect the innocent, the orphan, and the widow; and to relieve and comfort all that were in distress. On one occasion, when provoked at the insolent speeches of certain Saxon ambassadors, Clothaire had them cast them into prison, and swore he would cause them to be put to death. Faro first prevailed on him to defer the execution twenty-four hours, and afterwards not only to pardon them, but also to send them home loaded with presents.[4]
His sister, Burgundafara, had become an abbess, and in speaking with her, Faro formed the idea of giving up court life. Blidechilde, his wife, whose consent he asked, was in the same dispositions; and they parted by mutual consent. She took the religious veil, and retired to a solitary place upon one of her own estates. Faro received the tonsure and joined the clergy of Meaux.[4]
Faro, who inherited lands in Guines from his brother, count Waldebert,[5] succeeded Gundoald, probably a kinsman of his, as bishop of Meaux at some time between 625 and 637. He built a monastery at Estrouanne, near the English channel port of Wissant, destroyed and burnt by Gormond and Isembart.[5]
Saint Fiacre approached Bishop Faro, as he had a desire to live a life of solitude in the forest. Faro assigned him a site at Breuil, in the region of Brie. Here Fiacre built an oratory in honour of the Virgin Mary, a hospice in which he received strangers, and a cell in which he himself lived apart.
