Bl. Louis Sotelo
Feastday: August 25
Birth: 1574
Death: 1624
Franciscan martyr of Japan. Louis Was a noble of Spain, who was ordained and sent to Manila, Philippines, in 1601. He went to Japan in 1603 but was exiled. Returning to Spain in 1613, he visited Rome in 1622, and then went again to Japan. He was arrested in Nagasaki and burned alive at Shimabara. Louis was beatified in 1867.
Luis Sotelo, in English known also as Louis Sotelo, (September 6, 1574 – August 25, 1624) was a Franciscan friar from Spain who died as a martyr in Japan, in 1624, and was beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1867.
Early life
Luis was born in Sevilla, Spain, and studied at the University of Salamanca before entering the convent of "Calvario de los Hermanos Menores". He was sent, in 1600, to the Philippines, in order to take on the spiritual needs of the Japanese settlement of Dilao, until it was destroyed by Spanish forces, in 1608, after intense fighting.
In 1608, Pope Paul V authorized Dominicans and Franciscans to proselytize in Japan, heretofore the preserve of the Jesuits. Sotelo spent four years in Manila, learning the Japanese language before going to Japan and taking a leading role there.
Proselytism in Edo
Sotelo tried to establish a Franciscan church in the area of Edo (present-day Tokyo). The church was destroyed in 1612, following the interdiction of Christianity in the territories of the Tokugawa shogunate on April 21, 1612. After a period of intense missionary activity by the Catholic Church, Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shōgun of the Tokugawa dynasty, issued a decree which banned the practice and teaching of the Christian faith, and under the threat of loss of life, all the missionaries had to leave Japan. This decree started the bloody persecution of Christians, which lasted several decades.[1]
After the healing in Edo of a concubine of the powerful daimyō of Sendai, Date Masamune, Sotelo was invited to the northern part of Japan, in the area controlled by Date, under whom Christianity was still allowed. He came back to Tokyo the following year and constructed and inaugurated a new church on May 12, 1613, in the area of Asakusa Torigoe. The Bakufu reacted by arresting the Christians, and Sotelo himself was put in the Kodenma-chō (小伝馬町) prison. Seven fellow Japanese Christians, who had been arrested with Sotelo, were executed on July 1, but he was freed following a special request by Date Masamune.
Embassy project
Sotelo, fluent in Japanese, planned and acted as translator on a Japanese embassy sent by Date Masamune to Spain on October 28, 1613. The embassy was headed by Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga, and crossed the Pacific to Acapulco on board the Japanese-built (with assistance from European sailors) galleon San Juan Bautista. The embassy continued to Veracruz and Sanlucar de Barrameda, Seville, and Madrid. Sotelo had the Japanese receive baptism in Madrid, before accompanying them to see Pope Paul V in Rome.
A replica of the Japanese-built 1613 galleon San Juan Bautista.
The embassy was a product of ambitions of Sotelo to increase the spread of the church in Japan and of Date Masamune to provide more priests to man the churches of his Christian subjects and to establish trade between Sendai and New Spain,[2] and it had the approval of the shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Sotelo remained for a full year in Madrid on the return journey, along with the rest of the embassy, delayed because Christianity was being harshly repressed in Japan, and because he was awaiting consecration as second Bishop of Japan. Pope Paul V had appointed him as such, pending the approval of the King of Spain, but, primarily because of rivalries between Franciscans and Jesuits, he was never consecrated. However, the Catholic Council of the Indies sent him back to Nueva España in 1618, to pursue his missionary activities there. Most of the Japanese samurai sent with the mission, who had converted to Christianity, remained at Coria del Río, near Seville, where their descendants live to this day. Sotelo accompanied ambassador Hasekura and the remains of the embassy back to Veracruz and Acapulco, where the San Juan Bautista, requested by the outgoing Viceroy of the Philippines to convey him to the Philippines before returning to Sendai, diverted their course to Manila, arriving there in 1620.
The ambassadors' plan to return to Sendai from Manila was obstructed first by pirates and contrary winds. When Hasekura finally was able to return, the Spanish authorities impounded Sotelo in Manila, having no desire to stir up conflict with the Portuguese Jesuit mission in Macao by allowing a second, rival Franciscan bishop to be consecrated in Sendai, in addition to the existing Jesuit Bishop of Japan, previously ruling the diocese of Funai (Nagasaki). Date Masamune had wanted to trade with Nueva España (Mexico), but it soon became apparent that the policy of sakoku (the late-1613 closure of Japan to outside influences except for very carefully controlled trade through south-western ports), along with Spanish insistence that all trade to the East be channelled through the Philippines, would make this impossible.
Return to Japan and Martyrdom
When Masamune Date sent a ship to collect him from the Philippines in order to bring him back to Sendai, the Spanish authorities forbade Sotelo to board it and would not allow him to make his own boat and sail there. He finally managed to enter Japan in 1622 and was turned over to the authorities by Chinese merchants when he was discovered on their ship. He was imprisoned for two years at Ōmura, north of Nagasaki, while the shōgun deliberated on his case. In the local prison, he joined Pedro Vásquez, Miguel de Carvalho and two Japanese Franciscans, Ludovicus Sasada and tertiary Ludovicus Baba.[3] Sotelo was burned at the stake in Ōmura, on 25 August 1624, at the age of 50, together with his religious companions.[4]
He was beatified by Pope Pius IX on 7 July 1867. In the Roman Catholic Church, his feast day is celebrated on 25 August,[5] as well as 10 September, the anniversary of the massacre of 205 Japanese martyrs.
Bl. Louis Sasanda
Feastday: August 25
Death: 1624
Martyr of Japan, the son of Blessed Michael Sasanda. In 1613, this Japanese youth became a Franciscan in Mexico and was ordained in 1622 in Manila, Philippines. He returned to Japan and was arrested and burned alive at Shimabara with Blessed Louis Sotelo. He was beatified in 1867
.Bl. Louis Baba
Feastday: August 25
Death: 1624
Martyr of Japan, a Franciscan. A native Japanese, he went with Blessed Louis Sotelo to Europe, and upon returning to Japan, was arrested. Louis received the Franciscan habit in Omura. He was burned alive in Shimabara. Louis was beatified in 1867.
St. Joseph Calasanctius
Feastday: August 25
Patron: of Schools
Birth: 1557
Death: 1648
Founder of the Religious Schools, called the Scolopi or Piarists. Joseph was born in Peralta, Aragon, Spain. He went to Rome in 1592 and joined the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, founding his congregation as a result of his work with neglected children. Joseph suffered unjust accusations but was restored as head of his congregation before he died. He was canonized in 1767.
St. Warinus
Feastday: August 25
Death: 7th century
Martyr of the Franks. The son of St. Sigrada and brother of St. Leodegarius, he was murdered by Ebroin, the cruel Frankish Mayor of the Palace after Ebroin entered into a bitter feud with Leodegarius.
St. Yrieix
Feastday: August 25
Death: 591
Yrieix (d. 591) + Abbot, sometimes called Aredius. Born at Limoges, France, he served for a time in the court of the Franks and then was founder of the monastery of Atane in Limousin.The monastery and also the surrounding village of Saint-Yrieux were named in his honor. Feast day: August 25.
For the bishop of Gap, see Aredius of Gap.
Aredius (c. 510–591), also known as Yrieix and Saint Aredius, was Abbot of Limoges and chancellor to Theudebert I, King of Austrasia in the 6th century. He founded the monastery of Attanum, and the various French communes called St. Yrieix are named after him.
Background
Aredius was from a prominent Gallo-Roman family of Limoges. He was the son of a noble landowner, Jucundus, and his wife, Pelagia of Limoges. As a young boy he received his education from the abbot Sebastian of the monastery at Vigeois. As a young man, he was sent to the court of the Frankish king Theodebert I of Austrasia (534-48) at Trier. By 540 was appointed chancellor.[1]
Nicetius bishop of Trier persuaded Aredius to leave the dissolute life at court. According to Gregory of Tours, one day, while the clerics sang psalms in the church, a dazzling white dove, after flying around Aredius, landed on his head, as if to show that he was already filled with the Holy Spirit. As he was a little shy, he waved it away, and it flittered a little before landing on its shoulder, and followed him all the way to the bishop's house.[2]
Upon the death of his father, Aredius returned to the Limousin to care for his mother. Entrusting to her the management of his estates, he lived for a time as a hermit in a cave. He used his inheritance to found in the 564/572 monastery of Atane (Attane) on land from his villa Attanum on the rivers Loue and Couchou in Limousin (Haute-Vienne). He became an abbot in the monastery, and the first monks were members of his own household. Gregory of Tours says that the house followed the rule of Cassian and later incorporated some aspects of the rule of Saint Basil. Later, other monks joined them. This later became the site of the city of Saint Yrieix.[3]
Aredius divided his time between agricultural labor and study. He was known for his evangelical journeys throughout Gaul. He founded monasteries in Vigeois and Excideuil in Périgord and went on pilgrimages, always on foot. Every year he made a pilgrimage to Tours to celebrate the feast of Saint Martin. He would also travel annually to the Holy Cross Abbey in Poitiers to visit Queen Radegund. He supported the cult of Medard of Soissons and probably built the church in his honor at Excideuil. Aredius built several churches in honor of saints whose relics he had collected.[3]
Miracle stories began to be associated with him. People in the area believed him to have the gift of healing. Gregory says they crowded to Aredius "like bees to a hive".[4] On more than one occasion, he intervened with the Merovingian princes on behalf of the people regarding oppressive taxes.
He was a friend of Gregory of Tours, and bequeathed some of his wealth to the church at Tours.[5]
The town of Saint-Yrieix-La-Perche has requested that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York return a reliquary of Aredius, which the town maintains was illegally purchased in 1906.
St. Louis IX
Feastday: August 25
Patron: of Third Order of St. Francis, France, French monarchy; hairdressers
Birth: 1214
Death: 1270
Louis IX was born in Poissy, France in 1214 to Louis VIII and Blanche of Castille. He succeeded to the throne at the age of twelve under the regency of his mother. On his twenty-first birthday he assumed full kingship. He was well known for protecting the French clergy from secular leaders and for strictly enforcing laws against blasphemy. Louis generally remained neutral in international disputes. However, because of a dispute between the Count of Le Marche and the Count of Poitiers, in which Henry III supported the Count of Le Marche, he was forced to go to war with England. In 1242 Louis defeated Henry III at Tailebourg. After the war, he made restitution to the innocent people whose property had been destroyed. He established the Sorbonne (1252) and the monasteries of Rayaumont, Vavert, and Maubuisson. Louis led two crusades, the Sixth and the Seventh Crusades. He was captured and imprisoned during the Sixth (1244-1249). At the onset of the Seventh Crusade in 1270, Louis died of dysentry. Boniface VIII canonized him in 1297.
"Louis IX" redirects here. For other uses, see Louis IX (disambiguation).
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was king of France from 1226 to 1270. Louis was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the death of his father Louis VIII; his mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled the kingdom as regent until he reached maturity, and then remained his valued adviser until her death. During Louis's childhood, Blanche dealt with the opposition of rebellious vassals and obtained a definitive victory in the Albigensian Crusade, which had started 20 years earlier.
As an adult, Louis IX faced recurring conflicts with some of his realm's most powerful nobles, such as Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter of Dreux. Simultaneously, Henry III of England attempted to restore the Angevin continental possessions, but was promptly routed at the Battle of Taillebourg. Louis annexed several provinces, notably parts of Aquitaine, Maine and Provence.
Louis IX is one of the most notable European monarchs of the Middle Ages. His reign is remembered as a medieval golden age in which the Kingdom of France reached an economic as well as political peak. His fellow European rulers esteemed him highly, for his pre-eminence in arms and the unmatched wealth of his kingdom, but also for his reputation of fairness and moral integrity: he was often asked to arbitrate their disputes.[1]
He was a reformer and developed a French royal justice in which the king was the supreme judge to whom anyone could in theory appeal for the amendment of a judgment. He banned trials by ordeal, tried to end the scourge of private wars, and introduced the presumption of innocence in criminal procedure. To enforce his new legal system, Louis IX created provosts and bailiffs.
Honoring a vow he had made while praying for recovery during a serious illness, Louis IX led the ill-fated Seventh and Eighth crusades against the Ayyubids, Bahriyya Mamluks and Hafsid Kingdom. He was captured in the first and ransomed against a third of France's annual revenue, and he died from dysentery during the latter. He was succeeded by his son Philip III.
His admirers through the centuries have regarded Louis IX as the ideal Christian ruler, though contemporaries occasionally rebuked him as a "monk king".[2][3] He was seen as inspired by Christian zeal and Catholic devotion. Enforcing strict Catholic orthodoxy, his laws punished blasphemy by mutilation of the tongue and lips,[4] and he ordered the burning of some 12,000 manuscript copies of the Talmud and other important Jewish books.[5] He is the only canonized king of France, and there are consequently many places named after him.
Sources
Much of what is known of Louis's life comes from Jean de Joinville's famous Life of Saint Louis. Joinville was a close friend, confidant, and counselor to the king. He participated as a witness in the papal inquest into Louis's life that resulted in his canonisation in 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII.
Two other important biographies were written by the king's confessor, Geoffrey of Beaulieu, and his chaplain, Guillaume de Chartres (dominicain) [fr]. While several individuals wrote biographies in the decades following the king's death, only Jean of Joinville, Geoffrey of Beaulieu, and William of Chartres wrote from personal knowledge of the king and of the events they describe, and all three are biased favorably to the king. The fourth important source of information is William of Saint-Parthus's 19th-century biography,[6] which he wrote using material from the papal inquest mentioned above.
Early life
Louis was born on 25 April 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of Louis the Lion and Blanche of Castile,[7] and was baptised there in La Collégiale Notre-Dame church. His grandfather on his father's side was Philip II, king of France; while his grandfather on his mother's side was Alfonso VIII, king of Castile. Tutors of Blanche's choosing taught him most of what a king was expected to know—Latin, public speaking, writing, military arts, and government.[8] He was nine years old when his grandfather Philip II died and his father ascended as Louis VIII.[9]
Louis was 12 years old when his father died on 8 November 1226. He was crowned king within the month at Reims Cathedral. Because of Louis's youth, his mother ruled France as regent during his minority.[10] Louis's mother trained him to be a great leader and a good Christian. She used to say:[11]
I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child; but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should ever commit a mortal sin.
His younger brother Charles I of Sicily (1227–85) was created count of Anjou, thus founding the Capetian Angevin dynasty.
No date is given for the beginning of Louis's personal rule. His contemporaries viewed his reign as co-rule between the king and his mother, though historians generally view the year 1234 as the year in which Louis began ruling personally, with his mother assuming a more advisory role.[1] She continued to have a strong influence on the king until her death in 1252.[10][12]
Marriage
On 27 May 1234, Louis married Margaret of Provence (1221 – 21 December 1295); she was crowned in the cathedral of Sens the next day.[13] Louis's marriage had political connections, as his wife was sister to Eleanor, who later married Henry III of England. The new queen's religious zeal made her a well-suited partner for the king. He enjoyed her company, and was pleased to show her the many public works he was making in Paris, both for its defence and for its health. They enjoyed riding together, reading, and listening to music. His attention to Margaret aroused a certain amount of jealousy in his mother, who tried to keep the couple apart as much as she could.[14]
Crusading
When Louis was 15, his mother brought an end to the Albigensian Crusade in 1229. She signed an agreement with Count Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, which cleared the latter's father of wrongdoing.[15] Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse had been suspected of murdering a preacher on a mission to convert the Cathars.[16]
Louis went on two crusades: in his mid-30s in 1248 (Seventh Crusade), and then again in his mid-50s in 1270 (Eighth Crusade).
Louis and his followers landed in Egypt on 4 or 5 June 1249 and began their campaign with the rapid capture of the port of Damietta.[17][18] This attack caused some disruption in the Muslim Ayyubid empire, especially as the current sultan, Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, was on his deathbed. However, the march of Europeans from Damietta toward Cairo through the Nile River Delta went slowly. The seasonal rising of the Nile and the summer heat made it impossible for them to advance and follow up on their success.[19] During this time, the Ayyubid sultan died, and the sultan's wife Shajar al-Durr set in motion a sudden power shift that would make her Queen and eventually place the Egyptian army of the Mamluks in power.
On 8 February 1250 Louis lost his army at the Battle of Al Mansurah[20] and was captured by the Egyptians. His release was eventually negotiated in return for a ransom of 400,000 livres tournois (at the time France's annual revenue was only about 1,250,000 livres tournois[citation needed]) and the surrender of the city of Damietta.[21]
Louis IX was taken prisoner at the Battle of Fariskur, during the Seventh Crusade (Gustave Doré).
Four years in Latin Kingdoms
Following his release from Egyptian captivity, Louis spent four years in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, namely in Acre, Caesarea, and Jaffa. He used his wealth to assist the Crusaders in rebuilding their defences[22] and conducted diplomacy with the Islamic powers of Syria and Egypt. In the spring of 1254 he and his surviving army returned to France.[17]
Louis exchanged multiple letters and emissaries with Mongol rulers of the period. During his first crusade in 1248, Louis was approached by envoys from Eljigidei, the Mongol military commander stationed in Armenia and Persia.[23] Eljigidei suggested that King Louis should land in Egypt, while Eljigidei attacked Baghdad, to prevent the Saracens of Egypt and those of Syria from joining forces. Louis sent André de Longjumeau, a Dominican priest, as an emissary to the Great Khan Güyük Khan (r. 1246–48) in Mongolia. Güyük died before the emissary arrived at his court, however, and no action was taken by the two parties. Instead Güyük's queen and now regent, Oghul Qaimish, politely turned down the diplomatic offer.[24]
Louis dispatched another envoy to the Mongol court, the Franciscan William of Rubruck, who visited the Great Khan Möngke (1251–1259) in Mongolia. He spent several years at the Mongol court. In 1259, Berke, the ruler of the Golden Horde, westernmost part of the Mongolian Empire, demanded the submission of Louis.[25] By contrast, Mongolian emperors Möngke and Khubilai's brother, the Ilkhan Hulegu, sent a letter to the king of France seeking his military assistance, but the letter never reached France.[26]
Eighth Crusade
Death of Saint Louis: On 25 August 1270, Saint Louis dies in his tent, ornamented with royal symbols, near Tunis. Illuminated by Jean Fouquet, Grandes Chroniques de France (1455–1460)
In a parliament held at Paris, 24 March 1267, Louis and his three sons "took the cross." On hearing the reports of the missionaries, Louis resolved to land at Tunis, and he ordered his younger brother, Charles of Anjou, to join him there. The crusaders, among whom was the English prince Edward Longshanks, landed at Carthage 17 July 1270, but disease broke out in the camp. Many died of dysentery, and on 25 August, Louis himself died.[22][27]
Patron of arts and arbiter of Europe
Louis's patronage of the arts inspired much innovation in Gothic art and architecture. The style of his court was influential throughout Europe, both because of artwork purchased from Parisian masters for export, and by the marriage of the king's daughters and female relatives to foreign husbands. They became emissaries of Parisian models and styles elsewhere. Louis's personal chapel, the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, which was known for its intricate stained-glass windows, was copied more than once by his descendants elsewhere. Louis is believed to have ordered the production of the Morgan Bible, a masterpiece of medieval painting.
Pope Innocent IV with Louis IX at Cluny
During the so-called "golden century of Saint Louis", the kingdom of France was at its height in Europe, both politically and economically. Saint Louis was regarded as "primus inter pares", first among equals, among the kings and rulers of the continent. He commanded the largest army and ruled the largest and wealthiest kingdom, the European centre of arts and intellectual thought at the time. The foundations for the notable college of theology, later known as the Sorbonne, were laid in Paris about the year 1257.[19]
The prestige and respect felt by Europeans for King Louis IX were due more to the appeal of his personality than to military domination. For his contemporaries, he was the quintessential example of the Christian prince and embodied the whole of Christendom in his person. His reputation for fairness and even saintliness was already well established while he was alive, and on many occasions he was chosen as an arbiter in quarrels among the rulers of Europe.[1]
Shortly before 1256, Enguerrand IV, Lord of Coucy, arrested and without trial hanged three young squires of Laon, whom he accused of poaching in his forest. In 1256 Louis had the lord arrested and brought to the Louvre by his sergeants. Enguerrand demanded judgment by his peers and trial by battle, which the king refused because he thought it obsolete. Enguerrand was tried, sentenced, and ordered to pay 12,000 livres. Part of the money was to pay for masses to be said in perpetuity for the souls of the men he had hanged.
In 1258, Louis and James I of Aragon signed the Treaty of Corbeil to end areas of contention between them. By this treaty, Louis renounced his feudal overlordship over the County of Barcelona and Roussillon, which was held by the King of Aragon. James in turn renounced his feudal overlordship over several counties in southern France, including Provence and Languedoc. In 1259 Louis signed the Treaty of Paris, by which Henry III of England was confirmed in his possession of territories in southwestern France, and Louis received the provinces of Anjou, Normandy (Normandie), Poitou, Maine, and Touraine.[10]
Religious nature
Louis IX allowing himself to be whipped as penance
The perception of Louis IX by his contemporaries as the exemplary Christian prince was reinforced by his religious zeal. Louis was an extremely devout Catholic, and he built the Sainte-Chapelle ("Holy Chapel"),[1] located within the royal palace complex (now the Paris Hall of Justice), on the Île de la Cité in the centre of Paris. The Sainte Chapelle, a prime example of the Rayonnant style of Gothic architecture, was erected as a shrine for what Louis believed to be the Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the True Cross, supposed precious relics of the Passion of Christ. He acquired these in 1239–41 from Emperor Baldwin II of the Latin Empire of Constantinople by agreeing to pay off to Niccolo Quirino, a wealthy Venetian merchant, the imperial debt for which Baldwin had pledged the Crown of Thorns as collateral.[28] Louis IX paid the exorbitant sum of 135,000 livres to clear this debt (the construction of the chapel, for comparison, cost only 60,000 livres).
Louis IX took very seriously his mission as "lieutenant of God on Earth", with which he had been invested when he was crowned in Reims. To fulfill this duty, he conducted two crusades. They contributed to his prestige, even though both ended disastrously. Everything he did was for what he saw as the glory of God and the good of his people. He protected the poor and was never heard to speak ill of anyone. He excelled in penance, leaving a hair shirt and a scourge which he had used in private practice. He had a great love for the Church. He was merciful even to rebels. When he was urged to execute a prince who had followed his father in rebellion, he refused, saying: "A son cannot refuse to obey his father."[11]
Hair shirt and scourge of Louis IX. Treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris.
In 1230 the King forbade all forms of usury, defined at the time as any taking of interest and therefore covering most banking activities. When the original borrowers from Jewish and Lombard lenders could not be found, Louis exacted from those lenders a contribution toward the crusade which Pope Gregory was trying to launch.[19] At the urging of Pope Gregory IX, following the Disputation of Paris in 1240, Louis ordered in 1243 the burning in Paris of some 12,000 manuscript copies of the Talmud and other Jewish books. The edict against the Talmud was eventually overturned by Gregory IX's successor, Innocent IV.[29]
Louis also expanded the scope of the Inquisition in France. He set the punishment for blasphemy to mutilation of the tongue and lips.[4] The area most affected by this expansion was southern France, where the Cathar sect had been strongest. The rate of confiscation of property from the Cathars and others reached its highest levels in the years before his first crusade, and slowed upon his return to France in 1254.
In 1250, Louis headed a crusade to Egypt and was taken prisoner. During his captivity, he recited the Divine Office every day. After his release against ransom, he visited the Holy Land before returning to France.[11] In these deeds, Louis IX tried to fulfill what he considered the duty of France as "the eldest daughter of the Church" (la fille aînée de l'Église), a tradition of protector of the Church going back to the Franks and Charlemagne, who had been crowned by Pope Leo III in Rome in 800. The kings of France were known in the Church by the title "most Christian king" (Rex Christianissimus). The relationship between France and the papacy was at its peak in the 12th and 13th centuries. The popes called for most of the crusades from French soil.
Louis was renowned for his charity. Beggars were fed from his table: he ate their leavings; washed their feet; ministered to the wants of lepers, who were generally ostracized; and daily fed over one hundred poor. He founded many hospitals and houses: the House of the Filles-Dieu for reformed prostitutes; the Quinze-Vingt for 300 blind men (1254), and hospitals at Pontoise, Vernon, and Compiégne.[30]
St. Louis installed a house of the Trinitarian Order at Fontainebleau, his chateau and estate near Paris. He chose Trinitarians as his chaplains, and was accompanied by them on his crusades. In his spiritual testament he wrote: "My dearest son, you should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin."[11]
Louis authored and sent the Enseignements, or teachings, to his son Philip III. The letter outlined how Philip should be a moral person and leader, following Christ's example.[31] The letter is estimated to have been written in 1267, 3 years before his death.[32]
Death and legacy
Reliquary of Saint Louis (end of the 13th century) Basilica of Saint Dominic, Bologna, Italy
During his second crusade, Louis died at Tunis on 25 August 1270, in an epidemic of dysentery that swept through his army.[27][36][37] According to European custom, his body was subjected to the process known as mos Teutonicus prior to his remains being returned to France. (This was a postmortem funerary custom used in medieval Europe whereby the flesh was boiled from the body, so that the bones of the deceased could be transported hygienically from distant lands back home). This was not the common practice for Muslim burials. [38] Louis was succeeded by his son, Philip III.
Louis's younger brother, Charles I of Naples, preserved his heart and intestines, and conveyed them for burial in the cathedral of Monreale near Palermo.[39] Louis's bones were carried overland in a lengthy processional across Sicily, Italy, the Alps, and France, until they were interred in the royal necropolis at Saint-Denis in May 1271.[40] Charles and Philip II later dispersed a number of relics to promote his veneration.[41]
Ancestry
Veneration as a saint
Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the canonisation of Louis in 1297;[42] he is the only French king to be declared a saint.[43] Louis IX is often considered the model of the ideal Christian monarch.[42] The influence of his canonization was so great that many of his successors were named Louis after him[citation needed].
Named in his honour, the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in Vannes, France, in 1803.[44] A similar order, the Sisters of St Louis, was founded in Juilly in 1842.[45][46]
He is honoured as co-patron of the Third Order of St. Francis, which claims him as a member of the Order. Even in childhood, his compassion for the poor and suffering people was known to those who were close to him. When he became king, over a hundred poor people were served meals in his house on ordinary days. Often the king served these guests himself. Such acts of charity, coupled with Louis's devout religious practices, gave rise to the legend that he joined the Third Order of St. Francis. Though it is unlikely that Louis did join the order, his life and actions proclaimed him as one of them in spirit
Saint Joseph Calasanz
Also known as
• Joseph Calasanctius
• Joseph of Our Lady
• Joseph Calsanza
Profile
Youngest of five children born to Don Pedro Calasanz and Donna Maria Gastonia. His mother and a brother died while he was still in school. Studied at Estadilla, at the University of Lereda, at Valencia, and at Alcala de Henares. Obtained degrees in canon law and theology. His father wanted the Joseph to become a soldier, to marry, and to continue the family, but a near fatal illness in 1582 caused the young man to seriously examine his life, and he realized a call to the religious life.
Ordained on 17 December 1583. Parish priest at Albarracin. Secretary and confessor to his bishop, synodal examiner, and procurator. Revived religious zeal among the laity, discipline among the clergy in a section of the Pyrenees. Both his bishop and his father died in 1587.
Vicar-general of Trempe, Spain. Following a vision, he gave away much of his inheritance, renounced most of the rest, and travelled to Rome, Italy in 1592. Worked in the household of Cardinal Ascanio Colonna as thelogical advisor for the cardinal, tutor to the cardinal's nephew. Worked with plague victims in 1595.
Member of the Confraternity for Christian Doctrine. Tried to get poor children, many of them orphans and/or homeless, into school. The teachers, already poorly paid, refused to work with the new students without a raise; in November 1597, Joseph and two fellow priests opened a small, free school for poor children. Pope Clement VIII, and later Pope Paul V, contributed toward their work. He was soon supervising several teachers and hundreds of students.
In 1602 they moved to larger quarters, and reorganized the teaching priests into a community. In 1612 they moved to the Torres palace to have even more room. In 1621 the community was recognized as a religious order called Le Sciole Pie (Religious Schools), also known as the Piarists, or Scolopii or Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum or Order of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools; Joseph acted as superior of the Order.
The community encountered many obstacles - Joseph's friendship with the astronomer Galileo Galilei caused a stir with some Church officials. Some of the ruling class objected that to educate the poor would cause social unrest. Other Orders that worked with the poor were afraid they would be absorbed by the Piarists. But they group continued to have papal support, and continued to do good work.
In his old age, Joseph suffered through seeing his Order torn apart. He was accused of incompetence by Father Mario Sozzi, who was chosen as new superior of the Order. Sozzi died in 1643, and was replaced by Father Cherubini who pursued the same course as Sozzi, and nearly destroyed the Order. A papal commission charged with examining the Order acquitted Joseph of all accusations, and in 1645, returned him to superior of the Order, but internal dissent continued, and in 1646 Pope Innocent X dissolved the Order, placing the priests under control of their local bishops.
The Piarists were reorganized in 1656, eight years after Joseph's death. They were restored as a religious order in 1669, and continue their good work today.
Born
11 September 1556 at Peralta, Barbastro, Aragon, Spain in his father's castle
Died
• 25 August 1648 at Rome, Italy of natural causes
• buried at Saint Panteleone, Rome
Canonized
16 July 1767 by Pope Clement XIII
Patronage
• Catholic schools (proclaimed on 13 August 1948 by Pope Pius XII)
• schools, colleges, universities
• students, schoolchildren
• Congregation of Christian Workers of Saint Joseph Calasanz
Blessed María del Tránsito de Jesús Sacramentado
Also known as
• María Cabanillas
• María del Tránsito Cabanillas
• María del Transito Eugenia de los Dolores Cabanillaswas
• María del Tránsito Of Jesus In The Blessed Sacrament
Profile
Third child born to Felipe Cabanillas and Francisca Antonia Luján Sánchez. Raised in a large, wealthy and pious family; she had ten siblings, three of whom died in childhood, one brother became a priest, three sisters nuns. Educated at home and then at Cordoba, Argentina where she studied and helped care for her seminarian younger brother until his ordination in 1853.
Maria's father died in 1850, and the rest of the family moved to Cordoba, living near the church of San Roque. Maria stayed at home, helping her mother with the children, maintaining a personal piety and devotion to the Eucharist, working as a catechist, and visiting the poor and sick of Cordoba. Maria's mother died on 13 April 1858.
With her family grown or gone, Maria now felt free to pursue her religious vocation, and she entered the Franciscan Third Order at age 37, devoting more of her day to prayer. In 1871 she met Mrs Isidora Ponce de León who was building a Carmelite monastery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1872 Maria moved to Buenos Aries, and entered the monastery on 19 March 1873. For health reasons, she was forced to leave the cloister in April 1874. In September 1874 she entered the convent of the Sisters of the Visitation in Montevideo, Uruguay, but had to leave there in a few months due to her continuing health problems.
During this time of turmoil and rejection of her perceived vocation, Maria began again to ponder an idea that had followed her all her life - an education and assistance foundation to help children. Several Franciscans encouraged her, and Father Agustin Garzón offered her a house and his help and contacts. She obtained approval for the project on 8 December 1878, and with her companions Teresa Fronteras and Brigida Moyano, and Bother Cirlaco Porreca as director, she started the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Missionaries of Argentina, dedicated to helping the poor, orphaned and abandoned. The three women made their religious profession on 2 February 1879, and their institute became offically affiliated with the Franciscans on 28 January 1880.
The new Congregation met with immediate success in vocations - the Argentinian colleges of Saint Margarite of Cortona in San Vicente, El Carmen in Rio Cuarto, and Immaculate Conception in Villa Nueva were founded during Maria's lifetime. The work, however, ruined her already frail health, and she died within six years.
Born
15 August 1821 on the estate of Santa Leocadia, now Carlos Paz, Cordoba, Argentina as Maria Cabanillas
Died
25 August 1885 at San Vicente, Cordoba, Argentina of natural causes
Beatified
14 April 2002 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Ebbe the Elder
Also known as
• Ebbe of Coldingham
• Abbs, Aebbe, Ebba, Tabbs
Profile
Daughter of the pagan King Aethelfrith the Ravager of Bernicia and Princess Aacha of Deira, one of seven children. Sister of Saint Oswald of Northumbria and King Oswiu. Niece of Saint Ethelreda. When her father was killed in battle when Ebbe was about ten years old, her mother fled with the family for the court of King Eochaid Buide at Dunadd in modern Scotland. There she converted to Christianity.
A Scottish prince, Aidan, wished to marry Ebbe, and the family was in favour, but Ebbe was drawn to the religious life. Benedictine nun at the double monastery at Coldingham c.655, taking the veil from Saint Finan of Iona. Aidan, determined to marry her, followed, planning to carry her off. She fled to a high rock. The tide came in, cutting her off from the land and her pursuer. Because of her prayers, the tide remained high for three days, holding off Aidan until he realized the divine nature of her protection, and gave up.
Founded the monastery of Ebchester (i.e., Ebbe's castle or Ebbe's camp) on an old Roman camp on the River Dawent, in County Durham, land given her by her brother Oswiu. Later, during one of the disruptions in the kingdom, Aebbe was captured, but escaped, fleeing in a small boat down the River Humber and out to sea. A supernatural being then sailed the craft safely through dangerous seas till it landed on a spit of land in Berwickshire, defended on three sides by the sea, and on the forth by swampy land. A group of monks, singing in a church that was later renamed for Ebbe, witnessed this, and became some of the first brothers at the large double monastery she founded there. Abbess.
Friend of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, who normally avoided women but came to visit Ebbe. Saint Ethelreda stayed at her monastery as a nun in 672. Peacemaker among the local laity. Though she was noted for her own piety, Ebbe had trouble enforcing discipline at the monastery. The monks and nuns became very lax and worldly. One of the brothers, Adomnan, received a vision prophesying that the monastery would burn to the ground; it did, not long after Ebbe's death.
Born
c.615 in Northumbria, England
Died
25 August 683 at Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland of natural causes
Saint Thomas of Hereford
Also known as
• Thomas de Cantilupe
• Thomas de Cantelow
• Thomas de Cantelou
• Thomas de Canteloupe
• Thomas de Cantelupo
Additional Memorial
• 25 August (Roman Martyrology)
• 3 October (in England)
Profile
Born to the nobility, the son of Baron William de Cantilupe. Educated in Oxford, England, and in France at Paris and Orléans. Priest. Attended the Council of Lyons in 1245. Papal chaplain. Taught canon law at the University of Oxford, and was chosen the university chancellor in 1262. Diplomat to Saint Louis of France in 1264 during the Barons' War. Appointed Lord Chancellor of England on 25 February 1265. Attended the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. Bishop of Hereford, England, appointed on 14 June 1275 and consecrated on 8 September 1275. Known for his large charity to the poor and his blameless personal life, endlessly involved in both Church and civil matters. Advisor to King Edward I.
Following a series of disputes between Thomas and Archbishop John Peckham of Canterbury, Peckham excommunicated Thomas. Thomas travelled to Rome, Italy to put his case before Pope Martin IV, was absolved of wrong-doing, and died in full communion with the Church while on his way back to England.
Born
c.1218 in Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England
Died
• 25 August 1282 in Ferento, Montefiascone, Italy of natural causes
• buried in Hereford Cathedral
• his skull was moved to a reliquary at Downside Abbey, Somerset, England in 1881
Canonized
17 April 1320 by Pope John XXII
Saint Genesius of Rome
Also known as
Gelasinus, Gelasius
Profile
Genesius was an actor who worked in a series of plays that mocked Christianity. One day while performing in a work that made fun of Baptism he received sudden wisdom from God, realized the truth of Christianity, and had a conversion experience on stage. He announced his new faith, and refused to renounce it, even when ordered to do so by emperor Diocletian. Martyr.
Died
beheaded c.303 at Rome, Italy
Patronage
• actors
• against epilepsy, epileptics
• attorneys, barristers, lawyers
• clowns
• comedians, comediennes, comics
• converts
• dancers
• musicians
• printers
• stenographers
• torture victims
Saint Genesius of Brescello
Also known as
• Genesius of Brixellum
• Genesio...
Profile
Bishop of Brescello, Italy, possibly the first in this diocese.
Born
latter 4th century
Blessed Maria Troncatti
Profile
Worked as a Red Cross nurse in an Italian military hospital during World War I. Nun in the Salesian Sisters. In 1922 she left Italy for Ecuador and spent the rest of her life working with the Shuar tribe in the Amazon forest.
Born
16 February 1883 in Corteno Golgi, Brescia, Italy
Died
25 August 1969 in a plane crash in Sucúa, Morona-Santiago, Ecuador
Beatified
• 24 November 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
• beatification recognition was celebrated at Macas, Morona Santiago, Ecuador, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato
Blessed Miguel Carvalho
Also known as
Michael Carvalho
Profile
Entered the Jesuits in 1597. Missionary to Goa, India. Priest. Taught theology for 15 years. Missionary to Japan. Arrested in July 1863 for spreading Christianity, he spent several months in prison before being killed. Martyr.
Born
1579 in Braga, Portugal
Died
roasted alive on 25 August 1624 in Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
Beatified
7 May 1867 by Pope Blessed Pius IX
Saint Menas of Constantinople
Also known as
Mennas, Mina, Minas
Profile
Superior of the hospice of Saint Samson in Constantinople. Patriarch of Constantinople, ordained and consecrated by Pope Saint Agapetus in 536 to replace Anthimus who had fallen into the monophysite heresy. Led the synod of Constantinople in 536. Consecrated the church of Hagia Sophia. Subscribed to the Edict of the Emperor Justinian condemning the documents known as the “Three Chapters” for which he was excommunicated by Pope Vigilius in 551; he immediately submitted to papal authority.
Born
Alexandria, Egypt
Died
August 552 in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) of natural causes
Saint Patricia of Naples
Also known as
• Patricia of Constantinople
• Patrizia of....
Profile
Born to the nobility, possibly related to the emperor. To escape an arranged marriage, and to give herself to the religious life, she made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and then to Rome, Italy. Nun in Rome. Returned to Constantinople to give away her wealth to the poor. She then returned to Naples, Italy to make pilgrimages to the tombs of martyrs and saints.
Born
at Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
Died
• c.665 at Naples, Italy of natural causes
• a vial of her blood reportedly liquifies periodically
Patronage
Naples, Italy
Blessed Andrea Bordino
Also known as
Fratel Luigi of the Consolata
Profile
Drafted into the Italian army, he fought in World War II, was captured by the Soviets, and imprisoned in Siberia. Released after the war, he joined the Brothers of Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, taking the name Luigi of the Consolata and working for 30 years with the sick and the mentally ill.
Born
12 August 1922 in Castellinaldo, Alba, Italy
Died
25 August 1977 in Turin, Italy of natural causes
Beatified
• 2 May 2015 by Pope Francis
• beatification recognition celebrated at Turin, Italy, Cardinal Angelo Amato, presiding
Blessed Francesc Llach Candell
Profile
Priest. Member of the Sons of the Holy Family. Secretary of his community and science teacher at Saint Peter the Apostle school in Reus, Tarragona, Spain. He was arrested on 25 July 1936 during the persecutions of the Spanish Civil War for the crime of being a priest, imprisoned on the ship Cabo Cullera of Tarragona, and then executed. Martyr.
Born
7 December 1889 in Torelló, Barcelona, Spain
Died
• 25 August 1936 in Vila-rodona, Tarragona, Spain
• buried in the cemetery of Vila-rodana
Beatified
13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
Blessed Pedro Vázquez
Also known as
Father Pedro of Saint Catherine
Additional Memorial
10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan
Profile
Dominican, assigned to Madrid, Spain, then Manila in the Philippines. Priest. Missionary to Japan. Arrested on 18 April 1623 for the crime of moving the body of the martyred Blessed Ludovico Flores, he spent 16 months of abuse in prison before being executed for remaining a Christian. Martyr.
Born
1590 in Verín, Orense, Spain
Died
burned alive on 25 August 1624 in Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
Beatified
7 May 1867 by Pope Blessed Pius IX
Blessed Fermí Martorell Vies
Profile
Priest. Member of the Sons of the Holy Family, and the treasurer of his community. Teacher at Saint Peter the Apostle school in Reus, Tarragona, Spain. He was arrested on 27 July 1936 during the persecutions of the Spanish Civil War for the crime of being a priest, imprisoned on the ship Rio Segre of Tarragona, and then executed. Martyr.
Born
3 November 1879 in Margalef, Tarragona, Spain
Died
• about 10am on 25 August 1936 in Vila-rodona, Tarragona, Spain
• buried in the cemetery of Vila-rodona
Beatified
13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
Blessed Eduard Cabanach Majem
Profile
Raised in a pious family; three of his brothers entered religious life. Had a devotion to Saint John Berchmans. Priest. Member of the Sons of the Holy Family. Director of the Saint Peter the Apostle school in Reus, Spain. Supporter, spiritual and material, of vocations in others. Ministered to prisoners in Reus and on the prison ships of Tarragona, Spain. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
Born
31 December 1908 in Bellmunt, Tarragona, Spain
Died
25 August 1936 in Vila-rodona, Tarragona, Spain
Beatified
13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
Saint Gregory of Utrecht
Also known as
Gregory of Pfalzel
Profile
Son of Saint Wastrada, and uncle of Saint Alberic of Utrecht. Spiritual student and Benedictine monk under Saint Boniface whom he had met as a child, and who acted as a mentor. Abbot of Saint Martin's abbey, Utrecht, Netherlands, during which it became a centre for missionaries and the home of many saints. Bishop of Utrecht for 22 years.
Born
703 at Trier, Germany
Died
• 776 of natural causes
• buried at Susteren Abbey
Saint Genesius of Arles
Profile
Soldier. Literate, he was made a notary and secretary to the magistrate of Arles, France. Convert. During the period of his catechumenate, Maximianus issued his decree of persecution against Christians. Outraged, Genesius threw his writing tablets at the feet of his magistrate, denounced the orders, was imprisoned, and executed. Martyr.
Born
at Arles, France
Died
c.305
Patronage
• against chilblains
• against scurf
• notaries
• secretaries
Blessed Paul-Jean Charles
Profile
Trappist monk. Priest. Imprisoned on a ship in the harbor of Rochefort, France and left to die during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the French Revolution. One of the Martyrs of the Hulks of Rochefort.
Born
29 September 1743 in Millery, Côte-d'Or, France
Died
25 August 1794 aboard the prison ship Deux-Associés, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France
Beatified
1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Hunegund of Homblieres
Profile
Hunegund was drawn to religious life, but was compelled to marry against her wishes. She convinced her future husband to accompany her on a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy, and then got him to agree that she should become a Benedictine nun, receiving the veil from Pope Saint Vitalian. When they returned home, Hunegund entered the convent at Homblieres in northern France ;her ex-future husband became a priest, and served as chaplain to the convent.
Died
c.690
Saint Peregrinus of Rome
Also known as
Pellegrino
Profile
Martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Commodus.
Died
• stretched on the rack, beaten with clubs, burned, then beaten to death with lead-tipped whips in 192 at Rome, Italy
• buried in the catacombs in Rome
• Pope Saint Nicholas I sent his relics to Vienne, France in 863
Blessed Pedro de Calidis
Profile
Friend of Saint Peter Nolasco, who urged him to join the Mercedarians; Peter did at the convent of Sant Antonio Abate in Tarragona, Spain. Dispatched to Africa in 1236 to ransom a large number of Christians who had been enslaved by Muslims.
Died
1240 in Tarragona, Spain of natural causes
Saint Gennadius of Constantinople
Additional Memorial
17 November (Greek Menae)
Profile
Priest, bishop and Patriarch of Constantinople from 458 to 471. Known for his learning, his biblical scholarship, and as a great speaker. Fought heresies of the period, and simony. Legend says he would not ordain a new priest until the candidate could recite the Psalms by heart.
Blessed Luis Cabrera Sotelo
Additional Memorial
10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan
Profile
Member of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Observants). Priest. Martyr.
Born
6 September 1574 in Seville, Spain
Died
burned alive on 25 August 1624 in Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
Beatified
7 May 1867 by Pope Blessed Pius IX
Blessed Ludovicus Baba
Additional Memorial
10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan
Profile
Lifelong layman in the archdiocese of Nagasaki, Japan. Member of the Secular Franciscans. Catechist. Martyr.
Born
Japan
Died
burned alive on 25 August 1624 in Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
Beatified
7 May 1867 by Pope Blessed Pius IX
Saint Aredius of Limoges
Also known as
Aredio, Yrieix, Yriez
Profile
Founded the monastery of Atane in Limousin, France. The village of Saint Yrieux grew up around the monastery, and was named for the founder.
Born
Limoges, France
Died
25 August 591 at Attane, Limoges, France
Saint Eusebius of Rome
Profile
Martyred in the persecution of Emperor Commodus.
Died
• stretched on the rack, beaten with clubs, burned, then beaten to death with lead-tipped whips in 192 at Rome, Italy
• buried in the catacombs in Rome
• relics translated to Vienne, France, in 863 by Pope Saint Nicholas I
Blessed Ludovicus Sasada
Additional Memorial
10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan
Profile
Member of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Observants). Priest. Martyr.
Born
Tokyo, Japan
Died
burned alive on 25 August 1624 in Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
Beatified
7 May 1867 by Pope Blessed Pius IX
Saint Pontian of Rome
Profile
Martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Commodus.
Died
• stretched on the rack, beaten with clubs, burned, then beaten to death with lead-tipped whips in 192 at Rome, Italy
• buried in the catacombs in Rome
• Pope Saint Nicholas I sent his relics to Vienne, France in 863
Saint Vincent of Rome
Profile
Martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Commodus.
Died
• stretched on the rack, beaten with clubs, burned, then beaten to death with lead-tipped whips in 192 at Rome, Italy
• buried in the catacombs in Rome
• Pope Saint Nicholas I sent his relics to Vienne, France in 863
Saint Nemesius of Rome
Also known as
Nemesio
Profile
Father of Saint Lucilla. Roman military tribune. Convert, brought to Christianity by Pope Saint Stephen I. Deacon in Rome, Italy. Martyred in the persecutions of Valerian.
Born
Roman citizen
Died
beheaded with a sword c.260 in Rome, Italy
Saint Gurloes of Sainte-Croix
Profile
Benedictine monk. Prior of Redon Abbey. Abbot of Sainte-Croix of Quimperle, Brittany (in modern France).
Died
1057 in Brittany, France of natural causes
Saint Maginus
Also known as
Magí
Profile
Evangelized in the area of Tarragona, Spain. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.
Born
Tarragona, Spain
Died
beheaded c.304 near Tarragona, Spain
Saint Geruntius of Italica
Profile
First century missionary to Spain; legend says he was a spiritual student of the Apostles. Bishop of Talco (Italica), Spain. Martyr.
Died
c.100 in prison
Saint Marcian of Saignon
Profile
Founded the monastery of Saint Eusebius in Apt, France.
Born
Saignon, France
Died
485
Saint Severus of Agde
Profile
Monk. Founded a monastery in Agde, Gaul (in modern France), and served as its first abbot.
Saint Julian of Syria
Profile
Priest.
Born
Syrian
Saint Hermes of Eretum
Also known as
Ermete
Profile
Martyr.
Saint Julius of Eretum
Also known as
Giulio
Profile
Martyr.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War
Thousands of people were murdered in the
anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. I have pages on each of them, but in most cases I have only found very minimal information. They are available on the CatholicSaints.Info site through these links:
• Blessed Antoni Prenafeta Soler
• Blessed Antoni Vilamassana Carulla
• Blessed Enric Salvá Ministral
• Blessed Florencio Alonso Ruiz
• Blessed Fortunato Merino Vegas
• Blessed Josep Maria Panadés Terré
• Blessed Juan Pérez Rodríguez
• Blessed Luis Gutiérrez Calvo
• Blessed Luis Urbano Lanaspa
• Blessed Manuel Fernández Ferro
• Blessed Miguel Grau Antolí
• Blessed Pere Farrés Valls
• Blessed Ramon Cabanach Majem
• Blessed Salvi Tolosa Alsina
• Blessed Vicente álvarez Cienfuegos
