இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் அக்டோபர் 30

 Bl. Jeremiah of Valachia

Feastday: October 30

Birth: 1556

Death: 1625

Beatified: Pope John Paul II

Jeremiah of Valachia was a member of the Franciscan Order

St. Ethelnoth

Feastday: October 30

Archbishop of Canterbury, England called "the Good," also called Aethelnoth. He was a monk at Glastonbury until 1020, when he was conse­crated archbishop. Ethelnoth won the loyalty of King Canute II, who aided his work.A gifted scholar, he persuaded Canute to assist in the restoration of Chartres Cathedral in France .

St. Artemas

Feastday: October 30

Death: 1st century

Bishop and disciple of St. Paul. He is mentioned by St. Paul in his letter to Titus. Aitemas is believed to have served as the bishop of Lystra.

St. Dorothy of Montau

புனித_டோரத்தி (1347-1394)

அக்டோபர் 30

இவர் (#Dorothy_Of_Montau) ஜெர்மனியில் உள்ள ஒரு விவசாயக் குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்தவர்.

இவருக்கு ஏழு வயது நடந்துகொண்டிருக்கும்போது ஏற்பட்ட இறையனுபவம், இவரை இறைவன்மீது பற்றுக் கொள்ளச் செய்தது. இதன்பிறகு இவர் இறைவேண்டலுக்கு மிகுந்த முக்கியத்துவம் கொடுத்து வாழ்ந்து வந்தார்.

இவர் திருமண வயதை அடைந்தபொழுது ஆல்பிரக்ட் என்றொரு செல்வந்தருக்கு மணமுடித்துக் கொடுக்கப்பட்டார். அவர் இவரைக் கடுமையாகச் சித்திரவதை செய்தார். இதனால் இவருடைய இல்லற வாழ்க்கை மிகவும் துன்பம் நிறைந்ததாக இருந்தது.

ஒருபக்கம் தன் கணவர் தன்னைச் சித்திரவதை செய்து வந்தாலும், இன்னொரு பக்கம் இவர் அவருக்காக இறைவனிடம் தொடர்ந்து மன்றாடினார். ஒருகட்டத்தில் அவர் மனம்மாறி இவரை அன்பு செய்யத் தொடங்கினார். இதற்குப் பிறகு இவர்களுக்கு இறைவன் ஒன்பது குழந்தைகளைக் கொடுத்து, அருள்பாலித்தார்.

ஒருமுறை இவர் உரோமைக்குப் புனித பயணம் மேற்கொண்டார். அவ்வாறு இவர் உரோமைக்குச் சென்றுவிட்டுத் திரும்பி வந்தபொழுது இவரது கணவர் இறந்திருந்தார். எனவே இவர் பிள்ளைகளுக்குச் செய்யவேண்டியதைச் செய்துவிட்டு, மேரியன்வார்டர் என்ற இடத்தில் இருந்த துறவு மடத்தில் சேர்ந்து துறவியாக வாழ்ந்தார்.

துறவு மடத்தில் இருந்த நாள்களில் இவர் நிறைய காட்சிகளைக் கண்டார். அக்காட்சிகள் இவரை இறைவன் மீது ஆழமான நம்பிக்கை கொள்ள வைத்தன. 

இவர் 1394 ஆம் ஆண்டு இறையடி சேர்ந்தார். இவர் மணப்பெண்கள், கைம்பெண்கள் ஆகியோருக்குப் பாதுகாவலராக இருக்கின்றார்.

Feastday: October 30

Patron: of formerly Prussia, Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights, brides, widows, & parents of large families

Death: 1394

Widow and hermitess. She was born a peasant on February 6, 1347, in Montau, Prussia. After marrying a wealthy swordsmith, Albrecht of Danzig, Poland, she bore him nine children and changed his gruff character. He even accompanied her on pilgrimages. However, when she went to Rome in 1390, Albrecht remained at home and died during her absence. A year later Dorothy moved to Marienswerder, where she became a hermitess. She had visions and spiritual gifts. Dorothy died on June 25 and is the patroness of Prussia. She was never formally canonized.

Dorothea (or Dorothy) of Montau (German: Dorothea von Montau; Polish: Dorota z Mątowów) (6 February 1347 – 25 June 1394) was a hermit and visionary of 14th century Germany. After centuries of veneration in Central Europe, she was canonized in 1976.

Life

Dorothea was born at Groß Montau, Prussia (Mątowy Wielkie) to the west of Marienburg (Malbork) to a wealthy farmer from Holland, Willem Swarte (Schwartze). She was married at the age of 16 or 17 to the swordsmith Adalbrecht of Danzig (Gdańsk), an ill-tempered man in his 40s. Almost immediately after marrying she began to experience visions. Her husband had little patience with her spiritual experiences and abused her. Later, she converted him and both made pilgrimages to Cologne, Aachen, and Einsiedeln. While Dorothea, with her husband's permission, was on pilgrimage to Rome, he died in 1389 or 1390. Of their nine children eight died, four in infancy, and four during the plague of 1383. The surviving daughter, Gertrud, joined the Benedictines.

In the summer of 1391 Dorothea moved to Marienwerder (Kwidzyn), and on 2 May 1393, with the permission of the chapter and of the Teutonic Order, established a hermit's cell against the wall of the cathedral. She never left that cell for the rest of her life.

Dorothea led a very austere life. Numerous visitors sought her advice and consolation, and she had visions and revelations. Her confessor, the deacon Johannes of Marienwerder, a learned theologian, wrote down her communications and composed a Latin biography in seven books, Septililium, besides a German life in four books, printed by Jakob Karweyse.

Dorothea died in Marienwerder (called Kwidzyn by Poles) in 1394. A devotee of the Passion of Jesus and the Eucharist, she is the only Polish saint to have stigmata.[1]

Veneration

Dorothea was venerated popularly from the moment of her death as the guardian of the country of the Teutonic Knights and patron saint of Prussia/Pomerania. In 1405, 257 witnesses described her virtues and miracles.[2] The formal process of canonisation, however, was broken off, and not resumed until 1955; she was finally beatified by Pope Paul VI (cultus confirmed) in 1976.

Dorothea's feast day is celebrated on 25 June.[3] Her relics were lost, probably during the Protestant Reformation.

Literature

Her life, seen from the viewpoint of her embittered husband, is one of the subjects of the 1977 novel The Flounder by Günter Grass.

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

✠ புனிதர் அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸ் ரொட்ரிகஸ் ✠

(St. Alphonsus Rodriguez)

ஸ்பேனிஷ் இயேசுசபை பொதுநிலை சகோதரர்:

(Spanish Jesuit Lay Brother)

பிறப்பு: ஜூலை 25, 1532

செகோவியா, ஸ்பெயின்

(Segovia, Spain)

இறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 31, 1617 (வயது 85)

பல்மா, மஜோர்கா, ஸ்பெயின்

(Palma, Majorca, Spain)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: கி.பி. 1825

திருத்தந்தை பன்னிரெண்டாம் லியோ

(Pope Leo XII)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: செப்டம்பர் 1888

திருத்தந்தை பதின்மூன்றாம் லியோ

(Pope Leo XIII)

முக்கிய திருத்தலம்:

இயேசுசபை கல்லூரி, பல்மா, மஜோர்கா, ஸ்பெயின்

(Jesuit College, Palma, Majorca, Spain)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 30

புனிதர் அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸ் ரொட்ரிகஸ், ஒரு “ஸ்பேனிஷ் இயேசுசபை பொதுநிலை சகோதரர்” (Spanish Jesuit Lay Brother) ஆவார். இவர், ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டின் “செகொவியா” (Segovia) பிராந்தியத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவர்.

அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸ், ஒரு கம்பளி வியாபாரியின் மகன் ஆவார். ஒருமுறை, இயேசு சபையின் இணை நிறுவனரும், போதகர்களில் ஒருவரான புனிதர் “பீட்டர் ஃபாபெர்” (St. Peter Faber) அந்நகரத்துக்கு போதனை செய்ய வந்திருந்தபோது, அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸின் குடும்பத்தினர் அவருக்கு விருந்தோம்பல் செய்தனர். மனம் மகிழ்ந்த “பீட்டர் ஃபாபெர்”, அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸை புதுநன்மை வாங்க தயாரித்தார். அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸுக்கு பதினான்கு வயதாகையில், அவரது தந்தை மரித்துப் போனதால், இவர் தமது குடும்பத்தினருக்கு உதவுவதற்காக கல்வியை விட்டுவிட்டு, தந்தையின் கம்பளி வியாபாரத்தை கவனிக்கப் போனார்.

தமது இருபத்தாறு வயதினிலே, அவர் தமது சொந்த ஊரைச் சேர்ந்த “மரியா ஸுவாரெஸ்” (María Suarez) என்ற பெண்ணை திருமணம் புரிந்தார். அவர்களுக்கு மூன்று குழந்தைகள் பிறந்தனர். இவரது முப்பத்தொரு வயதினிலேயே மனைவியும் இரண்டு குழந்தைகளும் மரித்துப் போயினர். அதன்பிறகு பெரும் அவமானமுற்ற இவர், தம்மைச் சுற்றியிருந்த உலகத்திலிருந்து விலகி, தனிமையில் செப வாழ்வு வாழ்ந்தார். அவரது மூன்றாவது குழந்தையும் மரித்தபோது, முற்றிலும் மனம் சோர்ந்துபோன அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸின் மனம், ஆன்மீக துறவற சபைகளின்பால் திரும்பியது.

ஆரம்பத்தில், தமது பதினான்கு வயதில் தமக்கு புதுநன்மை வாங்க தயாரித்து உதவிய இயேசுசபை துறவி “பீட்டர் ஃபாபெரை” தொடர்பு கொண்டார். அவர்மூலம் இயேசுசபையில் சேர முயற்சித்தார். ஆனால், அவரது முழுமையற்ற கல்வியினால் அவரால் இயேசுசபையில் சேர்ந்து குருத்துவம் பெற இயலாமல் போனது. தமது 39 வயதில், “பார்சிலோனா” (Barcelona) கல்லூரியில் சேர்ந்து இடைவிட்டுப் போன கல்வியை பூர்த்தி செய்ய முயற்சித்தார். ஆனால் அதிலும் ஜெயிக்க இயலவில்லை. அவரது தவ வாழ்க்கை, அவரது உடல் ஆரோக்கியத்தை பாதித்தது.

கணிசமான கால் தாமதத்தின் பிறகு, கி.பி. 1571ம் ஆண்டு, ஜனவரி மாதம், 31ம் நாள், தமது நாற்பது வயதில், இவர் இயேசுசபை திருத்தொண்டராக சேர்த்துக்கொள்ளப்பட்டார். அக்காலத்தில், ஸ்பெயின் நாட்டில் “தனித்துவ புகுநிலை பயிற்சி மடங்கள்” (Distinct Novitiates) இல்லாத காரணத்தால், “வலென்சியா” அல்லது “காண்டியா” (Valencia or Gandia) எனும் இடங்களில் திருத்தொண்டராக பயிற்சி மேற்கொண்ட அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸ், பின்னர் “மஜோர்கா” (Majorca) என்னுமிடத்தில் புதிதாக ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்ட கல்லூரியில் பணி செய்ய அனுப்பப்பட்டார். அங்கே சுமார் நாற்பத்தாறு வருடங்கள் சுமை துாக்குபவராகவும், வாயில் காப்பவராகவும் தாழ்ச்சியுடன் பணி புரிந்தார்.

கல்லூரியின் உறுப்பினர்கள் மட்டுமல்லாது, அங்கே வருகை தருபவர்களின் சுமைகளையும் தூக்கி உதவுவது அவரது பணியாக இருந்தது. வாயில் காப்போனாக, கல்லூரிக்கு வருகை தருபவர்களை வரவேற்று, அவர்கள் சந்திக்க வந்திருக்கும் தந்தையர் மற்றும் மாணவர்களிடம் அழைத்துச் செல்வது போன்றவை அவரது பணியாக இருந்தது. மற்றும், செய்திகளை ஓரிடத்திலிருந்து மற்றோரிடத்திற்கு கொண்டு செல்வது, நோயாளிகளை கவனித்து சேவை செய்வது போன்ற பணிகளும் அவருடைய பணிகளாம். ஒவ்வொருமுறையும் வாயில் அழைப்பு மணி அடிக்கும்போதெல்லாம், ஆண்டவரே வெளியே இவருக்காக காத்திருப்பதாக இவர் எண்ணிக்கொள்வார் என்று இவர் கூறுவார்.

புகழ் பெற்ற இயேசுசபை குருக்களில் ஒருவரான “புனிதர் பீட்டர் கிளாவர்” (St. Peter Claver) இவருடன் மஜார்கா கல்லூரியில் தங்கியிருந்தார். அவர்கூட தாம் தென் அமெரிக்க நாடுகளில் செய்யவிருக்கும் மறைப்பணிகளுக்காக அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸின் அறிவுரைகளை பெற்றதாக கூறுவர்.

புனிதர் அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸ் ரொட்ரிகஸ், பணிக்காலத்தில் தாமாக ஏற்றுக்கொண்ட பணிச்சுமைகளாலும், அவமானங்களாலும், அவரது உடல் தீராத பாதிப்புகளுக்குள்ளானது. தீராத மன உளைச்சல்களுக்கும் ஆளானார்.

அருட்சகோதரர் அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸ், தமது இறுதி நாட்களில் மிகவும் வலுவற்றுப் போனார். அவரது ஞாபகச் சக்தி தவறிப்போனது. அவர் மிகவும் விரும்பிய செபங்களைக் கூட மறந்துபோன அல்ஃபோன்ஸஸ், கி.பி. 1617ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், 31ம் நாள் மரித்துப் போனார்.

Feastday: October 30

Birth: 1532

Death: 1617

Confessor and Jay brother, also called Alonso. He was born in Segovia, Spain, on July 25, 1532, the son of a wealthy merchant, and was prepared for First Communion by Blessed Peter Favre, a friend of Alphonsus' father. While studying with the Jesuits at Alcala, Alphonsus had to return home when his father died. In Segovia he took over the family business, was married, and had a son. That son died, as did two other children and then his wife. Alphonsus sold his business and applied to the Jesuits. His lack of education and his poor health, undermined by his austerities, made him less than desirable as a candidate for the religious life, but he was accepted as a lay brother by the Jesuits on January 31, 1571. He underwent novitiate training and was sent to Montesion College on the island of Majorca. There he labored as a hall porter for twenty-four years. Overlooked by some of the Jesuits in the house, Alphonsus exerted a wondrous influence on many. Not only the young students, such as St. Peter Claver, but local civic tad and social leaders came to his porter's lodge for advice tad and direction. Obedience and penance were the hallmarks of his life, as well as his devotion to the Immaculate Conception. He experienced many spiritual consolations, and he wrote religious treatises, very simple in style but sound in doctrine. Alphonsus died after a long illness on October 31, 1617, and his funeral was attended by Church and government leaders. He was declared Venerable in 1626, and was named a patron of Majorca in 1633. Alphonsus was beatified in 1825 and canonized in September 1888 with St. Peter Claver.

For other people with similar names, see Alfonso Rodriguez (disambiguation).

Alphonsus Rodríguez (Spanish: Alfonso) (25 July 1532 – 31 October 1617) was a Spanish Jesuit lay brother, now venerated as a saint. He was a native of Segovia. He is sometimes confused with Alphonsus (Alonso) Rodriguez, a Jesuit who wrote the Exercicio de perfección y virtudes cristianas (3 vols., Seville, 1609), which has frequently been re-edited and translated into many languages.[2] Though his life was punctuated with personal tragedies and disappointments, his impact on the people he met was his legacy.

Life and work

Rodríguez was the son of a wool merchant. When Peter Faber, one of the original Jesuits, visited the city to preach, the Rodríguez family provided hospitality to the Jesuit. Faber prepared the young Rodríguez for his First Communion.[3]

At the age of twelve, Rodriguez was sent him to the new Jesuit college at Alcalá,[4] but left two years later when his father died to help his mother run the family business.[5] At the age of 26 he married María Suarez, a woman of his own station, with whom he had three children. At the age of 31 he found himself a widower with one surviving child, the other two having died. From that time on he began a life of prayer and mortification, separated from the world around him. On the death of his third child his thoughts turned to a life in some religious order.[6]

Previous associations had brought him into contact with the first Jesuits who had come to Spain, Peter Faber among others, but it was apparently impossible to carry out his purpose of entering the Society as he was without education, having only an incomplete year at a new college begun at Alcalá by Francis Villanueva. At the age of 39 he attempted to make up this deficiency by following the course at the College of Barcelona, but without success. His austerities had also undermined his health. After considerable delay he was finally admitted into the Society of Jesus as a lay brother on 31 January 1571, at the age of 40.[6] The provincial is supposed to have said that if Alphonsus was not qualified to become a brother or a priest, he could enter to become a saint.[3]

Distinct novitiates for seminarians and lay brothers had not yet been established in Spain, and Rodríguez began his term of probation at Valencia or Gandia—this point is a subject of dispute—and after six months was sent to the recently founded college on Majorca, where he remained in the humble position of porter for 46 years, exercising a marvelous influence not only on the members of the household, but upon a great number of people who came to the porter's lodge for advice and direction. As doorkeeper, his duties were to receive visitors who came to the college; search out the fathers or students who were wanted in the parlor; deliver messages; run errands; console the sick at heart who, having no one to turn to, came to him; give advice to the troubled; and distribute alms to the needy. Alphonsus tells that each time the bell rang, he looked at the door and envisioned that it was God who was standing outside seeking admittance. Among the distinguished Jesuits who came under his influence was Peter Claver, who lived with him for some time at Majorca, and who followed his advice in asking for the missions of South America.[6] He made his final vows in 1585 at the age of 54.

The bodily mortifications which he imposed on himself were extreme, the scruples and mental agitation to which he was subject were of frequent occurrence, his obedience absolute, and his absorption in spiritual things, even when engaged on most distracting employments, continual. His Jesuit superiors, seeing the good work he was doing among the townspeople, were eager to have his influence spread far among his own religious community, so on feast days they often sent him into the pulpit in the dining room to hear him give a sermon. On more than one occasion the community sat quietly past dinner time to hear Rodríguez finish his sermon.[7]

Rodríguez became very feeble when he reached his eighties and in his last months his memory began to fail. He was not even able to remember his favourite prayers.[8] He died on 31 October 1617.[9]

He had a deep devotion to Our Lady, especially as the Immaculate Conception, and would copy the entire little office of the Blessed Virgin for private recitation for those who asked. He left a considerable number of manuscripts after him, some of which have been published as Obras Espirituales del B. Alonso Rodriguez (Barcelona, 1885, 3 vols., octavo, complete edition, 8 vols. in quarto). They are sometimes only reminiscences of domestic exhortations, the texts are often repeated, the illustrations are from everyday life, and the treatment of one virtue occasionally entrenches upon another. They were not written with a view to publication, but put down by Rodríguez himself, or dictated to others, in obedience to a positive command of his superiors.[6]

Veneration

Alphonsus Rodriguez was declared venerable in 1626. In 1633, he was chosen by the Council General of Majorca as one of the special patrons of the city and island.[9]

In 1760, Pope Clement XIII decreed that "the virtues of the Venerable Alonso were proved to be of a heroic degree", but the expulsion of the Society from Spain in 1773, and its suppression, delayed his beatification until 1825. His canonization took place in September 1888. His remains are enshrined at Majorca.

Legacy

Though his life was punctuated with personal tragedies and disappointments, and he left no special writings or teachings, his impact on the people he met was his legacy. He served with such love that the act of opening the door became a sacramental gesture.[10]

There is a parish dedicated to Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez in Woodstock, Maryland.[11]

Rodríguez is the subject of a sonnet by fellow-Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins, "In Honour Of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Laybrother Of The Society Of Jesus

Blessed Benvenuta Bojani

Also known as

Benvenuta Boiani

Profile

Youngest of seven daughters. She refused to play any childhood games that smacked of worldliness or vanity; by age twelve she was voluntarily wearing hair shirts and a rope belt. As she grew, the rope began to cut into her; it had to be removed, but was too embedded to be untied. She prayed over it, and it fell to her feet.

Dominican tertiary as a very young woman. Lived her entire life at home, practicing extreme austerities. Confined to her bed for five years with a serious illness, she had to be carried to daily Mass. During a Mass on the eve of the feast of Saint Dominic de Guzman, the saint appeared to her, and later in the liturgy, she was miraculously healed.

Visionary who had visits from both angels and demons; she could banish the demons by mentioning the name of Our Lady. However, hard life or no, sickness or no, visions and demonic oppression or no, she was known to be always cheerful and confident in God.

Born

4 May 1254 at Cividale del Friuli, Italy

Died

30 October 1292 at Cividale del Friuli, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

6 February 1763 by Pope Clement XIV (cultus confirmed)

Blessed Oleksa Zarytsky

Also known as

• Oleksa Zaritskiy

• Oleksa Zaryckyj

• Oleksa Zaryts'kyi

• Aleksey, Alessio, Alexis

Profile

Greek Catholic. Entered the seminary in Lviv in 1931. Ordained in 1936. Pastor of the Archeparchy of Lviv for the Ukrainians. Imprisoned for his faith in 1948, he was sentenced to ten years in the forced labour camps, and sent to Karahanda. Released in 1957, he was soon arrested again for his faith, and senteneced to three more years. Died in prison; martyr.

Born

17 October 1912 at Bilche, Lviv District, Ukraine

Died

30 October 1963 of gastritis and complications from high blood pressure at the forced labour camp at Qaraghandy (Karaganda), Kazakhstan

Beatified

27 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II in Ukraine

Blessed Angelus of Acri

✠ புனிதர் ஏஞ்செலோ ✠

(St. Angelo of Acri)

தென் இத்தாலியின் அப்போஸ்தலர்:

(Apostle of South Italy)

பிறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 19, 1669

அக்ரி, கலாப்ரியா, தென் இத்தாலி

(Acri, Calabria, Southern Italy)

இறப்பு: அக்டோபர் 30, 1739

அக்ரி, கலாப்ரியா, தென் இத்தாலி

(Acri, Calabria, Southern Italy)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: டிசம்பர் 18, 1825

திருத்தந்தை பன்னிரெண்டாம் லியோ

(Pope Leo XII)

புனிதர் பட்டம்: அக்டோபர் 15, 2017

திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ்

(Pope Francis)

நினைவுத் திருவிழா: அக்டோபர் 30

புனிதர் ஏஞ்செலோ, தமது நாற்பது வருட குருத்துவ வாழ்க்கையில், தமது ஓய்வற்ற மறைபோதனைகளால், “கலாப்ரியா” (Calabria) மற்றும் தென் இத்தாலியின் (Southern Italy) அப்போஸ்தலர் (Apostle) என அறியப்படும் கபுச்சின் (Capuchin) சபையைச் சேர்ந்த கத்தோலிக்க குரு ஆவார். நல்ல மேய்ப்பனைப் போலவே, பாவிகளையும், ஏழைகளையும், மிகச் சிறியோரையும் தேடிச்செல்ல அவர் தயங்கியதே கிடையாது. எப்போதும் தம்மையே வெளிப்படுத்தாமல், ஆண்டவரிடமிருந்து கிடைக்கும் நற்செய்திகளையே அவர் பிறருக்கும் வெளிப்படுத்தினார்.

“லூக்கா அன்டோனியோ ஃபால்கொன்” (Luca Antonio Falcone) எனும் இயற்பெயர் கொண்ட இப்புனிதர், கி.பி. 1669ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், 19ம் தேதியன்று, தென் இத்தாலியின் “ஓல்ட் கசலிச்சியோ” (Old Casalicchio) பிராந்தியத்தின் அருகாமையிலுள்ள “சிலா” (Sila mountainous plateau) மழைப் தொடரிலுள்ள அக்ரி (Acri) எனும் சிறு நகரின், ஒரு தாழ்ச்சியான ஏழைத் தொழிலாளியின் மகனைப் பிறந்தார். இதில் எப்பொழுதும் பெருமிதம் அடைந்த அவர், பின்னர் ஒரு ரொட்டி சுட்டு விற்கும் மற்றும் ஒரு ஆடு மேய்ப்பவரின் மகனாகவும் தனது உரையாடல்களில் நினைவுகூருவார். அவர் பிறந்த மறுநாளன்று, செயின்ட் நிக்கோலஸின் (Church of St. Nicholas) தேவாலயத்தில் ஞானஸ்நானம் பெற்றார்.

ஒரு வகையான ஆரம்பநிலை பள்ளி திறக்கப்பட்திருந்த ஒரு அயலூரில் படிக்கவும் எழுதவும் கற்றுக் கொண்ட அவர், செயின்ட் நிக்கோலஸ் பங்கிலும் (Parish of St. Nicholas) மற்றும் கபுச்சின் துறவற சபையின் (Friary Church of the Capuchins) தேவ அன்னை மரியாளின் (St. Mary of the Angels) தேவாலயத்திலும் அடிக்கடி கிறிஸ்து கோட்பாடுகளின் அடிப்படைகளை கற்றுக்கொண்டார்.

அவர் வளரும் பருவத்திலே, அவரது தாய் மாமனும் கத்தோலிக்க குருவுமான “அருட்தந்தை டோமினிக்கோ எர்ரிகோ” (Fr. Domenico Errico) என்பவர், இவரது இளம் விதவைத் தாயாருக்கு இவர் உதவுவார் என்ற நம்பிக்கையில், இவரை படிக்க வைத்தார்.

கி.பி. 1689ம் ஆண்டு, கபுச்சின் துறவியான “அன்டோனியோ” (Capuchin Antonio of Olivadi) என்பவரது கவர்ச்சியான பிரசங்கத்தைக் கேட்ட இருபது வயதான லூக்கா அன்டோனியோ, தமது துறவு வாழ்க்கையின் சுருக்கமான அனுபவத்தைத் தொடர்ந்து, கபுச்சின் சபையில் அர்ப்பணிக்க எண்ணி இணைந்தார். ஆனால், இவ்விளைஞன் விரைவிலேயே தடைகளை சந்தித்தார். கபுச்சின் வாழ்க்கையின் எளிமைகளால் உற்சாகமற்று, இரண்டு முறை துறவற சீருடைகளை கழற்றிவிட்டு, புகுமுக  பயிற்சியை விட்டு ஓடிப்போனார். அவருக்கு, கண்ணீருடன் நின்றிருந்த தமது விதவைத் தாயாரின் முகமே கண்களில் நின்றது. ஆனால், மூன்றாம் முறை, கி.பி. கி.பி. 1690ம் ஆண்டு, நவம்பர் மாதம், 12ம் தேதி முதல், கலாப்ரியா (Calabria) பிராந்தியத்திலுள்ள “பெல்வேடர் மரிட்டிமோ” (Belvedere Marittimo) எனுமிடத்திலுள்ள துறவு மடத்தில், ஏஞ்செலோ (Angelo of Acri) எனும் பெயருடன் புகுமுக பயிற்சியை (Novitiate) தொடங்கினார்.

இந்த நேரத்தில் கூட, இரண்டாவது எண்ணங்களும் சோதனைகளும் குறைவாக இல்லை. ஆனால், “சகோதரர் பெர்னார்ட்” (Br. Bernard of Corleone) என்பவரின் முக்திபேறு நிலைக்கான ஆய்வுப் பணிகள் நடந்துகொண்டிருந்த அச்சமயத்தில், அவரது தீரங்களைப் பற்றி படிக்க நேர்ந்தது. சகோதரர் ஏஞ்செலோ, தமது போராட்டத்தில் உதவி கேட்டு ஆண்டவரில் ஆழ்ந்த ஜெபத்தை உயர்த்தினார். சகோதரர் பெர்னார்டின் அடிச்சுவடிகளைப் பின்பற்றி, அவரைப் போலவே நர்டந்துகொள்ளுமாறு, இவ்விளம் புகுமுக துறவி ஆண்டவரால் ஊக்குவிக்கப்பட்டார் என்றும், இதுவே எதிர்பார்க்கப்பட்ட சரியான அடையாளம் என்று ஆண்டவர் கூறியதாகவும் கூறப்படுகிறது.

கி.பி. 1691ம் ஆண்டு, நவம்பர் மாதம், 12ம் நாளன்று, தமது சத்தியப் பிரமாணங்களை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டார். ஏஞ்செலோ, பரிபூரண நற்செய்தி வழியில் தன்னை அமைத்தார். அத்துடன், குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவுக்காக தம்மைத் தயார் படுத்தவும் தொடங்கினார். கி.பி. 1700ம் ஆண்டு, ஏப்ரல் மாதம், 10ம் நாள், உயிர்த்த ஞாயிறன்று, “கஸ்சானோ ஆல்இயோனியோ தேவாலயத்தில்” (Cathedral of Cassano all’Ionio) குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்றார். பின்னர், அவர் ஒரு பிரசங்கியாக தன்னை தயார்படுத்தும்படி கீழ்ப்படிதலைக் கேட்டுக்கொண்டார். கி.பி. 1702ம் ஆண்டு முதல் 1739ம் ஆண்டு, தாம் மரிக்கும் வரை, கலாபிரியா (Calabria) பிரதேசம் முழுதும் மற்றும் மத்திய இத்தாலியின் அநேக இடங்களுக்கும் ஓய்வொழிச்சலின்றி பயணங்கள் மேற்கொண்டு, தவக்கால நற்செய்திகளையும் (Lenten Sermons), தியானங்களையும் (Retreats), பிரபல மறைப்பணிகளையும் (Popular Missions) பிரசங்கித்தார்.

பிரசங்கப் பணிகளின் ஆரம்பம் மிகவும் மகிமையானதாகவோ, போற்றத்தக்கதாகவோ இருக்கவில்லை. “கொரிஜிலியானோ கலாப்ரோ” (Corigliano Calabro) அருகே “சான் ஜியோர்ஜியோ அல்பானீஸின்” (San Giorgio Albanese) அவரது அறிமுக பிரசங்கம், ஒரு உண்மையான தோல்வியாகவே அமைந்தது. தொடர்ச்சியான மூன்று மாலை நேரங்கள், அவர் வாசித்து, ஞாபகம் வைத்திருந்த உரைகளை நினைகூர முடியவில்லை. பிரசங்கத்தை தொடர முடியாது என்பதை கண்டுகொண்ட அவர், வேறு வழியின்றி, ஏமாற்றத்துடன் திரும்பிச் சென்றார்.

தமது அறையில், சிலுவையில் அறையுண்ட கிறிஸ்துவின் திருச்சொரூபத்தின் முன்பு கண்ணீர் விட்டழுத ஏஞ்சலோ, மாற்றவியலாத ஒரு முடிவுக்கு வந்தார். கிறிஸ்து நிர்வாணப்படுத்தப்பட்டு சிலுவையில் அறையப்பட்டதை மட்டுமே தாம் பிரசங்கிக்கப் போவதாயும், தாய்மொழியில் மட்டுமே பிரசங்கிக்கப் போவதாயும் முடிவெடுத்தார். பரிசுத்த ஆவியானவரின் வழிகாட்டுதலின்படியே தாம் இனி படிப்படியாக முன்னேறப்போவதாகவும் முடிவெடுத்தார். அவருடைய இதயம் வைராக்கியமும் பரிசுத்த ஆவிக்குரிய ஐக்கியமும் நிறைந்ததாக இருந்தது. இதனால்தான் அவர் வெற்றி பெற்றார், தங்களை தாங்களே சிந்தித்துக்கொண்டிருந்த எதிர்ப்பை சந்தித்தபோதும், அறிவொளியின் அறிவையும் அடைந்தார்.

மக்களிடம் அவர்களின் பாவங்களை கருணையுள்ளத்துடன் கேட்டு, அவர்களுக்கு ஒப்புரவு அருட்சாதனம் வழங்காத மறைபோதகர், அறுவடையைப் பற்றின சிந்தனையில்லாத விதைப்பவனைப் போன்றவர் ஆவார் என்பதனை ஏன்ஜெலோ நன்கு உணர்ந்திருந்தார். பாவிகளிடம் அவர்களின்  பாவசங்கீர்த்தனங்களை மணிக்கணக்கில் கேட்பதில் அவர் என்றுமே களைப்புற்றதேயில்லை. அவர்களை கருணையுடனும் அன்புடனும் கையாண்டார். அன்புடன் பேசியே அவர்களுக்கு ஒப்புரவு அருட்சாதனம் வழங்கினார். மிகக் கடினமான சூழ்நிலைகளைக் கூட கருணையாலும் இரக்கத்தாலும் தீர்க்கப் முடியும் என்பதில் அவர் உறுதியாக இருந்தார். கருணையும் இறை இரக்கமுமே பாவிகளை மீண்டும் கடவுளிடம் கொண்டு செல்லும் மார்க்கம் என்பதனை அறிந்திருந்தார். அது மட்டுமே அவர்களை பாவசங்கீர்த்தனம் என்ற பெயரில் அவர்களை முழந்தாள்படியிட வைத்திருந்தது. ஆனால் அவர் அவர்களுக்காக காத்திருக்கவில்லை; அநேக முறை கடவுளின் அன்பை அவர் சமாதானத் தேவைக்காக பாவிகளைத் தேட தாமே முன்வந்தார். நோயாளிகளுக்கு அவர்கள் கேட்காமலேயே ஆன்மீக உதவிகளை செய்து கொடுத்தார். ஏழை எளியோர் மீது ஏஞ்செலோ கொண்டிருந்த அன்பானது, அவர்களுக்கு துன்பங்கள் வரும்போதும், அவர்களுக்கு அநீதிகள் இழைக்கப்படும் போதும் பலமுறை, "சேன்செவேரினோ குடும்பங்களை" (Sanseverino families) உதவிக்கு அழைக்க தூண்டியிருக்கின்றன. பல நூற்றாண்டுகளாக "அக்ரியின்" (Acri) ஒரு பெரிய பிரமுகர்கள், மக்களின் நியாயமான கூற்றுக்களை செவி கொடுத்து வந்திருக்கின்றனர். அவர்களின் அடிப்படை உரிமைகளை மதிக்க வேண்டும் என்பதிலும் கருத்தை இருந்திருக்கின்றனர்.

("சேன்செவேரினோ குடும்பங்கள்" (Sanseverino families) என்பது, நேப்பில்ஸ் (Naples) இராச்சியத்திலும், இத்தாலி முழுவதிலும் மிகவும் புகழ்பெற்ற, வரலாற்று சிறப்புமிக்க மற்றும் சக்தி வாய்ந்த குடும்பங்களில் ஒன்றாகும்).

எங்கெல்லாம் அவர் இறை இரக்கத்தை பிரசங்கிக்கிறாரோ, எங்கெல்லாம் பாவிகளுக்கு ஒப்புரவு அருட்சாதனம் வழங்குகிறாரோ, அங்கெல்லாம் ஓரிரு அறிகுறிகளையாவது விட்டுச் செல்லாமல் இருந்ததில்லை. கல்வாரி காட்சிகளைக் கொண்ட ஒரு படமும், துன்புற்று, தம்மைத் தாமே ஈந்த கடவுளின் அன்பின் உறுதியான நினைவூட்டல்களாக, வியாகுல அன்னை மரியாளின் திருச்சொரூபமும் விட்டுச் செல்லும் வழக்கம் கொண்டிருந்தார்.

ஏஞ்செலோ கபுச்சின் சபையின் மாகான தலைமை (Provincial Minister) அதிகார பதவிகளிலும் இருந்திருக்கிறார். அவர் துறவியர்களை ஒரு உண்மையான கபுச்சின் வாழ்க்கையை நினைவுபடுத்த தவறவில்லை. அவர், அவர்களுக்கு “கடின வாழ்க்கை” (Austerity), “எளிமை” (Simplicity), “அரசியலமைப்பு மற்றும் விதிகளை சரியானபடி அனுசரித்தல்” (The exact observance of the Constitutions and the Rule), “குற்றமற்ற வாழ்க்கை” (Innocence of life) மற்றும் “எல்லையற்ற தொண்டு” (Boundless charity) ஆகிய ஐந்து விலைமதிப்பற்ற இரத்தினங்களை கொடுப்பதை வழக்கமாய் கொண்டிருந்தார்.

அக்ரி மற்றும் முழு கலாபிரியா மக்களின் நல்வாழ்வு மற்றும் சமாதானத்திற்காக தமது வாழ்வையை அர்ப்பணித்திருந்த ஏஞ்செலோ, தமது எழுபது வயதில், அக்ரி நகரிலுள்ள கபுச்சின் துறவு மடத்தில் மரித்தார்.

Also known as

• Angelo of Acri

• Luca Antonio Falcone

Profile

Twice refused admission to the Capuchins, but was finally accepted in 1690. Priest. His first sermons were miserable but he overcame that, too, and became a famous and sought after preacher. Sought after home missioner in the Italian regions of Calabria and Naples, performing miraculous healings and converting thousands. Had the gifts of prophecy, bi-location, visions, and the ability to see into men's souls in Confession.

Born

19 October 1669 at Acri, Cosenza, Italy

Died

30 October 1739 at the friary of Acri, Consenza, Italy

Beatified

18 December 1825 by Pope Leo XII

Blessed Terrence Albert O'Brien

Also known as

Toirdhealbhach Albert Ó Briain

Memorial

20 June as one of the Irish Martyrs

Profile

Joined the Dominicans in 1622. Priest. Dominican prior provincial of Ireland. Bishop of Emly, Ireland. He was ordered to acknowledge the English king as head of the Church; he declined. Martyr.

Born

1601 in Tuogh (Tower Hill), Limerick, Ireland

Died

30 October 1651 in Limerick, Ireland

Beatified

27 September 1992 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy

Saint Marcellus the Centurion

Also known as

Marcellus of Tangier

Profile

Roman centurion at Tangiers (in modern Morocco). During a celebration of the emperor's birthday, Marcellus refused to participate in the pagan offering ceremony. He threw away his arms and armour, openly declared himself a Christian, and was condemned to death. His condemnation led to the death of Saint Cassian.

Died

martyred c.298 at Tangiers, Morocco

Patronage

conscientious objectors

Blessed John Slade

Additional Memorials

• 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai

• 1 December as one of the Martyrs of Oxford University

Profile

Studied at New College, Oxford, England. Schoolmaster. Refused to accept King Henry VIII's authority in spiritual matters. Martyred with Blessed John Bodey.

Born

at Manston, Dorsetshire, England

Died

hanged, drawn, and quartered on 2 November 1583 at Winchester, England

Beatified

15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI

Saint Theonestus of Philippi

Also known as

Teonesto, Teonisto, Tonisto

Profile

Bishop of Philippi in Macedonia. Exiled by Arians. Missionary to the area of modern Germany where he worked with Saint Alban of Mainz. Forced to flee ahead of invading Vandals. When the Vandals caught up to Theonestus, he was murdered for his fidelity to the faith. Martyr.

Died

425 in Altino, Italy

Saint Germanus of Capua

Profile

Friend of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Bishop of Capua, Italy. Papal legate to Constantinople to repair the damage caused by the Acacian schism, but met ill-treatment by the schismatics and made no progress to reunification. On his death, Saint Benedict had a vision of Germanus' soul being carried to heaven.

Died

c.545 of natural causes

Saint Marcian of Syracuse

Profile

Third century missionary bishop to Sicily, using Syracuse as his base of operations. Martyred by local Jews who considered him a heretic. An old Sicilian tradition says that he was sent to the island by Saint Peter the Apostle, but that would be a couple of centuries off.

Died

thrown off a tower c.255

Saint Saturninus of Cagliari

Also known as

Saturnino, Saturno

Profile

Martyred by order of governor Barbarus for refusing to take part in the festival of Jupiter during the persecutions of Diocletian.

Died

beheaded in 303 at Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

Patronage

Cagliari, Italy

Saint Maximus of Cumae

Also known as

• Maximus of Apamea

• Massimo of...

Profile

Martyr.

Died

• late 3rd century in Cumae, Campania, Italy

• 15 years after his death he appeared in a vision to Saint Juliana of Nicomedia to request his relics be interred in the basilica of Cumae

• relics transferred to Naples, Italy in 1207 and re-interred under the main altar of the cathedral

Saint Gerard of Potenza

Also known as

Gerardo

Profile

Priest at Potenza in southern Italy. Bishop of Potenza in his old age.

Born

at Piancenza, Italy

Died

1119 of natural causes

Canonized

by Pope Callistus II

Patronage

Potenza, Italy

Blessed Jean-Michel Langevin

Profile

Priest of the diocese of Angers, France. Martyred in the persecutions of the French Revolution.

Born

28 September 1731 in Ingrandes, Maine-et-Loire, France

Died

30 October 1793 at Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France

Beatified

19 February 1984 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy

Saint Asterius of Amasea

Profile

Studied law and rhetoric in his youth, and practiced law for a while, but gave it up for the priesthood. Bishop of Amasea, Pontus (in Asia Minor) during the persecutions of Julian the Apostate. A noted preacher, 21 of his sermons have survived.

Born

4th century

Died

c.410 of natural causes

Saint Zenobius of Aegea

Profile

Brother of Saint Zenobia of Aegea. Physician in Aegea, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey). May have been a bishop; few clear records remain. Martyred in the persecutions of emperor Diocletian and governor Lysias.

Died

• late 3rd century

• body thrown into the river Orontes

Saint Talarican of Sodor

Also known as

Talarica, Talacrian, Tarkin, Talaric, Talaricanus

Profile

Sixth-century Pictish bishop of Sodor, Scotland where several churches were dedicated to him. Zealous evangelist and preacher, he celebrated Mass every day.

Canonized

11 July 1898 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmation)

Saint Egelnoth the Good

Also known as

• Egelnoth of Canterbury

• Aethelnoth, Ethelnoth

Profile

Monk at Glastonbury Abbey. Archbishop of Canterbury, England in 1020. Advisor to King Cnut of England. Noted scholar.

Died

29 October 1038 of natural causes

Blessed Raymond of Cardona

Profile

Mercedarian friar. Commander of the San Martino convent in Perpignan, France. Noted for his personal piety.

Saint Victorius of Léon

Profile

Son of Saint Marcellus of Centurion; brother of Saint Claudius of Léon and Saint Lupercus of Léon. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.

Died

c.300 in Léon, Spain

Saint Claudius of Léon

Profile

Son of Saint Marcellus of Centurion; brother of Saint Lupercus of Léon and Saint Victorius of Léon. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.

Died

c.300 in Léon, Spain

Saint Lupercus of Léon

Profile

Son of Saint Marcellus of Centurion; brother of Saint Claudius of Léon and Saint Victorius of Léon. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.

Died

c.300 in Léon, Spain

Saint Nanterius of Saint-Mihiel

Also known as

Nantier, Nantère

Profile

Monk. Abbot of Saint-Mihiel Abbey in Lorraine, France.

Died

c.1044

Saint Herbert of Tours

Also known as

• Herbert of Marmoutier

• Haberne, Herbern

Profile

Monk. Abbot at Marmoutier Abbey. Archbishop of Tours, France.

Saint Zenobia of Aegea

Profile

Sister of Saint Zenobius of Aegae. Martyred in the persecutions of emperor Diocletian and governor Lysias.

Died

late 3rd century

Saint Serapion of Antioch

Profile

Patriarch of Antioch in 190, serving for over 20 years. Theological writer.

Died

211 of natural causes

Saint Arilda

Also known as

Afrella, Abrelda, April

Profile

Nun in Gloucestershire, England. Died fighting off a rapist. A church at Oldbury-on-the-Hill is dedicated to her.

Saint Eutropia of North Africa

Profile

Martyred in the persecutions of Valerian.

Died

c.253 in North Africa

Saint Macarius of Alexandria

Profile

Martyr.

Died

c.250 in Alexandria, Egypt

Saint Eutropia of Alexandria

Profile

Ordered to deny Christ, he refused. Martyr.

Died

Alexandria, Egypt

Saint Lucanus of Lagny

Profile

Martyr.

Died

5th-century in Lagny, France where his relics are enshrined

Saint Justus of Alexandria

Profile

Martyr.

Died

c.250 in Alexandria, Egypt

Martyrs in Africa

Profile

A group of 100 to 200 Christians murdered in the early persecutions, and about whom we know nothing except that they died for their faith.

இன்றைய புனிதர்கள் அக்டோபர் 29

 Bl. Maria Restituta

Feastday: October 29

Birth: 1894

Death: 1943

Beatified: 21 June 1998 by John Paul II

Sister Maria Restituta (1 May 1894, Husovice, Austria-Hungary (now part of Brno, Czech Republic) - 30 March 1943, Vienna, Austria) was a nun and a nurse. Her birthname was Helen Kafka.[1] She was a shoemaker's daughter.

St. Hyacinth

Feastday: October 29

Death: unknown

Martyr of Lucania, in Italy, with Felician, Lucius, and Quintus.

St. Elfleda

Feastday: October 29

Death: 1000

Benedictine abbess, the daughter of Earl Ethelwold, who founded her abbey in Ramsey, England.

St. Cuthbert Mayne

Feastday: October 29

Birth: 1544

Death: 1577

An English martyr, born near Branstaple, in Devonshire, as a Protestant. He converted to Catholicism at St. John's, Oxford. Cuthbert was ordained at Douai, France, and sent home to England about 1575. Working in Cornwall, he was captured after a year. Condemned for celebrating a Mass, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered on November 25. Cuthbert was a friend of Edmund Campion, and he was aided by Francis Tregian in Cornwall. He was the first Englishman trained for the priesthood at Douai and was the protomartyr of English seminaries. Cuthbert was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Cuthbert Mayne (c. 1543–29 November 1577) was an English Roman Catholic priest executed under the laws of Elizabeth I. He was the first of the seminary priests, trained on the Continent, to be martyred. Mayne was beatified in 1886 and canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.

Early life

Mayne was born at Youlston, near Barnstaple in Devon, the son of William Mayne. He was baptised at the Church of St Peter, Shirwell on 20 March 1543/4, the feast day of St Cuthbert. An uncle who was a Church of England priest paid for him to attend Barnstaple Grammar School.

Mayne was instituted rector of the parish of Huntshaw in December 1561.[1] He attended Oxford University, first at St Alban Hall,[2] then at St John's College, and was awarded a B.A. on 6 April 1566 and M.A. on 8 April 1570.[3] On 27 April 1570, the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis excommunicated those who obeyed the laws and commands of Queen Elizabeth I.

Catholic conversion

At Oxford, Mayne met Edmund Campion and other Catholics, such as Gregory Martin, Humphrey Ely, Henry Shaw, Thomas Bramston, Henry Holland, Jonas Meredith, and Roland Russell. At some point Mayne, too, became a Catholic. Late in 1570, a letter addressed to him from Gregory Martin, urging him to come to Douai, fell into the hands of the Bishop of London, and he sent a pursuivant to arrest Mayne and others mentioned in the letter. Warned by Thomas Ford, Mayne evaded arrest by going to Cornwall and then, in 1573, to the English College, Douai, now in northern France.[2]

Mayne was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church at Douai in 1575 and on 7 February in the following year he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Theology of Douai University.

On 24 April 1576, he left for the English mission in the company of another priest, John Payne. He soon joined the household of Francis Tregian at Golden in the parish of Probus, Cornwall[2] where he posed as his steward. Francis Tregian (1548–1608) was one of the richest landowners in Cornwall.

Missionaries from Douai were looked upon as papal agents intent on overthrowing the queen. The authorities began a systematic search in June 1576, when the Bishop of Exeter William Bradbridge came to Cornwall. On 8 June 1577, the High Sheriff of Cornwall, Richard Grenville, conducted a raid on Tregian's house during which the crown officers "bounced and beat at the door" to Mayne's chamber. On gaining entry, Grenville discovered a Catholic devotional item, an Agnus Dei, around Mayne's neck, and took him into custody along with his books and papers.[4]

Imprisonment and trial

While awaiting trial at the circuit assizes in September, Mayne was imprisoned in Launceston Castle. At the opening of the trial on 23 September 1577 there were five counts against him:[4] first, that he had obtained from the Roman See a "faculty" (or bulla), containing absolution of the Queen's subjects; second, that he had published the same at Golden; third, that he had taught the ecclesiastical authority of the pope and denied the queen's ecclesiastical supremacy while in prison; fourth, that he had brought into the kingdom an Agnus Dei (a Lamb of God sealed upon a piece of wax from the Paschal candle blessed by the pope)[5] and delivered it to Francis Tregian; fifth, that he had celebrated Mass.

Mayne answered all counts. On the first and second counts, he said that the supposed "faculty" was merely a copy printed at Douai of an announcement of the Jubilee of 1575, and that its application having expired with the end of the jubilee, he certainly had not published it either at Golden (the manor house of Francis Tregian) or elsewhere. On the third count, he said that he had asserted nothing definite on the subject to the three illiterate witnesses who swore to the contrary. On the fourth count, he said that the fact he was wearing an Agnus Dei at the time of his arrest did not establish that he had brought it into the kingdom or delivered it to Tregian. On the fifth count, he said that the presence of a Missal, a chalice, and vestments in his room did not establish that he had said Mass.

The trial judge, Justice Sir Roger Manwood,[6] directed the jury to return a verdict of guilty, stating that, "where plain proofs were wanting, strong presumptions ought to take place".[7] Manwood also argued that it was illegal to introduce any papal letter into the country, no matter what it was. The jury found Mayne guilty of high treason on all counts, and accordingly he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Mayne responded, "Deo gratias".[4]

With him had been arraigned Francis Tregian and eight other laymen. The eight were sentenced to seizure of their goods and life imprisonment.[8] Tregian was sentenced to die but was in fact incarcerated for 28 years[9] until, on the petition of his friends, he was released by King James I.[10]

His execution was delayed because one of the judges, Jeffries, took exception to the proceedings and sent a report to the Privy Council. The Council submitted the case to the whole bench of judges, which was inclined to Jeffries's view. Nevertheless, the council ordered the execution to proceed.[2]

At the examination of Mayne after the trial, Mayne admitted to having said mass. The Record Office also recorded that among his papers were notes which brought him under suspicion of the charge that Catholics were bound, in the right opportunity, to rise against the Queen. The same office also recorded him admitting to this during his examination after the trial:

Mayne had also supposedly stated that "the people of England may be won unto the catholic religion of the see of Rome by such secret instructions as either are or may be within the realm; but what these secret instructions are he will not utter, but hopeth when time serveth they shall do therein as pleaseth God."[12]

Execution

A gallows was erected in the marketplace at Launceston, and Mayne was executed there on 29 November 1577. Before being brought to the place of execution, Mayne was offered his life in return for a renunciation of his religion and an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the queen as head of the church. Declining both offers, he kissed a copy of the Bible, declaring that, "the queen neither ever was, nor is, nor ever shall be, the head of the church of England". He was not allowed to speak to the crowd but only to say his prayers quietly. It is unclear if he died on the gallows but all agree that he was unconscious, or almost so, when he was drawn and quartered. One source states that he was cut down alive, but in falling struck his head against the scaffold.

Political considerations

A. L. Rowse sees the condemnation of Mayne as arising from local rivalries between Protestant coastal and Catholic inland interests.[13] Grenville had been unsuccessful in his attempts to arrange a marriage between his daughter and the Tregian heir.[14]

The coming of Mayne and others made the English government fear the possibility of papal agents coming to the island to ready the populace to rise up in revolt in support of King Philip II of Spain in an invasion of England. This helped support the case to pass harsher legislation against Catholicism in England. Establishing a threat from subversive Catholic elements also served Elizabeth's counsellors such as Lord Burghley in their attempts to persuade the Queen to support the Dutch Revolt against Spain.[11]

Legacy

Mayne was beatified "equipollently" by Pope Leo XIII, by means of a decree of 29 December 1886 and was canonised along with other martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970.

Mayne was the first seminary priest, the group of priests who were trained not in England but in houses of studies on the Continent. He was also one of the group of prominent Catholic martyrs of the persecution who were later designated as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Relics of Mayne's body survive. A portion of his skull is kept at Lanherne Convent in Cornwall.[15] Christopher M. B. Allison suggests that the silver reliquary discovered in 2015 at Jamestown, Virginia in the grave of Captain Gabriel Archer (died 1609/10) may contain a relic of Mayne.[16]

There are many memorials to him in Launceston, and in 1977 the name of the Roman Catholic church on St Stephen's Hill there was changed from the Church of the English Martyrs to the Church of St Cuthbert Mayne; it is the site of the National Shrine to St Cuthbert Mayne.[17] In 1921 an annual June pilgrimage was initiated in Launceston to commemorate Mayne.[18]

St Cuthbert Mayne School, a voluntary aided Roman Catholic and Church of England school[19] in Torquay, and St Cuthbert Mayne Catholic Junior School in Hemel Hempstead, are named after him. The St Cuthbert Mayne RC High School in Fulwood, Lancashire merged in 1988 to become Our Lady's Catholic High School.

In fiction

In the historical novel The Grove of Eagles by Winston Graham, which is set in Cornwall some years after Mayne's death, there are several references to him. One character, a Catholic member of the prominent Arundell family of Tolverne, says that his Protestant brother, who was one of the jurors at Mayne's trial, will burn in Hell for his share in Mayne's death. The brother, filled with guilt for his share in the execution, has not only converted to the Roman Catholic faith but is risking his life by sheltering other priests.

St. Bond

Feastday: October 29

Death: 7th century

A hermit venerated in Sens, France. Bond was a Spaniard who became a public penitent, trained by St. Artemius, the bishop there. He is also called Baldus.

Saint Gaetano Errico

Profile

Second of nine children born to Pasquale, a pasta factory manager, and Marie Marseglia Errico, who worked weaving plush. A good child, pious, always ready to help his father at work, or his mother with his younger siblings. He felt a call to the priesthood at age fourteen. He was turned away by the Capuchins and Redemptorists due to his youth. Studied at a diocesan seminary in Naples, Italy from age sixteen, walking the five miles to class each day, and was ordained on 23 September 1815 in Naples.

School teacher for twenty years. Parish priest at the church of Saint Cosmas and Damian. Known for his devotion to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and ministry to the sick, his self-imposed austerties and penances. He made yearly retreats to the Redemptorist house in Pagani, Italy.

During his retreat in 1818, Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori appeared to him in a vision, and told him that God wanted Gaetano to build a new church, and to found a new religious congregation. While Gaetano initially received strong support from the local people, it faded in the face of fund-raising and work, and it wasn't until 9 December 1830 that he dedicated and blessed the church Our Lady of Sorrows at Secondigliano; it has since become one of Italy's most popular pilgrimage sites.

Nearby he built a small house for himself and a lay-brother who took care of the church; this was the beginning of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The Missionaries received local approval on 14 March 1836, approval by the Congregation of Bishops on 30 June 1838, royal approval on 13 May 1840, and papal approval by Blessed Pope Pius IX on 7 August 1846. Gaetano served as first Superior General.

His beatification miracle occurred in southern Italy in January 1952 and involved a man with a perforated stomach wall. Just before emergency surgery, his wife slipped a relic of Father Gaetano under his pillow, and together they prayed for his intercession. His health began to improve immediately, and he was soon healed without medical intervention.

Born

19 October 1791 in Secondigliano, Naples, Italy

Died

10am 29 October 1860 in Secondigliano, Naples, Italy of natural causes

Canonized

Sunday 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Abraham Kidunaia

Also known as

• Abraham the Great of Kidunja

• Abraham of Edessa

• Abraham of Kidunja

• Abrhahn of Kidunaja

Profile

Born to a wealthy family near Edessa, Syria. Forced into an arranged marriage at an early age. During the wedding festivities, Abraham fled. He walled himself up in a nearby building, leaving a small hole through which his family could send in food and water, and by which he could explain his desire for a religious life. His family relented, the marriage was called off, and he spent the next ten years in his cell.

After a decade of this life, the bishop of Edessa ordered Abraham from his cell. Against Abraham's wishes, the bishop ordained him, and sent him as a missionary priest to the intransigently pagan village of Beth-Kiduna. He built a church, smashed idols, suffered abuse and violence, set a good example, and succeeded in converting the entire village. After a year, he prayed that God would send the village a better pastor than he, and he returned to his cell. It is from his success in Kiduna that he became known as Kidunaia.

He left the cell only twice more. Once a niece, Saint Mary of Edessa, was living a wild and misspent life. Abraham disguised himself as a soldier, which he knew would get her attention, and went to her home. Over supper he convinced her of the error of her ways; she converted and changed her life, and Abraham returned to his cell. His final trip out was his funeral, attended by a large, loving throng of mourners. His biography was written by his friend Saint Ephrem of Syria.

Born

c.296 at Edessa, Osrhoene, Mesopotamia (in modern Syria)

Died

c.366 at Edessa, Osrhoene, Mesopotamia (in modern Syria) of natural causes

Saint Achahildis of Wendelstein

Also known as

• Achachildis, Achatia, Atzin

• Reinilda of Luxemburg

Profile

Born to the nobility, the sister of Saint Cunegundes. Married to Thietmar and mother of quintuplets; she and her husband, both of whom were drawn to religious life, then took vows of celibacy. Noted for her charity to the poor, and as a miracle worker. Founded a parish church in Wendelstein, Germany. Once when she discovered that a servant had killed and stolen some geese, she forgave the servant and brought the geese back to life - including the one that had been cooked.

Died

• c.970 of natural causes

• interred at the church in Wendelstein, Germany that she had founded

• tomb re-discovered in 1447

• healing miracles, especially of children, were reported at the tomb

• church later taken over by Protestants and devotion ceased

Blessed Chiara Badano

Also known as

Luce Badano

Profile

Young lay woman in the Diocese of Aqui Terme, Italy. Daughter of Ruggero Badano, a truck driver, and Maria Teresa Caviglia. A kind, happy and pious girl, she enjoyed tennis, swimming, hiking, singing, dancing and initially wanted to be a flight attendant. Member of the Focolare Movement at age nine. At age 16 she began to feel drawn to religious life; soon afterward she was diagnosed with cancer in her shoulder. Chiara insisted that she could become a missionary, but the cancer spread quickly, affecting her spine, and she lost the use of her legs. She finally accepted that she wasn't going anywhere and spent her remaining time praying and being supportive of her family and friends.

Born

29 October 1971 in Savona, Italy

Died

7 October 1990 in Sassello, Savona, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

25 September 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem

✠ ஜெருசலேம் நகர் புனிதர் நார்ஸிஸ்சஸ் ✠

(St. Narcissus of Jerusalem)

ஜெருசலேம் ஆயர்/ ஒப்புரவாளர்:

(Bishop of Jerusalem and Confessor)

பிறப்பு: கி.பி. 99

இறப்பு: கி.பி. 216 (வயது 117)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

கிழக்கு மரபுவழி திருச்சபை

(Eastern Orthodox Church)

நினைவுத் திருவிழா: அக்டோபர் 29

புனிதர் நார்ஸிஸ்சஸ், ஜெருசலேமின் “ஆதி குலத் தலைவர்” (Patriarch of Jerusalem) ஆவார். மேற்கு மற்றும் கிழக்கு திருச்சபைகளால் புனிதராக அருட்பொழிவு செய்யப்பட்டவர். ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையில், அக்டோபர் மாதம் இருபத்தொன்பதாம் நாள் அவரது நினைவுத் திருநாள் கொண்டாடப்படுகின்றது.

கி.பி. 180ம் ஆண்டில், தனது என்பதாவது வயதில் எருசலேமின் முப்பதாவது ஆயராகப் பொறுப்பேற்றவர் புனிதர் நார்ஸிஸ்சஸ். பணிக்கு வயது ஒரு தடையல்ல என்பதுபோல் இளமைத் துடிப்புடன் இறைப்பணியைத் தொடர்ந்த இவர், கி.பி.195ம் ஆண்டில், “பாலஸ்தீனின்” (Palestine) “செசாரியா” (Caesarea) ஆயர் “தியோஃபிடஸ்” (Theophitus) அவர்களுடன் சேர்ந்து, செசாரியாவில் நடந்த ஆயர்கள் அவையில், கிறிஸ்து உயிர்ப்புப் பெருவிழா எப்போதும் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமையிலேயே கொண்டாடப்பட வேண்டுமென்றும், யூதர்களின் பெருநாளான “பாஸ்காவுடன்” (Passover) அல்ல என்றும் தீர்மானம் கொண்டு வந்தார்.

“யூசெபிசியசின்” (Eusebius) கூற்றின்படி, ஆயர் நார்ஸிஸ்சஸ் அவர்கள் வாழும்போதே பல புதுமைகள் செய்தவர். மின்வசதிகள் இல்லாத அக்காலத்தில், ஒரு கிறிஸ்து உயிர்ப்புப் பெருவிழா திருவிழிப்புத் திருவழிபாடு தொடங்கவிருந்த நேரத்தில், ஆலய விளக்குகளுக்குப் போதுமான எண்ணெய் இல்லாமல் அணைந்துபோகும் நிலையில் இருந்தன. உடனே இவர் தியாக்கோன்களை அழைத்து அருகிலிருந்த கிணற்றிலிருந்து தண்ணீர் எடுத்துவந்து விளக்குகளில் ஊற்றச் சொன்னார். பின்னர் அந்தத் தண்ணீர்மீது உருக்கமாகச் செபித்தார். உடனே அந்தத் தண்ணீர் எண்ணெய்யாக மாறி விளக்குகள் சுடர்விட்டு எரிந்தன.

“புனித குரு” என எல்லாராலும் இவர் போற்றப்பட்டதைக் கண்டு பொறாமையடைந்த மூவர், இவர்மீது அபாண்டமாகப் பழி சுமத்தினர்.

முதலாமவன், அனைவர் முன்னிலையிலும் வந்து, நான் சொல்வதில் உண்மை இல்லையென்றால், கடவுள் என்னை நெருப்பில் சுட்டெரிப்பாராக என்றான்.

இரண்டாவது ஆள் வந்து, எனது குற்றச்சாட்டுப் பொய்யானால், நான் தொழுநோயால் தாக்கப்படுவேன் என்று சபதமிட்டான்.

மூன்றாவது ஆள் வந்து, நான் பார்வையிழப்பேன் என்று உறுதியாகச் சொன்னான்.

இது நடந்து ஒரு சில நாட்களிலே ஓர் இரவில் முதல் ஆளின் வீடு தானாகத் தீப்பிடித்து முழுக் குடும்பமும் சாம்பலானது. அடுத்த ஆளும் அவர் கூறியதுபோலவே தொழுநோயால் தாக்கப்பட்டார்.

இவற்றைக் கண்டு பயந்த மூன்றாவது ஆள், ஆயர் மீது தாங்கள் மூவரும் சுமத்திய குற்றங்கள் அனைத்தும் பொய் என அனைவர் முன்னிலையில் அறிவித்து ஆயரிடம் மன்னிப்பு இறைஞ்சினான். ஆயரும் அவருக்கு மன்னிப்பளித்தார்.

பின்னர், பாலைநிலம் சென்று தனிமையில் செபத்தில் நாட்களைச் செலவழித்தார். சில காலம் கழித்து ஆயர் நார்ஸிஸ்சஸ் அவர்கள், எருசலேம் திரும்பி வந்தபோது மக்கள் அவரை மீண்டும் ஆயராக்கினார்கள். ஆனால் முதிர்வயது காரணமாக, புனிதர் “அலெக்சாண்டரை” (Saint Alexander) துணை ஆயராக நியமித்தார் அவர்.

புனித வாழ்வு வாழ்ந்த ஆயர் நார்ஸிஸ்சஸ், கி.பி. 216ம் ஆண்டில், தனது 117வது வயதில், முழங்கால் படியிட்டு செபித்துக்கொண்டிருக்கும் வேளையில் மரித்தார்.

Profile

Bishop of Jerusalem, consecrated c.180 when he was already an old man. Late in life, he was accused of a crime. None of the Christians in his diocese believed it, but Narcissus did not believe he should serve after being under such a cloud, and he became a desert hermit. After a complete acquittal, Narcissus returned to his see, older, weathered, but stronger and more zealous than ever, and served several more years. One Holy Saturday he turned water into lamp oil so the Easter vigil services could be conducted. When his age began to wear on him, Narcissus begged God to send a bishop to help him. Saint Alexander of Cappadocia responded, and the two ruled the diocese together, Narcissus living to age 116.

Born

99

Died

215 of natural causes

Patronage

against insect bites

Saint Abraham of Rostov

Also known as

Averkii, Avraamii

Profile

Raised as a pagan, as a young man Abraham was struck down by a nearly fatal illness, then cured by prayer. Convert. Monk, taking the name Abraham. Became a travelling evangelist and preacher in Rostov, Russia. Legend says that a vision of Saint John the Divine gave Abraham his own staff, and that Abraham used it to smash the pagan stone idol of Veles in Rostov; he then built the monastery of the Theophany on the site of the old pagan temple, and the staff was later carried into battle by Ivan the Terrible who hoped to benefit from its holy power. Abraham built two parish churches, one dedicated to Saint John, and started charitable organizations. Chosen abbot, he led by doing the most menial tasks, and serving all others.

Born

10th century in Galich, Russia as Averkii

Died

• at the monastery of Rostov, Russia of natural causes

• buried at the church of the Theophany monastery

Saint Dodone of Wallers-en-Fagne

Also known as

Dodo, Dodón

Profile

Eighth-century Benedictine monk at Lobbes Abbey. Spiritual student of Saint Ursmar of Lobbes in Belgium. Abbot of the monastery of Wallers-en-Fagne, Cambrai, Neustria (in modern France). Late in life he retired to live as a hermit in the area of the moden town of Moustiers-en-Fagne, France.

Born

Vaux, Lomme (near Laon, France)

Died

• c.750 in Moustiers-en-Fagne, France of natural causes

• re-interred in the church of the Priory of Wallers-en-Fagne in 888 by order of the bishop Of Cambrai, France

• relics enshrined at the altar of the church c.930

• relics later re-enshrined in a small church in the town of Moustiers-en-Fagne

Saint Mary of Edessa

Profile

Niece of Saint Abraham Kidunaia. She lived for 20 years as an anchoress near Abraham's cell. In a moment of weakness, she was seduced by a renegade monk who had turned from his vows. Mary despaired of forgiveness for her lapse, and in her shame, moved far away and gave herself over to a wild, dissolute, and sexually active life. Saint Abraham only left his hermit's cell twice - the second being to visit Mary in the guise of a soldier. Like so many others, Mary picked him up and took him home. There, over supper, Abraham convinced her of the error of her ways. She converted and returned to the life of an anchoress, spending the rest of her days in prayer.

Patronage

against sexual temptation

Saint Colman of Kilmacduagh

Profile

Son of a chieftain named Duagh. Hermit in Arranmore where he built two churches. His reputation for holiness attracted too much attention, so he retreated to the woods of Burren in 592 to live in isolation. In 610, on land donated by King Guaire of Connacht, he founded a monastery which became the center of the diocese of Kilmacduagh. He reluctantly served as the house's first abbot, the diocese's first bishop.

Born

c.560 at Kiltartan, Ireland

Died

29 October 632 of natural causes

Canonized

1903 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmed)

Patronage

diocese of Kilmacduagh, Ireland

Saint Anne of Mount Olympus

Also known as

• Anne of Constantinople

• Euphemianus of

Profile

Born to a prominent family, Anne was drawn to religious life but her parents pushed her into an arranged marriage. Widow. She then disguised herself as a man, used the name Euphemianus, and became a monk at an abbey on Mount Olympus. Her piety was such that the brothers asked her to become their 'abbot', but she declined.

Born

Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey)

Died

820 of natural causes

Saint Honoratus of Vercelli

Profile

Spiritual student of Saint Eusebius who he accompanied into exile at Scythopolis in 335, and on his travels through Cappadocia, Egypt, and Illyricum. Bishop in 396. Gave the sacrament of the Annointing of the Sick to Saint Ambrose on his deathbed.

Born

c.330 at Vercelli, Italy

Died

415 of natural causes

Saint Ermelinda of Meldaert

Also known as

Ermelindis

Profile

She declined a marriage, donated her inhertiance to the poor, and lived as a hermitess near Bevekom, Belgium. Anchoress in Meldaert, Belgium.

Born

c.510 in Lovenjoel, Belgium

Died

c.590 in Meldaert, Belgium of natural causes

Patronage

• against eye pain

• against fever

• against lameness

• Meldaert, Belgium

Saint Stephen of Caiazzo

Also known as

Stefano Minicillo

Profile

Abbot of San Salvatore Maggiore territorial abbey. Bishop of Cajazzo, Italy in 979.

Born

935 in Macerata, Italy

Died

1023

Patronage

Cajazzo, Italy

Saint Theodore of Vienne

Also known as

Theudar, Teuderio, Teodario

Profile

Priest. Monk. Spiritual student of Saint Caesarius of Arles. Abbot of a monastery in Vienne, France. Founded several monasteries in the region. In late life he lived as a hermit in the church of Saint Laurence in Vienne.

Died

c.575

Saint Eusebia of Bergamo

Profile

Third-century niece of Saint Domnio. Nun in Bergamo, Italy. Martyred in the persecutions of Maximian Herculeus.

Died

• beheaded in the late 3rd century

• relics re-discovered and enshrined in 1401

Saint Zenobius of Sidon

Also known as

Zenobio

Profile

Priest. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian for encourging condemned Christians not to abandoned their faith.

Died

Sidon, Phoenicia

Saint Sigolinus of Stavelot

Also known as

Sighelm

Profile

Monk. Abbot of Stavelot-Malmédy Abbey in Belgium.

Died

c.670 of natural causes

Saint Terence of Metz

Profile

Bishop of Metz, France. A noted scholar, he fought for orthodox doctines.

Died

520 of natural causes

Saint Felician of Carthage

Also known as

Feliciano

Profile

Martyr.

Died

Carthage, North Africa

Saint Donatus of Corfu

Profile

In 600 Saint Gregory the Great had the relics of Donatus enshrined on Corfu.

Saint Kennera

Profile

Educated with Saint Ursula and Saint Regulus of Patras. Nun. Recluse at Kirk-Kinner, Galloway, Scotland.

Saint John of Autun

Profile

Bishop venerated at Autun, France.

Douai Martyrs

Feastday: October 29

 

More than 160 priests trained in the English College of Douai, France, returned to England and Wales and faced arrest, torture, and execution by English authorities. A large group - more than eighty- were beatified in 1929, and English dioceses celebrate the feasts of these martyrs.

The Douai Martyrs is a name applied by the Catholic Church to 158 Catholic priests trained in the English College at Douai, France, who were executed by the English state between 1577 and 1680.[2]

History

Having completed their training at Douai, many returned to England and Wales with the intent to minister to the Catholic population. Under the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584 the presence of a priest within the realm was considered high treason. Missionaries from Douai were looked upon as a papal agents intent on overthrowing the queen. Many were arrested under charges of treason and conspiracy, resulting in torture and execution. In total, 158 members of Douai College were martyred between the years 1577 and 1680.[1] The first was Cuthbert Mayne, executed at Launceston, Cornwall.[3] The last was Thomas Thwing, hanged, drawn, and quartered at York in October 1680.[4] Each time the news of another execution reached the College, a solemn Mass of thanksgiving was sung.

Many people risked their lives during this period by assisting them, which was also prohibited under the Act. A number of the "seminary priests" from Douai were executed at a three-sided gallows at Tyburn near the present-day Marble Arch. A plaque to the "Catholic martyrs" executed at Tyburn in the period 1535 - 1681 is located at 8 Hyde Park Place, the site of Tyburn convent.[5]

Eighty were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Today, British Catholic dioceses celebrate their feast day on 29 October.[1]

Bl Alexander Crow

Bl Anthony Middleton

Bl Antony Page

Bl Christopher Bales

Bl Christopher Buxton

Bl Christopher Robinson

Bl Christopher Wharton

Bl Edmund Catherick

Bl Edmund Duke

Bl Edmund Sykes

Bl Edward Bamber

Bl Edward Burden

Bl Edward James

Bl Edward Jones

Bl Edward Osbaldeston

Bl Edward Stransham

Bl Edward Thwing

Bl Edward Waterson

Bl Everald Hanse

Bl Francis Ingleby

Bl Francis Page

Bl George Beesley

Bl George Gervase

Bl George Haydock

Bl George Napper

Bl George Nichols

Bl Henry Heath

Bl Hugh Green

Bl Hugh More

Bl Hugh Taylor

Bl James Claxton

Bl James Fenn

Bl James Thompson

Bl John Adams

Bl John Amias

Bl John Bodey

Bl John Cornelius

Bl John Duckett

Bl John Hambley

Bl John Hogg

Bl John Ingram

Bl John Lockwood

Bl John Lowe

Bl John Munden

Bl John Nelson

Bl John Nutter

Bl John Pibush

Bl John Robinson

Bl John Sandys

Bl John Shert

Bl John Slade

Bl John Sugar

Bl John Thules

Bl Joseph Lambton

Bl Lawrence Richardson

Bl Mark Barkworth

Bl Matthew Flathers

Bl Montfort Scott

Bl Nicholas Garlick

Bl Nicholas Postgate

Bl Nicholas Woodfen

Bl Peter Snow

Bl Ralph Crockett

Bl Richard Hill

Bl Richard Holiday

Bl Richard Kirkman

Bl Richard Newport

Bl Richard Sergeant

Bl Richard Simpson

Bl Richard Thirkeld

Bl Richard Yaxley

Bl Robert Anderton

Bl Robert Dalby

Bl Robert Dibdale

Bl Robert Drury

Bl Robert Johnson

Bl Robert Ludlam

Bl Robert Nutter

Bl Robert Sutton

Bl Robert Thorpe

Bl Robert Wilcox

Bl Roger Cadwallador

Bl Roger Filcock

Bl Stephen Rowsham

Bl Thomas Alfield

Bl Thomas Atkinson

Bl Thomas Belson

Bl Thomas Cottam

Bl Thomas Maxfield

Bl Thomas Palaser

Bl Thomas Pilchard

Bl Thomas Pormort

Bl Thomas Reynolds

Bl Thomas Sherwood

Bl Thomas Somers

Bl Thomas Sprott

Bl Thomas Thwing

Bl Thomas Tunstal

Bl Thurstan Hunt

Bl William Andleby

Bl William Davies

Bl William Filby

Bl William Harrington

Bl William Hart

Bl William Hartley

Bl William Lacey

Bl William Marsden

Bl William Patenson

Bl William Southerne

Bl William Spenser

Bl William Thomson

Bl William Ward

Bl William Way

St Alban Bartholomew Roe

St Alexander Briant

St Ambrose Edward Barlow

St Cuthbert Mayne

St Edmund Arrowsmith

St Edmund Campion

St Edmund Gennings

St Eustace White

St Henry Morse

St Henry Walpole

St John Almond

St John Boste

St John Kemble

St John Payne

St John Southworth

St John Wall

St Luke Kirby

St Ralph Sherwin

St Robert Southwell

Ven Edward Morgan

Ven Thomas Tichborne

Bl Alexander Rawlins

Bl Edward Campion

Francis Dickinson

James Bird

James Harrison

John Finglow

John Goodman

John Hewitt

Matthias Harrison

Miles Gerard

St Polydore Plasden

Richard Horner

Robert Leigh

Robert Morton

Robert Watkinson

Roger Dickinson

Thomas Felton

Thomas Ford

Thomas Hemerford

Thomas Holford

William Dean

William Freeman

William Gunter

Bl William Richardson

The Douay Martyrs School in Ickenham, Middlesex is named in their honour.

Martyrs of Lucania

Profile

A group of Christians executed together for their faith. Only their names have survived - Felician, Hyacinth, Lucius and Quintus.

Died

Lucania, southern Italy

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 Arsenio Merino Miguel

• Blessed Benito Paradela Novoa

• Blessed Joaquina Rey Aguirre

• Blessed José Ruiz Bruixola

• Blessed Maurilio Tobar González

• Blessed Ponciano Nieto Asensio

• Blessed Victoria Arregui Guinea

மறைசாட்சி ஃபெருடியஸ் Ferrutius

பிறப்பு 

3 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு

இறப்பு 

4 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு, 

மைன்ஸ் Mainz, ஜெர்மனி

இவர் உரோம் படைவீரராக பணியாற்றியவர். கிறிஸ்துவைப்பற்றி அறிவித்தவர். நற்செய்தியை பறைசாற்றிய காரணத்திற்காக அரசன் தியோக்ளேசியன் (Diokletian) ஃபெருடியசை பிடித்து சிறையிலடைத்தான். கிறிஸ்துவ மதத்தை விட்டு விலகும்படி கட்டாயப்படுத்தினான். அவனின் சொற்களுக்கு பணியாததால், ஃபெருடியசை கொலை செய்யக் கூறினான். கடவுளின் விசுவாசத்திலிருந்து இறுதி வரை விலகாததால் கொலை செய்யப்பட்டார். பின்னர் மைன்ஸ் நகர் பேராயர் லூலூஸ் (Lullus) ஃபெருடியஸின் உடலை கொண்டு வந்து 778 ஆம் ஆண்டு புனித பெனடிக்ட் துறவறச் சபையில் வைத்தார். ஜெர்மனியிலுள்ள வீஸ்பாடனில் (Wiesbaden) இவரின் பெயரில் ஆலயம் ஒன்றும் உள்ளது. 

St. Ferrutius

Feastday: October 28

A Roman soldier at Mainz, Germany, who refused to take part in pagan ceremonies. Thrown into prison, Ferrutius died of abuse and starvation.

✠ அருளாளர் மைக்கேல் ருவா ✠

(Blessed Michele Rua)

டான் போஸ்கோவின் சலேசியன் சபை இணை நிறுவனர்:

(Co-founder of the Salesians of Don Bosco)

பிறப்பு: ஜூன் 9, 1837

டூரின், சார்டினியா அரசு

(Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia)

இறப்பு: ஏப்ரல் 6, 1910 (வயது 72)

டூரின், இத்தாலி

(Turin, Italy)

ஏற்கும் சமயம்:

ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை

(Roman Catholic Church)

முக்திபேறு பட்டம்: அக்டோபர் 29, 1972

திருத்தந்தை ஆறாம் பவுல்

(Pope Paul VI)

நினைவுத் திருநாள்: அக்டோபர் 29

அருளாளர் மைக்கேல் ருவா, ஒரு இத்தாலிய கத்தோலிக்க குருவும், புனிதர் ஜான் பாஸ்கோவின் மாணவர்களுள் ஒருவரும் ஆவார். சலேசிய சபையின் முதல் தலைமை அதிபரும் (Rector Major of the Salesians) இவரேயாவார்.

கி.பி. 1837ம் ஆண்டு இத்தாலி நாட்டிலுள்ள தூரின் (Turin) என்ற இடத்தில் ஜூன் 9ம் நாள் பிறந்த இவர், ஒன்பது சகோதாரர்களுள் இளையவராவார்.

ஆயுத தொழிற்சாலை ஒன்றின் மேற்பார்வையாளராக பணியாற்றிய "ஜியோவன்னி பட்டிஸ்டா" (Giovanni Battista) இவரது தந்தை ஆவார். "ஜியோவன்னா மரிய ருவா" (Giovanna Maria Rua) இவரது தாயார் ஆவார்.

கி.பி. 1845ம் ஆண்டு, ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம், 2ம் தேதி,  இவரது தந்தையார் இறந்ததும், இவரது தாய்க்கு அதே ஆயுத தொழிற்சாலையிலேயே பணி கிடைத்தது. விதவைத் தாயாருடன் வாழ்க்கையைத் தொடங்கிய மைக்கேல், 'கிறிஸ்தவ பள்ளிக்கூடங்களின் சகோதரர்கள்' (Brothers of the Christian Schools) நடத்திய பள்ளிக்கூடம் ஒன்றில் தமது ஆரம்பக் கல்வியை கற்றார்.

தமது 15ம் வயதில் தனது படிப்புகளை முடித்தபோது, கத்தோலிக்க குருவான புனிதர் டோன் ஜான் போஸ்கோ அவர்களால் தொடங்கப்பட்ட இளைஞரணியில் சேர்ந்தார். அப்போது மைக்கேல் ருவாவும், ஜான் போஸ்கோவும் நண்பர்கள் ஆனார்கள். 

கி.பி. 1861ம் ஆண்டு, தொன் ஜான் போஸ்கோ தொடங்கிய சலேசிய சபையில் இளைஞர்களுக்குப் பணியாற்றும் பணியில் ஈடுபட்டார். புனித சலேசிய சபை உருவாவதற்கு தொன் போஸ்கோவிற்கு பெருமளவில் உதவி செய்தார். அப்போது இளைஞர்களுக்கு எல்லாவிதங்களிலும் தாயாக இருந்து உதவிசெய்த ஜான் போஸ்கோவின் தாயார் நவம்பர் மாதம் கி.பி. 1856ல் இறந்ததால், இளைஞர்களுக்கு தாய் இல்லை என்ற எண்ணத்தைப் போக்க ரூவா தன் தாயை, இளைஞர்களுக்கு தாயாக இருந்து பணிபுரிய அர்ப்பணித்தார்.

இந்த இளைஞரணியானது திருச்சபையால் அதிகாரப் பூர்வமாக அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட வேண்டுமென்பதை உணர்ந்து, டோன் போஸ்கோவிற்கு துணையாக, தனது 22ம் வயதில் கி.பி. 1860ம் ஆண்டு ஜூலை 29ம் நாளன்று குருத்துவ அருட்பொழிவு பெற்று இளைஞர்களுக்கு ஞான மேய்ப்பராக பணியாற்றினார்.

தமது இருபத்தாறாம் வயதில் டூரின் நகரின் வெளியே அமைந்துள்ள "மிரபெல்லோ" (Mirabello) என்ற இளைஞர்கள் சமூக அமைப்பிற்கு தலைவராக பொறுப்பேற்றார். "மரியாளின் புதல்விகள்" (Daughters of Mary) என்றும், "கிறிஸ்தவர்களின் சகாயம்" (Help of Christians) என்றும் அழைக்கப்படும் கி.பி. 1872ம் ஆண்டு நிறுவப்பட்ட "சலேசிய அருட்சகோதரிகள்" (Salesian Sisters) சபைக்கு இயக்குனராக பணியாற்றினார்.

ஜான் போஸ்கோவின் பயணங்களில் மைக்கேல் நிலையான உடனிருப்பவராக - தோழராக இருந்தார். கி.பி. 1865ல் சலேசிய சபையின் தலைவராக பொறுப்பேற்றார். ஜான் போஸ்கோவின் திட்டவட்ட கோரிக்கையின் பேரில், திருத்தந்தை பதின்மூன்றாம் லியோ (Pope Leo XIII) ரூவாவை ஜான் போஸ்கோவின் வாரிசாக நியமித்தார்.

கி.பி. 1888ம் ஆண்டு, தொன்போஸ்கோ இறந்தவுடன் இச்சபையை வழிநடத்தும் தலைமைப் பொறுப்பை (Rector Major) திருத்தந்தையின் ஒப்புதலுடன் மைக்கேல் ருவா ஏற்றுக்கொண்டார். பின்பு திருத்தந்தை பதிமூன்றாம் லியோ (Pope Leo XIII) அவர்களால் இச்சபை சலேசிய சபையாக அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது. பின்பு உலகம் முழுவதிலும் சென்று இச்சபை தொடங்கப்பட்டது. 

பிறகு தனது 73ம் வயதில், கி.பி. 1910ம் ஆண்டு, ஏப்ரல் மாதம், 6ம் நாள், இத்தாலியிலுள்ள டூரின் என்ற நகரில் மைக்கேல் ருவா இறந்தார். தொன் போஸ்கோ இறந்தபோது 57 ஆக இருந்த சபைக் குழுமங்கள் (Communities) 345 சபைக் குழுமங்களாக பெருகின. 773 ஆக இருந்த சலேசியர்கள் 4000 ஆக பெருகினர். 6 ஆக இருந்த சபை மாநிலங்கள் 34 மாநிலங்களாக (Provincialate) 33 உலக நாடுகளில் நிறுவப்பட்டு, பல்கிப் பெருகின.

இவருக்கு திருத்தந்தை ஆறாம் பவுல் அவர்களால் 1972ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், 29ம் நாள், முக்திபேறு பட்டம் (Blessed) கொடுக்கப்பட்டது. இன்று வரை "Don" என்ற பெயரிலேயேதான் சலேசிய குழுமங்கள் அழைக்கப்படுகின்றன

.Michele Rua (English: Michael Rua; 9 June 1837 – 6 April 1910) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and professed member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.[1][2] Rua was a student under Don Bosco and was also the latter's first collaborator in the order's founding as well as one of his closest friends. He served as the first Rector Major of the Salesians following Bosco's death in 1888.[3] He was responsible for the expansion of the Salesians and the order had grown to a significant degree around the world at the time he died. Rua served as a noted spiritual director and leader for the Salesians known for his austerities and rigid adherence to the rule.[4][1] It was for this reason that he was nicknamed, 'the living rule'.

The process of Rua's beatification opened after his death and culminated as Pope Paul VI beatified Rua in 1972

Michele Rua was born in Turin on 9 June 1837 in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Turin. Rua was the last of nine children to Giovanni Battista and Giovanna Maria Rua. His father - the supervisor of a weapons warehouse - died on 2 August 1845. He lived with his widowed mother in their apartment in the warehouse which she was able to keep and where she would begin work.[4][3] His father was widowed with five children prior to his marriage to Rua's mother.[1]

Rua attended a school that the Brothers of the Christian Schools managed. It was not long following this that he met Giovanni Bosco who was working to improve the lives of the children of the neighborhood and who had just built his "oratorio" (oratory) of Francis de Sales in Valdocco. Rua was among the first with whom Bosco had shared his idea of founding a religious congregation and he joined the "oratorio" on 22 September 1852 to finish his education.[4][1] One morning in 1847 Bosco was handing medals to passing children and extended his open left hand to Rua and made the gesture with his other hand of cutting the left in half and offering it to Rua. Bosco said to "take it!" but Rua said: "But take what?" No response was given until sometime later when Bosco told Rua that their lives were intertwined into doing the work of God.[3] Bosco also sent him to Saint Giuseppe Cafasso for spiritual guidance.[1]

In 1850 Bosco asked Rua what he planned to do in 1851 to which Rua said he would aid his mother in working to provide for his siblings but Bosco asked if he felt like continuing his ecclesial studies. Rua responded that it depended on his mother's word to which Bosco asked him to ask her. Rua's mother approved him continuing his studies and he informed Bosco he would continue his studies.[3] In 1851 his brother Luigi died and his other brother Giovanni Battista died. He told Bosco that "next it's me" though Bosco assured him that he would live for another five decades.[4]

Blessed Michele Rua (left) with Don Bosco during a visit to Barcelona in 1885.

Bosco granted him and another named Roccheti the cassock on 3 October 1853.[3] Rua made his first profession on 25 March 1855 in the new Societá di San Francesco de Sales (Society of St. Francis de Sales) which Bosco was then forming; Rua was among its first members. For over the next three decades he was Bosco's closest collaborator in the development of the congregation. The death of Don Bosco's mother in 1856 prompted Rua to bring his own mother to live at the oratory where she remained for the next two decades. In 1858 he accompanied Bosco to Rome to seek official authorization for the congregation. He served as the first spiritual director for the congregation from 1859 even before his ordination to the priesthood which was celebrated on 29 July 1860; Monsignor Giovanni Balma ordained him.[4] In 1859 he had been ordained a subdeacon and then raised to the diaconate on 24 March 1860.[2]

Priesthood and Salesian leadership

From 20 October 1863 he began to serve as the rector at Mirabello where the congregation's first house outside Turin was located. He returned to Turin in 1865 to serve as the Valdocco vice-rector and later as the manager for the "Letture Cattoliche" (Catholic Readings). But he also returned to Turin to aid an ill Bosco but fell ill himself with peritonitis in 1868 deemed incurable. But Bosco said he would live and he was out of danger within the week.[3] He made his final profession on 15 November 1865. Rua was also involved in the formation of new candidates and was the first director for the Salesian Sisters which had been founded in 1872.[5][4]

Rua was a constant companion of Bosco on his trips and became the vicar for the congregation in 1865. On 24 September 1885 he was designated as Bosco's successor after the saint made the explicit request to Pope Leo XIII himself though would not succeed him until Bosco died.[2] He was designated as Rector Major in 1888 after Bosco's death and met with Leo XIII after in a private audience. Leo XIII advised Rua to hold off on the order's expansion until he could consolidate the foundation that Bosco had worked to build. Rua was nicknamed as "The Living Rule" due to his austereness and his strict adherence to the rule; he was also known for his tender approach and thoughtfulness to people. He made frequent visits to Salesian houses in Europe and in the Middle East and made constant referrals to the example of the late Bosco. Rua travelled to France and the Netherlands in 1890. He visited England for the first time in 1893 and visited both Algeria and Portugal in 1899. In 1900 he visited Tunisia and in 1904 visited Belgium as well as Switzerland and Poland; he later visited Malta in 1906. He visited Jerusalem and Palestine in 1908 and also to Austria.[1] Pope Pius X asked him in 1908 to oversee the construction of a church dedicated to Santa Maria Liberatore.[2]

Death

Rua died at the age of 73 on 6 April 1910 at 9:30am after having been ill since the fall in 1909; his remains are housed in Turin in the Basilica di Nostra Signora Aiuto dei Cristiani.[3][4] His tenure saw the Salesian Society grow from 773 to 4000 Salesians, from 57 to 345 communities, from 6 to 34 Provinces in 33 countries around the world.[4][1][2]

Beatification

The beatification process opened in the Archdiocese of Turin in an informative process that Cardinal Agostino Richelmy inaugurated on 2 May 1922 and that Cardinal Maurilio Fossati closed on 8 May 1939. The formal introduction to the cause came under Pope Pius XI on 15 January 1936 and Rua became titled as a Servant of God. Rua became Venerable on 26 June 1953 after Pope Pius XII confirmed his life of heroic virtue.

Pope Paul VI beatified Rua on 29 October 1972 in Saint Peter's Square and during the beatification Paul VI declared:

The Salesian Family had its origin in Don Bosco, its continuity in Don Rua... He made the example of Don Bosco into a school, his Rule into a spirit, his holiness into a model; he made a spring into a river.[6]

The current postulator for Rua's cause of canonization is the Salesian priest Pierluigi Cameroni.