Sts. Marcellinus and Peter: Saint of the Day for Friday, June 02, 2023

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Though we know very little about these two martyrs under Diocletian, there is no question that the early church venerated them. Evidence of the respect in which they were held are the basilica Constantine built over their tombs and the presence of their names in the first eucharistic prayer. Pope St. Damasus says that he heard the story of these two martyrs from their executioner who became a Christian after their deaths. Marcellinus, a priest, and Peter, an exorcist, died in the year 304. …

St. Justin Martyr: Saint of the Day for Thursday, June 01, 2023

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Christian apologist, born at Flavia Neapolis, about A.D. 100, converted to Christianity about A.D. 130, taught and defended the Christian religion in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165. Two “Apologies” bearing his name and his “Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon” have come down to us. Leo XIII had a Mass and an Office composed in his honour and set his feast for 14 April.

Life

Among the Fathers of the second century his life is the best known, and from …

St. Mechtildis: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, May 31, 2023

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Benedictine abbess and miracle worker. She was the daughter of Count Berthold of Andechs, in modem Bavaria, Germany. The count and his wife, Sophia, founded a monastery on their es­tate at Diessen, Bavaria, and placed Mechtildis there at the age of five. She became a Benedictine nun, and then abbess. In 1153 the bishop of Augsburg placed her in charge of Edelstetten Abbey. Mechtildis was revered for her mystical gifts and miracles. She died at Diessen on May 31.

St. Joan of Arc: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, May 30, 2023

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St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France.

On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class in the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she was said to have heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret.

At first the messages were personal and general, but when she was 13-years-old, she was in her father’s garden and had visions of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint …

St. Paschal Baylon: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, May 17, 2023

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Franciscan lay brother and mystic. Born to a peasant family at Torre Hermosa, in Aragon, on Whitsunday, he was christened Pascua in honor of the feast. According to accounts of his early life, Paschal labored as a shepherd for his father, performed miracles, and was distinguished for his austerity. He also taught himself to read. Receiving a vision which told him to enter a nearby Franciscan community, he became a Franciscan lay brother of the Alcantrine reform in 1564, and spent most of his …

St. John the Silent: Saint of the Day for Saturday, May 13, 2023

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Bishop of Colonia in Palestine and a hermit. Born in Nicopolis, Armenia, he established a monastery at the age of eighteen. Appointed a bishop at the age of twenty-eight, he spent nine years in his office before retiring to Jerusalem to embrace the eremitical life. Through a vision, he found his way to the monastery, or laura, of St. Sabas, asking to be walled up and living for seventy-five years as a silent recluse.

Sts. Nereus & Achilleus: Saint of the Day for Friday, May 12, 2023

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So often we hear people or even ourselves excuse an action by saying “I was only following orders.” But for Nereus and Achilleus this excuse could not stand in the face of the cross. Everything we know from authority about the two first- century martyrs comes from a testimony written by Pope St. Damasus in the fourth century and inscribed on a memorial tablet that commemorates their lives. But even this commentary comes 300 years after they died. Damasus tells us that Nereus …

St. Peter of Tarantaise: Saint of the Day for Monday, May 08, 2023

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Cistercian archbishop. Peter was born near Vienne, in Dauphine, France, and joined the Cistercian Order at Bonneveaux at the age of twenty with his two brothers and father. Known for his piety, at age thirty he was sent to serve as the first abbot of Tamie, in the Tarantaise Mountains, between Geneva and Savoy. There he built a hospice for travelers. In 1142, he was named the archbishop of Tarantaise against his wishes, and he devoted much energy to reforming the diocese, purging the clergy of …

St. Dominic Savio: Saint of the Day for Saturday, May 06, 2023

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Dominic Savio was born on April 2, 1842 in the village of Riva in northern Italy. His father was a blacksmith and his mother a seamstress. He had nine brothers and sisters. His family was poor but hardworking. They were devout and pious Catholics.

When he was just two years old, Dominic’s family returned to their native village of Castlenuovo d’Asti, (Today, Castlenuovo Don Bosco) near the birthplace of John Bosco. Bosco would himself later be canonized as a Saint by the Church and became a …

St. Hilary of Arles: Saint of the Day for Friday, May 05, 2023

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Bishop of Arles, France, and friend and relative of St. Honoratus. He was born to a noble family in Lorraine and was successful, although he gave up his secular career to join St. Honoratus at Lerins Abbey. When Honoratus died after being named the bishop of Arles, Hilary was chosen as his successor in 429. He was known for his austerities, his aid to the poor, and for ransoming captives. On two occasions Hilary became embroiled in controversies with Pope St. Leo I the Great, but they were …