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[edit] July 1 2007

Saint Serf (Servanus) (ca. 500—d. 583 AD) was probably a Brythonic saint, certainly of Scotland. The only thing that can be safely asserted of Serf is that he proselytized in the area of western Fife. It is not known exactly when. He is also called the apostle of Orkney, with less historical plausibility. Saint Serf is also somehow connected with Saint Mungo's Church near Simonburn, Northumberland (off the Bellingham Road, north of Chollerford). His feast day is July 1.

David Hugh Farmer has written that his "Legend is a farrago of wild impossibilities." The legend states that Serf was the son of Eliud, King of Canaan, and his wife Alphia, daughter of a King of Arabia. Childless for a long time, they at last had two sons, the second being Serf. Serf came to Rome, carrying with him such a reputation for sanctity that he was elected pope, and reigned seven years.

He traveled to Gaul and England after vacating the holy seat, arriving in Scotland. There he met Adomnán, Abbot of Iona, who showed him an island in Loch Leven (later called St Serf’s Island). At the time, this island would have been part of the Pictish kingdom of Fib (Fife). Serf founded a monastery on the island, where he remained seven years.

The center of his cult (and possibly of his activity) was Culross, which according to tradition, was founded by the saint himself. At Dunning, in Strathearn, he is said to have slain a dragon with his pastoral staff.

"Finally, after many miracles, after divine virtues, after founding many churches, [Saint Serf], having given his peace to the brethren, yielded up his spirit in his cell at Dunning, on the first day of the Kalends of July; and his disciples and the people of the province take his body to Cuilenross [Culross], and there, with psalms and hymns and canticles, he was honourably buried."
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[edit] July 2 2007

Saint Martial was the first bishop of Limoges in today's France, according to a life of Saturnin, first bishop of Toulouse, which Gregory of Tours quotes in his History of the Franks.

That is all that is known and it may be summed up thus: Under the Emperor Decius and of Gratus (250-251 CE), Pope Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges.

Martial was buried outside the Roman town, and as his tomb became progressively more important as a pilgrimage site, the monks found patronage in the Benedictine order in the 9th century. The site became the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Martial, a great library (second only to the library at Cluny) and scriptorium. The 12th-century chronicler Geoffroy du Breuil of Vigeois worked in its library.

The influx of pilgrims to the abbey where the historical Martial lay buried encouraged the creation of an elaborate hagiography during the 10th century. As the hagiography grew, Martial was moved back in time: now, sent into Gaul by Saint Peter himself, he is said to have evangelized not only the Province of Limoges but all of Aquitaine. He performed many miracles, among others the raising of a dead man to life, by touching him with a rod that St. Peter had given him.

The mythology culminated in the 11th century forgeries of Ademar of Chabannes, The Life of St. Martial, attributed to Bishop Aurelian, his successor, which was designed to 'prove' that Martial had been present at the Last Supper and at the crucifixion, and was indeed one of the original apostles. The legendary Martial appears with many miracles, casting out fiends and raising the dead and encouraging mass baptisms, in the 13th century compendium of lore, the Golden Legend. As late as 1854, Mons. Buissas, Bishop of Limoges, petitioned Pope Pius IX to bestow on Martial the honors of a disciple of Christ, but was turned down. The full discovery of Ademar's tissue of forged documents, including an imaginary church council and a papal letter, was not revealed until the 1920s, and continued for several generations to be resisted in conservative Catholic circles.
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[edit] July 3 2007

Thomas, also called St. Thomas, Judas Thomas or Didymus, was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels and Acts list this "twin" (Toma means twin in Aramaic, as does Didymus in Greek) among the apostles (Mt 10:3, Mk 3:18, Lk 6:15).

Thomas appears in a few passages in the Gospel of John. In John 11:16, when Lazarus has just died, the disciples are resisting Jesus' decision to return to Judea, where the Jews had previously tried to stone Jesus. Jesus is determined, but Thomas has the last word: "Let us also go, that we might die with him" (NIV). Some interpret this to anticipate St. Paul's theological conception of "dying with Christ".

He also speaks up at The Last Supper in John 14:5. Jesus assures his disciples that they know where he is going, but Thomas protests that they don't know at all. Jesus replies to this and to Philip's requests with a detailed and difficult exposition of his relationship to God the Father.

In Thomas's best known appearance in the New Testament, John 20:24-29, he doubts the resurrection of Jesus and demands to feel Jesus' wounds before being convinced. Caravaggio's painting, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (illustration above), depicts this scene. This story is the origin of the term Doubting Thomas. After seeing Jesus alive (the Bible never states whether Thomas actually touched Christ's wounds), Thomas professed his faith in Jesus, exclaiming "My Lord and my God!"; on this account he is also called Thomas the Believer.

Just as Saints Peter and Paul are said to have brought the fledgling Christianity to Greece and Rome, Saint Mark brought it to Egypt, Saint John to Syria and Asia Minor, Thomas is often said to have taken it eastwards as far as India. Saint Thomas is said to have been the first Catholicos of the East.
Attributes:The Twin, placing his finger in the side of Christ, spear (means of martyrdom), square (his profession, a builder)
Patronage:Architects, India, masons, carpenters, construction workers, quarrymen, surveyors and theologians, backache and a happy marriage
Prayer:To Jesus, after being asked to place his finger in the Lord's wound after his Crucifixion and Resurrection: "My Lord, and my God!"

[edit] July 4 2007

St. Elisabeth of Aragon (1271–4 July 1336) (Elisabet in Catalan, Isabel in Portuguese) was queen consort of Portugal and is, like her great-aunt St. Elisabeth of Hungary who had been canonized in 1235 for her miracles in Thuringia (Germany), a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She is also known as Rainha Santa Isabel in Portuguese (Queen Saint Elisabeth).

She showed an early enthusiasm for religion: she said the full Divine Office daily, fasted and did other penances, and attended twice daily choral masses.

Elizabeth was married very early to Denis of Portugal, a poet, and known as Rei Lavrador, or the farmer king, because he planted a large pine forest, near Leiria. The wood from these trees would later be used to make the boats during the discoveries. Elizabeth quietly pursued the regular religious practices of her maidenhood, and was devoted to the poor and sick. Naturally, such a life was a reproach to many around her, and caused ill will in some quarters. A popular story is told of how her husband's jealousy was roused by an evil-speaking page; of how he condemned the queen's supposed guilty accomplice to a cruel death; and was finally convinced of her innocence by the strange accidental substitution of her accuser for the intended victim.

They had two children, a daughter Constance, who married Ferdinand IV of Castile, and a son Afonso (later Afonso IV of Portugal). The latter so greatly resented the favours shown to the king's illegitimate sons that he rebelled, and in 1323 war was declared between him and his father. Elisabeth, however, reconciled her husband and son, and is known in consequence as the "peacemaker".

Denis died in 1325, his son succeeding him. Elisabeth then retired to a convent of the Poor Clares which she had founded at Coimbra, where she took the habit of the Franciscan Order, wishing to devote the rest of her life to the poor and sick in obscurity. But she was called forth to act once more as peacemaker. In 1336 Afonso IV marched his troops against the Alfonso XI of Castile, to whom he had married his daughter Maria, and who had neglected and ill-treated her. In spite of age and weakness, the queen dowager insisted on hurrying to Estremoz, where the two kings' armies were drawn up. She again stopped the fighting and caused terms of peace to be arranged. But the exertion brought on her final illness; and as soon as her mission was fulfilled she died of a fever on July 8, 1336.

Attributes: habit of a nun, roses, crown taken down
Patronage:Portugal, the towns of Coimbra, Estremoz and Saragossa
Prayer:

[edit] July 5 2007

Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier (b. c. 554; probably d. 617) was a hermit and abbot.

There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies (two in Latin and two in German), did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king. After a piously spent youth he secretly left his home on a pilgrimage to Rome. On his way back he settled as a hermit at Westricht in the Diocese of Trier. When a great landowner criticised him for his idle life he entered this lord's service as a herdsman, but later a miracle obliged the landowner to allow him to return to his solitude.

Wendelin then established a company of hermits from which sprang the Benedictine Abbey of Tholey in Saarland. He was consecrated abbot about 597, according to the later legends, while Tholey was apparently founded as a collegiate body about 630. It is difficult to say how far the later biographers are trustworthy.

Wendelin was buried in his cell, and a chapel was built over the grave. The small town of Sankt Wendel grew up nearby. The saint's intercession was powerful in times of pestilence and contagious diseases among cattle. When in 1320 a pestilence was checked through the intercession of the saint, Archbishop Baldwin of Trier had the chapel rebuilt. Baldwin's successor, Boemund II, built the present beautiful Gothic church, dedicated in 1360, to which the saint's relics were transferred. Since 1506 they have rested in a stone sarcophagus.

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Patronage: country people and herdsmen
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[edit] July 6 2007

St Goar was born in Aquitaine, France, as the son of a rich family.

As a young man, St Gorar was a parish priest. When he was 24, Goar became a hermit the Rhine River, where today the town of St Goar is located. He was well known for helping the sick and the hungry. To do so, he founded a hospital and build a chappel. The local bishop, Rusticus of Trier, accused him falsely of sorcery, but Goar was cleared of the charge by King Sigebert I of Austrasia in Metz. Rusticus was deposed because of this attack and because he lived luxuriously. Goar was offered Rusticus’ see but returned to his hermitage. legend says, he was given 20 days to think about his decision. Afraid to be forced to become bishop, he shall have asked god for help. Seven days later, on July 6, 575, he died. Emperor Charlemagne later erected a church over St. Goar’s former hermitage.
Attributes:a monk with two snakes or a priest with a model of a church, the devil and hinds
Patronage:town of St Goar, potters, brickyard workers, vintagers, innkeepers,mariners and an honest name
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[edit] July 7 2007

Pope Benedict XI (1240 – July 7, 1304), born Nicholas Boccasini, was Pope from 1303 to 1304

Born in Treviso, he succeeded Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), but was unable to carry out his policies. Benedict XI was a Dominican and when he was made Master of the Order in 1296, he issued ordinances forbidding public questioning of the legitimacy of Boniface VIII's election on the part of any Dominican. At the time of the seizing of Pope Boniface VIII at Anagni, Boccasini was one of only two cardinals to defend the papal party in the Lateran Palace itself. However, upon being elected Pope, he released Philip IV of France (1285–1314) from the excommunication that had been laid upon him by Boniface VIII, and practically ignored the bull Unam sanctam. Nevertheless, on June 7, 1304, he excommunicated Philip IV's implacable minister, William of Nogaret, and all the Italians who had played a part in the seizure of Boniface VIII at Anagni.

After a brief pontificate of eight months, Benedict XI died suddenly at Perugia. It was suspected, not altogether without reason, that his sudden death was caused by poisoning through the agency of Nogaret.

Benedict XI was the author of a volume of sermons and commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, on the Psalms, the Book of Job, and John's Apocalypse
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[edit] July 8 2007

Saint Kilian, also spelt Killian or Cillian, was an Irish missionary bishop and the apostle of eastern Franconia (a region in the north of Bavaria, Germany), where he began his labors towards the end of the 7th century. There are several biographies of him. The oldest texts which refer to him are an 8th century necrology at Würzburg and the notice by Hrabanus Maurus in his martyrology. According to Maurus, Kilian was a native of Ireland, whence with eleven companions he went to eastern Franconia and Thuringia. After having preached the gospel in Würzburg, he succeeded in converting to Christianity the local lord, Duke Gozbert, and much of the population. Killian eventually told the Duke that he was in violation of sacred scripture by being married to his brother's widow, Geilana, and obtained the Duke's promise to leave her. Geliana, in revenge, had Killian murdered, along with two of his companions, Colonan or Colman and Saint Totnan. It is difficult to fix the period with precision, as the judge (or duke) Gozbert is not known through other sources. The elevation of the relics of the three martyrs was performed by Burchard, the first bishop of Würzburg, and they are venerated in the cathedral of that town.

In Ireland, Kilian was born in Mullagh, Co Cavan and is the patron saint of the parish of Tuosist, near Kenmare County Kerry where he is believed to have resided before travelling to Germany. A church and holy well are named after him and his feast day, July 8th, is traditionally celebrated with a pattern when crowds visit the well for prayers, followed by evening social events.

Attributes:]wearing a bishop's crozier and wielding a sword

Patronage: Diocese of Würzburg, Franconia, town of Tuosist, for sufferers of rheumatism

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[edit] July 9 2007

Zeno of Verona, Italian: Zenone da Verona (about 300 - 371 or 300 - 380) was either an early Christian Bishop or martyr. He is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

There is an entry in the Roman Martyrology for the Bishop of Verona who was martyred by Roman Emperor Gallenius, on April 12, 371. There are many problems with this date however, as Gallenius' rule ended in 268. The more likely candidate for Saint Zeno was confessor who governed the Church of Verona as Bishop from 362-380. His birth date is controversial but is placed sometime in the early 4th century in Mauretania near Algiers, North Africa. It is not clear whether there were two (or more) separate men with the same name or if the dates are incorrect. According to legend he was stolen at birth and briefly replaced by a demonic changeling.

Zeno is the patron saint of fishermen and anglers, the city of Verona, newborn babies as well as children learning to speak and walk. He most often represented with fishing related item such as a fish, fishing rod, or a bishop holding a fishing rod. Some 30 churches or chapels have been built in his name. His feast day is April 12.


Attributes: Fishing Rod
Patronage: Fishermen, Babies, Verona
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[edit] July 10 2007

Felicitas (Felicity) of Rome (2nd century) is a Christian saint. Her historicity is certain, as there was indeed a widow named Felicity martyred in Rome on November 23 in an unknown year and buried in the cemetery of Maximus on the Salarian Way. However, a legend surrounding her and her seven sons has been grafted onto her life.[1] Her seven sons (called the Seven (Holy) Brothers) are called Alexander, Vitalis, Martial, Januarius, Felix, Philip and Silvanus (Silanus).

Felicity is said to have been a rich widow who had seven sons. She devoted herself to charitable work and converted many to the Christian faith. Pagan priests lodged a complaint against her with Emperor Marcus Antoninus Pius (or Marcus Aurelius). Felicity was brought before Publius, the prefect of Rome. He used various pleas and threats in an unsuccessful attempt to get her to worship the pagan gods and was equally unsuccessful with her seven sons who followed their mother's example.

Before the prefect Publius they adhered firmly to their religion, and were delivered over to four judges, who condemned them to various modes of death. Felicity was forced to watch as her children were murdered one by one; after each one she was given the chance to denouce her faith. She refused and was beheaded in 165 AD.

The division of the martyrs among four judges corresponds to the four places of their burial. St. Felicitas herself was buried in the catacomb of Maximus on the Via Salaria, beside Silvanus.
Attributes: woman in widow's weeds holding a palm; woman with a palm, book, and children at her feet; woman with Saint Andrew the Apostle; woman with seven sons
Patronage: parents who have lost a child in death; death of children; martyrs; sterility; to have male children; widows
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[edit] July 11 2007

Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 AD – 547 AD) was an Italian saint, the founder of the Benedictine order.

Benedict founded twelve monasteries, the best known of which was his first monastery at Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy. The monastery at Monte Cassino was the first Benedictine monastery (most monasteries of the Middle Ages were of the Benedictine Order). Benedict wrote a set of rules governing his monks, the Rule of Saint Benedict, which was heavily influenced by the writings of John Cassian. The Benedictine Rule, one of the more influential documents in Western Civilization, was adopted by most monasteries founded throughout the Middle Ages. Because of this, Benedict is often called "the founder of western Christian monasticism." Benedict was canonized a saint in 1220.

The only ancient account of Benedict is found in the second volume of St Gregory's four-book Dialogues, written in 593. Book Two consists of a prologue and thirty-eight succinct chapters. 19th-century Roman historian Thomas Hodgkin praised Gregory’s life of St. Benedict as “the biography of the greatest monk, written by the greatest Pope, himself also a monk.”
Attributes:bell; broken cup; broken cup and serpent representing poison; broken utensil; bush; crosier; man in a Benedictine cowl holding Benedict's rule or a rod of discipline; raven
Patronage:against poison; against witchcraft; agricultural workers; cavers; civil engineers; coppersmiths; dying people; erysipelas; Europe; farmers; fever; gall stones; Heerdt, Germany; inflammatory diseases; Italian architects; kidney disease; monks; nettle rash; Norcia, Italy; people in religious orders; schoolchildren; servants who have broken their master's belongings; speliologists; spelunkers; temptations
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[edit] July 12 2007

Pope Saint Marcellinus, according to the Liberian Catalogue, became bishop of Rome on June 30, 296; his predecessor was Pope Caius. He is not mentioned in the Martyrologium hieronymianum, or in the Depositio episcoporum, or in the Depositio martyrus.

Marcellinus’ pontificate began at a time when Diocletian was Roman Emperor, but had not yet started to persecute the Christians. He left Christianity rather free and so the church’s membership grew. Caesar Galerius led the pagan movement against Christianity and arrived to bring up Diocletian against Christianity in the year 302: first Christian soldiers had to leave the army, later the Church's property was confiscated and Christian books were destroyed. After two fires in Diocletian’s palace he took harder measures against Christians: they had either to apostatize or they were sentenced to death.

The Liber Pontificalis, basing itself on the Acts of St Marcellinus, the text of which is lost, relates that during Diocletian’s persecution Marcellinus was called upon to sacrifice, and offered incense to idols, but that, repenting shortly afterwards, he confessed the faith of Christ and suffered martyrdom with several companions. Other documents speak of his defection, and it is probably this lapse that explains the silence of the ancient liturgical calendars. In the beginning of the 5th century Petilianus, the Donatist bishop of Constantine, affirmed that Marcellinus and his priests had given up the holy books to the pagans during the persecution and offered incense to false gods. St Augustine contents himself with denying the affair. The records of the pseudo-council of Sinuessa, which were fabricated at the beginning of the 6th century, state that Marcellinus after his fall presented himself before a council, which refused to try him on the ground that prima sedes a nemine iudicatur ("The first See is judged by none").

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Marcellinus was buried, on April 26, 304, in the cemetery of Priscilla, on the Via Salaria, 25 days after his martyrdom; the Liberian Catalogue gives as the date October 25. The fact of the martyrdom, too, is not established with certainty. After a considerable interregnum he was succeeded by Marcellus, with whom he has sometimes been confused. During his pontificate, Armenia became the first Christian nation in 301.
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[edit] July 13 2007

Saint Willehad of Bremen (also known as Willehadus or Willihad; c. 735 - November 9 ) was a Christian missionary and the Bishop of Bremen from 787.

Willehad was born in Northumbria and probably received his education at York.

A friend of Alcuin he was ordained after his education and, about the year 766, he went to Frisia, preaching at Dokkum and in Overijssel, to continue the missionary work of St. Boniface who had been martyred by the Frisians in 754. From 780 he preached in the region of the lower Weser River on commission from Charlemagne. He barely escaped with his life when the Frisians wanted to kill him as well and he returned to the area around Utrecht. Once again he and his fellow missionaries barely escaped with their lives when the local pagans wanted to kill them for destroying some temples. Finally, in 780, Charlemagne sent him to evangelize the Saxons. He preached to them for two years but, in 782, the Saxons under Widukind, rebelled against Charlemagne and Willehad was forced to flee to Frisia. He took the opportunity to travel to Rome where he reported to Pope Adrian I on his work. On his return trip he retired to the monastery of Echternach, in present day Luxembourg. He spent two years there reassembling his missionary team. After Charlemagne had once more ruthlessly subjected the Saxons and had Widukind baptized, Willehad returned to his Saxon mission between the Weser and the Elbe rivers. In 787, he was made the bishop of the Saxons with his see at the newly founded city of Bremen. He built numerous churches in his diocese, including the cathedral in Bremen.
Attributes:bishop overturning idols
Patronage:Saxony
Prayer:

[edit] July 14 2007

Saint Exuperius (also Exsuperius) (French: Saint Exupéry, Saint Soupire) (died c. 410) was Bishop of Toulouse at the beginning of the 5th century.

His place and date of birth is unknown. Upon succeeding St. Silvius as bishop, he completed the basilica of St. Saturninus, begun by his predecessor. St. Jerome praises him for his munificence to the monks of Palestine, Egypt, and Libya, and for his charity to the people of his own diocese, who were then suffering from the attacks of the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi. For the sake of the poor in his diocese he even sold the altar vessels and so was compelled to carry the Sacred Offering in an osier basket and the Precious Blood in a vessel of glass. In esteem for his virtues and in gratitude for his gifts, St. Jerome dedicated to him his Commentary on Zacharias . Exuperius is best known in connection with the Canon of the Sacred Scriptures. He had written to Innocent I for instructions concerning the canon and several points of ecclesiastical discipline. In reply, the pope honoured him with the letter Consulenti tibi, dated February, 405, which contained a list of the canonical scriptures as we have them to-day, including the deuterocanonical books of the Catholic Canon. The assertion of non-Catholic writers that the Canon of Innocent I excluded the Apocrypha is not true, if they mean to extend the term Apocrypha to the deuterocanonical books.

From the epistle of St. Paulinus to Amandus of Bordeaux, in 397, it seems probable that Exuperius was a priest at Rome, and later at Bordeaux, before he was raised to the episcopate, though it is possible that in both of these letters reference is made to a different person. Just when he became bishop is unknown. That he occupied the See of Toulouse in February, 405, (as is evident from the letter of Innocent I mentioned above) and from a statement of St. Jerome in a letter to Rusticus it is certain that he was still living in 411. It is sometimes said that St. Jerome reproved him, in a letter to Riparius, a priest of Spain, for tolerating the heretic Vigilantius; but as Vigilantius did not belong to the diocese of Toulouse, St. Jerome was probably speaking of another bishop.
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[edit] July 15 2007

Saint Julietta (also known as Julitta (Greek: Ἰουλίττα)) and her son Saint Quiricus (also known as Kērykos (Greek: Κηρύκος), Cyriacus, Qyriacus, Ciricus and Cyr) were martyred in AD 304 in Tarsus.

Some evidence exists for an otherwise unknown child-martyr named Cyricus at Antioch[2]. It is believed that the legends about Saints Quiricus and Julietta refer to him. There are places named after Cyricus in Europe and the Middle East, but without the name Julitta attached. Cyricus is the Saint-Cyr found in many French toponyms. The cult of these saints was strong in France after Saint Amator, Bishop of Auxerre, brought relics back from Antioch in the 4th century. It is said that Constantine discovered their relics originally and built near Constantinople a monastery, and not far off from Jerusalem was built a church. In the 6th century the Acts of Cyricus and Julitta were rejected in a list of apocryphal documents by the pseudo-Gelasius, called as such since the list was erroneously attributed to Pope Saint Gelasius I.

According to legend, Julietta and her three-year (sometimes described as three-month) old Cyricus had fled to Tarsus and were identified as Christians. Julietta was tortured, and her three year old son, being held by the governor of Tarsus, scratched the governor's face and was killed by being thrown down some steps. Julietta did not weep but celebrated the fact that her son had earned the crown of martyrdom. In anger, the governor then decreed that Julietta’s sides should be ripped apart with hooks, and then she was beheaded. The bodies of she and Cyricus were flung outside the city, on the heap of bodies belonging to criminals, but the two maids rescued the corpses of the mother and child and buried them in a nearby field.
Attributes: From the story involving Charlemagne, Cyricus is depicted as a naked child riding on a wild boar.
Patronage: Prayed to for family happiness, and the restoring to health of sick children.
Prayer:

[edit] July 16 2007

Alexius (Italian: Sant'Alessio; Spanish: San Alejo) is mentioned in an almost contemporary account as a nameless man who lived by begging, and sharing the alms he received with other poor people. He died in a hospital in Edessa, Mesopotamia around 430 AD. After his death, it was learned that this nameless beggar was the son of a Roman patrician who had left his bride on their wedding day to go and live a life of poverty. A narrative of this man was written shortly thereafter in Greek, with a further text being produced in Latin later.

The hagiography of Alexius sets his life of abnegation in the early 5th century. In the earliest Syriac legend, the Saint, a "Man of God" of Edessa, later named as Alexius, who lived in Edessa during the episcopate of Bishop Rabula (412-435), was a native of Rome. His cult developed in Syria and spread through the Eastern Empire by the 9th century. Only from the end of the 10th century did his name begin to appear in any liturgical books in the West.

The Greek version of his legend made Alexius the only son of Euphemianus, a wealthy Christian Roman of the senatorial class. Alexius fled his arranged marriage to follow his holy vocation. Disguised as a beggar, he lived near Edessa in Syria, accepting alms even from his own household slaves, who had been sent to look for him but did not recognize him, until a miraculous vision of the Virgin Mary singled him out as a "Man of God." Fleeing the resultant notoriety, he returned to Rome, so changed that his parents did not recognize him, but as good Christians took him in and sheltered him for seventeen years, which he spent in a dark cubbyhole beneath the stairs, praying and teaching catechism to children. After his death, his family found writings on his body which told them who he was and how he had lived his life of penance from the day of his wedding, for the love of God.

The Latin narrative makes the further claim that Alexius returned to Rome and spent the last seventeen years of his life as a servant in his father's house, sleeping in a corner under some stairs.


Attributes: holding a ladder; man lying beneath a staircase
Patronage: Alexians; beggars; belt makers; nurses; pilgrims; travellers
Prayer:

[edit] July 17 2007

Saint Piatus of Tournai (also Piaton, Piat, Piato) (died ca. 286) was a Belgian saint. A native of Benevento, tradition states that he was sent by the pope to evangelize Chartres and Tournai. Tradition also states that he was ordained by Dionysios the Areopagite. He was martyred under Maximian. Saint Eligius later discovered Piatus' relics and made a reliquary for them.

Some of his relics can be found at Chartres Cathedral


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[edit] July 18 2007

Arnulf of Metz (August 13, 582 – August 16, 640) was a Frankish noble who had great influence in the Merovingian kingdoms as a bishop and was later canonized as a saint. He is also known by his anglicized name, Arnold. Arnulf of Metz is one of several saints who may be known as Saint Arnold[3].

He was born near Nancy. Arnulf gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II (595-612). At the age of thirty he wanted to retire from public life. Instead, in 614, he was made bishop of Metz, even though he was still a layman at the time. In 613, Arnulf and Pippin of Landen, led the opposition of Frankish nobles to Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. The revolt led to her overthrow, torture, and eventual execution, and the subsequent reunification of Frankish lands under Clotaire II, the dowager queen's nephew.

From 623 (with Pippin of Landen, then the Mayor of the Palace), Arnulf was an adviser to Dagobert I. He retired in 627 to a mountain site in the Vosges, to implement his lifelong resolution to become a hermit. His friend Romaric had preceded him to the mountains and had already established the monastery of Remiremont there. Arnulf settled there, and remained there until his death twelve years later.

While Arnulf is recognised as one of the earliest documented ancestors of Charlemagne, to which the Carolingians themselves traced their ancestry, and thereby of most modern European royal families, Arnulf's own parentage is both uncertain and undocumented. Some have claimed that Arnulf's father was Arnoldus (c.535–600), and that his mother was Ada of Swabia. This Arnoldus is sometimes said to be the son of Ausbert, the Senator of Moselle and Bertha of Kent, daughter of Charibert, King of Paris. Others, professing to quote Frankish legends, make Arnulf the son of Bodegisel. Still others have claimed that Arnulf's mother was Bertha, Princess of Paris (539–640).


Attributes: with a rake in hand
Patronage: Beer brewing
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[edit] July 19 2007

Saint Vincent de Paul (April 24, 1581 – September 27, 1660) was born at Pouy, Landes, Gascony, France to a peasant family. His feast was formerly kept on July 19, but is now observed on September 27 - the day of his death.

He studied humanities at Dax with the Cordeliers and he graduated in theology at Toulouse. Vincent de Paul was ordained in 1600, remaining in Toulouse until he went to Marseille for an inheritance. On his way back from Marseille, he was taken captive by Turkish pirates to Tunis, and sold into slavery. After converting his owner to Christianity, Vincent de Paul was freed in 1607.

Vincent returned to France and served as priest in a parish near Paris. He was once discouraged by the number of babies brought to Notre Dame, so he established a home for these foundlings.

He founded many charitable organizations such as Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, with Louise de Marillac, and the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (Lazarists).


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Patronage: charities; horses; hospitals; leprosy; lost articles; Madagascar; prisoners; Richmond, Virginia; spiritual help; Saint Vincent de Paul Societies; Vincentian Service Corps; volunteers
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[edit] July 20 2007

Saint Thorlac Thorhalli (Old Norse: Þorlákr Þórhallsson, Icelandic: Þorlákur (helgi) Þórhallsson) (1133 – December 23, 1193) is the patron saint of Iceland. He was bishop of Skalholt from 1178. His status as a saint was confirmed in 1198 by the Althing, but this was never made official by the Catholic Church until January 14, 1984, when John Paul II canonized him officially and declared him the patron saint of Iceland.

Of an aristocratic family, Thorlac was ordained deacon before he was fifteen and consecrated a priest at the age of eighteen. He studied abroad at Paris and Lincoln for about six years (he may also have visited London).

Returning to Iceland in 1161, Thorlac founded an Augustinian monastery at Þykkvibær after refusing to marry a rich widow. There he devoted himself to a strictly religious life, refusing to marry (many other Icelandic priests were married) and devoting himself to reciting the Our Father, the Creed, and a hymn, as well as fifty Psalms.

He was consecrated as bishop by Augustine of Nidaros and worked to regulate the Augustinian Rule in Iceland, as well as eradicate simony, lay patronage, and clerical incontinency.

Attributes: Patronage: Iceland Prayer:

[edit] July 21 2007

Saint Lawrence of Brindisi (July 22, 1559, Brindisi, Puglia – July 22, 1619), born Giulio Cesare Russo, was a Roman Catholic friar, a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.

He was beatified in 1783 by Pope Pius VI, canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII, and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII in 1959. His feast day is July 21.

Julio was born in Brindisi, Kingdom of Naples, to a family of Venetian merchants. He was educated at Saint Mark's College in Venice, and joined the Capuchins in Verona as Brother Lorenzo. He received further instruction from the University of Padua. An accomplished linguist, Lawrence spoke most European and the Semitic languages fluently.

He was appointed Definitor-General for Rome for the Capuchins in 1596; Pope Clement VIII assigned him the task of converting the Jews in the city. Beginning in 1599, Lawrence established Capuchins monasteries in modern Germany and Austria, furthering the Counter-Reformation and bringing many Protestants back to the Catholic faith.

In 1601, he served as the Imperial Chaplain for the army of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and successfully recruited Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur to help fight against the Ottoman Turks. He then led the army during the capture of Székesfehérvár from the Ottoman Empire, armed only with a crucifix.

In 1602 he was elected Vicar-General of the Capuchins, at that time the highest office in the order. He was elected again in 1605, but refused the office. He entered the service of the Holy See, becoming nuncio to Bavaria. After serving as nuncio to Spain, he retired to a monastery in 1618. He was recalled as a special envoy to the King of Spain regarding the actions of the Viceroy of Naples in 1619, and after finishing his mission, died on his birthday in Lisbon.


Attributes: leading army, with Jesus
Patronage: Brindisi
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[edit] July 22 2007

Mary Magdalene is described, both in the canonical New Testament and in the New Testament apocrypha, as a devoted disciple of Jesus. She is considered by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches to be a saint, with a feast day of July 22. She is also commemorated by the Lutheran Church with a festival on the same day. The Orthodox Church also commemorates her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, which is the second Sunday after Pascha (Easter).

Mary Magdalene's name identifies her as being "of Magdala"—the town she came from, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee—and thus distinguishes her from the other Marys referred to throughout the New Testament.

The life of the historical Mary Magdalene is the subject of ongoing debate, while the less-obscure development of the "penitent Megdalene", as the most beloved medieval female saint after Mary, both as an exemplar for the theological discussion of penitence and a social parable for the position and custody of women, provides matter for the social historian and the history of ideas.


Attributes: alabaster box of ointment, long hair, at the foot of the cross
Patronage: apothecaries; Atrani, Italy; Casamicciola, Italy; contemplative life; converts; glove makers; hairdressers; penitent sinners; people ridiculed for their piety; perfumeries; pharmacists; reformed prostitutes; sexual temptation; tanners; women
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[edit] July 23 2007

Saint Birgitta, also known as Santa Brigida or St. Bridgid of Sweden and Birgitta of Vadstena (1303 – July 23, 1373), was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettine Order.

The most celebrated saint of Sweden was the daughter of Birger Persson of the family of Finsta, governor and lawspeaker of Uppland, and one of the richest landowners of the country, and his wife, a member of the so-called Lawspeaker branch of the Folkunga family. Through her mother, young Birgitta was a relation of the Swedish kings of her lifetime.

In 1316 she was married to Ulf Gudmarson of the family of Ulvåsa, lord of Närke, to whom she bore eight children, one of whom was afterwards honoured as St. Catherine of Sweden. Birgitta’s saintly and charitable life soon made her known far and wide; she gained, too, great religious influence over her husband, with whom (1341–1343) she went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

In 1344, shortly after their return, Ulf died in the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra in Östergötland, and Birgitta now devoted herself wholly to religion. As a child she had already believed herself to have visions; these now became more frequent, and her records of these Revelationes coelestes ("Celestial revelations") which were translated into Latin by Matthias, canon of Linköping, and by her confessor, Peter prior of Alvastra, obtained a great vogue during the Middle Ages. It was about this time that she founded the order of St. Saviour, or the Bridgettines of which the principal house, at Vadstena, was richly endowed by King Magnus Eriksson of Sweden and his queen.

About 1350 she went to Rome, partly to obtain from the pope the authorization of the new order, partly in pursuance of her self-imposed mission to elevate the moral tone of the age. It was not until 1370 that Pope Urban V confirmed the rule of her order, but meanwhile Birgitta had made herself universally beloved in Rome by her kindness and good works. Save for occasional pilgrimages, including one to Jerusalem in 1373, she remained in Rome until her death on July 23, 1373.


Attributes: book, staff
Patronage: Europe, Sweden, Widows
Prayer: Blessed are you and praiseworthy and glorious for ever, my Lord Jesus.

[edit] July 24 2007

Saint Kinga of Poland (also known as Cunegunda, Kunegunda, Cunegundes, Kioga, Zinga; Polish: Święta Kinga) (1224 - July 24, 1292) is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and patroness of Poland and Lithuania.

She is the daughter of King Bela IV, niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and great-niece of Saint Hedwig. Kinga's sisters were Saint Margaret of Hungary and Jolenta of Poland (Yolanda, Helen).

She reluctantly married Bolesław V the Chaste. Kinga later became queen when her husband ascended the throne as King of Poland. Despite the marriage, the devout couple took up a vow of chastity. During her reign Kinga got involved in charitable works such as visiting the poor and helping the lepers. When her husband died in 1279, she sold all her material possessions and gave the money to the poor. She soon did not want any part in governing the kingdom which was left to her and decided to join the Poor Clares monastery at Sandeck. She would spend the rest of her life in contemplative prayer and did not allow anyone to refer to her past role as queen of Poland. She died on July 24, 1292.


Attributes: depicted as an abbess; crown
Patronage: Poland, Lithuania
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[edit] July 25 2007

Saint James, son of Zebedee (d. AD 44) was one of the disciples of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of John the Evangelist. He is called Saint James the Greater to distinguish him from the other apostle named James (James, son of Alphaeus). James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels state that James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to begin traveling. According to Mark, James and John were called Boanerges, or the "Sons of Thunder." The Acts of the Apostles 12:1-2 records that King Herod had James executed by sword.

His remains are said to be buried in Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and is related to the reconquista in the role of moor-slayer. His burial town, Santiago the Compostela, is considered the third most holy town of Catholisism (after Jerusalem and Rome). The pilgrimage to the grave of the Saint has become the most popular pilgrimage for Western European catholics from the early middle ages onwards; making him one of the patron saints of pilgrimage.


Attributes: Scallop, traveller's hat
Patronage: Veterinarians, equestrians, furriers, tanners, pharmacists; Guatemala, Nicaragua, Spain, Santiago de Querétaro, Sahuayo
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[edit] July 26 2007

Saint Lupus of Sens or Saint Loup de Sens was an early French bishop of Sens.

The Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Loup at Naud, 8 km from Provins in Champagne in the east of France is distinguished by the outstanding sculptures in the porch of its great doorway, with an ambitious iconographic program in which Saint Loup mediates entry into the mystery of the Trinity. About 980, Sevinus, archbishop of Sens made a gift to the Benedictine community of the abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif at Sens of four altars in villa que dicitus Naudus, in honore sancti lupi consecratum—"in the demesne of Naud, consecrated in honor of Saint Loup"—betokening the presence of a shrine already on this site, a priory under the direction of the abbot of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif. Other documents mention Saint-Loup-de-Naud among the possessions of the abbey at Sens, seat of an archbishop with close political ties to the French Crown, who had Paris within his diocese. Thus, though it lay so close to the seat of the counts of Champagne, the priory at Saint-Loup-de-Naud looked to Sens for its patronage: a visit from the abbot is documented in 1120. In 1160/61 Hugues de Toucy, Archbishop of Sens, presented to the priory a relic of Saint Loup; the sculpted portail was doubtless undertaken shortly thereafter.


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[edit] July 27 2007

Saint Pantaleon (Greek: Παντελεήμων Panteleimon 'all-compassionate'), counted among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletian persecution of 303 AD.

According to the martyrologies, Pantaleon was the son of a rich pagan, Eustorgius of Nicomedia, and had been instructed in Christianity by his Christian mother, Saint Eubula; however, after her death he fell away from the Christian church, while he studied medicine with a renowned physician Euphrosinos; under the patronage of Euphrosinos he became physician to the Emperor Maximian. He was won back to Christianity by a Christian, Saint Hermolaus, who convinced him that Christ was the better physician, signalling the significance of the exemplum of Pantaleon that faith is to be trusted over medical advice, marking the direction European medicine was to take until the 16th century.

By miraculously healing a blind man, Pantaleon converted his father, upon whose death he came into possession of a large fortune, but freed his slaves and, distributing his wealth among the poor, developed a great reputation in Nicomedia. Envious colleagues denounced him to the emperor during the Diocletian persecution. The emperor wished to save him and sought to persuade him to apostasy. Pantaleon, however, openly confessed his faith, and as proof that Christ is the true God, he healed a paralytic. Notwithstanding this, he was condemned to death by the emperor, who regarded the miracle as an exhibition of magic.

Pantaleon's flesh was first burned with torches, whereupon Christ appeared to all in the form of Hermolaus to strengthen and heal Pantaleon. The torches were extinguished. Then a bath of molten lead was prepared; when the apparition of Christ stepped into the cauldron with him, the fire went out and the lead became cold. Pantaleon was now thrown into the sea, loaded with a great stone, which floated. He was thrown to wild beasts, but these fawned upon him and could not be forced away until he had blessed them. He was bound on the wheel, but the ropes snapped, and the wheel broke. An attempt was made to behead him, but the sword bent, and the executioners were converted to Christianity. Pantaleon implored heaven to forgive them, for which reason he also received the name of Panteleimon ("mercy for everyone" or "all-compassionate"). It was not until he himself desired it that it was possible to behead him.


Attributes: A compartmented medicine box, with a long-handled spatula or spoon; a martyr's cross.
Patronage: Physicians, midwives
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[edit] July 28 2007

Pope Saint Innocent I was pope from 401 to March 12, 417.

He was, according to his biographer in the Liber Pontificalis, the son of a man called Innocent of Albano; but according to his contemporary Jerome, his father was Pope Anastasius I (399-401), whom he was called by the unanimous voice of the clergy and laity to succeed (he had been born before his father's entry to the clergy, let alone the papacy).

It was during Innocent I's papacy that the siege of Rome by Alaric I (395-410) and the Visigoths (408) took place, when, according to a doubtful anecdote of Zosimus, the ravages of plague and famine were so frightful, and divine help seemed so far off, that papal permission was granted to sacrifice and pray to the pagan deities. The pope, however, happened to be absent from the city on a mission to Honorius at Ravenna at the time of the sack in 410.

Innocent I lost no opportunity of maintaining and extending the authority of the Roman see as the ultimate resort for the settlement of all disputes; and his still extant communications with Victricius of Rouen, Exuperius of Toulouse, Alexander of Antioch and others, as well as his actions on the appeal made to him by John Chrysostom (397-403) against Theophilus of Alexandria, show that opportunities of the kind were numerous and varied. He took a decided view on the Pelagian controversy, confirming the decisions of the synod of the province of proconsular Africa, held in Carthage in 416, which had been sent to him, and also writing in the same year in a similar sense to the fathers of the Numidian synod of Mileve who, Augustine being one of their number, had addressed him.

Among Innocent I's letters is one to Jerome and another to John, bishop of Jerusalem, regarding annoyances to which the former had been subjected by the Pelagians at Bethlehem. He died March 12, 417, and in the Catholic Church is commemorated as a confessor along with Saints Nazarius, Celsus, and Victor, martyrs, on July 28. His successor was Zosimus.
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[edit] July 29 2007

Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix (or Beatrice, Viatrix) were a group of Christian martyrs and saints at Rome during the Diocletian persecution (302 or 303).

The brothers Simplicius and Faustinus were cruelly tortured on account of their Christian faith, beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded; their bodies were thrown into the Tiber (according to another version a stone was tied to them and they were drowned). Their sister Beatrix had the bodies drawn out of the water and buried.

Then for seven months she lived with a pious woman named Lucina, and together they secretly helped persecuted Christians. Finally she was discovered and arrested. Her accuser was her neighbor Lucretius who desired to obtain possession of her lands. She asserted before the judge that she would never sacrifice to demons, because she was a Christian. As punishment, she was strangled in prison. Her friend Lucina buried her with her brothers in the cemetery ad Ursum Pileatum on the road to Porto.

Divine punishment soon overtook the accuser Lucretius, who at a feast was mocking the folly of the martyrs. A small child cried out, "Thou hast committed murder and hast taken unjust possession of land. Thou art a slave of the devil", who at once took possession of him and tortured him three hours and drew him down into the bottomless pit. The terror of those present was so great that they became Christians.
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[edit] July 30 2007

Saint Peter Chrysologus (Greek for golden word) (406–450) was the Archbishop of Ravenna from 433 to his death. He is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, and was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729.

Peter was born in Imola, where he was ordained a deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of Imola. He was made an archdeacon through the influence of Emperor Valentinian III. Pope Sixtus III appointed Peter the Archbishop of Ravenna in 433, apparently rejecting the candidate elected by the people of the city. He was a councilor of Pope Leo the Great. Eutyches appealed to Peter to intervene with the pope on his behalf after he was denounced by the Synod of Constantinople. The text of Peter's letter in response to Eutyches has been preserved in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon; in it, Peter admonishes Eutyches to accecpt the ruling of the synod and to give obedience to the Bishop of Rome as the successor of Saint Peter.

Known as The Doctor of Homilies, Peter was known for his short but inspired speeches; he is said to have been afraid of boring his audience. After hearing his first homily as Archbishop, Galla Placidia is said to have given him his surname, she became the patron of many of Peter's projects. He spoke against the Arian and Monophysite teachings, condemning them as heresies, and explained topics such as the Apostles' Creed, John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the mystery of the Incarnation in simple and clear language. Peter advocated the daily receipt of Holy Communion.

Peter died on December 2, 450, while visiting his birthplace. His feast day is July 30. In the eighth century Bishop Felix of Ravenna preserved 176 of his homilies. Additional writings can be found in other collections.

The contemporary portrait of Peter was situated in the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Ravenna. On the mosaics of this church the bishop was depicted among the members of the eastern and western imperial family showing his extraordinary influence.


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[edit] July 31 2007

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, also known as Ignacio (Íñigo) López de Loyola (December 24, 1491 – July 31, 1556), was the principal founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Catholic Church professing direct service to the Pope in terms of mission. Members of the order are called Jesuits.

The compiler of the Spiritual Exercises and a gifted spiritual director, Ignatius has been described by Pope Benedict XVI as being "above all a man of God, who gave the first place of his life to God...a man of profound prayer." He was very active in fighting the Protestant Reformation and promoting the subsequent Catholic Reformation. He was beatified and then canonized to receive the title of Saint on March 12, 1622. His feast day is July 31, celebrated annually. He is the patron saint of Guipúzcoa as well as of the Society of Jesus.
Attributes: Eucharist, chasuble, book, cross
Patronage: Spiritual Exercises , Basque country , Diocese of Bilbao, Spain , Jesuits , Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, Society of Jesus , soldiers , Biscay
Prayer: Prayer for Generosity
Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.
Amen.