Blessed Josè Otín Aquiluè, Salesian, Priest and Martyr
Huesca, Spain, December 22, 1901 – Valencia, Spain, November 1936

Roman Martyrology: At Valencia, Spain, Blessed Joseph Otín Aquila, a priest of the Salesian Society and Martyr, who, in the same persecution, reached the heavenly kingdom undefeated in the constancy of faith.

He was born in Huesca on December 22, 1901. He studied in the Salesian Schools. Soon he decided to go to Campello (Alicante), to give answer to his vocation. He was ordained a priest in 1928. His smile had attracted a character that easily linked with young people. Apart from studies in Carabanchel (Madrid), the rest of his life was spent in the province of Alicante: Villena, Campello and Alcoy. When civil war broke out he left for Valencia and found refuge in an inn. He stayed there until he was terminated, then disappeared and he sank into oblivion.

One of the Blessed Spanish Salesian Martyrs of Valencia, he was beatified on March 11, 2001 by Pope John Paul II with 201 other victims of the same persecution.

Source: Salesians

source: Santi e Beati

Blessed Dionysius  of the Nativity (Peter Berthelot) and Redemptus Cross (Thomas Rodriguez) Martyrs

December 12, 1600, Honfleur, France – November 29, 1638, Aachen Ca. 1598, Portugal – November 29, 1638, Aachen

Dionysius was born in Honfleur in France December 12, 1600. Cosmographer and captain of ships of the kings of France and Portugal, in 1635 he became a Discalced Carmelite in Goa, where in 1615 he professed as a “talk” Thomas also Rodriguez de Cunha (born 1598), Portuguese, taking the name of the Cross, Redeemed . Mandates on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, November 29, 1638 crowned with martyrdom, near the city of Aachen, their faith in Christ, witnessed steadfastly to the end. They were beatified by Pope Leo XIII June 10, 1900.

Roman Martyrology: In Aceh on Sumatra, martyrs Dionysius of the Nativity (Peter) Berthelot, priest, and Redeemed through the Cross (Thomas) Rodriguez, Discalced Carmelites, who were first enslaved by the Mohammedans, and finally killed on the seashore with arrows and an ax.

Dionysius of the Nativity (Peter Berthelot) and Redeemed from the Cross (Thomas Rodriguez), Blessed, Martyrs.

Peter Berthelot was born in Honfleur (Calvados, France) on 12 December 1600 and young took to surf, traveling to Spain, England, America. In 1619 he went to India, where he became cosmographer and chief pilot of the kings of France and Portugal, is known for value and talent, as evidenced by its Tabulae maritimae delineated with consummate skill, still preserved in the British Museum. In 1635, finding in Goa, on the advice of his spiritual director, Fr Philip of S.ma Trinity, he entered the Carmelites Discalced, where he professed December 25, 1636 under the name of Dionysius of the Nativity and was ordained a priest on August 24, 1638. Whether a novice or after the occupation, according to the testimony of the same p. Philip, he was an example of virtue to all religious, was elevated to divine contemplation and not infrequently, during the prayer, he appeared surrounded by the splendors of heaven. In 1638, the Viceroy Pietro da Silva sent the Sultan of achenes (Sumatra), Ambassador Francis de Souza de Castro, who decided to use him as a spiritual guide and Dionysius as an expert on the sea and the Malay language. He took as his companion Thomas Rodriguez, who, born about 1598 in Portugal, had entered as conversation in the same order, with the name of R. Cross.

The two left the legation Goa September 25, 1638, and after eventful navigation, arrived October 25 in Aachen, where they were soon taken prisoner. Dionysius, his brother, conversely, more than others because he was tormented and they tried to persuade him to leave the Catholic faith and become a Muslim. In prison, deprived of the need for charity towards others who argued with the word, the help and example. After being sentenced to death, redeemed died among the first, while Dionysius endured martyrdom for last, to his desire, in order to comfort the others were killed with a sword, which split into two head, 29 November 1638. Beatified by Pope Leo XIII June 10, 1900, their feast is celebrated in the Order of Discalced Carmelites on November 29.

Author: St. Valentine Maria

source: Santi e Beati

St. Stephen the Younger, Monk, Eastern Martyr
Constantinople, 715 – November 28, 764

A Monk of the East, he lived in the eighth century, during the iconoclast period, of which he was a victim and Martyr. Born in Constantinople in 715, Stephen began at first under the direction of a hermit, then entered the monastery of Monte Sant’Aussenzio in Bithynia, where he became Aabbot. Here he lived, praying and doing the job of copying texts. At that time the emperor Constantine Copronymo, the iconoclast in his battle against the sacred images, had aimed particularly at the monks. Following the council of Hiera, which in 753 condemned the defenders of icons, Stephen openly sided against the emperor. This cost him long harassment, imprisonment and abuse. On November 28, 764 Stephen was killed by some officers of the palace at Constantinople, without the order of the emperor.

Roman Martyrology: At Constantinople, St. Stephen the Younger, Monk and Martyr, who, under the Emperor Constantine Copronymos, was subjected to various punishments for having defended the worship of sacred images, confirmed by the shedding of his blood the Catholic truth.

The Life of this eastern Monk, was written around the year 809 by his namesake Stephen, Deacon of Constantinople.

The Monk St Stephen the Younger, was born in 715 in Constantinople, ancient Byzantium, as a young man first began under the leadership of a hermit, but then choose the religious life, entering the monastery of Monte Sant’Aussenzio in Bithynia, near Chalcedon , where he became Hegumen (abbot).

Lived here for years devoted to prayer and as amanuensis, the distinguished work of monks who copied ancient texts.

At that time ruled the Eastern Emperor Constantine V Copronymos (718-775), son of Leo III Isaura (675-741) the emperor who in 726 began the religious policy of iconoclasm against the worship of images.

The iconoclast movement was continued with his son Constantine V, who engaged in a tough fight, especially against the monks also, convened the Council of Hiera, which in 753 condemned the defenders of the cult of sacred images.

The Hegumen Stephen openly sided against the rules of this Counci convened by the emperor and the Papal rules, which will ultimately be disowned with the approval of the veneration of images, with the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.

Meanwhile, Constantine V Copronymos in June of 762, commanded the Hegumen of Monte Sant’Aussenzio, respect and adherence to the canons promulgated Hiera, since they refused, he was taken to the monastery of Chrysopoli at Constantinople and from there sent into exile in Island Proconnesus, where his mother and sister were allowed to join him.

After a year, in 763, he was brought back to Constantinople, where more than 300 monks were jailed because of their dedication to the veneration of images.

After another year of continued harassment and abuse, on November 28, 764, Abbot Stephen was killed by some officers of the palace, while the festivities were under way for the Empress Eudoxia, but without any order of the emperor.

The Greek Church recognized him as a martyr, with his memorial on November 28, and on that date and title,he is included in the Roman Martyrology.

Author: Antonio Borrelli

source: Santi e Beati

On this Eve of Black Friday, it turns out that there are people who don’t worship at the altar of the retail gods the day after Thanksgiving.

What I find striking about this article, coming from the Catholic tradition, in which Mass is available every day of the week, is that the Unitarians have to have a special service on Black Friday. They have nothing scheduled otherwise. Apparently they just go to church on Sunday and call it good.

Granted, I live in a historically Catholic area, and there are churches with Mass in the morning, convenient for people before work; but there’s a church three blocks from my workplace with 12:10 Mass every day. And there are several in the area with 5:15 pm daily Mass. Sometimes, like Thanksgiving, the schedule is curtailed, and there’s only one Mass and no Confession.

Tomorrow? Many churches with daily Mass will be on their regular schedule. If not? The Cathedral where I live is on its regular schedule. I bet the Basilica is too. If you need a respite from extreme shopping, there’s a Catholic Church near you with Mass, Confession and Adoration.

Saint Bernardine of Fossa, Franciscan Priest

Fossa (L’Aquila), 1421 – L’Aquila, November 27, 1503

Of the Order of Friars Minor, historian and ascetical writer, b. at Fossa, in the Diocese of Aquila, Italy, in 1420; d. at Aquila, 27 November, 1503. Blessed Bernardine belonged to the ancient and noble family of the Amici, and sometimes bears the name of Aquilanus on account of his long residence and death in the town of Aquila. He received his early training at Aquila and thence went to Perugia to study canon and civil law.

On the 12th of March in the year 1445, he received the Seraphic habit from St. James of the Marches who was then preaching a course of Lenten sermons at Perugia. From the time of his entrance into religion, Bernardine never ceased to advance in religious perfection, and the success which crowned his missionary labours throughout Italy, as well as in Dalmatia and Serigonia, bears witness to the eminent sanctity of his life. Bernardine fulfilled the office of provincial of the province of St. Bernardine and of the province of Dalmatia and Bosnia, and would have been chosen Bishop of Aquila had not his humility forbidden him to accept this dignity.

His cult was approved by Leo XII, 26 March, 1828. His feast is kept in the Franciscan Order on the 7th of November. The writings of Blessed Bernardine include several sermons and divers ascetical and historical opuscules; among the latter, the “Chronica Fratrum Minorum Observantiae” deserves special mention. This interesting chronicle was first edited by Leonard Lemmens, O.F.M., from the autograph manuscript, and is prefaced by an interesting life of Blessed Bernardine and a critical estimate of his writings. It may also be mentioned that Bernardine is the author of the first life of his patron, St. Bernardine of Siena.

Source: Catholic Encyclopedia

Saint Leonardo de Porto Maurizio, Priest
Porto Maurizio, Imperia, 1676 – Rome, November 26, 1751

It is this saint to whom we owe the credit for having conceived the Via Crucis. Ligure (1676-1751), was the son of a sea captain. Born in Porto Maurizio, Imperia today, he studied in Rome at the Collegio Romano, then entered the retirement of St. Bonaventure, on the Palatine Hill, where he would wear the Franciscan habit. Posted in Corsica by the Pope to restore harmony among the citizens, he was able to obtain, despite the serious divisions among the inhabitants, an unthinkable embrace. The theme of the Cross was at the center of his preaching drew crowds to repentance and Christian piety. Alfonso Maria de Liguori called him “the greatest missionary of our century.”

Roman Martyrology: In Rome in the convent of Saint Bonaventura on the Palatine Hill, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, Priest of the Order of Friars Minor, who, full of love for souls, engaged all his life in preaching, in publishing books of devotion and to visit in over three hundred missions in Rome, Corsica and Northern Italy.

Young Franciscan Leonardo had asked to be a missionary in China. Cardinal Colloredo had replied: “Your China will be Italy.”

And at the end of the seventeenth century, Italy had enough misery and misfortune enough to be considered mission territory.

Leonardo was a student in Rome, when a friend suggested going to hear a sermon. A few steps, they found that a hanged man dangling from the gallows. “This is the sermon,” said the two young men.
A few days later, the son of a sea captain of Porto Maurizio, Liguria, followed by two figures of monks who climbed to the convent of San Bonaventura on the Palatine Hill, where he donned the habit of the Franciscans called “the riformella” or “displaced” .

Devoting himself to preaching, perhaps remembering that torture hanging from the gallows, including Leonardo was always in mind the other execution, hanging on the Cross. Therefore, his favorite theme was that of the Via Crucis, typically Franciscan devotion to which he gave the largest spread.

His preaching had something dramatic and tragic, often by torchlight and voluntary torture, which underwent between Leonardo, now placing his hand on the torch lit, now scourging blood.

Immense crowds flocked to hear him and be impressed by his fiery speech, which re-called to repentance and Christian piety. “He is the greatest missionary of our century,”said St. Alphonsus de Liguori. Often, the entire audience, during his sermons, burst into sobs.

He preached throughout Italy, but the region of Tuscany was beaten because of the cold Jansenism, he wanted to fight first of all with the fervor of his heart, then with his themes more effective, namely the Name of Jesus, the Madonna and the Via Crucis.

In a visit to Corsica, the island’s troubled robbers fired their muskets into the air, shouting: “Viva friar Leonardo, long live peace.”

Back in Liguria, was launching a galley, named in his honor, San Leonardo. But he was gravely ill, the sailors said: “The boat is water.”

Consumed by the missionary labors, he was finally recalled to Rome, where, with his impassioned sermons, which also assisted the Pope, he prepared the spiritual climate for the Jubilee of 1750. On that occasion, he planted the Via Crucis at the Colosseum, declaring that place sacred to the martyrs.

Historians have also demonstrated that the Colosseum was never martyred Christians, but the preaching ~ in good faith – of San Leonardo prevented the further destruction of the monument, hitherto regarded as a quarry of good stone.

It was his last effort. He died the following year, and San Bonaventura al Palatino it took the soldiers to hold back the crowd who wanted to see the Holy priest and take away his relics. “We lose a friend on earth – the Pope Lambertini said – but we gain a protector in heaven.”

It was he who suggested the definition of the Marian dogma of the Immaculate Conception, through consultation letters with all the pastors of the Church.

Source: Parish Archives

Note: The site of the Compagnia di San Leonardo da Porto Maurizio

source: Santi e Beati

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NOTE TO READERS: If you have any suggestions for orders or communities you feel should be highlighted for TCB’s “Vocations Tuesday” please Contact us! @ ASimpleSinner@gmail.com! Include “VOCATIONS TUESDAY” in the subject line please!

Blessed Giacomo Meseguer Burillo, Dominican Priest, Martyr
Híjar Meseguer Burillo (Teruel), Spain, 1 May 1885-Barcelona, Spain, date unknown

Roman Martyrology: The blessed Martyr Giacomo Meseguer Burillo, a Dominican Priest, who, in Barcelona, on a day remaining unknown, completed test to the glorious Christ.

He was Beatified on March 11, 2001, together with 232 others, a group known as Blessed Spanish Dominicans of Aragon.

source: Santi e Beati

~~~

Note: other sources name him Santiago. I don’t know which is right.  I don’t know where he was buried. I don’t know when he died. I would love to have more information.

Please join me in praying for the repose of his soul.

Blessed Louis de la Pena, Priest, Martyr, Mercedario
+ November 24, 1599

Of Chilean origin, Blessed Louis de la Pena received his Mercedarian religious training in Chile, professing before the year 1578. Ordained a priest, he held various offices in his province, especially evangelize Araucans and was Commendatore of the convent of Valdivia. In an attack Araucans warriors who entered the night in the convent, Father Luig, awakened after the other men, went down in the church and ate the consecrated hosts, to prevent them from being desecrated. He still had the ciborium in his hand, when the warriors came to the church and killed him with blows of lance and looking for the Blessed Sacrament, they opened his chest and tore his heart out. It was November 24 1599, where his body was burned in the fire of the church and he is considered a Martyr of the Eucharist.

The Order celebrates him on November 24.

source: Santi e Beati

Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro Jesuit Martyr
November 23
Guadeloupe, January 13, 1891 – Mexico City, November 23, 1927

Born in Guadeloupe in 1891, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1911, after two of his sisters had taken the veil. He studied in Nicaragua, Spain and Belgium, where he was ordained a priest in 1925. Back in Mexico, he carried out his mission in a period of persecution against the Church. In 1927 he was wrongly accused of being part of a plot to kill a general candidate for president. After a farcical trial, he was shot. To his funeral, defying prohibitions, rushed 20 thousand people. He was beatified on September 25, 1988 by Pope John Paul II, together with other Mexican Martyrs of Persecution.

Roman Martyrology: In the village of Guadalupe in the territory of Zacatecas in Mexico, blessed Michael Augustin Pro, the Jesuit Priest and Martyr, who, in times of persecution against the Church, was condemned to death without trial as an accomplice to a crime, suffered martyrdom he craved.

The father, who besides being a good Christian was also a mining engineer, not the breed as a child in cotton wool and take it with them to visit the mines, because they could see how hard life of those workers. So the child grows and refines its sensitivity with a particular concern for social issues in general that his decision at 20 to join the Society of Jesus, because a priest can be closer to those in need and to preach the gospel of Christ trying to combine charity and justice. Born in 1891, in Guadalupe, a land of Maria, a novice cleric and studied and matured his calling – as well as in Mexico – even in Nicaragua, Spain and Belgium, and here he was ordained a priest in 1925. Back in his Mexico the following year, right in the middle of the bloody persecution which is the Church. So much to do to support the persecuted Catholics, helping the poor, to bring its assistance to the sick and dying. He did this with his post of optimism and vitality and also with a good dose of courage, using disguises more or less serious that allow him to evade police checks and carry out his priestly work underground, secretly celebrating the ‘The Eucharist and the preaching of hidden spiritual exercises.

It is estimated that in one day he was able to distribute Communion to 1500. In the company of his guitar and making help from his jokes and his inimitable mimic, he tried to raise morale and support of everyone he meets. This priest, who seemed to have optimism for sale, actually passed in the crucible of pain and depression because of persecution, suffering who are suffering his people and his family, problems that are giving his poor health. The secret to overcome this and to be of help to others, nevertheless, he found union with Jesus, because he discovered that there is a more rapid and effective way to live intensely united to Jesus that the Holy Mass. Constantly monitored by police, he as eventually arrested on false charges of having participated in the attack against a general.

After a farcical trial and in violation of the most basic human rights he was shot in Mexico City November 23, 1927: he was only 36 and a priest for two eyars, but so intense and joyful to be worth a lifetime. He died with the crucifix in one hand and rosary in the other, exclaiming, “Long live Christ the King,” so that a soldier from the firing squad, as the centurion at the foot of the cross, escape to say: And so that he died righteous. His funeral, defying the police and prohibitions of the authorities, was attended by 20 thousand people, grateful for what he received and assured that he is a martyr of Christ. The same opinion is also the Church, which the mouth of John Paul II September 25, 1988 beatified Father Michael Augustin Pro

Author: Gianpiero Pettiti

source: Santi e Beati

As we head into the week of Thanksgiving, with lots of food and travel, immediately followed by a black Friday shopping frenzy, a columnist poses the question, “What would Jesus buy?”

There are a couple of groups out there that advocate against consumerism. While I’m no longer the shopper that I was, and have pared down my gift list considerably, I can’t imagine that many people will be able to avoid the big box stores or will think to shop locally.

In my area, “locally” could arguably include several big box retailers headquartered here. And a lot of people rely on incomes derived from working either at HQ or in retail stores. In fact, one of my friends just completed several months as a temp at one of the HQ’s. She loved it and hopes to become an employee.

Since I want a new electronic item, I’m likely to shop at a big box store. Soon, because after Thanksgiving, I’m not likely to want to venture to them.

There are a lot of great local stores though, in particular a couple of gift shops; I won’t say they’re chains, but each has several locations. I have no information on the religious or political stance of the owners but do know that if I’m at a loss for what to buy, either of these places will have something fun, appropriate and not seen everywhere. I sometimes go window shopping when I don’t need a gift, just to see what’s new.

One place to shop locally, for icons, is at the Carmelite Monastery. Another, for books on theology, saints and other religious topics, is Loome’s. There are also several religious goods stores in the area, some of which have more than one location.

Our local Little Sisters of the Poor have a holiday boutique with crafts, gift baskets and baked goods. You can also support your parish by supporting its gift shop. Or gift case.

I don’t know what Jesus would buy, but I doubt he’d go into a shopping frenzy.

I guess this means Rep. Kennedy isn’t as Catholic as anyone. NO communion for you in my diocese, due to your public stance that’s against Catholic teaching.

Go Bishop Tobin!

St. Peter Ramirez Esqueda, Priest and Martyr
San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico, April 29, 1887 – Teocaltitlán, Mexico, November 22, 1927

He was born in Mexico in San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco (Diocese de San Juan de los Lagos) April 29, 1887. As a priest he devoted himself with special care and passion to the catechesis of children. He founded various centers of study and a school for the catechetical formation. When he was in prison he was beaten so severely that a wound opened on his face. A soldier, after hitting him, said, “Now you will be sorry that you are a priest.” But Father Pedro answered, “No, not even a moment, and I miss just watching the sky.” On November 22, 1927 they pulled him out of jail for justice, children surrounded him and father Esqueda repeated insistently: “Do not neglect to study the catechism, nor any reason to leave out the Christian doctrine.” They three shots were fired. He is remembered along with the Mexican saints and martyrs of the twentieth century.

Roman Martyrology: In the city of Teocaltitlán in Mexico, St. Peter Esqueda Ramírez, Priest and Martyr, who, during the persecution in Mexico was thrown into prison for his priesthood, and finally shot.

The 25 Mexican Martyred Saints (Christopher Magallanes Jara and 24 fellows), by the will of John Paul II, immediately after Canonization, were placed in the Roman Calendar on May 21 as an optional memorial. The Martyrologium Romanum commemorates each Saint and Blessed separately, each on the anniversary of martyrdom.

source: Santi e Beati

Pope St. Gelasius I  (image source)

November 21

Gelasius was born in Rome, in the fifth century, the son of an African named Valerius. Later, ordained a priest, he was elected Pope on March 1st, 492.  Gelasius had a reputation for learning, justice, holiness, and charity. However, he was burdened with difficulties caused by a conflict with Euphemius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, over the Acacian heresy. He also protested the encroachments by Constantinople on Alexandria and Antioch. Gelasius was influential in setting aside Roman pagan festivals. Moreover, in opposition to the Manichaeans, he ordered reception of the Eucharist under both species. Gelasius is known to have composed liturgical Prefaces and Orations for Sacramentaries, which may be part of the Leonine Sacramentary. However, he had nothing to do with the Gelasian Sacramentary or the Gelasian Decree (listing the Canonical books of the Bible) – which have been erroneously attributed to him. He died at Rome on November 21, 496.

Source: Saints & Angels

Saint Teonesto, Martyr in Vercelli
November 20

Teonesto was a member of the primitive Christian community of Vercelli, the previous bishop of Eusebius, and perhaps even peace of Constantine, who testified at the sacrifice of his life for his faith. After the martyrdom, his body was buried in a cemetery area where Christian and pagan remains were located, without particular distinction. It would appear that Eusebius himself erected the chapel in which lie the remains of the saint, which was enlarged and transformed by the end of the fourth century into the first Basilica Eusebiana. Today the saint’s relics are kept in a niche above the altar of Our Lady placed the slap in the cathedral of Vercelli.

Roman Martyrology: At Vercelli, Saint Teonesto, Martyr, the Bishop in whose honor Saint Eusebius built a Basilica.

The only ancient source that recalls St. Teonesto is the life of the holy Bishop Eusebius of Vercelli, who is remembered because the Bishop wished to be buried before the relics of the Mmartyr venerated in a shrine in the tomb outside the walls of the city of Vercelli. The question is what information learned from this little news to try to reconstruct the identity of the saint, unknown to any other source hagiography.

The text of Eusebius, Life, mentioned above, is to be placed in the eighth century, an era already very far from the facts he describes, a fact that calls into question the historical reliability. It would appear that Eusebius himself had built the chapel in which lie the remains of the saint, then enlarged and transformed by the end of the fourth century into the first Basilica Eusebiana. When at the end of the sixteenth century, the church structure was gradually demolished to make way for the present cathedral, The Holy Bishop and Saint Teonesto were found side by side as Eusebius had wanted. On the tomb of the Martyr, there was an inscription cruciform, now unfortunately lost: S. MARTYR THEONESTUS, judged by Bruzza Eusebiana era.

If this dating is correct, it could be considered the holy one member of the primitive Christian community Vercelli before the bishop of Eusebius, and perhaps even peace of Constantine, who testified at the sacrifice of his life his faith. After the martyrdom, his body was buried in a cemetery where Christians and pagans were buried, without distinction, also the inscription would suggest that the grave contained the entire body of the Saint and not only preserve the relics. The latter hypothesis could be confirmed only by analyzing the remains scientifically attributed to Teonesto, now kept in a niche above the altar of Our Lady placed the slap in the cathedral of Vercelli.

So if it was not only incomplete relics, but the bodily remains you might consider Vercelli the place where the saint died and therefore exclude the hypothesis of those who would like to identify him with a saint of the same name who was killed by the legendary Bishop Aryans in Altino, Veneto, along with other comrades. On the contrary, being now satisfied that the hagiographic narrative of that saint is just a story that unites in a single imaginative narrative saints venerated in various locations (Albano in Mainz, Orso in Aosta), one might hypothesize that it is in Vercelli the holy bishop was transformed into itinerant.

In the city and diocese of Vercelli, Teonesto, while still being celebrated liturgically November 20, never enjoyed special veneration, so that his iconography is entirely lacking, not knowing who currently works mirror, his name was never associated with any particular patronage. Paradoxically, however, are not these skinny and essential information that provide more than uncontrollable and very credible legend, the authenticity of memory regarding cultic San Teonesto.

Author: Damian Pomi

source: Santi e Beati

Saint Simon, Abate of Calabria

Roman Martyrology: The Mercury massif in Calabria, San Simone, hermit.

Calabrian saint venerated in the East. By an abbot of a monastery in Calabria unidentified, he was sent to Africa to secure the release of some monks, captured and taken to Africa by the Arabs. From one of the hostages, Simon knew that at any price they wanted to make them renounce their Christian faith, they refused, the Saracens wanted to hit, but suddenly his arm was paralyzed. Pity, the Holy healed them obtain, after this miracle, the head of the Arabs, the release of all the monks. Back in Calabria, Simon led the life of a hermit.

source: Santi e Beati

Blessed Grimoaldo of the Purification (Ferdinand Santamaria)
Pontecorvo (FR), 4 May 1883 – Ceccano (FR), November 18, 1902

Purification of the Blessed Grimoaldo (born Ferdinand Santamaria) was born in Pontecorvo (FR) on 4 May 1883, he entered the novitiate of the Passionist in Paliano (FR) February 16, 1899, where he made a profession of temporary vows March 6, 1900 and died prematurely for acute meningitis in the Passionist monastery in Cecco (FR) on 18 November 1902. John Paul II declared him “venerable” on 14 May 1991 and “blessed” January 29, 1995. The remains of Blessed Grimoaldo are venerated in the church of Passionist Abbey Ceccano.

Roman Martyrology: At Ceccano at Frosinone, blessed Grimoaldo of Purification (Ferdinand) Santamaria, religious of the Congregation of the Passion, which, as he prepared with fervor and joy in the priesthood, died piously affected by a disease.

The name of blessed Grimoaldo, seems to draw more austere and grim figure of an old hermit in the desert rather than to a sympathetic young man. But this is just the name that the person directly involved chose becoming passion, while at the baptism was called Ferdinand. The eldest of five children, he was born in Pontecorco in the province of Frosinone, May 4, 1883 to Peter Paul Santamaria Ruscio, Cecilia, a fervent Christian, turned raw hemp workers into ropes of various sizesby hand and then sold the rope markets in neighboring countries. He was baptized and confirmed the next day at five months. Little Ferdinand, helped also by the example of very good father and mother, grew up healthy and good. In 1890 he started elementary school. He received his first communion at just eight, beomg particularly good in the eyes of the priest, which distinguished him from his peers.

The church was his favorite place; he regularly attended and greatly loved Mass. He served as an altar boy with care and emotional participation. He could not keep from crying when he was unable to go to church because he had to work. When he was in church nothing could distract him. Kneeling before the statue of the Immaculate Conception, he seemed a little statue, motionless with folded hands, come what may. The old sexton had tears in his eyes and looked at him spellbound. The pastor’s heart grew thinking about the future of that boy. It’s true that he was dreaming of a pope, and hisfather, at all costs wanted a ropemaker, but Don Vincenzo Romano realized that his vocation was another: Ferdinand was always in church as attracted to a magnet, had a passion to serve the Mass was always present in the parish choir to sing with his beautiful voice, remaining long in a silent and rapt contemplation. The priest then was not surprised at all when one day someoe etold him that he saw Ferdinand, the son of the ropemaker, in a trance before the image of the Madonna.

The boy was reserved, but not isolated. Mild, but not devoid of initiative. Good, also wished for others to be good. Mother told him to pray for iragazzi bad “so that they become good.” He often taught catechism for his companions. With the Santamaria family also lived an old aunt, devoted but not very sure dichiesa. The grandson occasionally reminded that “is good work and pray at home, maoccorre even go to church to hear mass.” Penance was also another strong point of Ferdinand: he prayed with maize grain or gravel under his knees, chose less tasty food, often completely fasted, sought mortifications worthy of a hermit. He repeated it to be born to do penance. His family knew that he sometimes spent the night watching and praying. A witness reported: “He wanted to follow Jesus in his sufferings.”

The Passionists at the nearby shrine of Our Lady of Grace lead an austere life; he visited it with ever greater frequency, it seemed made for him. He talked openly in his family, but his father pushed him toward the profession of ropemaker. Ferdinand, being the eldest, had to continue the work of his ancestors. So his father tried to dissuade him, even with severe punishments, from what he thought was just the whim of a teenager. Even the most stringent punishment was in vain so his father bought him a horse and a wagon, sending him to fairs and markets to sell rope, hoping the idea of making money would remove the convent from his head. The proposal was very flattering, but Ferdinand pointed to the river and said to his father: “Life flows like water … Our days go by fast … then what?” Began to wobble as the beliefs of his father, but he failed to surrender completely. One evening the boy came home from a function, he found the door already closed and was forced to sleep at a neighbor’s house. Looking back on such severity, his father felt a lump in his throat and he wanted to cry. He finally began to understand what his wife had long since guessed, contemplating his son, as a priest and missionary.

The boy was now sixteen, and knew what he wanted. He had done well in the advanced study of Latin, grammar and rhetoric, more than ever determined to follow his path. His teacher was Don Antonio Rosca, a young man who had attempted the life of the monastery but was forced by illness to return home, while retaining admiration and sympathy for the Passionists. Ferdinand also studied at night by candlelight, recovering in a few months almost three years of study. Overcame the inevitable and facilotte ironies of comrades who did not understand his strange decision. Even his father finally gave in, trusting to his wife Cecilia, “Our boy has no interest in making rope, his interest is only inr the church.” His father brought him right to the station of Aquino to give a final blessing and the last kiss.

Ferdinand became more cheerful and outgoing, irrepressible joy now appeared on his face. Testified one of his best friends: “Meeting him and seeing him turned around, I asked him what was wrong and he told me that wanted to become a Passionist.” He left with happy face “, warning skeptics on duty:” I’m leaving and not come back “and leaving behind the memory copy of a quiet guy, modest and irreproachable. Only once in the house was disobedient: invited to go and call my father at the inn, did not go to hear him swear, and fearing it would hurt my heart.

On February 15, 1899 Ferdinand arrives at Paliano, in the province of Frosinone, to begin a year of novitiate. On 5 March donned the religious habit and took the name of Grimoaldo as a devotion to the patron saint of his native country. The life of a novice, all loneliness, prayer and mortification seemed just sewn to fit him a joy so real and intense he had never experienced before. The older brothers, and his companions, they noticed in him a constant effort towards perfection.

Issued religious profession, he moved to Grimoaldo Ceccano, always in the province of Frosinone, where he took up studies classics. He would then study philosophy and theology to prepare for the priesthood. Commitment to the sanctity added that no less for the study. With candor and sincerity he relied on the guidance of his spiritual director. Stubbornly bent on books, eager to prepare himself to be a worthy priest of Christ. He gratefully accepted the help that some brothers gave him at school, given the gaps in his education received in Pontecorvo, and was even singled out by teachers as a model for his companions. Grimoaldo lived “always cheerful, even in humiliation, in opposition, the difficulties of the studies. Despite the students had very little contact with the outside world and lived virtually unknown to people, the reputation of Grimoaldo crossed the fence of the house of religion: even the people who lived around the convent because they noticed his goodness and recommended to the trust and not in vain his prayer.

His parents who visited him with his sister Vincenzina, the young son showed all his religious vocation and joy for all his gratitude for his education in the family. The boy was a “colossus of health”: sturdy, well proportioned, tall enough. No one would ever suspect what was about to happen. October 31, 1902, during an afternoon walk around the monastery, Grimoaldo felt a sudden stabbing pain in his head, accompanied by dizziness and hallucinations. He returned and went back to bed. The following day, the feast of All Saints, he participated in the Mass and took communion devoutly. But the illness persisted, he went back to bed and the doctor was called. The diagnosis was cruel and swept away all hope, acute meningitis, which would have added complications. In the days of the disease even more Grimoaldo revealed his desire for holiness and his room was transformed into a sort of school of virtue.

The sick fact shined in the patience he has always admired and often repeated the test to accept the disease of the will of God and recommends to his companions to help him with prayers not to lose patience and courage in embracing cross . With a joy that shone on his face, he declared himself happy to do the will of God. In the last moments of life his face was shining like the sun, his eyes were fixed on a point of the room. He died at sunset calm, serene and quiet, like a child gently resting in the arms of his mother. It was November 18, 1902 and Grimoaldo was just nineteen and a half. The religious Facer mind “in the belief that you lose a brother and you buy a saint.” Parents, not present at his death, appeared Grimoaldo consolation for the loss of our dear son. So live peaceful, happy to have had a son like that, and look to him begging him in their needs.

His mortal remains were interred in the cemetery of the village, but in October 1962 were exhumed and translated to the church of the convent of the Passionist Ceccano. After sixty years well into the pocket of his funeral dress, now reduced to shreds, was found a small pieces of fabric together with a note that read: “Gabriel of the venerable dress, a relic that young he always carried with him. Grimoaldo during his life he had looked with particular affection in San Gabriel, partaking of his example. He wrote of him: “This angel was a perfect imitation of our venerable Gabriel, tender devotion to the Virgin of exquisite purity of intention, of continuous and intimate stretch with God docile and manageable, like wax in the hands of superiors.” As was the case forty years ago for Gabriel, even Grimoaldo praised “this demonstration is cautious and wary of making great account of the little things that has placed the sanctity of religious find that his delight in being in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament where sometimes passed for hours, this show such fervor in the recitation of the divine praises.

His reputation for holiness spread enormously, because many were attributed to his intercession and, finally, Pope John Paul II declared him “venerable” on 14 May 1991 and “blessed” January 29, 1995.

Author: Fabio Arduino

source: Santi e Beati

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle Dies At 95

Patriarch Pavle prays at Serbian Orthodox Christmas liturgy in Belgrade in January 2007.

Saint Giordano Ansalone, Dominican Priest, Martyr
Santo Stefano Quisquina (Agrigento), 1 November 1598 – Nagasaki (Japan), November 17, 1634

In 1625, he reached Seville on foot, he left for the missions. After a break of about a year in Mexico, across the Pacific in the summer of 1626, he reached the Philippine Islands. First two years costs between the Philippines, Cagayan in northern Luzon, then lived for four years among the Chinese of a colony of the suburb of Binondo, Manila, in the Parish and the Hospital S. Gabriel, built for them. Studied the language, the mentality and customs from the Chinese, showing true forerunner of inculturation and dialogue with non-believers. To do this he also wrote an opera, hopelessly lost, which compiled the main religious beliefs and philosophical ideas of the Chinese, discussing them with the data of faith and Catholic doctrine, for an enlightening comparison. In 1632, the midst of this persecution, he went to Japan, disguised as a merchant, to bring aid and comfort: for a year he was the Vicar Provincial of this mission. Seriously ill on the island of Kyushu, “he implored the Virgin Mary to be cured until they had killed Christ.” He was jailed August 4, 1634 and subjected to unspeakable torture.

source: Santi e Beati

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Blessed Edward Osbaldeston, Martyr
November 16

Roman Martyrology: At York in England, Blessed Edward Osbaldeston, priest and martyr of Lancaster, who, a student of English College of Rheims, who was sentenced to death under Queen Elizabeth I came to be a priest in England, died hanged.

source: Santi e Beati

Blessed Hugh Faringdon (Cook), John Eynon and John Rugg Martyrs
m. Reading, United Kingdom, November 15, 1539

The Martyrologium Romanum commemorates today the three Benedictine Blessed Hugh Faringdon (Cook), Abbot of Reading, John Eynon and John Ruggie, Priests. Tenaciously opposed to the claims of King Henry VIII of England within the spiritual domain and therefore were falsely accused of conspiracy. Front of the monastery were then hanged and then horribly gutted. Pope Leo XIII beatified them on May 13, 1895.

Roman Martyrology: At Reading in Britain, Martyrs Hugh Cook Faringdon, Abbot of the Order of St. Benedict, John Eynon and John Ruggie, Priests who were accused of treason for being fiercely opposed to the claims of primacy in the Church of King Henry VIII died hanged and disemboweled with a sword in front of the monastery.

In 1534 the English clergy was called to take an oath of supremacy recognizing the monarch as head of the English Church in the territory of the kingdom. With the exception of Saints Thomas More and John Fisher, the Carthusian monks and Observant Franciscans, a few others immediately objected to this betrayal of the pope. The abbots of Glastonbury, Reading and Colchester all lent oath with their monks, hoping to thereby protect their ancient monasteries from the tyranny of kings, but all three reached a point of no return when it intensified the suppression of monastic orders.

The Abbot of Reading, Hugh Faringdon was commonly called by the name of his county of origin and his nickname was Cook. In this abbey he became Monaco and was elected abbot in 1250, very high office that entitled the holder to a seat in the House of Lords and the Council, as the magistrate of the county. The reporters called him a man hostile to him “completely without culture,” yet the teacher of elementary school in Reading dedicated a book to him even in rhetoric. Hugh also managed to enforce discipline in his monastery excellent.

Strongly opposed the preachers of new doctrines Protestants, whom he described as “heretics and scoundrels, but was on good terms with King Henry VIII, perhaps for convenience, given the proximity between the Abbey and Windsor. They used to exchange visits and gifts. Hugh also tried in vain to help the King to obtain from the Pope the annulment of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon, by signing the letter of request. In 1536, also signed the Act of Supremacy and the following year still enjoyed the sympathy of the king, as he held an important role in the funeral of Queen Jane Seymour.

A few weeks later, a diplomatic incident occurred: Abbot Hugh offended the sovereign, spread the false news of his death. He wuestioned by a committee, but was later released. After he was taken to the suppression of monastic orders, as Hugh does not accept this soppruso summer of 1539 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, accused of treason. With him were tried John Eynon, a priest of the church of St Giles in Reading, and John Ruggie, the prebend of Chichester, who had retired in the abbey of Reading. The former was accused of having written and distributed a copy of the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536, while the latter possessed a relic of the hands of Saint Anastasius, while knowing that his majesty had sent inspectors in the said abbey to put an end to the idolatry . However, there is certainty that these two priests were Benedictine monks.

Terms prosecuting coinvoltse all three are unknown, but easily imaginable. Abbot Hugh spoke very clearly on the gallows in his opinion the supremacy of the Holy See in spiritual matters was “the common faith of those who had the right to declare the true teachings of the English Church.” Their execution took place outside the abbey of Reading November 15, 1539.
Hugh Faringdon (Cook), abbot of Reading, John Eynon and John Rugg were Beatified by Pope Leo XIII, May 13, 1895 by confirmation of their cults.

Author: Fabio Arduino

Source: Santi e Beati

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I’m sure you’ve read about government seizure of a building in New York City, together with a few mosques around the country. There’s a private Muslim school in the building, which receives support from the Alavi Foundation, the foundation which is tied to Iran, from which the buildings have been seized.

Now people associated with the school are concerned about being tainted. It’s perfectly reasonable for them to be concerned; their space is in a building owned by a foundation with financial ties that are counter to American law. In addition, they’re supported by that same foundation, so yeah, they’re suspect.

Keep in mind that most Amerians could care less, and that the only actual backlash about which I’m aware related to the Fort Hood Jihadist, is that a Greek Orthodox Priest in Florida was attacked by an idiot who claimed he was a jihadist and yelled Allah Akbar. Good trick for a guy who doesn’t speak Arabic.

Read about it here.

Catholic Men’s Apologetics.

photo source

Last Saturday I drove up to Alexandria, to pray at Father Didier’s grave. It’s about a 2 1/2 hour drive from where I live, and it was a beautiful day for a drive. I mapquested the cemetery but had been unable to find information about the location of his grave. The cemetery is easy to find and pretty small.

As you can see in the photo of his parents, from the Echo Press, his grave is by the road in the cemetery; I was looking for the item in the left front of the photo, which houses a guestbook, pens  and prayer cards. I saw a rosary and a bunch of individual notes in there as well.

What isn’t shown in the photo, to the left and right of the pillar, is a matching park bench, made of stone. One is opposite Father’s grave, the other opposite the graves of family members.  Since I had parked coming in to the cemetery I didn’t see the Body and Blood of Christ depicted on the pillar.

I sat on the bench opposite his grave and prayed for the poor souls in purgatory, especially souls of priests. I also prayed for some priests I know as well as other intentions and wrote a note related thereto in the guestbook.

I don’t know, and may never know, if he interceded on behalf of anyone or any intention for which I prayed, but in some ways that’s incidental; my greatest motivation was to pray for the souls in purgatory.

Saints Nicholas Tavelic, Stephen of Cuneo, Deodato Aribert from Ruticinio and Peter of Narbonne Franciscan Priests, Martyrs
† Jerusalem, November 14, 1391

Roman Martyrology: In Jerusalem, the Holy Nicholas Tavelic, Deodato Aribert, Stephen of Cuneo and Peter of Narbonne, Priests of the Order of Friars Minor and Martyrs who were burned in the fire for preaching boldly in the public square in front of the Saracens, the Christian religion, professing Strongly Christ Son of God

The personal stories of these Franciscan missionaries, are intertwined in 1383, when, coming from different places in Europe, they flowed into the Franciscan convent of Mount Zion in Palestine, where the Order of St. Francis has been for centuries the Custodian of the Holy Places of Christianity.
The Friars Minor, Nicholas Tavelic, Deodato by Aribert Ruticinio, Stephen of Cuneo and Peter of Narbonne found themselves in that Franciscan monastery, where they lived for eight years, according to the Rule of St. Francis, performing their duties, for the care of Places sanctity of life and death of Jesus, and trying to do apostolate in the Muslim world, where Mount Zion was almost like an island amid a sea of Muslims.

With Muslims, the apostolate was almost fruitless, since the deepening of their faith, they were not open to interreligious dialogue.

Nevertheless, the four Friars Minor, decided to bring the Gospel to the Mohammedans, publicly exposing the arguments of Christianity and Islam and comparing them with those after consultation with two theologians, prepared a memorandum in which, in a detailed and rich in historical references and theological, meticulously exposed the Christian doctrine by refuting Islam.

On November 11, 1391, they went before the Cadi (judge) of Jerusalem in the presence of many Muslims, they were exposed reading this, they worked out with great courage. While they listened carefully, it was not accepted by those present, in the end they went into a rage and then the monks were asked to recall what they said; the four monks refused and so were sentenced to death for three days were put behind bars where they suffered abuse.

On November 14, they were brought back to the streets, again asked to recant what was said against Islam, after rejection this they were killed, blown to pieces and burned, the Muslims did disappear any remains, even the ashes, so that they were not honored by Christians.

Their martyrdom was described in detail in a report by the Guardian of the Holy Land, Father Gerald Calvet, two months after their death.

Their Cult was recognized by the Franciscan Order, dating from the fifteenth century; Pope Leo XIII, in 1889, confirmed only the cult of Nicholas Tavelic, the leader, who had great reverence in his native Yugoslavia.

In 1966, Pope Paul VI confirmed the cult for the other three Franciscan Martyrs, staring at their feast to November 17, but in the Franciscan Martyrology they were remembered on the date of their death (dies natalis) that November 14.

Pope Paul VI, on June 21, 1970, in Rome, elevated them to the altars, proclaimed them saints, and their liturgical celebration was extended to November 14 for all, and inserted into the Roman Martyrology on the same date; they are the first martyrs and saints the Custody of the Holy Land.

Nicola Tavelic:
First saint of the Croatian nation, Nicola Tavelic, was born about 1340 in Šibenik, Dalmatia; as a teenager he walked among the Friars Minor of St. Francis, became a priest, was a missionary in Bosnia, along with his father by Deodato Ruticinio, where for nearly 12 years he preached against the Bogomil, a heretical sect that had its stronghold in Bosnia (they contrasted the spirit world than that of matter, considered an expression of force of evil, they denied the Trinity, the human nature of Christ, the Old Testament, did not recognize the rites and sacraments of baptism and marriage, nor the church hierarchy).
Then in 1383, along with the French father of Aribert Ruticinio Deodato, he was sent to the Mission of Palestine Mont Sion in Jerusalem, where he met the other two future fellow martyrs, Father Stephen of Cuneo and Father Peter Narbonne, France.

Deodato Ruticinio (diode Aribert):

Wwas from the Franciscan Province of Aquitaine. We do not know his date of birth, which was probably around 1340. His country of birth, which in Latin is called Ruticinio was identified by some with the modern French city of Rodez, while some other shows the Roussillon, the historical region of southern France, but at that time depended on Catalonia. In 1372 he was sent as a missionary in Bosnia, where he met Father Nicola Tavelic, to whom he was bound by sincere friendship, all preaching against the Bogomil; in 1383 with his brother he was assigned to the Franciscan convent of Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where he also met the Fathers by Stefano Cuneo and Peter of Narbonne outfit.

Peter of Narbonne:

All that is known of this Franciscan Martyr from the Franciscan Province of Provence in southern France, where at one point,he went down into Italy, attracted by the Franciscan Observance Reform, launched in Umbria in 1368, by Blessed Paul or Paoluccio Trinci of Foligno (1309-1391). He was at the hermitage Umbrian Brogliano, located between Foligno and Camerino, fifteen years, living in prayer and meditation on the spirituality of St. Francis. In 1381 he left as a missionary to the Holy Land, received into the convent of Mount Zion in Jerusalem where he met Nicola Tavelic in 1383, Deodato from Ruticinio, his compatriot and Stephen of Cuneo, with whom he will later be martyred so horribly, on November 14, 1391.

Stephen of Cuneo:

Very little is known about the Franciscan Saint Martyred in Jerusalem, Stephen of Cuneo, made from precious ‘report’ made by the Father Superior of the convent of Mount Sion, on the martyrdom of the four priests belonging to the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land. Father Stephen of Cuneo, was of the Franciscan Province of Genoa and spent eight years in the vicarious in Corsica, before being transferred to Jerusalem in 1383, where he could fulfill his apostolic activity among the Muslims for another eight years before his martyrdom, suffered along with fellow French by Deodato Ruticinio and Peter of Narbonne and the Croatian Nicola Tavelic. The city of origin of the Franciscan saint, Cuneo, seems doubtful, since an historic renaissance, claimed to have collected a local tradition, which made him a native of Fiumorbo in Corsica, with a separate family Prunelli.

Be well, but the martyr is well known for 600 years as Stephen of Cuneo.

Author: Antonio Borrelli

Source: Santi e Beati

Blessed Pavel Djidjov, Priest and Martyr
Plovdiv, Bulgaria, July 19, 1919 – Sofia, Bulgaria, November 12, 1952

Roman Martyrology: At Sofia, Bulgaria, Blessed Peter Vicev, Pavel (Joseph) Džidžov and Jehoshaphat (Robert Matthew) Shishkov, priests of the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption, who, unjustly accused of treason under an atheist regime and thrown into prison because they were Christians, in their mortal combat deserve to receive the reward of eternity, the faithful disciples of Christ.

Joseph Dzjidzjov was born in the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv July 19, 1919, to a Catholic family in the Latin rite. In 1926 he became a student of School of the Assumption St. Andrew in his native country. From 1931 to 1938 he studied in the College of St. Augustine, in the same city. On February 2, 1938 as a trainee recruit, he finally entered Noseroa, France, and assumed the religious name of Pavel.
He studied philosophy and theology in Lormoa, near Paris, until 1942, when he made his perpetual profession of vows.

Then forced by illness to return to Bulgaria, he continued his theological studies as an irregular student. On January 26, 1945 in Plovdiv, he was ordained a priest in the Latin rite. To Varna he was then sent, to study economics and social sciences, in order to delegations following the various activities relating to housing and economic management of the mission. Father Pavel, a very good student and active, exerted a positive influence on his comrades. With courage, he didn’t hide his anti-communist ideas and beliefs and then, for this reason, was kept firmly under control by the secret services of Bulgaria’s new leadership.

His superiors then entrusted him with the job of treasurer of the College St. Augustine in Plovdiv and later treasurer of the Eastern Vicariate. Constantly followed by the communist militia during the night of July 4, 1952, he was arrested in seminary recruitment of Plovdiv, together with Father Kamen Vicev. Pavel Dzjidjov figured second in the list of complaints.

For him and his brothers Kamen Vitchev and Josaphat Chichkov the death sentence was issued October 3, 1952, and were shot in the night between 11 and November 12, 1952 in Sofia, Bulgarian capital, along with Blessed Bishop Eugenio Bossilkov. The place of their burial in the cemetery of the city has never been discovered. The three priest martyrs were beatified by Pope John Paul II May 26, 2002.

Author: Fabio Arduino

Source: Santi e Beati

MARIAN PRAYER OF SAINT GREGORY OF NAREK (A.D. 1010)

Assist me by the wings of your prayers,
O you who are called the Mother of the living,
so that on my exit from this valley of tears
I may be able to advance without torment
to the dwelling of life
that has been prepared for us
to lighten the end of a life burdened by my iniquity.

Healer of the sorrows of Eve,
change my day of anguish into a feast of gladness.
Be my Advocate,
ask and supplicate.
For as I believe in your inexpressible purity,
so do I also believe in
the good reception that is given to your word.

O you who are blessed among women,
help me with your tears
for I am in danger.
Bend the knee to obtain my reconciliation,
O Mother of God.

Be solicitous for me for I am miserable,
O Tabernacle of the Most High.
Hold out your hand to me as I fall,
O heavenly Temple.

Saint Margarito Flores Garcia, Priest and Martyr
Taxco, Mexico, February 22, 1899 – Tulimán, Mexico, November 12, 1927

He was born in Taxco, Guerrero (Diocese of Chilapa) on February 22, 1899. Pastor of Atenango del Rio, Guerrero (Diocese of Chilapa). His three years in the ministry were enough to know his priestly character. The Vicar General of the Diocese appointed him vicar to act as pastor of Atenango del Rio, Guerrero. Father Margarito set to work. He was discovered and identified as a priest when he was about to reach that goal; he was imprisoned and taken to Tulimán, Guerrero, where orders were given to shoot him. Father Margarito asked permission to pray, he knelt for a moment, kissed the ground and then rose and waited for the shots that destroyed his head and forever united him to Christ the Priest, on November 12, 1927. On May 21, 2000, he was Canonized by Pope John Paul II together with 24 other martyrs of Mexico. The group is known as Christopher Magallanes Jara and 24 companion and is celebrated with an optional Memorial on May 21.Each is celebrated separately, on their martrydom anniversary.

Roman Martyrology: In the city of Tulimán Mexico, Saint Margarito Flores, Priest and Martyr, who, during the great persecution against the Church, was arrested for his priesthood and crowned by glorious martyrdom with the shooting.

Source: Santi e Beati

Blessed Vincent Eugene Bossilkov, Passionist Bishop and Martyr
Belene (Bulgaria), November 16, 1900 – Sofia (Bulgaria), November 11, 1952

Vincenzo was born in Belene (Bulgaria) in 1900. His family belonged to the Latin-rite Catholic minority in the Diocese of Nicopolis. At 11 he was sent to Ores, to the school of the Passionist Fathers. Hence his vocation which would be planted with ten years of study in Belgium and Holland. He joined the congregation with the name of Eugene and became a priest in Bulgaria. He then went again to Rome. Returning home he waived all diocesan duties to devote himself to what he feels like his true mission: to explain the cross to the peasants in their language. In 1944 he was appointed Bishop of Nicopolis, in one state (the fledgling People’s Republic of obedience under Stalin) against religion. Still unable to come to Rome in 1948 when asked by Pope Pius XII. Then began the mechanism of seizures, evictions, orders to match a ‘national church’ vassal of a scheme, asked to repudiate the Pope. But Eugene was opposed. This caused his arrest in July 1952, torture, mock trial, death sentence and murder in the prison of Sofia, in secret. His body was thrown into a common grave. Pope John Paul II beatified him on March 15, 1998.

Roman Martyrology: At Sofia, Bulgaria, Blessed Vincent Eugene Bossilkov, Bishop of Nicopolis’ and Martyr of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus, who, under a tyrannical regime, was led to jail for refusing to renounce communion with Rome and cruelly tortured, was condemned to death on charges of treason and then shot.

Source: Santi e Beati