St Ignatius (July 31)

Rubens

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, the birthday of St. Ignatius, priest and confessor, founder of the Society of Jesus, renowned for sanctity and miracles, and most zealous for propagating the Catholic religion in all parts of the world. Pope Pius XI declared him to be the heavenly patron of all spiritual retreats."

St Julitta - a martyr for religious freedom (July 30); SS Abdon and Sennen, memorial

Today's Benedictine Office remembers the  martyrs SS Abson and Sennen, of whom the martyrology says:

"At Rome, in the reign of Decius, the holy Persian martyrs Abdon and Sennen, who were bound with chains, brought to Rome, scourged with leaded whips for the faith of Christ, and then put to the sword."

But the martyrology also recalls a saint whose story has all too modern resonances, of the misuse of the courts to persecute Christians:

"At Caesarea in Cappadocia, St. Julitta, martyr. As she sought through the courts the restitution of goods seized by a man of influence, the latter objected that, being a Christian, her cause could not be pleaded. The judge commanded her to offer sacrifice to the idols, that she might be heard. She refused with great constancy, and being thrown into the fire, yielded her soul unto God. Her body remained uninjured by the flames. St. Basil the Great has proclaimed her praise in an excellent eulogy."

SS Nazarius, Celsus, Victor and St Innocent I (July 28, EF)

From the Roman Martyrology:

"At Milan, the birthday of the holy martyrs Nazarius and a boy named Celsus. While the persecution excited by Nero was raging, they were beheaded by Anolinus, after long sufferings and afflictions endured in prison.


At Rome, the martyrdom of St. Victor, pope and martyr.


Also at Rome, St. Innocent, pope and confessor, who passed to the Lord on the 12th of March."

St Pantaleon (July 27, EF)

From the Roman Martyrology:

At Nicomedia, the martyrdom of St. Pantaleon, a physician. For the faith of Christ he was apprehended by Emperor Maximian, subjected to the torture and burned with torches, during which torments he was comforted by an apparition of our Lord. He ended his martyrdom by a stroke of the sword.

SS Anne and Joachim, parents of the BVM

Tradition, drawing on the (non-canonical but very early) Gospel of James, gives us Saints Joachim and Anne as the names of the father and mother of the Mother of God.   While not part of the Scriptural canon, there is no reason to doubt the historical veracity of the text (the normal scepticism of some modern commentators notwithstanding).

In the Protoevangelium of James, Joachim is described as a rich and pious man of the house of David who regularly gave to the poor and to the temple (synagogue) at Sepphoris.  However, as his wife was barren, the high priest rejected Joachim and his sacrifice, as his wife's childlessness was interpreted as a sign of divine displeasure. Joachim consequently withdrew to the desert where he fasted and did penance for forty days. Angels then appeared to both Joachim and Anne to promise them a child. Joachim later returned to Jerusalem and embraced Anne at the city gate.

History of the feast

In the Roman calendar this is the feast of St Anne only, as the martyrology suggests:

"The departure from this life of St. Anne, mother of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of God."

In the Benedictine calendar however both saints are celebrated on the same date.

The feast of St Joachim was added to the Roman Calendar in 1584, for celebration on March 20, the day after the feast day of Saint Joseph.

In 1738, it was transferred to the Sunday after the Octave of the Assumption of Mary. As part of his effort to allow the liturgy of Sundays to be celebrated, Pope Pius X transferred it to August 16, the day after the Assumption, so that Joachim may be remembered in the celebration of Mary's triumph.   It was then celebrated as a Double of the 2nd Class, a rank that was changed in 1960 to that of 2nd Class Feast.

In the Roman Catholic calendar of saints (in 1969) it was joined to that of Anne, for celebration on July 26.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches and Greek Catholics commemorate Joachim on September 9, the Synaxis of Joachim and Anne, the day after the Nativity of the Theotokos.

St James the Greater, Apostle (July 25)

Rembrandt

From the Roman Martyrology:

"St. James the Apostle, brother of the blessed evangelist John, who was beheaded by Herod Agrippa at about the feast of Easter. He was the first of the apostles to receive the crown of martyrdom. His sacred bones were on this day carried from Jerusalem to Spain, and placed in the remote province of Galicia, where they are devoutly honoured by the far-famed piety of the inhabitants, and the frequent concourse of Christians, who visit them through piety and in fulfillment of vows."

St Cristina (July 24)

Lorenzo Lotto, 1505

From the Roman Martyrology:

At Tiro in Tuscany, on Lake Bolsena, St. Christina, virgin and martyr. Because she believed in Christ, and broke up her father's gold and silver idols to give them to the poor, she was cruelly scourged at his command, subjected to other most severe torments, and thrown with a heavy stone into the lake from which she was drawn out by an angel. Then under another judge, who succeeded her father, she bore courageously still more bitter tortures. Finally, after she had been shut up by the governor Julian in a burning furnace for five days without any injury, after being cured of the sting of serpents, she ended her martyrdom by having her tongue cut out, and being pierced with arrows.

There is however another St Cristina whose feast is also celebrated on July 24, St Cristina the Astonishing (1150-1224), patroness of those with mental illnesses.  Here is a little of her story:
 
"Born a peasant, Christina was orphaned at age 15. She is said to have suffered a massive seizure when she was in her early 20s. According to the story, her condition was so severe that witnesses assumed she had died. A funeral was held, but during the service, she "arose full of vigor, stupefying with amazement the whole city of Sint-Truiden, which had witnessed this wonder. "She levitated up to the rafters, later explaining that she could not bear the smell of the sinful people there. Then "[t]he astonishment increased when they learned from her own mouth what had happened to her after her death."  She related that she had witnessed Heaven, Hell and Purgatory."
 
Please say a prayer for all whose nameday it is.