St Timothy (Benedictine)/Immaculate Heart of Mary (EF)/Queenship of the BVM - Aug 22



Jacopo di Montepulciano, c1340

 From the martyrology:

"At Rome, on the Ostian road, the birthday of the holy martyr Timothy. After he had been arrested by Tarquinius, prefect of the city, and kept for a long time in prison, as he refused to sacrifice to the idols, he was scourged three times, subjected to the most severe torments, and finally beheaded."

St Timothy was martyred in 311.

St Bernard Ptolemy OSB/ St Jane Frances de Chantal (EF)/St Pius X (OF) - Aug 21

From the martyrology:

"At Siena, in Tuscany, blessed Bernard Ptolemy, abbot and founder of the Congregation of Olivetans."

and

"At Annecy, in Savoy, the festival of St. Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal, foundress of the Order of Nuns of the Visitation of St. Mary, who is commemorated on the 13th of December."

St Bernard of Clairvaux (Aug 20), Class III/OF Memorial

From the martyrology:

"In the territory of Langres, the demise of St. Bernard, first abbot of Clairvaux, illustrious for virtues, learning, and miracles. He was declared Doctor of the universal church by the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VIII. "

St Agapitus, Memorial (Aug 18)

St Agapitus was martyred at the age of 15 for being a Christian around 267 AD.

St Hyacinth (EF), Aug 17

St Hyacinth (1185-1257) was a Dominican from Poland.

Educated in Paris and Bologna, he started out as a secular priest, but while in Rome he witnessed a miracle performed by Saint Dominic, and thereafter received the habit from him.

"One of his miracles is connected with a Mongol attack on a monastery in Kiev. Hyacinth was about to save a monstrance (or possibly a ciborium, it is unknown exactly which one) containing the Blessed Sacrament when he heard the voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary asking him to take her too. So he decided to take also the statue of the Holy Virgin. Despite the fact that it weighed far more than he could normally lift, it became miraculously weightless. Thus he saved both the Blessed Sacrament and the statue of Our Lady."

Assumption of the BVM (Aug 15)

St Maximilian Kolbe (OF)/Vigil of the Assumption (EF/Benedictine), Aug 14

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, O.F.M. Conv. was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz, in 1939.  You can read more about his inspiring life here.

Today is also the Vigil of the Assumption in the traditional calendar.

SS Pontianus, Pope and Hippolytus, Martyrs, Memorial (August 13)

Pope Pontian

Today we celebrate the feasts of both a Pope and his rival anti-Pope, happily reconciled in the end.

Both were deported to the Sardinian salt mines, and died after harsh treatment there.  Pope St Pontian resigned in 235 in order to allow a successor to be elected in his stead.

The legend for St Hipppolytus however is more colourful, as the martyrology relates:

"At Rome, blessed Hippolytus, martyr, who gloriously confessed the faith, under the emperor Valerian. After enduring other torments, he was tied by the feet to the necks of wild horses, and being cruelly dragged through briars and brambles, and having all his body lacerated, he yielded up his spirit. On the same day, suffered also blessed Concordia, his nurse, who being scourged in his presence with leaded whips, went to our Lord; and nineteen others of his house, who were beheaded beyond the Tiburtine gate, and buried with him in the Veran field."

St Clare (August 11, OF); St Tibertius, memorial; St Susanna

From the martyrology:

"At Assisi in Umbria, the birthday of St. Clare, virgin, the first of the Poor Ladies of the Order of Friars Minor. Being celebrated for holiness of life and miracles, she was placed among the holy virgins by Pope Alexander IV...

At Rome, between the two laurels situation about three miles from the city, the birthday of St. Tiburtius, martyr, under the judge Fabian, in the persecution of Diocletian. After he had walked barefooted on burning coals and confessed Christ with increased constancy, he was put to the sword."

In the Extraordinary Form:

"Also at Rome, the holy virgin Susanna, a woman of noble race, and niece of the blessed Pontiff Caius. She merited the palm of martyrdom by being beheaded in the time of Diocletian."

Feast of St Lawrence (August 10)



Fra Angelico 1447-50

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, on the Tiburtine Way, the birthday of the blessed archdeacon Lawrence, martyred during the persecution of Valerian. After much suffering from imprisonment, from scourging with whips set with iron or lead, from hot metal plates, he at last completed his martyrdom by being slowly consumed on an iron instrument made in the form of a gridiron. His body was buried by blessed Hippolytus and the priest Justin in the cemetery of Cyriaca, in the Agro Verano."

SS Sixtus II, Felicissimus and Agapitus, memorial (August 7)

From the martyrology (for August 6):


"At Rome, on the Appian Way, in the cemetery of Callistus, the birthday of blessed Sixtus II, pope and martyr, who received the crown of martyrdom in the persecution of Valerian by being put to the sword. Also, the holy martyrs Felicissimus and Agapitus, deacons of blessed Sixtus; Januarius, Magnus, Vincent, and Stephen, subdeacons, all of whom were beheaded with him and buried in the cemetery of Praetextatus. With them suffered also blessed Quartus, as is related by St. Cyprian."

Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (August 6)

Raphael

From the martyrology:

"On Mount Tabor, the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ."

St Dominic (August 4)

From the martyrology:

"St. Dominic, confessor, founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, who on the sixth day of this month rested in peace."

You can read more about the saint here.

Also today:
 
"In the village of Ars, in the diocese of Belley, France, the birthday of St. John Baptist-Mary Vianney, priest and confessor, renowned for his devotion as a parish priest.  Pope Pius XI placed him in the number of the saints, ordered that his feast should be observed on the 9th day of this month, and appointed him as the heavenly patron of all parish priests."
 
And

"At Rome, St. Perpetua, who was baptized by the blessed apostle Peter. She converted to the faith her son Nazarius and her husband Africanus, buried the remains of many holy martyrs, and finally went to our Lord endowed with an abundance of merit."

SS Lydia and Aspren (August 3)

From the martyrology:

"At Philippi in Macedonia, St. Lydia, a dealer in purple, who was the first to believe in the Gospel when the apostle St. Paul preached in that city, as is related by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles..."

"At Naples in Campania, St. Aspren, bishop, who was cured of a sickness by the apostle St. Peter, and after being baptized, was made bishop of that city..."

"Among the Indians, bordering on Persia, the martyrdom of holy monks and other Christians who were put to death after suffering diverse torments, during the persecution of the Church of God by King Abenner."

St Alphonsus Mary de Liguori (August 2)

From the martyrology:

"At Nocera dei Pagani in Campani...St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori, founder of the Congregation of our most Holy Redeemer, bishop of Santa Agata dei Goti, and confessor. Noted for his zeal for souls, his writings, and his example, Pope Gregory XVI added him to the canon of saints, and Pius IX declared him to be a doctor of the Universal Church. Pius XII established him as heavenly patron of all moral theologians and of those who hear Confession...founder of the Congregation of our most Holy Redeemer, bishop of Santa Agata dei Goti..."

You can read more about the saint here.

The Holy Maccabees (August 1)

Stattler, 1842

From the martyrology:

"At Antioch, the martyrdom of the seven brothers, the holy Machabees, martyrs, and their mother, who suffered under King Antiochus Epiphanes. Their relics were transferred to Rome, and placed in the church or St. Peter in Chains."

Today is also the anniversary of the dedication of that Church.

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.

St Apollinaris/St Bridget of Sweden (July 23)

c6th mosaic

From the Roman Martyrology::

"At Ravenna, the birthday of the holy bishop Apollinaris, who was consecrated at Rome by the Apostle Peter, and sent to Ravenna, where he endured many different tribulations for the faith of Christ. He afterwards preached the Gospel in Emilia, where he converted many from the worship of idols. Finally, returning to Ravenna, he completed his confession of Christ by a glorious martyrdom under Vespasian Caesar."

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:
 
"He was made Bishop of Ravenna by Saint Peter himself. The miracles he wrought there soon attracted official attention, for they and his preaching won many converts to the Faith, while at the same time bringing upon him the fury of the idolaters, who beat him cruelly and drove him from the city. He was found half-dead on the seashore, and kept in concealment by the Christians, but was captured again and compelled to walk on burning coals and a second time expelled. But he remained in the vicinity, and continued his work of evangelization.

We find him then journeying in the Roman province of Aemilia [in Italy]. A third time he returned to Ravenna. Again he was captured, hacked with knives, had scalding water poured over his wounds, was beaten in the mouth with stones because he persisted in preaching, and was flung into a horrible dungeon, loaded with chains, to starve to death; but after four days he was put on board a ship and sent to Greece.

There the same course of preachings, miracles and sufferings continued; and when his very presence caused the oracles to be silent, he was, after a cruel beating, sent back to Italy.

All this continued for three years, and a fourth time he returned to Ravenna. By this time Vespasian was Emperor, and he, in answer to the complaints of the pagans, issued a decree of banishment against the Christians. Apollinaris was kept concealed for some time, but as he was passing out of the gates of the city, was set upon and savagely beaten, probably at Classis, a suburb, but he lived for seven days, foretelling meantime that the persecutions would increase, but that the Church would ultimately triumph. It is not certain what was his native place, though it was probably Antioch. Nor is it sure that he was one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, as has been suggested.

The precise date of his consecration cannot be ascertained, but he was Bishop of Ravenna for twenty-six years.

In the Ordinary Form it is the feast of St Bridget of Sweden, Widow, one of the six patron saints of Europe.

St John Gualbert OSB (July 12)

St John Gualbert (985 - 1073) was a member of the Florentine nobility.

One Good Friday he was entering Florence accompanied by armed followers, when in a narrow lane he came upon a man who had killed his brother. He was about to kill the man in revenge, when the other fell upon his knees with arms outstretched in the form of a cross and begged for mercy in the name of Christ, who had been crucified on that day. John forgave him. He entered the Benedictine Church at San Miniato to pray, and the figure on the crucifix bowed its head to him in recognition of his generosity.

He became a Benedictine monk at San Miniato, but unwilling to compromise in the fight against simony, of which both his abbot and bishop were guilty, he left and settled at Vallombrosa, where he founded his monastery. 

The Congregation he founded was united with the Slyvestrines by 1680.

Feast of the translation of the relics of St Benedict (July 11)

There are actually two feasts of St Benedict celebrated each year in the Benedictine calendar: his heavenly birth is also celebrated on March 21 in the Extraordinary Form calendar; while the translation of his relics, July 11 is celebrated in the Ordinary Form calendar. 

The subject of today's feast, the translation of the relics of St Benedict, is a subject of some dispute between the abbies of Monte Cassino and Fleury even unto this day as to who has the genuine ones!

Here is Fleury's version of the story from a medieval source, from GG Coulton, Life in the Middle ages:

"IN the name of Christ. There was in France, by God's gracious providence, a learned Priest who set about to journey towards Italy, that he might discover where were the bones of our father St Benedict, no longer worshipped by men. [Note: Monte Cassino, St Benedict's own monastery on a spur of the Apennines between Rome and Naples, had been destroyed by the Lombard barbarians in 580, and was not inhabited again until 718].

At length he came into a desert country some 70 or 80 miles from Rome, where St Benedict of old had built a cell whose indwellers had been bound together in perfect charity. Yet, even then, this Priest and his companions were disquieted by-the uncertainties of the place, since they could find neither vestiges of the monastery nor any burial-place, until at last a swineherd showed them, or hire, exactly where the monastery had stood; yet he was utterly unable to find the sepulcher' until he and his companions had hallowed themselves by a two or three days' fast. Then it was revealed to their cook in a dream, and the matter became plain unto them; for in the morning it was shown unto them by him who seemed lowest in degree, that St Paul's words might be true (I Cor. 1: 27), that God despises that which is held in great esteem among men; or again, as the Lord Himself foretold (Matt. 20:26), "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister." Then, searching the spot with greater diligence, they found a marble slab which they had to cut through.

At last, having broken through the slab, they found the bones of St Benedict, and his sister's bones beneath, with another marble slab between; since (as we believe) the almighty and merciful God would that those should be united in their sepulcher who, in life, had been joined together in brotherly and sisterly love, and in Christian charity."

Having collected and washed these bones they laid them upon fine clean linen, each by itself, to be carried home to their own country. They gave no sign to the Romans lest, if these had learnt the truth, they would doubtless never have suffered such holy relics to be withdrawn from their country without conflict or war-relics which God made manifest, in order that men might see how great was their need of religion and holiness, by the following miracle. For, within a while, the linen that wrapped these bones was found red with the saint's blood, as though from open wounds on living whereby Jesus Christ intended to show that those whose bones are here so glorious would truly live with Him in the world to come. Then they were laid upon a horse which bore them over all that long journey as lightly as though he had felt no burden.

Again, when they journeyed through forest ways and on narrow roads, neither did the trees impede them nor did any ruggedness of the path obstruct their journey; so that the travelers saw clearly how this was through the merits of St Benedict and his sister St Scholastica, in order that their journey might be safe and prosperous even into the realm of France and the monastery of Fleury. In which monastery they are now buried in peace, until they I arise in glory at the Last Day; and here they confer benefits upon all who pray unto the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who lives and reigns in the unity die Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

SS Thomas More and John Fisher (9 July)

In England and Wales, the feasts of SS Thomas More (martyr) and St John Fisher (bishop and martyr) are celebrated.

St Thomas More's story is well-known; St John Fisher's perhaps less so.

Like More, he treasured learning, encouraging the study of Greek and Hebrew, and indeed was vice-chancellor, and subsequently chancellor, of the University of Cambridge.

He was appointed bishop of Rochester at Henry VII's insistence.

Renowned as a preacher, he also served as tutor to the future Henry VIII.

Like More, he was part of the active resistance to attempts by Lutheranism to gain ground in England.

But he was also Catherine of Aragon's chief supporter in the cause of her marriage, and after St Thomas More's resignation from the chancellorship of England, preached a sermon against the divorce. 

He was arrested shortly after Cranmer's appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to prevent him opposing Cranmer's pronouncement of the divorce.  He was attainted of treason in March 1534, but subsequently pardoned, only to be attained again a few months later for refusing to take the oath of succession. 

Kept in prison in harsh circumstances, the Pope hoped to ease the terms of his imprisonment by appointing him a Cardinal: but it had the opposite effect, and he was executed on June 22, 1535.

St Anthony Mary Zaccaria (EF, July 5)

Saint Anthony Maria Zaccaria (1502 – 1539) was the originator of the Forty Hours devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

Born in Cremona, Italy in 1502 to noble parents, his father died when he was two his father died.  He took a private vow of chastity at an early age.

The saint studied philosophy at the University of Pavia, and, from 1520, medicine at the University of Padua. After completing studies in 1524, he practised as a doctor in Cremona for three years.  In 1527, he started studying for the priesthood and was ordained in 1528.

Initially he worked mainly working in hospitals and institutions for the poor.  He subsequently established three religious orders, initially in Milan: the Clerics Regular of St Paul, commonly known as the Barnabites; a female branch of uncloistered nuns, the Angelic Sisters of St. Paul; and a lay congregation for married people, the Laity of St. Paul (Oblates of St. Paul).  Their aim was the reform of the decadent society of their day, beginning with the clergy and religious.

While on a mission to Guastalla, Italy, in 1539, he caught a fever. Combined with the strict penances he performed, his health waned and he died on 5 July 1539, at the age of 37.

Feast of the Visitation (July 2)

Jacques Daret c1434

In Verbum Domini, Pope Benedict XVI commented on the story of the Visitation as follows:

"This close relationship between God’s word and joy is evident in the Mother of God. Let us recall the words of Saint Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (Lc 1,45). Mary is blessed because she has faith, because she believed, and in this faith she received the Word of God into her womb in order to give him to the world. The joy born of the Word can now expand to all those who, by faith, let themselves be changed by God’s word. The Gospel of Luke presents this mystery of hearing and joy in two texts. Jesus says: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Lc 8,21). And in reply to a woman from the crowd who blesses the womb that bore him and the breasts that nursed him, Jesus reveals the secret of true joy: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (Lc 11,28). Jesus points out Mary’s true grandeur, making it possible for each of us to attain that blessedness which is born of the word received and put into practice. I remind all Christians that our personal and communal relationship with God depends on our growing familiarity with the word of God. Finally, I turn to every man and woman, including those who have fallen away from the Church, who have left the faith or who have never heard the proclamation of salvation. To everyone the Lord says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Ap 3,20).

May every day of our lives thus be shaped by a renewed encounter with Christ, the Word of the Father made flesh: he stands at the beginning and the end, and “in him all things hold together” (Col 1,17). Let us be silent in order to hear the Lord’s word and to meditate upon it, so that by the working of the Holy Spirit it may remain in our hearts and speak to us all the days of our lives. In this way the Church will always be renewed and rejuvenated, thanks to the word of the Lord which remains for ever (cf. 1P 1,25 Is Is 40,8). Thus we too will enter into the great nuptial dialogue which concludes sacred Scripture: “The Spirit and the bride say: ‘Come’. And let everyone who hears say: ‘Come!’” The one who testifies to these things, says: ‘Surely I am coming soon!’. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”. (Ap 22,17)."

Feast of the Most Precious Blood, July 1

In the 1962 Roman Calendar (but not the 1962 Benedictine calendar), July 1 marks the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a first class feast, so with I Vespers of the feast.

The feast has its origins in the sixteenth century, but was extended to the universal Church in 1849, to recognition of the liberation of Rome.

It was originally always celebrated on the first Sunday in July; Pope St Pius X shifted it to July 1 as part of his clean out of feasts fixed for Sundays. 

Pope John XXIII went so far as to write an encyclical promoting devotion to the feast in 1960, and as a particularly liturgical devotion, one might have expected to escape the wreckovaters, but alas, it was abolished altogether in the 1969 calendar on the grounds that it duplicated other Solemnities (though it still exists as a votive mass).  One can't help suspecting, however, that the real reason those 1960s revolutionaries baulked at it was the perceived 'triumphalism' in its association with the return to the Papal States to their proper ruler...

It was in the older Benedictine calendar, so those with an Antiphonale Monasticum (or older form of the Breviary) will find the texts there.  Others wishing to say the Office of the feast could utilise the antiphons and proper texts from the Divinum Officium website, and apply them to the Sunday festal psalms.

You might want also to consider saying the litany of the Most Precious Blood, traditionally said each day during July.

Trinity Sunday

Pentecost Sunday

The Feast of the Ascension

Vigil of the Ascension, Class II

SS Gordian and Epimachis (May 10)

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, on the Via Latina, the birthday of the holy martyrs Gordian and Epimachus. In the time of Julian the Apostate, the former was a long time scourged and finally beheaded for confessing the name of Christ. He was buried at night by the Christians, in a crypt to which, shortly before, the remains of the blessed martyr Epimachus had been transferred from Alexandria, where he had been martyred for the faith of Christ on the 12th of December."

St Gregory Nazianzen (May 9)

From the martyrology:

At Nazianzum, the birthday of St. Gregory, bishop, confessor, and doctor of the Church, surnamed the Theologian because of his remarkable knowledge of divinity. At Constantinople, he restored the Catholic faith which was fast waning, and repressed the rising heresies.

Pope St Pius V (May 5)

El Greco

From the martyrology:

"Pope St. Pius V, confessor of the Order of Preachers, who went to sleep in the Lord on the 1st of May."

Pope St Pius V (1504-1572) is most remembered today for his standardization of the liturgy along the lines of the rite used in Rome at his time, but he also played a key role in the Council of Trent and in the restoration of orthodoxy more generally.

St Monica (May 4)

Death of St Monica
Gozzoli, c1464

St Monica (331-387) is famous for her role in the conversion of her husband and children, most notably her eldest son, St Augustine.

SS Alexander, Eventius And Theodolus (May 3)

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, on the Via Nomentana, the holy martyrs Pope Alexander and the priests Eventius and Theodulus. Alexander was bound, imprisoned, racked, lacerated with hooks, burned, and had all his limbs pierced with pointed instruments, and finally met death, under Emperor Hadrian and the judge Aurelian. Eventius and Theodulus after a long imprisonment were exposed to flames and then beheaded."

St Joseph the Worker, May 1

Millais, 1850

St Catherine of Siena (April 30)

St Peter Canisius, memorial (April 27)

Pope Benedict XVI gave a General Audience on the saint in February 2011:

"Today I want to talk to you about St Peter Kanis, Canisius in the Latin form of his surname, a very important figure of the Catholic 16th century.

He was born on 8 May 1521 in Nijmegen, Holland. His father was Burgomaster of the town. While he was a student at the University of Cologne he regularly visited the Carthusian monks of St Barbara, a driving force of Catholic life, and other devout men who cultivated the spirituality of the so-called devotio moderna [modern devotion].

He entered the Society of Jesus on 8 May 1543 in Mainz (Rhineland — Palatinate), after taking a course of spiritual exercises under the guidance of Bl. Pierre Favre, Petrus [Peter] Faber, one of St Ignatius of Loyola’s first companions.

He was ordained a priest in Cologne. Already the following year, in June 1546, he attended the Council of Trent, as the theologian of Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg, Bishop of Augsberg, where he worked with two confreres, Diego Laínez and Alfonso Salmerón. In 1548, St Ignatius had him complete his spiritual formation in Rome and then sent him to the College of Messina to carry out humble domestic duties.

He earned a doctorate in theology at Bologna on 4 October 1549 and St Ignatius assigned him to carry out the apostolate in Germany. On 2 September of that same year he visited Pope Paul III at Castel Gandolfo and then went to St Peter’s Basilica to pray. Here he implored the great Holy Apostles Peter and Paul for help to make the Apostolic Blessing permanently effective for the future of his important new mission. He noted several words of this prayer in his spiritual journal.

He said: “There I felt that a great consolation and the presence of grace had been granted to me through these intercessors [Peter and Paul]. They confirmed my mission in Germany and seemed to transmit to me, as an apostle of Germany, the support of their benevolence. You know, Lord, in how many ways and how often on that same day you entrusted Germany to me, which I was later to continue to be concerned about and for which I would have liked to live and die”.

We must bear in mind that we are dealing with the time of the Lutheran Reformation, at the moment when the Catholic faith in the German-speaking countries seemed to be dying out in the face of the fascination of the Reformation. The task of Canisius — charged with revitalizing or renewing the Catholic faith in the Germanic countries — was almost impossible.

It was possible only by virtue of prayer. It was possible only from the centre, namely, a profound personal friendship with Jesus Christ, a friendship with Christ in his Body, the Church, which must be nourished by the Eucharist, his Real Presence.

In obedience to the mission received from Ignatius and from Pope Paul III, Canisius left for Germany. He went first to the Duchy of Bavaria, which for several years was the place where he exercised his ministry.

As dean, rector and vice chancellor of the University of Ingolstadt, he supervised the academic life of the Institute and the religious and moral reform of the people. In Vienna, where for a brief time he was diocesan administrator, he carried out his pastoral ministry in hospitals and prisons, both in the city and in the countryside, and prepared the publication of his Catechism. In 1556 he founded the College of Prague and, until 1569, was the first superior of the Jesuit Province of Upper Germany.

In this office he established a dense network of communities of his Order in the Germanic countries, especially colleges, that were starting points for the Catholic Reformation, for the renewal of the Catholic faith.

At that time he also took part in the Colloquy of Worms with Protestant divines, including Philip Melanchthon (1557); He served as Papal Nuncio in Poland (1558); he took part in the two Diets of Augsberg (1559 and 1565); he accompanied Cardinal Stanislaw Hozjusz, Legate of Pope Pius IV, to Emperor Ferdinand (1560); and he took part in the last session of the Council of Trent where he spoke on the issue of Communion under both Species and on the Index of Prohibited Books (1562).

In 1580 he withdrew to Fribourg, Switzerland, where he devoted himself entirely to preaching and writing. He died there on 21 December 1597. Bl. Pius IX beatified him in 1864 and in 1897 Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him the “Second Apostle of Germany”. Pope Pius XI canonized him and proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1925.

St Peter Canisius spent a large part of his life in touch with the most important people of his time and exercised a special influence with his writings. He edited the complete works of Cyril of Alexandria and of St Leo the Great, the Letters of St Jerome and the Orations of St Nicholas of Flüe. He published devotional books in various languages, biographies of several Swiss Saints and numerous homiletic texts.

However, his most widely disseminated writings were the three Catechisms he compiled between 1555 and 1558. The first Catechism was addressed to students who could grasp the elementary notions of theology; the second, to young people of the populace for an initial religious instruction; the third, to youth with a scholastic formation of middle and high school levels. He explained Catholic doctrine with questions and answers, concisely, in biblical terms, with great clarity and with no polemical overtones.

There were at least 200 editions of this Catechism in his lifetime alone! And hundreds of editions succeeded one another until the 20th century. So it was that still in my father’s generation people in Germany were calling the Catechism simply “the Canisius”. He really was the Catechist of Germany for centuries, he formed people’s faith for centuries.

This was a characteristic of St Peter Canisius: his ability to combine harmoniously fidelity to dogmatic principles with the respect that is due to every person. St Canisius distinguished between a conscious, blameworthy apostosy from faith and a blameless loss of faith through circumstances.

Moreover, he declared to Rome that the majority of Germans who switched to Protestantism were blameless. In a historical period of strong confessional differences, Canisius avoided — and this is something quite extraordinary — the harshness and rhetoric of anger — something rare, as I said, in the discussions between Christians in those times — and aimed only at presenting the spiritual roots and at reviving the faith in the Church. His vast and penetrating knowledge of Sacred Scripture and of the Fathers of the Church served this cause: the same knowledge that supported his personal relationship with God and the austere spirituality that he derived from the Devotio Moderna and Rhenish mysticism.

Characteristic of St Canisius’ spirituality was his profound personal friendship with Jesus. For example, on 4 September 1549 he wrote in his journal, speaking with the Lord: "In the end, as if you were opening to me the heart of the Most Sacred Body, which it seemed to me I saw before me, you commanded me to drink from that source, inviting me, as it were, to draw the waters of my salvation from your founts, O my Saviour”.

Then he saw that the Saviour was giving him a garment with three pieces that were called peace, love and perseverance. And with this garment, made up of peace, love and perseverance, Canisius carried out his work of renewing Catholicism. His friendship with Jesus — which was the core of his personality — nourished by love of the Bible, by love of the Blessed Sacrament and by love of the Fathers, this friendship was clearly united with the awareness of being a perpetuator of the Apostles’ mission in the Church. And this reminds us that every genuine evangelizer is always an instrument united with Jesus and with his Church and is fruitful for this very reason.

Friendship with Jesus had been inculcated in St Peter Canisius in the spiritual environment of the Charterhouse of Cologne, in which he had been in close contact with two Carthusian mystics: Johannes Lansperger, whose name has been Latinized as “Lanspergius” and Nikolaus van Esche, Latinized as “Eschius”.

He subsequently deepened the experience of this friendship, familiaritas stupenda nimis, through contemplation of the mysteries of Jesus’ life, which form a large part of St Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. This is the foundation of his intense devotion to the Heart of the Lord, which culminated in his consecration to the apostolic ministry in the Vatican Basilica.

The Christocentric spirituality of St Peter Canisius is rooted in a profound conviction: no soul anxious for perfection fails to practice prayer daily, mental prayer, an ordinary means that enables the disciple of Jesus to live in intimacy with the divine Teacher.

For this reason in his writings for the spiritual education of the people, our Saint insists on the importance of the Liturgy with his comments on the Gospels, on Feasts, on the Rite of Holy Mass and on the sacraments; yet, at the same time, he is careful to show the faithful the need for and beauty of personal daily prayer, which should accompany and permeate participation in the public worship of the Church.

This exhortation and method have kept their value intact, especially after being authoritatively proposed anew by the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium: Christian life does not develop unless it is nourished by participation in the Liturgy — particularly at Sunday Mass — and by personal daily prayer, by personal contact with God.

Among the thousands of activities and multiple distractions that surround us, we must find moments for recollection before the Lord every day, in order to listen to him and speak with him.

At the same time, the example that St Peter Canisius has bequeathed to us, not only in his works but especially with his life, is ever timely and of lasting value. He teaches clearly that the apostolic ministry is effective and produces fruits of salvation in hearts only if the preacher is a personal witness of Jesus and an instrument at his disposal, bound to him closely by faith in his Gospel and in his Church, by a morally consistent life and by prayer as ceaseless as love. And this is true for every Christian who wishes to live his adherence to Christ with commitment and fidelity. Thank you."

Pope St Cletus, memorial (April 26)

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, the birthday of St. Cletus, the pope who governed the Church the second after the apostle St. Peter, and was crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Domitian."

St Mark, Class II



From the martyrology:

"At Alexandria, the birthday of St. Mark the Evangelist, disciple and interpreter of the apostle St. Peter. He wrote his gospel at the request of the faithful at Rome, and taking it with him, proceeded to Egypt and founded a church at Alexandria, where he was the first to preach Christ. Afterwards, being arrested for the faith, he was bound, dragged over stones, and endured great afflictions. Finally he was confined to prison, where, being comforted by the visit of an angel, and even by an apparition of our Lord himself, he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of the reign of Nero."

ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand): Lest we forget

ANZAC Day commemorates first and foremost the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipolli in 1915, the first major battle that our troops fought in World War I. 

But it is also a day when those two nations remember all those who fought and died in all of the wars and conflicts those nations have fought in.

On this day Requiems are said or sung rather than the feast of St Mark celebrated, by special permission.

The traditional hymn associated with the day is Abide With Me.

St George, memorial (April 23)

Saint George (c. 275/281 – 303) was a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a soldier in the Guard of Diocletian.

According to the wikipedia:

"It is likely that Saint George was born to a Christian noble family in Lod, Syria Palaestina during the late third century between about 275 AD and 285 AD, and he died in Nicomedia. His father, Gerontius, was a Roman army official from Cappadocia and his mother, Polychronia, was from Palestine. They were both Christians and from noble families of Anici, so the child was raised with Christian beliefs. They decided to call him Georgius (Latin) or Geōrgios (Greek), meaning "worker of the land". At the age of 14, George lost his father; a few years later, George's mother, Polychronia, died. Eastern accounts give the names of his parents as Anastasius and Theobaste.

Then George decided to go to Nicomedia, the imperial city of that time, and present himself to Emperor Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with open arms, as he had known his father, Gerontius — one of his finest soldiers. By his late 20s, George was promoted to the rank of Tribunus and stationed as an imperial guard of the Emperor at Nicomedia.

In the year AD 302, Diocletian (influenced by Galerius) issued an edict that every Christian soldier in the army should be arrested and every other soldier should offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods of the time. However George objected and with the courage of his faith approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was upset, not wanting to lose his best tribune and the son of his best official, Gerontius. George loudly renounced the Emperor's edict, and in front of his fellow soldiers and Tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ. Diocletian attempted to convert George, even offering gifts of land, money and slaves if he made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor made many offers, but George never accepted.

Recognizing the futility of his efforts, Diocletian was left with no choice but to have him executed for his refusal. Before the execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared himself. After various torture sessions, including laceration on a wheel of swords in which he was resuscitated three times, George was executed by decapitation before Nicomedia's city wall, on April 23, 303. A witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and Athanasius, a pagan priest, to become Christians as well, and so they joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda in Palestine for burial, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.

 St George and the dragon
 
The wiki reports:
 
"According to the Golden Legend, the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place in a place he called "Silene", in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this legend in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be imagined. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and it is the godless Emperor who is Selinus.

The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelled that envenomed all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is in some versions of the story called Sabra. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, decked out as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance, and gave it a grievous wound. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.

The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.

Traditionally, the sword with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England."

St Anselm OSB, Class III (April 21): The struggle between State and Church

Best known perhaps for his proof of the existence of God, St Anselm (1033-1109) is very much a saint for our times, when the relationship between Church and State is once more in dispute.

St Anselm was a Benedictine monk who entered the monastery of Bec at the age of 27 and became abbot in 1079.  Under his rule the monastery became famous as a centre of learning, attracting students from all over Europe.

He was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093, but underwent several periods of exile due to struggles with King William II and Henry I over the freedom of the Church from lay control (the investiture dispute), and the requirement of the State to submit to the spiritual advice of the Church.

He was proclaimed a doctor of the Church in 1720.

In 1909 Pope Pius X issued an encyclical on the saint. As it deals with issues all too pertinent to current struggles between Church and State, here are some extracts from it by way of a taster.

Pius X: Communium Rerum

"Amid the general troubles of the time and the recent disasters at home which afflict Us, there is surely consolation and comfort for Us in that recent display of devotion of the whole Christian people which still continues to be "a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men" (I Cor. iv. 9), and which, if it has now been called forth so generously by the advent of misfortune, has its one true cause in the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. For since there is not and there cannot be in the world any charity worthy of the name except through Christ, to Him alone must be attributed all the fruits of it, even in men of lax faith or hostile to religion, who are indebted for whatever vestiges of charity they may possess to the civilization introduced by Christ, which they have not yet succeeded in throwing off entirely and expelling from human society... all must see, and let the enemies of Catholicism be persuaded of it, that the splendor of ceremonial, and the devotion paid to the August Mother of God, and even the filial homage offered to the Supreme Pontiff, are all destined finally for the glory of God, that Christ may be all and in all (Coloss. iii. II), that the Kingdom of God may be established on earth, and eternal salvation gained for men.

This triumph of God on earth, both in individuals and in society, is but the return of the erring to God through Christ, and to Christ through the Church, which We announced as the programme of Our Pontificate both in Our first Apostolic Letters "E supremi Apostolatus Cathedra" (Encyclica diei 4 Octobris MDCCCCIII.), and many times since then. To this return We look with confidence, and plans and hopes are all designed to lead to it as to a port in which the storms even of the present life are at rest. And this is why We are grateful for the homage paid to the Church in Our humble person, as being, with God's help, a sign of the return of the Nations to Christ and a closer union with Peter and the Church.

This affectionate union, varying in intensity according to time and place, and differing in its mode of expression, seems in the designs of Providence to grow stronger as the times grow more difficult for the cause of sound teaching, of sacred discipline, of the liberty of the Church. We have examples of this in the Saints of other centuries, whom God raised up to resist by their virtue and wisdom the fury of persecution against the Church and the diffusion of iniquity in the world.

One of these We wish especially in these Letters to commemorate, now that the eighth centenary of his death is being solemnly celebrated. We mean the Doctor Anselm of Aosta, most vigorous exponent of Catholic truth and defender of the rights of the Church, first as Monk and Abbot in France. and later as Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate in England. It is not inappropriate, We think, after the Jubilee Feasts, celebrated with unwonted splendor, of two other Doctors of Holy Church, Gregory the Great and John Chrysostom, one the light of the Western, the other of the Eastern Church, to fix our gaze on this other star which, if it "differs in brightness" (I. Cor. xv. 41) from them, yet compares well with them in their course, and sheds abroad a light of doctrine and example not less salutary than theirs. Nay, in some respects it might be said even more salutary, inasmuch as Anselm is nearer to us in time, place, temperament, studies, and there is a closer similarity with our own days in the nature of the conflicts borne by him, in the kind of pastoral activity he displayed, in the method of teaching applied and largely promoted by him, by his disciples, by his writings, all composed "in defense of the Christian religion, for the benefit of souls, and for the guidance of all theologians who were to teach sacred letters according to the scholastic method" (Breviar. Rom., die 21 Aprilis). Thus as in the darkness of the night while some stars are setting others rise to light the world, so the sons succeed to the Fathers to illumine the Church, and among these St. Anselm shone forth as a most brilliant star.

In the eyes of the best of his contemporaries Anselm seemed to shine as a luminary of sanctity and learning amid the darkness of the error and iniquity of the age in which he lived. He was in truth a "prince of the faith, an ornament of the Church . . . a glory of the episcopate, a man outranking all the great men" of his time ("Epicedion in obitum Anselmi"), "both learned and good and brilliant in speech, a man of splendid intellect" ("In Epitaphio") whose reputation was such that it has been well written of him that there was no man in the world then "who would say: Anselm is less than I, or like me" ("Epicedion in obitum Anselmi"), and hence esteemed by kings, princes, and supreme pontiffs, as well as by his brethren in religion and by the faithful, nay, "beloved even by his enemies" (Ib.). While he was still Abbot the great and most powerful Pontiff Gregory VII wrote him letters breathing esteem and affection and "recommending the Catholic Church and himself to his prayers" (Breviar. Rom.. die 21 Aprilis): to him also wrote Urban II recognizing "his distinction in religion and learning" (In libro 2 Epist. S. Anselmi, ep. 32); in many and most affectionate letters Paschal 11 extolled his "reverent devotion, strong faith, his pious and persevering zeal, his authority in religion and knowledge" (In lib. 3 Epist. S. Anselmi, ep. 74 et 42), which easily induced the Pontiff to accede to his requests and made him not hesitate to call him the most learned and devout of the bishops of England.

And yet Anselm in his own eyes was but a despicable and unknown goodfor-nothing, a man of no parts, sinful in his life. Nor did this great modesty and most sincere humility detract in the least from his high thinking, whatever may be said to the contrary by men of depraved life and judgment, of whom the Scripture says that "the animal man understandeth not the things of the spirit of God" (I Cor. ii. 14). And more wonderful still, greatness of soul and unconquerable constancy, tried in so many ways by troubles, attacks, exiles, were in him blended with such gentle and pleasing manners that he was able to calm the angry passions of his enemies and win the hearts of those who were enraged against him, so that the very men "to whom his cause was hostile" praised him because he was good ("Epicedion in obitum Anselmi").

Thus in him there existed a wonderful harmony between qualities which the world falsely judges to be irreconcilable and contradictory: simplicity and greatness, humility and magnanimity, strength and gentleness, knowledge and piety, so that both in the beginning and throughout the whole course of his religious life "he was singularly esteemed by all as a model of sanctity and doctrine" (Breviar. Rom., die 21 Aprilis).

Nor was this double merit of Anselm confined within the walls of his own household or within the limits of the school - it went forth thence as from a military tent into the dust and the glare of the highway. For, as We have already hinted, Anselm fell on difficult days and had to undertake fierce battles in defense of justice and truth. Naturally inclined though he was to a life of contemplation and study, he was obliged to plunge into the most varied and most important occupations even those affecting the government of the Church, and thus to be drawn into the worst turmoils of his agitated age. With his sweet and most gentle temperament he was forced, out of love for sound doctrine and for the sanctity of the Church, to give up a life of peace, the friendship of the great ones of the world, the favors of the powerful, the united affection, which he at first enjoyed, of his very brethren in troubles of all kinds. Thus, finding England full of hatred and dangers, he was forced to oppose a vigorous resistance to kings and princes, usurpers and tyrants over the Church and the people, against weak or unworthy ministers of the sacred office, against the ignorance and vice of the great and small alike; ever a valiant defender of the faith and morals, of the discipline and liberty, and therefore also of the sanctity and doctrine, of the Church of God, and thus truly worthy of that further encomium of Paschal: "Thanks be to God that in you the authority of the Bishop ever prevails, and that, although set in the midst of barbarians, you are not deterred from announcing the truth either by the violence of tyrants," or the favor of the powerful, neither by the flame of fire or the force of arms; and again: "We rejoice because by the grace of God you are neither disturbed by threats nor moved by promises" (In lib. iii. Epist. S. Anselmi, ep. 44 et 74).

In view of all this, it is only right, venerable brethren, that We, after a lapse of eight centuries, should rejoice like Our Predecessor Paschal, and, echoing his words, return thanks, to God. But, at the same time, it is a pleasure for Us to be able to exhort you to fix your eyes on this luminary of doctrine and sanctity, who, rising here in Italy, shone for over thirty years upon France, for more than fifteen years upon England, and finally upon the whole Church, as a tower of strength and beauty..."

St Apollonius: layman, apologist and martyr (April 18)

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, blessed Apollonius, a senator under Emperor Commodus and the prefect Perennius. He was denounced as a Christian by one of his slaves, and being commanded to give an account of his faith, he composed an able work which he read in the Senate. He was nevertheless beheaded for Christ by their sentence."

There are a number of surviving early accounts of St Apollonius (d. 185). 

A Roman senator, he was well versed in philosophy. After he was denounced as a Christian, he read to the senate, according to Saint Jerome, "a remarkable volume" in which he defended the Christian faith. As a result, he was condemned to death on the basis of the law established by the Emperor Trajan.

The sources say he was subjected to two investigations, the first by the Prefect Perennius, the second, three days later, by a group of senators and jurists. The hearings were conducted in a calm and courteous manner. Apollonius was permitted to speak with only rare interruptions, aimed at getting him to tone down his remarks, which were making him liable to punishment.

Apollonius was not afraid to die, because, he said: "There is waiting for me something better: eternal life, given to the person who has lived well on earth."

St Anicetus, Pope (from the martyrology), April 17 (EF); April 20 (OF): the date of Easter controversy

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, St. Anicetus, pope and martyr, who received the palm of martyrdom in the persecution of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Verus."

St Anicetus was Pope between around 150-167.

During his pontificate St Polycarp of Smyrna, a disciple of John the Evangelist, visited Rome to discuss the celebration of Passover with the Pope, marking the start of the controversy between the Eastern and Western Churches over the date of Easter.  The two agreed to differ and Pope St Anicetus granted St Polycarp and the Church of Smyrna the ability to retain the date to which they were accustomed.

St Anicetus was the first pope to condemn heresy by forbidding Montanism. He also actively opposed the Gnostics and Marcionism.

His feast is celebrated on April 20 in the Novus Ordo calendar.

St Bernadette Soubirous (April 16): visions of Our Lady

From the martyrology:

"In the city of Nevers in France, St. Mary Bernard Soubirous of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity, also called the Christian Institute. She was favoured with frequent apparitions and conversations at Lourdes with Mary Immaculate, the Mother of God. In 1933 her name was added to the roll of holy virgins by Pope Pius XI."