SAINTS OF THE DAY FOR June 23

SAINTS OF THE DAY FOR June 23

St. Thomas Garnet, 1608 A.D. English Jesuit martyr. A nephew of the Jesuit Henry Garnet, he was born in Southwark, England, and studied for the priesthood at St. Omer, France, and Valladolid, Spain. Initially ordained as a secular priest, he joined the Jesuits in 1604 and worked to advance the Catholic cause in Warwick until his arrest in 1606. He was exiled after months of torture but returned in 1607 and was soon arrested. He was hanged at Tyburn. Beatified in 1929, he was canonized in 1970 and is included among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

St. Agrippina, Roman Catholic Martyr. Martyr, whose shrine is venerated as a site of miracles. Agrippina is believed to have come from a good Roman family. She was caught up in the persecutions instituted by Emperor Valerian or Diocletian and was beheaded or scourged. Her body was taken to Mineo, Sicily, by three devout Christian women. The gravesite became a popular pilgrimage destination, noted for miracles through Agrippina's intercession. Feastday: June 23

ST. JOSEPH CAFASSO, PRIEST OF TURIN-Pope Benedict XVI described St Joseph Cafasso as a “formation teacher of parish and diocesan priests, indeed of holy priests such as St John Bosco.” Other priests of his time founded religious institutes; St Joseph Cafasso’s “foundation” instead was a “school of priestly life and holiness.”June 23

Saint Ethelreda (Audrey), 679 A.D. Around 640, there was an English princess named Ethelreda, but she was known as Audrey. She married once, but was widowed after three years, and it was said that the marriage was never consummated. She had taken a perpetual vow of virginity, but married again, this time for reasons of state. Her young husband soon grew tired of living as brother and sister and began to make advances on her. She continually refused. He eventually attempted to bribe the local bishop, Saint Wilfrid of York, to release Audrey from her vows.

Saint Wilfrid refused, and helped Audrey escape. She fled south, with her husband following. They reached a promontory known as Colbert's Head, where a heaven sent seven day high tide separated the two. Eventually, Audrey's husband left and married someone more willing, while Audrey took the veil, and founded the great abbey of Ely, where she lived an austere life. She eventually died of an enormous and unsightly tumor on her neck, which she gratefully accepted as Divine retribution for all the necklaces she had worn in her early years. Throughout the Middle Ages, a festival, "St. Audrey's Fair", was held at Ely on her feast day. The exceptional shodiness of the merchandise, especially the neckerchiefs, contributed to the English language the word "tawdry", a corruption of "Saint Audrey."

St. Moelray, 493 A.D. Abbot of Nendrum Monastery, installed by St. Patrick. A native of Ireland, Moelray, also called Moeliai, instructed Sts. Finian and Colman.

St. Peter of Juilly, 1136 A.D. Benedictine monk and preacher. Originally from England, he became a friend of St. Stephen Harding and was his companion at Molesme. Later, he was named confessor and chaplain to the nuns of Juilly les Nonnais who were under the care of St. Humbeline, sister of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Peter also possessed a reputation for being a brilliant preacher and a miracle worker.