Saint of the day August 31

 Saint of the day August 31

Bl. Richard Bere, 1537 A.D. English martyr. Born at Glastonbury, he studied at Oxford and the Inns of Court before entering the Carthusians in London. When he and his fellow monks voiced their opposition to the planned divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon, they were starved to death in Newgate Prison.

St. Raymond Nonnatus, Roman Catholic Priest. He remained as hostage for several slaves when his money ran out and was sentenced to be impaled when the governor learned that he had converted several Mohammedans. He escaped the death sentence because of the ransom he would bring, but was forced to run the gauntlet. He was then tortured for continuing his evangelizing activities but was ransomed eight months later by Peter Nolasco. Feastday Aug 31

St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, 651 A.D. Aidan of Lindisfarne, born in Ireland, may have studied under St. Senan before becoming a monk at Iona. At the request of King Oswald of Northumbria, Aidan went to Lindisfarne as bishop and was known throughout the kingdom for his knowledge of the Bible, his learning, his eloquent preaching, his holiness, his distaste for pomp, his kindness to the poor, and the miracles attributed to him. He founded a monastery at Lindisfarne that became known as the English Iona and was a center of learning and missionary activity for all of northern England. He died in 651 at the royal castle at Bamburgh.  

B. ALFRED HILDEFONS SCHUSTER, CARDINAL, ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN

STS. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA AND NICODEMUS, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, and Nicodemus, a Pharisee, bury the dead Jesus in a tomb that Joseph had thought would be his own. Both at first fear to follow the Lord publically, but together, these learned men perform for him an office of love. They are celebrated on August 31.