Christian Today

St. Pius V, Pope - Saints St. Pius V, Roman Catholic Pope from 1566-1572 and one of the foremost leaders of the Catholic Reformation. Feastday April 30

St. Catherine of Siena - Saints St. Catherine of Siena, Roman Catholic Dominican tertiary, Doctor of the Church, Patron saint of Italy and Europe. Feastday April 29

St. Peter Chanel - Saints St. Peter Chanel, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr. Patron of Oceania, clubbed to death on Island of Futuna , New Hebrides in the Pacific. Feastday April 28

Bl. Peter Armengol - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Peter Armengol, Roman Catholic Missionary 1238-1304 Member of a noble Catalonian family, he is said in an extravagant story to have become an outlaw, almost killing his father in an ambush, whereupon he joined the Mercedarians. He twice went from Spain to Africa to redeem captives/ held as a hostage, he was hanged , but found to be alive by another missioner who had been delayed. He continued his work of rescuing Christians from the Muslim Moors for ten more years. He died near Tarragona, Slpain.His feastday is April 27.

St. Zita - Saints St. Zita, Roman Catholic woman, she is the patroness of servants and is depicted in art with a bag and keys, or loaves of bread and a rosary. Feast day April 27

St. Cletus - Saints St. Cletus, Roman Catholic Pope and Martyr. He was the third bishop of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. Feastday April 26

St. Mark - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Mark, The second Gospel was written by St. Mark, who, in the New Testament, is sometimes called John Mark. Both he and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early Church, and his mother's house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for Christians there. St. Mark was associated with St. Paul and St. Barnabas (who was Mark's cousin) on their missionary journey through the island of Cyprus. Later he accompanied St. Barnabas alone. We know also that he was in Rome with St. Peter and St. Paul. Tradition ascribes to him the founding of the Church in Alexandria. St. Mark wrote the second Gospel, probably in Rome sometime before the year 60 A.D.; he wrote it in Greek for the Gentile converts to Christianity. Feastday April 25

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen - Saints St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Roman Catholic Franciscan Capuchin Martyr. A practicing lawyer, he traveled across Europe as a tutor to aristocrats but then started defending the poor. In 1612, he became a Franciscan Capuchin monk, taking the name of Fidelis. A missionary to Grisons, Switzerland, Fidelis was so successful that local Protestants claimed that he was a spy for the Austrian Emperor. Fidelis was stabbed to death.Feastday Apr.-24

St. George - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. George, Roman Catholic Martyr. Pictures of St. George usually show him killing a dragon to rescue a beautiful lady. The dragon stands for wickedness. The lady stands for God's holy truth. St. George was a brave martyr who was victorious over the devil. He was a soldier in the army of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and he was one of the Emperor's favorite soldiers. Now Diocletian was a pagan and a bitter enemy to the Christians. He put to death every Christian he could find. George was a brave Christian, a real soldier of Christ. Without fear, he went to the Emperor and sternly scolded him for being so cruel. Then he gave up his position in the Roman army. For this he was tortured in many terrible ways and finally beheaded. Feastday April 22

St. Abdiesus - Saints St. Abdiesus and Companions, Roman Catholic Martyrs of Persia who was caught up in the persecutions conducted by King Shapur II. Records indicate that Abdiesus was accompanied in his martyrdom by Abrosimus, Acepsimus, Azadanes, Azades, Bicor, Mareas, Milles, and a women named Tarbula. Some were Persian courtiers, others priests and bishops. Tarbula was the sister of St. Simeon, and suffered a particularly cruel death by sawing. Feastday April22

Bl. James Duckett - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online  Bl. James Duckett, Roman Catholic Layman and English Martyr. After being drawn to Catholicism, he refused to attend Protestant services and passed two terms in prison. He then took instructions and was baptized. James went to London, where he spent more time in prison and distributed Catholic materials. Arrested for his faith, he was imprisoned for nine years before his execution at Tyburn. Feastday April19

St. Alphege - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Alphege of Canterbury, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. When in 1011 Canterbury was overrun by Danish invaders, who began to slaughter the townspeople, the archbishop presented himself to the Danes, declaring, “Spare those poor innocent victims. Turn your fury rather against me.” Alphege was thereupon consigned to a dungeon. Afterward, an epidemic among the Danes frightened them into releasing him. Newly freed, Alphege obtained the healing of many victims of the epidemic by his prayers and by distributing to them blessed bread. Despite this, the Danes later stoned and axed him to death in Greenwich. But eleven years later, it was to be a Danish king, Canute, who would honorably transfer Alphege’s body to Canterbury.Feastday April 19

St. Alphege - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Alphege of Canterbury, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. When in 1011 Canterbury was overrun by Danish invaders, who began to slaughter the townspeople, the archbishop presented himself to the Danes, declaring, “Spare those poor innocent victims. Turn your fury rather against me.” Alphege was thereupon consigned to a dungeon. Afterward, an epidemic among the Danes frightened them into releasing him. Newly freed, Alphege obtained the healing of many victims of the epidemic by his prayers and by distributing to them blessed bread. Despite this, the Danes later stoned and axed him to death in Greenwich. But eleven years later, it was to be a Danish king, Canute, who would honorably transfer Alphege’s body to Canterbury.Feastday April 19

Bl. Marie-Anne Blondin - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Marie-Anne Blondin, founding a religious congregation "for the education of poor country children, both girls and boys in the same schools". Feastday April18

St. Eleutherius & Anthia - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Sts. Eleutherius & Anthia, Roman Catholic Martyrs. Eleutherius was a bishop in Illyria, Dalmatia, with his mother, Anthia. He was a Roman, educated by Bishop Dynamius. At the age of twenty, Eleutherius himself became a bishop and was arrested for converting an imperial official. He was clubbed to death and Anthia was beheaded. Feastday April 18

St. Apollonius the Apologist - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Apollonius the Apologist, Roman Catholic Martyr whose Apologia, or defense of the faith, is considered one of the most priceless documents of the early Church. Apollonius was a Roman senator who was denounced as a Christian by one of his slaves. The Praetorian Prefect, Sextus Tigidius Perennis, arrested him, also putting the slave to death as an informer. Perennis demanded that Apollonius denounce the faith, and when he refused, the case was remanded to the Roman senate. There a debate took place between Perennis and Apollonius that clearly outlines the beauty and the value of Christianity. Despite his eloquent defense, Apollonius was condemned and beheaded. Feastday April 18

St. Stephen Harding - Saints St. Stephen Harding, O.Cist. Roman Catholic English monk and abbot, who was one of the founders of the Cistercian Order. Feastday April 17

Pope Francis: More weight and authority must be given to women - Independent Catholic News Pope Francis: More weight and authority must be given to women

St. Bernadette - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Bernadette Feastday  April 16

St. Bernadette - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Bernadette Feastday  April 16

Bl. Pierre Delepine - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Pierre Delepine, Roman Catholic layman and a martyr during the French Revolution. Feastday April 16

Bl. Anne Maugrain - Saints Bl. Anne Maugrain, Bl. Francoise Suhard Menard, Bl. Francoise Micheneau Gillot, Roman Catholic laywomen martyred during the French Revolution. Feastday April 16

St. Hunna - Saints St. Hunna Called “the Holy Washerwoman,” a noblewoman who devoted herself to the poor of Strasbourg, France. The daughter of a duke and wife of Huno of Hunnaweyer, she even washed the poor, hence her name. Feastday April15

St. Lydwine - Saints St. Lydwine, Roman Catholic patroness of sickness. Feastday April 14

Pope Saint Martin I - Saints Pope Saint Martin I, Roman Catholic Pope and martyr who stood up for the right of the Church to establish doctrine even in the face of imperial power. Feastday April 13

Bl. John Lockwood - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. John Lockwood, Roman Catholic English Martyr, sometimes called John Lascelles. He was born in Sowerby, Yorkshire, and went to Rome to study for the priesthood as a mature man. He was ordained in 1597 returned to England the following year. He was arrested and banished in 1610 but returned to work until his arrest in 1642. At the age of eighty-one, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at York with Blessed John Catherick. Feastday April 13

Bl. Edward Catheriek - Saints Bl. Edward Catheriek, Roman Catholic English Martyr, He was born at Carlton, near Richmond, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Douai, France. He returned to England in 1635 as a missionary priest and worked there until his martyrdom at York, where he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. Feastday April 13

St. Julius - Saints St. Julius, Roman Catholic elected Pope to succeed Pope St. Mark on February 6, 337.Feastday: April 12

St. Marguerite d'Youville - Saints St. Marguerite d'Youville, Roman Catholic Nun. Foundress of the Sisters of Charity, the Grey Nuns of Canada in 1755. Feastday April 11

St. Beocca - Saints St. Beocca, Roman Catholic martyr of EngIand, with Ethor, lledda,Torthred, and others.The Danes raided England, concentrating on Anglo-Saxon abbeys. Beocca, Ethor, and ninety monks died in Surrey. Hedda and others died at Peterborough, and Torthred and others died at Thorrey Abbey. All were venerated as martyrs. Featday April 10

Martyrs of Pannonia - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Martyrs of Pannonia A group of seven Roman Catholic men and women who died at Sirmium in Pannonia, on the Danube. Feastday April 9

Martyrs of Croyland - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

St. Julie Billiart - Saints St. Julia Billiart , Roman Catholic Nun and Foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame. Feastday April 8

St. Henry Walpole - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Henry Walpole, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and English Martyr. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered in York, England.Feastday April7

Bl. Edward Oldcorne - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Edward Oldcorne, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and English Martyr. He was then condemned to death at Worcester for alleged complicity in the Gunpowder Plot . Feastday Apr.7

Bl. Alexander Rawlins - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Alexander Rawlins, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Missionary, and companion in death with Henry Walpole. Alexander was born in Worcestershire, England, where he was jailed twice for his fervent Catholicism. In 1589 he went to the English seminary in Reims and was ordained there in 1590. Returning to England the following year, Alexander was arrested. He was condemned to death and on April 7, 1595, and along with Henry Walpole was hanged, drawn, and quartered in York, England. Feastday April 7

St. Celestine I - Saints St. Sixtus I, Roman Catholic Pope and Martyr, during the reign of Hadrian c. 115-c. 125. Feastday Apr.6

Martyrs of London - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Martyrs of London, Three groups of Roman Catholic martyrs who were put to death in the late sixteenth century in London by English authorities. 1). Martyrs executed for treason, by virtue of their supposed complicity in the entirely spurious plot known as the “Conspiracy of Reims and Rome.” 2). A group that suffered martyrdom following the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the increase of anti-Catholic feeling in Elizabethan England. 3). A group suffering martyrdom as a result of the British government’s enforcement of anti-Catholic policies. Feastday April 5

St. Isidore of Seville - Saints St. Isidore of Seville, Roman Catholic Priest and Doctor of The Church. Isidore was the first Christian writer to try to compile a summa of universal knowledge, in his most important work, the Etymologiae his learning caught fire in Spanish minds and held back the Dark Ages of barbarism from Spain. Feastday April 4

St. Agape - Saints St. Agape, Roman Catholic Martyr, Agape and her sisters Chionia and Irene, Christians of Thessalonica, Macedonia, were convicted of possessing texts of the Scriptures despite a decree issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian naming such possessions a crime punishable by death. When they further refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, the governor, Dulcitius, had Agape and Chionia burned alive. When Irene still refused to recant, Dulcitius ordered her sent to a house of prostitution. There she was unmolested after being exposed naked and chained, she was put to death either by burning or by an arrow through her throat. Feastday April 3

Bl. Olha Bida - Saints Bl. Olha Olympia Bida, Roman Catholic Nun. She was arrested with two other sisters, imprisoned for a while, then exiled to the Tomsk region of Siberia.Under conditions of heavy forced labour, Succumbing to a serious illness, she died on 28 January 1952. Feastday April 2

St. Theodora - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Theodora, Roman Catholic Martyr. According to the Acta of Pope St. Alexander (r 105-115), she was the sister of St. Hermes and was martyred some time after her brother. She had given aid and care to her brother during his difficult time in prison. Feastday April1

Bl. Anacleto Gonz�lez Flores - Saints Bl. Anacleto González Flores. Roman Catholic layman. He was taken to the Mexican Colorado jail, where his torture included being hung by his thumbs until his fingers were dislocated and having the bottom of his feet slashed. He refused, however, to supply his captors with any information. José Anacleto González Flores was condemned to death and was shot together with the Vargas González brothers and Luis Padilla Gómez on that same day, 1 April 1927.