Christian Today

St. Aubin, Roman Catholic, Monk and Bishop. Albinus, also known as Aubin, entered the monastery of Tincillac when a youth, was elected Abbot when he was thirty-five, and was named Bishop of Angers in 529. He was known for his generosity to the sick and the indigent, widows, and orphans, for his work in ransoming slaves, and for his holiness and the many miracles he is reputed to have performed both during his lifetime and after his death. His feast day is Feb 29-Mar. 1

St. Oswald of Worcester (died 29 February 992) was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. Feb. 28

ST. HILARIUS, POPE ST. HILARIUS, POPE, St. Hilary, Roman Catholic, Pope from 461-468 and guardian of Church unity. Hilary rebuilt many Roman churches and erected the chapel of St. John Lateran. Feastday February 28 ST. ROMANUS, ABBOT ST. ROMANUS, ABBOT, he adopted the life of a hermit in the Jura Mountains, France, at age thirty five and was joined by his brother, St. Lupicinus, and many other disciples. The two brothers thus found it necessary to establish two monasteries, at Condat and Leuconne, and a convent at La Beaume which was governed by their sister. Feb. 28

ST. GABRIEL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS, PASSIONIST ST. GABRIEL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS, PASSIONIST, was born at Assisi in 1838. He was guided by Our Lady into the Passionist Order founded by Saint Paul of the Cross, and became a veritable Apostle of Her Sorrows. Feb. 27

St. Isabel of France, Roman Catholic Virgin and Nun. Sister of St. Louis and daughter of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile, she refused offers of marriage from several noble suitors to continue her life of virginity consecrated to God. She ministered to the sick and the poor, and after the death of her mother, founded the Franciscan Monastery of the Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Longchamps in Paris. She lived there in austerity but never became a nun and refused to become abbess. Feastday February 26 St. Porphyry of Gaza, Roman Catholic Priest and bishop of Gaza, known from the account in his Life for Christianizing the recalcitrant pagan city of Gaza. Feb. 26 St. Alexander of Alexandria, Roman Catholic Priest becoming the bishop of the see in 313. The heresy of Arianism was sweeping the region, as Arius was preaching the doctrine there. Alexander excommunicated Arius in 321, a decision upheld by a council. Alexander is also credited with drawing...

ST. FAUSTINIANO, BISHOP OF BOLOGNA who, with his preaching, confirmed and added to the Church, who was suffering because of the persecution. Feb. 26

The English Restoration Has Begun - Crisis Magazine : Something is stirring in England. It’s not much. A still, small voice of calm whispering in the dark. Prayers ascending like incense. A rekindled faith. No, it’s not much. Merely a mustard seed. It won’t be noticed by most people. It will go unheeded by the dead men milling around satanically in what remains of …

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 25 St. Walburga, 779 A.D. St. Walburga, Virgin. Walburga was born in Devonshire England, around 710. She was the daughter of a West Saxon chieftain and the sister of St. Willibald and Winebald. Walburga was educated at Wimborne Monastery in Dorset, where she became a nun. In 748, she was sent with St. Lioba to Germany to help St. Boniface in his missionary work. She spent two years at Bishofsheim, after which she became Abbess of the double monastery at Heidenheim founded by her brother Winebald. At the death of Winebald, St. Walburga was appointed Abbess of both monasteries by her brother Willibald, who was then Bishop of Eichstadt. She remained superior of both men and women until her death in 779. She was buried first at Heidenheim, but later her body was interred next to that of her brother, St. Winebald, at Eichstadt.

Bl. Maria Adeodata Pisani Roman Catholic Nun, had "a difficult childhood as her parents did not live together. She renounced and disposed of her wealth, willingly living as a cloistered nun." Feastday Feb.25 St. Walburga, Roman Catholic Virgin Nun and English missionary to the Frankish Empire. Feastday February 25 Saint Tarasios was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Feb. 25

ST. NESTOR, BISHOP OF MAGYDOS AND MARTYR He was arrested during the  persecution  under Emperor Trajanus  Decius  and was put to death when he refused to make sacrifices to the gods. The local governor, Pollio, condemned Nestor to death. Feb. 25

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 24 St. Adela, 1137 A.D. Benefactor and English princess. Adela was the youngest daughter of William the Conqueror. In 1080 she married Stephen of Blois. Throughout her life, Adela had an active role in English politics. She was famed for endowing churches and monastic institutions.  St. Cumine, 669 A.D. Irish abbot called “the White.” The abbot of Iona, Scotland, he wrote a biography of St. Columba.Feb. 24

St. Adela Roman Catholic laywoman, Benefactor and English princess. Adela was the youngest daughter of William the Conqueror. She was famed for endowing churches and monastic institutions.Feb. 24

St. John Theristus, Roman Catholic Benedictine Monk. John's Calabrian mother had been captured by the Saracens and brought to Sicily. He contrived to escape to Calabria while still a child, and there he became a Benedictine Feastday February 24

The Martyrs of Carthage. Montanus, Lucius, Victoricus, Flavian and companions were ten disciples of St Cyprian of Carthage. They were martyred there under the reign of the Emperor Valerian in 259. The story of their imprisonment and martyrdom is well documented. The group were arrested by an official called Solon after St Cyprian was executed in 258. they spent many months kept in dark dungeons with little food or water. Somehow in such inhuman conditions, the little Christian community bonded and helped one another. When they were finally called to the place of execution, each was permitted to speak. Montanus, who was tall and strong, spoke bravely to the Christian crowd. He told them to be true to Jesus and to die rather than give up the faith. Lucius, who was small and frail, walked quietly to the place of execution. He was weak from the harsh months in prison and had to lean on two friends. The people who watched called to him to remember them from paradise. As each of the Chri...

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 23 St. Boswell, 661 A.D. Abbot of Melrose, England, also called Boisil. Boswell trained as a monk under St. Aidan. As abbot, Boswell served as a biblical scholar. He was given a gift of prophecy and was known for his preaching, and he trained Sts. Cuthbert and Eghert. Boswell died of the plague.  St. Jurmin, 7th century. Prince of East Anglia, England, and a relative of King Anna . He is honored as a confessor, and his relics were enshrined at Bury St. Edmunds.  St. Milburga, 715 A.D. Benedictine abbess who received the veil from St. Theodore of Canterbury. She was the daughter of a king of Mercia and sister of Sts. Mildred of Thanet and Mildgytha. Milburga was abbess of Wenlock Abbey in Salop, Shropshire, England. Her father and her uncle, King Wulfhere, provided funds for the abbey. Among the remarkable abilities she evidenced were levitation and power over birds.

Martyrs of Sirmium, Two groups of Roman Catholic martyrs who suffered at Sirmium, modem Mitrovica, in the Balkans. One group was slain probably in 303 and was seventy in number. The second group was composed of seven virgins probably martyred in 303. Feb 23

St. Martha, Roman Catholic Virgin martyr of Spain. She was beheaded at Astorga, Spain, and her relics were enshrined in the abbey of Ribas de Sil and at Ters. Feb. 23

ST. POLYCARP, BISHOP OF SMYRNA AND MARTYR Born between 69 and 70AD of Christian parents, he learnt the teachings of Christ directly from the Apostles and became a disciple of St John the Evangelist. Irenaeus, who was his pupil and then Bishop of Lyon, and the historian Eusebius of Caesarea, write of him thus: "Polycarp was not only educated by the Apostles and lived with many of those who had seen the Lord, but it was the Apostles who sent him to Asia as Bishop of the Church of Smyrna". ( Adversus Haereses III, 3,4, Historia Ecclesiastica IV, 14,3,4 ) The  Martyrium Polycarpi , considered by many to be the oldest and most authentic of the Acts of the Martyrs, was written by one who was an eyewitness to his martyrdom. It is the first work in which a martyr is defined as one who dies for the faith. During his long time as Bishop, Polycarp stood out for his zeal in faithfully preserving the doctrine of the Apostles, for spreading the Gospel among the pagans, and for fighti...

ENGLISH SPEAKING  SAINTS February 22 St. Elwin, 6th century. Companion of St. Breaca from Ireland to Cornwall, England, also called Elvis or Allen. Bl. John the Saxon, 895 A.D. Monk and martyr. A monk in a monastery in France, he was invited to go to England by King Alfred the Great and to assist in the restoration of the Christian faith in the wake of the severe and destructive invasions by the Danes. Appointed abbot of Athelingay by Alfred, John served with vigor and distinction until his murder one night by two French monks under his care

Martyrs of Arabia, Christians who died for the faith in the lands east of the Jordan River and in the mountains south of the Dead Sea. Most were martyred in the reign of Emperor Galerius and were commemorated in the Roman Martyrology. Feb. 22

Bl. Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski, Roman Catholic Priest. Arrested by the Gestapo on October 18, 1939, he was imprisoned in the German concentration camps Stutthof, Grenzdorf, Sachsenhausen and Dachau, where he died. Feb. 22

ST. MAXIMIANUS OF RAVENNA, BISHOP Bishop of Ravenna, Italy, ordained by Pope Vigilius in 546. Maximian erected St. Vitalis Basilica, which was dedicated in the presence of Emperor Justinian and his wife, Theodora. Bishop of Ravenna, Italy, ordained by Pope Vigilius in 546. ST. MARGARET OF CORTONA Saint Margaret of Cortona, T.O.S.F., (1247 – February 22, 1297) was an Italian penitent of the Third Order of St. Francis ("T.O.S.F."). She was born in Laviano, near Perugia, and died in Cortona. She was canonized in 1728. She is the patron saint of the falsely accused; hoboes; homeless; insane; orphaned; mentally ill; midwives; penitents; single mothers; reformed prostitutes; stepchildren; tramps. Feastday February 22

Saint Robert Southwell , English Martyr, Jesuit priest, poet., Feb. 21

St. Severian, Roman Catholic Bishop and martyr. The bishop of Scythopolis in Galilee. He attended the Council of Chalcedon (451) and took part in the complete triumph of the orthodox Christian cause against the heretics of the era. On his return home he was assassinated by a group of heretics at the command of Emperor Theodosius II. Feastday Feb. 21

ST PETER DAMIAN, BISHOP OF OSTIA AND CARDINAL, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, CAMALDOLESE A difficult childhood Born in Ravenna in 1007, he was the last of seven children. His mother felt she couldn’t cope with yet another child and refused to breastfeed him, effectively condemning him to certain death. A friend intervened, taking the child in her arms and scolding the mother who repented of her rash behavior and took care of him like the others. When she died, Peter was raised first by his sister Rodelinda and then by a brother who treated him and forced him to do the most menial tasks. Finally, he was entrusted to his eldest brother, Damiano, who was Archpriest in a parish near Ravenna and who took care of young Peter and his education. As a sign of gratitude, Peter added the name Damian to his own. The vocation to monastic life His first biographer, St John of Lodi, recounts two significant episodes of Peter Damian's youth. One day the boy found a coin: delighted, he thoug...

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 20 St. Wulfric, 1154 A.D. Hermit and miracle worker. Born at Compton Martin, near Bristol, England, he became a priest and was excessively materialistic and worldly. After meeting with a beggar, he underwent a personal conversion and became a hermit at Haselbury; Somerset, England. For his remaining years, he devoted himself to rigorous austerities and was known for his miracles and prophecies. While he was never formally canonized, Wulfric was a very popular saint during the Middle Ages, and his tomb was visited by many pilgrims. St. Colgan, 796 A.D. Abbot of Clanmacroise, in Offaly, Ireland. A friend of Blessed Alcuin, Colgan was called “the Wise” and “ the Chief Scribe of the Scots.”

Roman Catholic Martyrs of Tyre, An unknown number of Roman Catholic martyrs who suffered in Tyre, modern Lebanon. Feastday February 20

Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto, together with their cousin, Lúcia dos Santos (1907–2005) were the Roman Catholic children from Aljustrel near Fátima, Portugal, who said they witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917. Feastday Feb. 20

Bl. Pepin of Landen, Roman Catholic Frankish mayor of the palace, duke of Brabant, and the chief political figure during the reigns of the Frankish kings Clotaire II, Dagobert I, and Sigebert II .The husband of Blessed Ita, he was a close ally of Bishop Arnulf of Metz with whom he overthrew Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. He was soon appointed mayor of the palace for his role. Following an incident in which he reprimanded King Dagobert I for his adulterous life, he was exiled from the court and went into retirement near Aquitaine. Recalled to serve as tutor to Dagobert's three year old son, Pepin once more became the chief figure of the kingdom until his death. Pepin earned a reputation for defending the interests of the Church, promoting the spread of Christianity, and working to have only truly worthy bishops appointed to Frankish sees. While never canonized, he is listed as a saint in some old martyrologies. He was an ancestor of Charlemagne; his grandson,  Pepin of Heristal, f...

ST. LEO OF CATANIA, BISHOP Was  bishop  of the city of Catania, in  Sicily . He was famed for his benevolence and charity, and his  Christian love  for the poor and the  vagrant . The  Lord  granted him the gifts of healing various illnesses, and working miracles.Feb. 20

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 19 St. Odran, 452 A.D. Martyr and friend of St. Patrick. According to tradition, he drove Patrick’s chariot. Odran died when he changed places with Patrick in the vehicle just before an ambush by pagans was sprung.

St. Belina, Roman Catholic virgin martyr. A peasant girl from Troyes, France, she was threatened with rape by the feudal lord of the district. She refused his advances and died in defense of her virginity. Feastday February 19

Bl. Lucy, Roman Catholic laywoman Martyr of China. She was a Catholic schoolteacher in China, where she was beheaded. Feb. 19

ST. CONRAD CONFALONIERI, FRANCISCAN HERMIT a  Franciscan   hermit  with a cross upon which birds perch. Sometimes he is portrayed as a bearded, old man with a tau staff, bare feet,  Franciscan  cincture, with small birds fluttering around him (Roeder), or with stags and animals about him (White). He is invoked against hernias (Encyclopedia, White). Feb. 19

Recently+the+Huffington+Post+published+an+interview+with+Malcom+Brenner%2C+who+had+sex+with+a+dolphin.+He+defended+his+bestiality%2C+saying%3A+%26ldquo%3BAnd+I%26rsquo%3Bm+hoping+that+in+a+more+enlightened+future%2C+zoophilia+will+be+no+more+regarded+as+controversia... : The New Paganism has succeeded in creating a network of stifling regulations affecting every area of Christian life.�

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 18 Bl. William Harrington, 1594 A.D. Martyr of England. Born at Mt. St. John, Yorkshire, he studied for the priesthood after meeting St. Edmund Campion and was ordained at Reims, France, in 1592. William returned to England to work in the English mission. Arrested in London in 1593 for being a priest, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn.  St. Colman of Lindisfarne, 676 A.D. An Irish bishop of Lindisfarne, England, a disciple of St. Columba. He was born in Connaught, Ireland. At the Synod of Whitby Colman defended the Celtic ecclesiastical practices against St. Eilfrid and St. Agilbert. When King Oswy introduced the Roman rites, Colman refused to accept the decision and led a group of Irish and English monks to the Isle of Innishboffin, near Connaught. In time he moved the English monks to Mayo. Colman was praised by Blessed Alcuin and St. Bede.  Bl. John Pibush, 1601 A.D. English martyr, born in Thirsk, Yorkshire. He went to Reims ...

St. Agatha Lin, Roman Catholic Chinese martyr. She was born in 1817 at Ma-Tchang, China. A teacher at a Christian school, Agatha was beheaded for the faith. Feastday February 18

Bl. William Harrington, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Arrested in London in 1593 for being a priest, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Feb.18 Bl. John Pibush, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was executed at Southwark. Feastday February 18

B.JOHN OF FIESOLE (BEATO ANGELICO), DOMINICAN  better known as  Fra Angelico , was one of the great painters of the early Renaissance. Many people don’t realize, however, that he was also a  Dominican friar , and a very  holy friar , too. He and his brother,  Fra Benedetto , entered the  Dominican  Order in their mid-twenties. Both were already skilled artists.Feb. 18

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 17 St. Fintan, 603 A.D. Abbot and disciple of St. Columba. Fintan was a hermit in Clonenagh, Leix, Ireland. When disciples gathered around his hermitage he became their abbot. A wonder worker, Fintan was known for clairvoyance, prophecies, and miracles. He also performed very austere penances.  St. Fortchern, 6th century. Bishop of Trim, Ireland. He was converted by St. Loman. Fortchern became a hermit in Meath, retiring from his see after a few years.  St. Loman, 450 A.D. Bishop of Trim, in Meath, Ireland, the son of Tigris, the sister of St. Patrick. He accompanied St. Patrick to Ireland and converted a local chieftain. Another tradition dates Loman to the seventh century, denying his relationship to St. Patrick.

STS. SEVEN FONDERS OF THE ORDER OF THE SERVANTS OF MARY AMONG WHOM ST. ALESSIO FALCONIERI Leaving the city 13 th  century Florence. Seven merchants, members of a secular group of faithful devoted to the Blessed Virgin (the "Company of Servants of Mary" or "Laudesi"), decided to dedicate themselves to a life of penance, contemplation and service to Mary. Their choice was certainly influenced by the two great Mendicant Orders of the time, the Franciscans and Dominicans, as well as by the experience of the Camaldolese, Vallombrosians and Cluniac Monks, already present in those lands, and of penitential groups such as those of Saint Augustine and Mount Carmel, or of the lay Brothers and Sisters of Penance. These were the Seven: Bonfilius Monaldi, leader of the secular group and of the future community, Bonajunta Manetti, future prior between 1256 and 1257, Manettus dell’Antella, creator of the first foundations in France, Amidius Amidei, central figure of the ...

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 16 St. Gilbert of Sempringham. Gilbert was born at Sempringham, England, son of Jocelin, a wealthy Norman knight. He was sent to France to study and returned to England to receive the benefices of Sempringham and Tirington from his father. He became a clerk in the household of Bishop Robert Bloet of Lincoln and was ordained by Robert's successor, Alexander. He returned to Sempringham as Lord on the death of his father in 1131. In the same year he began acting as adviser for a group of seven young women living in enclosure with lay sisters and brothers and decided the community should be incorporated into an established religious order. After several new foundations were established, Gilbert went to Citeaux in 1148 to ask the Cistercians to take over the Community. When the Cistercians declined to take on the governing of a group of women, Gilbert, with the approval of Pope Eugene III, continued the Community with the addition of Canons Regular ...

St. Elias & Companions, Egyptian martyr with Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Samuel. They went to the mines in Cilicia, to comfort the Christians held there. They were arrested at the gate of the mine and martyred. The historian Eusebius was in Caesarea, in Israel, and gave a vivid account of their martyrdom by torture and beheading. Two others, St. Pamphilus and St. Seleucus, were also caught up in the martyrdom, sharing Elias fate. Porphy, the servant of Pamphilus, demanded that the bodies of the martyrs be buried and was burned to death as a Christian. Feastday Feb,16

St. Juliana of Nicomedia, Roman Catholic laywoman. Juliana refused to marry a pagan, thereby incurring the wrath of her pagan father and a pagan suitor. She was thereupon imprisoned, tortured, and beheaded. Feastday February 16

ST. JULIANA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR OF NICOMEDIA, IN CAMPANIA St. Juliana of Nicomedia, Roman Catholic laywoman. Juliana refused to marry a pagan, thereby incurring the wrath of her pagan father and a pagan suitor. She was thereupon imprisoned, tortured, and beheaded. Feastday February 16

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 15 St. Berach, 6th century. Irish abbot and nephew of St. Freoch. He was raised by his uncle and became a disciple of St. Kevin. Berach, who is sometimes called Barachias or Berachius, founded an abbey at Clusin-Coirpte, in Connaught, Ireland. He is the patron saint of Kilbarry, County Dublin.  St. Dochow, 473 A.D. Monastic founder from Wales, possibly a bishop. Dochow formed a monastery in Cornwall, England. The Ulster Annual describes him as a bishop.  St. Farannan, 590 A.D. Abbot and Irish disciple of St. Columba on Iona, Scotland. He returned to Ireland to become a hermit at AllFarannan, now Allernan, Sligo.

Saint Claude de la Colombiere, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest.  a Roman Catholic priest and the confessor of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. His feast day is the day of his death, 15 February

STS. FAUSTINUS AND JOVITA, MARTYRS  For their fearless preaching of the Gospel, they were arraigned before the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who at Brescia, Rome and Naples, subjected them to frightful torments, after which they were beheaded at Brescia in the year 120. Feastday Feb 15 ST. ONESIMUS, DISCIPLE OF ST. PAUL  Onesimus was a Phrygian by birth, slave to Philemon, a person of note of the city of Colossae, converted to the faith by St. Paul. Feb. 15

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS February 14 St. Conran, A traditional figure, believed to have served as bishop of the Orkney Islands, Scotland. No details of his life have survived.

Bl. Vicente Vilar David, Roman Catholic Layman Martyr. Valencia, Spain during the persecution of religion welcomed the priests and religious in his house and preferred to die rather than renounce his faith. Feb. 14

ST. VALENTIN, MARTYR ON THE VIA FLAMINIA Feb. 14 The Roman Martyrology lists not one, but two Valentines, for February 14 th . The first reads thus: "On February 14 th , on the Via Flaminia in Rome, St Valentine, priest and martyr, after performing various healing miracles, and known for his culture, was killed by decapitation under Claudius Caesar." The second one states: "On February 14 th , in Terni, after being severely beaten, St Valentine was imprisoned and since they (his captors) were unable to overcome his resistance, they secretly dragged him out of prison at midnight and beheaded him on the orders of Placidus, the prefect of Rome". The Roman priest The story of Valentine, the Roman priest, dates back to around AD270, during the persecutions of the Emperor Claudius Gothicus. Valentine was well known for his sanctity and the Emperor, who was intrigued by his fame, invited him to the palace. He offered Valentine his friendship and said he should ado...