ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS DECEMBER 12, St. Corentin, Bl. Thomas Holland, St. Colman of Glendalough, St. Agatha, St. Edburga, St. Finian of Clonard,

ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS DECEMBER 12 St. Corentin. Corentin or Corentinus or Cury died round about the year 490. He was the first Bishop of Cornouaille, now known as Quimper, in Brittany. He had been a recluse at Plomodiern. His cult spread throughout S. W. England, where he was known as St. Cury. It appears that his cult received a boost from the preaching of Blessed Julian Maunoir who lived in the 17th century. Bl. Thomas Holland, 1642 A.D. English martyr. Also known as Thomas Sanderson and Thomas Hammond, he was born at Sutton, near Prescot, Lancashire, England, in 1600. Thomas left England to study at St. Omer, France, and Valladolid, in Spain, and entered the Jesuits after ordination in 1624. Going home, circa 1635, he worked to aid the Church in the isles for seven years until his arrest in London. Thomas was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. St. Colman of Glendalough, 659 A.D. An abbot mentioned in the Irish calendars St. Agatha, 790 A.D. Nun and missionary aide to St. Boniface. Agatha was a member of a Benedictine convent in England, a disciple of St. Lisba. When St. Boniface was conducting his missionary labors, Agatha went to Germany to assist him. St. Edburga, 751 A.D. Benedictine abbess and disciple of St. Mildred. A member of the royal family of Kent, England, she succeeded St. Mildred as abbess of Minster-in-Thanet. She also conducted a correspondence with St. Boniface, whom she met while on a pilgrimage to Rome. A noted calligrapher, Edburga sent supplies to St. Boniface’s missions and built a church for her convent. St. Finian of Clonard, 549 A.D. The “Teacher of the Irish Saints.” He was born in Myshall, in County Carlow, Ireland. Trained by Sts. Cadoc and Gildas in Wales, Finian returned to Ireland where he built schools, monasteries, and churches. Clonard at Meath was his most famous foundation, and under his direction it became a renowned scriptural school. He is listed as a bishop, but it is possible that he was not consecrated in the office. St. Columba was one of his students, as he trained the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland” at Clonard. He died there during a plague.