SAINTS SEPTEMBER, 25

SAINTS SEPTEMBER, 25 St. Finbar. He was the son of an artisan and a lady of the Irish royal court. Born in Connaught, Ireland and baptized Lochan, he was educated at Kilmacahil, Kilkenny, where the monks named him Fionnbharr (white head) because of his light hair; he is also known as Bairre and Barr. He went on pilgrimage to Rome with some of the monks, visiting St. David in Wales on the way back. Supposedly, on another visit to Rome the Pope wanted to consecrate him a bishop but was deterred by a vision, notifying the pope that God had reserved that honor to Himself, and Finbar was consecrated from heaven and then returned to Ireland. At any rate, he may have preached in Scotland, definitely did in southern Ireland, lived as a hermit on a small island at Lough Eiroe, and then, on the river Lee, founded a monastery that developed into the city of Cork, of which he was the first bishop. His monastery became famous in southern Ireland and attracted numerous disciples. Many extravagant miracles are attributed to him, and supposedly, the sun did not set for two weeks after he died at Cloyne about the year 633 A.D. St. Caian, 5th century. A saint of Wales, England. He was the son or grandson of the local king of Brecknock. A church at Tregaian in Anglesey is named after him. St. Ceolfrid, 716 A.D. Benedictine abbot of St. Paul Monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow, England, also called Geoffrey. He was born in Northumbria in 642 and became a monk at Ripon. St. Benedict Biscop named him prior of Wearmouth, but he was too strict and was forced to leave. Accompanying St. Benedict to Rome in 678, Ceolfrid became the deputy abbot of St. Paul’s in 685. He and one young student were the only ones to survive the regional plague. He became the abbot in 690 and developed the twin monasteries into cultural centers. The Codex Amatianus, the oldest known copy of the Vulgate Bible in one volume, was produced at his command. He also trained St. Bede. In 716, Ceolfrid retired and started for Rome, dying on September 25 at Longres, in Champagne, France. St. Egelred, 870 A.D. Benedictine monk at Crayland Abbey, Great Britain. He died with the abbot and many fellow monks at the hands of invading Danes. St. Fymbert, 7th century. Bishop of western Scotland. He was ordained by Pope St. Gregory the Great. St. Mewrog. A Saint of Wales of whom no details are extant. Bl. Mark Criado, Trinitarian martyr. He was born in Andujar, Spain, in 1522, and joined the Trinitarians in 1536 . Mark was martyred by the Muslim Moors in Almeria. St. Vincent Strambi. Roman Catholic Priest and Bishop. He was expelled from his See when he refused to take an oath of alliance to Napoleon in 1808.