Christian Today

 Saint of the day April 01-30 Sts. Caidoc and Fricor, 7th century. Irish missionaries in northern France. One of their converts was St Ricarius. Their relics are in the parish of Saint-Riquier near Amiens, France. In some lists Fricor is called Adrian.   St. Cellach, 9th century. The abbot of lona, Scotland, and the archbishop of Armagh, Ireland. Also called Ceilach and Keilach, he was the founder of the monastery of Kells.  April 1 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 González Flores. Roman Catholic layman. He was taken to the 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 informa...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 31 St. Machabeo, Irish abbot of Armagh, Ireland, for four decades. He is also listed as Gilda-Marchaibeo. He governed the monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul. Mar.31 St. Balbina, According to tradition, St. Balbina was the daughter of St. Quirinus, a Roman tribune. Father and daughter were baptized by Pope St. Alexander I. Under the Emperor Hadrian, they were arrested, tortured, and ultimately beheaded, probably around the year 130. Saint Balbina was buried on the Via Appia.  Mar.31 ST.BENJAMIN, DEACON AND MARTYR,  The Christians in Persia had enjoyed twelve years of peace during the reign of Isdegerd, son of Sapor III, when in 420 it was disturbed by the indiscreet zeal of Abdas, a Christian Bishop who burned the Temple of Fire, the great sanctuary of the Persians..Mar.31

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 30 St. Tola, 733 A.D. Irish bishop in Meath (Disert lola), Ireland. He sent missionaries to Europe and aided the expansion of scholarly studies.   St. Fergus, 6th century. Bishop of Downpatrick. Ireland. He may be identified with St. Fergus of Scotland.   St. Osburga, 1018 A.D. Abbess of a convent at Coventry, England, which had been founded by King Canute. Her shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages because of the many miracles reported there.   St. Patto, 788 A.D. Bishop of Werden, Saxony, Germany. A native of Britain, Patto served as an abbot in Saxony before becoming a bishop. He is sometimes listed as Pacificus.   Mar.30 St. John Climacus, Roman Catholic monk called “Climacus” from the title of his famous book, The Climax, or The Ladder of Perfection..Mar. 30 B. AMADEUS IX OF SAVOY, Amadeus was the son of Duke Louis I of Savoy. He was born in 1435 in Thonon, Savoy and betrothed as an infant...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 29  Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, “The reeducation which takes place on March 29, 2020, is a personal dedication of the people of England following in the footsteps of King Richard II, who in the face of great political turmoil in 1381 went to the shrine of Our Lady of Puy in Westminster Abbey to seek her guidance and protection,” said Msgr. John Armitage, the rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, which is England’s national Marian shrine. St. Gladys, 5th century. Welsh saint, wife of St. Gundleus and mother of St. Cadoc. She was the daughter of Brychan of Brecknock, Wales. Tradition relates that Gundleus kidnapped Gladys. Their romance became part of the Arthurian legend.   St. Gwynllyw, 500 A.D. Husband of St. Gladys and father of St. Cadoc, a hermit of Wales. He is sometimes called Woollos or Gundleus. He and Gladys were reportedly bandits in Kind Arthur’s time, but they repented and became eremites.   St. Lasar, 6th...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 28 St. James Claxton, Blessed, 1588 A.D. Martyr in England. A native of Yorkshire and a devout Catholic, he studied at Reims and was ordained in 1582. Returning home to conduct missionary work in his former region, he was soon arrested and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Isleworth.  Mar.28 St. Venturino of Bergamo, Roman Catholic Dominican Monk, known for helping to organize a crusade, at the behest of Pope Clement VI (r. 1342-1352), against the Turks who were then menacing Europe. Feastday March 28 ST. CASTOR, MARTYR OF TARSO St. Castor is mentioned in both the Hieronymian and the Roman Martyrologies - the oldest catalogues of Christian martyrs of the Latin Church. According to tradition, he was martyred in Tarsus, in Cilicia, in what is now Turkey, possibly in the company of either St. Dorotheus or St. Stephen.  Mar. 28

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 27 St. Alkeld, tenth century. A patroness of Yorkshire, England, she is also known as Athilda. Nothing is documented about her life, but she is depicted in a painting as being strangled by Dane invaders. Mar.27 St  Augusta, Roman Catholic Virgin martyr, the daughter of the duke of Friuli, in Italy. It is reported that the duke was so infuriated by Augusta's conversion to Christianity that he killed her with his own hand. Her shrine is near Treviso, in northern Italy. Feastday Mar.27 ST. RUPERT,BISHOP OF SALZBURG,  Born of a noble family, St. Rupert travelled to Bavaria at the end of the 7th century as an itinerant monk. He founded a monastery near the ancient Roman city of Juvavum. Rupert gave the city the name Salzburg and became its first Bishop. He died March 27, Easter Sunday, around the year 710. Mar. 27

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 26 St. Margaret of Clitherow. Margaret Clitherow was born in Middleton, England, in 1555, of protestant parents. Possessed of good looks and full of wit and merriment, she was a charming personality. In 1571, she married John Clitherow, a well-to-do grazier and butcher (to whom she bore two children), and a few years later entered the Catholic Church. Her zeal led her to harbor fugitive priests, for which she was arrested and imprisoned by hostile authorities. Recourse was had to every means in an attempt to make her deny her Faith, but the holy woman stood firm. Finally, she was condemned to be pressed to death on March 25, 1586. She was stretched out on the ground with a sharp rock on her back and crushed under a door over laden with unbearable weights. Her bones were broken and she died within fifteen minutes. The humanity and holiness of this servant of God can be readily glimpsed in her words to a friend when she learned of her condemnation: "The sheri...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 25 St. Harold, 1168 A.D. Martyred child of Gloucester, England. He was reported to have been slain by Jews in the area, and was venerated as a martyr. The veneration of the child martyrs is often considered as an example of the pervasive anti-Semitism of the period.    St. James Bird, Blessed, 1593 A.D. English martyr. Born in Winchester and raised as a Protestant, he embraced the Catholic Church at the age of nineteen. James visited Douai College in Reims, but he returned to England. There he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy and was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Winchester in his native city. He was beatified in 1929.   St. Kennocha, 1007 A.D. Nun of Scotland, also called Kyle or Enoch. She lived in a convent in Fife, Scotland, and is venerated in Glasgow.   St Robert of Bury St. Edmunds, 1181 A.D. traditionally, a boy martyr of the Middle Ages whose death was blamed upon local Jews. He was supposedly kidnapped and murde...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

  Saint of the day March 24 St. Caimin, 635 A.D. An Irish hermit of Inniskeltra. He lived on an island in Loughberg, founding a monastery and a chapel on the island of the Seven Churches with St. Senan. A fragment of his Psalter still remains. St. Cairlon, 6th century. The archbishop of Cashel, Ireland, restored to life by St. Dageus. Cairlon, also called Caorlan, was an abbot when St. Dageus brought him back to life. When he was appointed to the see of Cashel, Dageus and his monks placed themselves under his rule. St. Domangard. 500 A.D. Patron of Maghera, County Down, Ireland, sometimes called Donard. He was a contemporary of St. Patrick and a hermit. The site of his hermitage, a mountain, now bears the name SlieveDonard. St. Hildelitba, 712 A.D. Benedictine abbess and supporter of Sts. Bede, Aldhelm, and Boniface. An Anglo Saxon princess, she became a nun at Chelles or Farmoutier. France, but was recalled by St. Erconwald to train her sister, Ethelburga, at Barking, England....

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

  Saint of the day March 23 St. Ethelwald. Benedictine hermit on Fame Island, England, a disciple of St. Cuthbert. He was a monk at Ripon originally. Ethelwald was buried at Lindisfame. He is also called Oidilwald. Mar.23 St. Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo, Roman Catholic Priest. Patron of Native rights; Latin American bishops and Peru. Feastday March 23 St. Rafqa, Roman Catholic Nun. St. Rafqa was sent with five other sisters to found a new monastery in Jrabta, Batroun in Lebanon. In 1899, she became blind and paralysis set in. Mar. 23

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints of 03/22 - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/03/22.html

 Saint of the day March 22 St. Nicholas Owen. Nicholas was born at Oxford, England. He became a carpenter or builder and served the Jesuit priests in England for two decades by constructing hiding places for them in mansions throughout the country. He became a Jesuit lay brother in 1580, and was arrested in 1594 with Father John Gerard, and despite prolonged torture would not give the names of any of his Catholic colleagues; he was released on the payment of a ransom by a wealthy Catholic. Nicholas is believed responsible for Father Gerard's dramatic escape from the Tower of London in 1597. Nicholas was again arrested in 1606 with Father Henry Garnet, who he had served eighteen years, Father Oldcorne, and Father Oldcorne's servant, Brother Ralph Ashley, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Nicholas was subjected to such vicious torture that he died of it on March 2nd. He was known as Little John and Little Michael and used the aliases of Andrews and Draper. He was canonized b...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints of 03/21 - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/03/21.html

  Saint of the day March 21 St. Enda. Legend has him an Irishman noted for his military feats who was convinced by his sister St. Fanchea to renounce his warring activities and marry. When he found his fiancée dead, he decided to become a monk and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he was ordained. He returned to Ireland, built churches at Drogheda, and then secured from his brother-in-law King Oengus of Munster the island of Aran, where he built the monastery of Killeaney, from which ten other foundations on the island developed. With St. Finnian of Clonard, Enda is considered the founder on monasticism in Ireland.   Mar.21 St. Benedicta Cambiagio Frassinello, Roman Catholic Nun founded the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Providence. The guiding charism of her order is their focus on the education of young girls and confidence in and abandonment to God in the living out of their vows. Feastday March 21 ST. NICHOLAS OF FLÜE, PATRON OF SWITZERLAND, One of th...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints of 03/20 - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/03/20.html

 Saint of the day March 20 St. Cuthbert.  Cuthbert was thought by some to be Irish and by others, a Scot. Bede, the noted historian, says he was a Briton. Orphaned when a young child, he was a shepherd for a time, possibly fought against the Mercians, and became a monk at Melrose Abbey. In 661, he accompanied St. Eata to Ripon Abbey, which the abbot of Melrose had built, but returned to Melrose the following year when King Alcfrid turned the abbey over to St. Wilfrid, and then became Prior of Melrose. Cuthbert engaged in missionary work and when St. Colman refused to accept the decision of the Council of Whitby in favor of the Roman liturgical practices and immigrated with most of the monks of Lindisfarn to Ireland, St. Eata was appointed bishop in his place and named Cuthbert Prior of Lindisfarn. He resumed his missionary activities and attracted huge crowds until he received his abbot's permission to live as a hermit, at first on a nearby island and then in 676, at one of th...

  St. Joseph, Groom of B. Mary - Information on the Saint of the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/03/19/st--joseph--groom-of-b--mary--patron-of-the-univeral-church.html

 Saint of the day March 19 St. Lactali, 672 A.D. Abbot founder and disciple of St. Corngall in Ireland. Lactan was from County Cork and was educated in Bangor by Sts. Comgall and Molua. He became the abbot-founder of Achadh-Ur Abbey at Freshford, Kilkenny.  Mar.19 St. Joseph, Patron of The Holy Roman Catholic Church. Feastday March 19

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 18 Bl. Christian. Beyond the fact that he was Abbot of the first Cistercian monastery ever established in Ireland, practically nothing at all can be stated with certainty about Blessed Christian, otherwise called Christian O'Conarchy or Giolla Criost Ua Condoirche. The various traditions and legends are confused and conflicting. According to some accounts, he was born at Bangor in Ulster, and Colgan says that he was the disciple and afterwards the archdeacon of St. Malachy of Armagh, and that he probably accompanied the prelate on a visit to Rome, staying at Clairvaux on his way there. He would appear to have been one of the four disciples who remained behind at Clairvaux on the homeward journey and who received the habit from St. Bernard himself. Upon his return to Ireland, St. Malachy was anxious to introduce the Cistercian Order into his country, and at his prompting Donouth O'Carroll set about building Mellifont. Malachy applied to the founder for a ...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 17 Saint Patrick, b. 387 d.461, Patron of Ireland. St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints.  Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461. Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish.  There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.  Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.  As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.  During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote  "The...

 Saint of the day March 16 St. Abban, 620 A.D. Abbot and Irish missionary. An Irish prince, Abban was the son of King Cormac of Leinster. He is listed as the nephew of St. Ibar. Abban founded many churches in the old district of Ui Cennselaigh, in modern County Wexford and Ferns. His main monastery is Magheranoidhe, in Adamstown, Ireland. This monastery's fame is attributed in some records to another Abban, that of New Ross. Abban is also associated with Kill-Abban Abbey in Leinster, serving as abbot there until March 16, 620. He is revered in Adamstown, which was once called Abbanstown.     St. Finian Lobharm, 560 A.D. Irish abbot, a disciple of St. Columba. He was born in Bregia, Leinster, Ire-land. Tradition credits him with founding a church at Innisfallen and a monastery there as well. After a stay in Clonmore, Finian Lobhar became abbot of Swords Abbey near Dublin. He may have returned to Clonmore in his later years and was called Lobhar, “the Leper,” but appar...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

 Saint of the day March 15 St. Aristobulus, 1st century. Martyred disciple of Christ, one of the seventy-two sent out into the world by the early Church. He is possibly mentioned by St. Paul and is identified with Zebedee, the father of Sts. James and John. Aristobulus preached in Britain, although no documentation supports this or his martyrdom in the British Isles.    Bl. William Hart, 1583 A.D. Martyr of England. Born in Wells, in Somerset, he studied at Oxford and then at Douai, Reims, France, and Rome. After receiving ordination in 1581, he went back to England and included among his associations Blessed Margaret Clitherow. William ministered to Catholic prisoners in York Prison, having several adventures in staying free. He was betrayed to English authorities by an apostate from Clitherow's estate. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at York and beatified in 1886.  Mar.15 St. Louise de Marillac, Roman Catholic Nun she met St. Vincent de Paul, who became her spi...

 Saint of the day March 14 St. Boniface Curitan, 660 A.D. Evangelist to the Picts and Scots. Probably a Roman by birth, Boniface was the bishop of Ross, England. He introduced Roman observances into the British territories and founded a vast number of parishes.  Mar.14 Martyrs of Valeria, two Roman Catholic Monks and Martyrs. Two monks hanged from a tree by the Lombards. Pope St. Gregory I the Great reported that after dying, the monks could be heard singing Psalms. Mar. 14 St. Mathilda, Roman Catholic Queen. The pious Queen adorned the throne by her many virtues. She visited and comforted the sick and the afflicted, instructed the ignorant, succored prisoners, and endeavored to convert sinners, and her husband concurred with her in her pious undertakings. After twenty-three years of married life King Henry died, in 936. No sooner had he expired than she had a Mass offered up for the repose of his soul, and from that moment she renounced all worldly pomp. Mar. 14 Bl. Dominic J...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

Saint of the day March 13 Bl. Agnello of Pisa. The founder of the English Franciscan province, Blessed Agnello, was admitted into the Order by St. Francis himself on the occasion of his sojourn in Pisa. He was sent to the Friary in Paris, of which he became the guardian, and in 1224, St. Francis appointed him to found an English province; at the time he was only a deacon. Eight others were selected to accompany him. True to the precepts of St. Francis, they had no money, and the monks of Fecamp paid their passage over to Dover. They made Canterbury their first stopping place, while Richard of Ingworth, Richard of Devon and two of the Italians went on to London to see where they could settle.  It was the winter of 1224, and they must have suffered great discomfort, especially as their ordinary fare was bread and a little beer, which was so thick that it had to be diluted before they could swallow it. Nothing, however, dampened their spirits, and their simple piety, cheerfulness and ...

  Saint of the Day - Calendar of Saints - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints.html

  Saint of the day March 12 St. Alphege, 951 A.D. Bishop and prophet, called "the Elder" or "the Bald." Also known as Elphege, he was the bishop of Winchester, England. There he ordained St. Dunstan. A holy prophet, Alphege is credited with helping to restore monasticism to England. St. Mura McFeredach, 645 A.D. Irish abbot and disciple of St. Columba. He was named abbot of Fahan and is patron saint of Fahan in County Derry. Also called Muran and Murames, he is remembered by one of his crosses that remains standing at Fahan. St. Paul Aurelian, 573 A.D. Welsh bishop. Probably of Roman-Welsh descent, he was the son of a local Welsh chieftain. He studied under St. Illtyd at the Ynys Byr monastery and, according to tradition, was granted permission to become a hermit. Ordained, he nevertheless gathered around himself a group of followers and acquired such a reputation for goodness that a king in Brittany asked him to preach the Christian faith to his subjects. Paul sa...

 Saint of the day March 11 St. Constantine. Constantine was king of Cornwall. Unreliable tradition has him married to the daughter of the king of Brittany who on her death ceded his throne to his son and became a monk at St. Mochuda monastery at Rahan, Ireland. He performed menial tasks at the monastery, then studied for the priesthood and was ordained. He went as a missionary to Scotland under St. Columba and then St. Kentigern, preached in Galloway, and became Abbot of a monastery at Govan. In old age, on his way to Kintyre, he was attacked by pirates who cut off his right arm, and he bled to death. He is regarded as Scotland's first martyr  St. Aengus, 824 A.D. Called Dengus and "the Culdee," a hermit and author of the Festlology of the Saints of Ireland, The Felire. The term Culdee refers to Aengus' love of solitude: Ceile De was a name given to the hermits of the time. Aengus, born in Clonengh, Ireland, became a solitary monk on the banks of the river Nore, where...

 Saint of the day March 10 St. John Ogilvie. Born in 1569, John Ogilvie belonged to Scottish nobility. Raised a Calvinist, he was educated on the continent. Exposed to the religious controversies of his day and impressed with the faith of the martyrs, he decided to become a Catholic. In 1596, at age seventeen he was received into the Church at Louvain. Later John attended a variety of Catholic educational institutions, and eventually he sought admission into the Jesuits. He was ordained at Paris in 1610 and asked to be sent to Scotland, hoping some Catholic nobles there would aid him given his lineage. Finding none, he went to London, then back to Paris, and finally returned to Scotland. John's work was quite successful in bring back many people to the Faith. Some time later he was betrayed by one posing as a Catholic. After his arrest he was tortured in prison in an effort to get him to reveal the names of other Catholics, but he refused. After three trials, John was convicted of ...

 Saint of the day March 09 St. Bosa, 705 A.D. Bishop of York, praised by St. Bede. Bosa was a Benedictine monk at Whitby, England a monastery ruled by St. Hilda. In 678, he was consecrated a bishop by St. Theodore. He was involved in St. Wilfrid's refusal to accept the division of the see of York. Bosa became the bishop in 691, when Wilfrid was exiled by King Aldfrid. St. Bede called Bosa a man of unusual merit and sanctity, "a man beloved of God."  Mar..9 STS. FORTY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE,  According to St. Basil , forty soldiers who had openly confessed themselves Christians were condemned by the prefect to be exposed naked upon a frozen pond near Sebaste on a bitterly cold night, that they might freeze to death. Mar.9 St. Catherine of Bologna, Roman Catholic Nun. The patron saint of artists and against temptations. Feastday March 9 ST. FRANCESCA ROMANA, FOUNDRESS OF THE OBLATES OF TOR DE’ SPECCHI,   Obl.S.B. Roman Catholic wife, mother, mystic, organizer of chari...

 Saint of the day March 08 St. Senan. Senan was born of Christian parents at Munster, Ireland. He was a soldier for a time and then became a monk under Abbot Cassidus, who sent him to Abbot St. Natalis at Kilmanagh in Ossory. Senan became known for his holiness and miracles and attracted great crowds to his sermons. He made a journey to Rome, meeting St. David on the way back. He built several churches and monasteries, and then settled on Scattery Island, where he built a monastery that soon became famous. He died at Killeochailli on the way back from a visit to St. Cassidus monastery  St. Beoadh, 518 A.D. Irish bishop. He was called Aeodh, receiving the prefix "Beo" because of his evident holiness. He was the bishop of Ardcarne. One of his relics, called the "Bell of St. Beoadh," has long been venerated and recognized as a work of art.   St. Duthac, Bishop of Ross, in Scotland. An Irishman by birth, he was venerated for miracles and prophecies. He is recorded to ha...

Saint of the day March 07 Bl. John Ireland, 1544 A.D. English martyr and chaplain to St. Thomas More. He became a pastor at Eltham, Kent, prior to his arrest for resisting the supremacy of King Henry VIII of England over the Church of England. Executed at Tyburn, he died with Blesseds Jermyn Gardiner and John Larke.  Bl. John Larke, 1544 A.D. English martyr and priest. John Larke served as a pastor in Bishopgate, Woodford, Essex, and then Chelsea until his arrest for opposing the religious supremacy of King Henry VIII of England. He was executed at Tybum with John Ireland and Jermyn Gardiner. His longtime patron was St. Thomas More.  Mar. 7 St. Deifer, 6th century. Welsh abbot and founder of Bodfare in Clwyd, Wales.   St. Enodoch, 520 A.D. Welsh saint of the line of the chieftain Brychan of Brecknock, also called Wenedoc.   St.  Esterwine, 668 A.D. Benedictine abbot, a relative of St. Benedict Biscop. A noble from Northumbria, England, he was abbot of ...