Christian Today

SAINTS NOVEMBER 30 St. Tudwal, 564 A.D. Welsh monk and bishop, called Pabu (Father) among the Bretons and sometimes listed as Tugdual. Originally a monk in Wales, he journeyed to Brittany, France, with his mother, sisters, and other relatives. The Celtic language of Brittany was easily understood by Welsh speakers. Tudwal’s cousin, Deroc, was a king of Dumnonia and he worked to promote the faith in his cousin’s domain, founding Lan Paku at Leon, Spain. He eventually became bishop of Treher (Treguier) with King Childebert I (r. 511 -558) as his patron. He is remembered in Wales in several sites in the Leyn Peninsula. St. Andrew Roman Catholic- Patron of fishermen -The first one to be called by Jesus. He immediately left his nets and followed Him. Nov. 30 St. Joseph Marchand, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr of Vietnam. He was arrested in Saigon and condemned by authorities; he was martyred with red-hot tongs. Nov. 30

SAINTS NOVEMBER 29 St. Cuthbert Mayne, 1577 A.D. An English martyr , born near Barnstable, in Devonshire, as a Protestant. He converted to Catholicism at St. John’s, Oxford. Cuthbert was ordained at Douai, France, and sent home to England about 1575. Working in Cornwall, he was captured after a year. Condemned for celebrating a Mass, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered on November 25. Cuthbert was a friend of Edmund Campion, and he was aided by Francis Tregian in Cornwall. He was the first Englishman trained for the priesthood at Douai and was the Protomartyr of English seminaries. Cuthbert was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.  St. Egelwine, 7th century. Confessor a nd a prince of the house of Wessex. He lived at Athelney, in Somersetshire, England. St. Sadwen, 6th century. Confessor, also known as Saturninus, brother of St. IIltyd. He was a disciple of St. Cadfan and had churches dedicated to him in parts of Wales. St. Brendan of Birr , ...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 28 St. James Thompson, Blessed, 1582 A.D. English martyr. A native of York, he studied for the priesthood at Reims and was ordained there in 1581. Arrested soon after his return to England, he was hanged at York. He used the name Hudson in his mission work. James was beatified in 1895. St. Fionnchu, 6th century. Abbot of Bangor Abbey, in Ireland, the successor of St. Comgall. St. Catherine Laboure, Roman Catholic Virgin Nun . Three times in 1830 the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Catherine Laboure, who then was a twenty-four year old novice. Feastday: November 28 St. Andrew Trong, Roman Catholic and Martyr of Vietnam .  He was arrested in 1834 and in the presence of his mother he was beheaded. She knelt beside him at the execution site in Hué, receiving his head on her lap. Nov. 28 ST. JAMES OF THE MARCHES, FRANCISCAN St James, known from his birthplace as “of the Marches” became a Franciscan in 1415. Much of his career was spent as a papal envoy in eastern Europe. He...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 27 St. Gallgo, 6th century. Welsh abbot, the founder of Llanalgo Abbey in Anglesey, Wales. St. Fergus, 721 A.D. An Irish bishop called "the Pict." He evangelized Scotland, where he was called Fergustian or Fergus of Scotland. He preached in Perthshire, Caithness, Buchan, and Forfarshire. Fergus was part of the Roman Council in 721.    St. Secundinus. Secundinus is also known as Sechnall and Seachnall. He was sent from Gaul in 439 to assist St. Patrick in Ireland together with Auxilius and Iserninus. He became the first bishop of Dunslaughlin in Meath, and then auxiliary bishop of Armagh. He wrote several hymns, notably Audites, omnes amantes Deum in honor of St. Patrick and the earliest Latin hymn written in Ireland, and, Sancti, venite, Christi corpus sumite. Bl. Thomas Kotenda and Companions, Roman Catholics and Martyrs of Japan . He lived at Nagasaki until his condemnation and beheading, He was martyred along with ten companions.Feastday Nov27 St. James ...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 26 Saint John Berchmans (Dutch: Jan Berchmans ) (13 March 1599 – 13 August 1621) was a Jesuit scholastic and is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He is the patron saint of altar servers. Feastday: November 26 St. Leonard of Port Maurice, Roman Catholic Franciscan Monk . Proponent of the Blessed Sacrament, the devotion of the Sacred Heart, and the Stations of the Cross, as well as the Immaculate Conception. Nov 26 St. Dominic Doan Xuyen, Roman Catholic Martyr of Vietnam , beheaded with St. Thomas Du. He was a Vietnamese Dominican. Feastday Nov.26 Bl. Gaetana Sterni, Roman Catholic Nun and foundress of "Daughters of the Divine Will" ST. SYLVESTER, ABBOTT, FOUNDER OF SILVESTRINE-BENDECTINE ST. SIRICIUS, POPE - When Siricius became Pope in 384, he immediately established a good relationship with St Ambrose of Milan. He was moderate and balanced in his administration of the Church; and historically is one of the first Popes we see exercising the papal primacy. ...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 25 St. Alnoth, 700 A.D. Herder and hermit , mentioned in the life of St. Werburga. Alnoth tended cows on the lands of St. Werburga's monastery at Weedon, in Northhampton, England. He was badly used by a local official, earning a reputation for holiness and patience. Alnoth retired from active life and became a hermit. Two robbers accosted him in his hermitage, slaying him. He is honored locally as a martyr, and his tomb at Stowe, near Bubrook in Northhampton, became a popular shrine for pilgrims. St. Catherine of Alexandria, Roman Catholic Virgin and Martyr whose feast day is November 25th. Fifty pagan philosophers are said to have debated with St Catherine, hoping to convince her to abjure her faith. Instead, Catherine converted them to Christianity. Furious, the Emperor ordered her to be put to death on a spiked wheel; but the wheel broke. Eventually, she was martyred by beheading.   She is the patroness of philosophers and preachers.  St. Peter of Alex...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 24 St. Eanfleda, 700 A.D. Daughter of King St. Edwin and St. Ethelberga of Kent. St. Paulinus baptized her as an infant. A supporter of St. Wilfrid, Eanfleda became a Benedictine nun at Whitby as a widow. Her daughter, St. Elfieda, was abbess there.    St. Colman of Cloyne . He was born in Munster, Ireland, son of Lenin. He became a poet and later, royal bard at Cashel. He was baptized by St. Brendan when he was fifty years old with the name Colman. He was ordained, and was reputed to be St. Columba's teacher. He became the first bishop of Cloyne, of which he is patron, in eastern Cork.    St. Kenan , 500 A.D. Irish bishop, a disciple of St. Martin of Tours, France. He built the first stone cathedral at Danberg, or Duleek, in Meath, Ireland. Martyrs of Vietnam, Several Roman Catholic groups of martyrs also called the Martyrs of Annam who were slain for the faith in Vietnam from 1798 until 1861.NOV. 24 St. Flora & Mary, Roman Catholic women and Ma...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 23 St. Paulhen, 6th century. Welsh abbot , also known as Paulinus, Polin, and Pewlin. A student of St.Illtyd, Paulhen probably founded the monastery of Whitland. Among his most remarkable pupils were Sts. David and Teilo. St. Columban, 615 A.D. Columban was a native of Leinster, and seems to have been of a respectable family. Of the precise date of his birth we are not informed. According to some accounts it was about 559 A.D., but according to others it was several years earlier. He received a good classical education, and resolved early to embrace an ascetic life. But the good looks and winning ways of the Irish girls was a snare to him. He tried to forget their bright eyes by toiling (desudavit) at grammar, rhetoric, and geometry, but found that at least syntax and the problems of Euclid were a less attractive study than pretty faces, and that the dry rules of rhetoric failed altogether before the winsome prattle of light- hearted maidens. He consulted an old woman ...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 22 St. Devniolin, 621 A.D. Abbot , also called Deiniol or Daniel the Younger. He ruled Bangor Monastery in Wales, when King Aethelfrith of Northumbria slaughtered the two thousand monk residents. Bl. Baldji Oghlou Ohannes, Roman Catholic Monk and Martyr . A group of eight Franciscan martyred in the region of Mujuk-Dersi, Armenia by invading Islamic Turks who tortured them, demanded they convert to Islam, and murdered them when they did not convert. Feastday Nov 22 St. Cecilia, Roman Catholic Martyr. History and legend intertwine around the figure of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr, who lived in Rome between the 2nd and 3rd centuries. She is celebrated around the world as a patron of music, musicians and singers. The Church remembers her on November 22.  St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr in the Cemitery of  Callistus - Information on the Saint of the Day - Vatican News  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/11/22/st--cecilia--virgin-and-martyr-in-the-cemitery...

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 21 St. Digain, 5th century. Prince of Cornwall, England, and confessor. He was the son of Constantine, chieftain of Cornwall. Llangerew, in Clwyd, Wales, honors Digain. Bl. Frances Siedliska, Roman Catholic Nun , also known as Mother Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd, was the founder of a Roman Catholic religious order of nuns, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Nov 21 St. Albert of Louvain, Roman Catholic Priest Martyr. He was chosen Bishop of Liège in 1191 by the people and the Church. Emperor Henry VI proposed his own choice, causing Albert to journey to Rome to appeal to Celestine III. The pope ordained him a deacon and sent him to the Archbishop of Rheims. The archbishop ordained Albert a priest and consecrated him as a bishop. Outside of Rheims, Albert was accosted by eight followers of Henry VI, who stabbed him to death. Feastday Nov 21 Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Nov 21

SAINTS NOVEMBER 20 St. Edmund the Martyr , 869 A.D. Martyred king of the East Angles. He was elected king in 855 at the age of fourteen and began ruling Suffolk, England, the following year. In 869 or 870, the Danes invaded Edmund’s realm, and he was captured at Hone, in Suffolk. After extreme torture, Edmund was beheaded and died calling upon Jesus. His shrine brought about the town of Bury St. Edmund's. He is depicted as crowned and robed as a monarch, holding a scepter, orb, arrows, or a quiver.    St. Eval , 6th century. Bishop of Cornwall, England, also called Uval or Urfol. A village in that county bears his name.   St. Edmund Rich , 1242 A.D. Archbishop of Canterbury England, who baffled for discipline and justice, also called Edmund of Abingdon. Born in Abingdon, on November 30, 1180. he studied at Oxford, England, and in Paris, France. He taught art and mathematics at Oxford and was ordained. lie spent eight years teaching theology and became Canon and treas...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 19 St.  Ermenberga , 700 A.D. Wife of Merewald, a king of Mercia, England, and the mother of Sts. Mildred, Milburga, Ermengytha, and Mildgytha. She is also known as Domna Ebba or Domneva. Ermenberga founded the convent of Minster, on Thanet Isle, on land donated by her uncle King Egbert of Kent. Egbert had murdered Ermenberga’s two brothers and provided the land as atonement for his crimes.   St. Medana , 8th century. Irish virgin who went to live in Galloway, Scotland. She may be the same as St. Midnat. Bl. Raphael Kalinowski, Roman Catholic Discalced Carmelite Fria r. He was a teacher, engineer, prisoner of war, royal tutor, and priest, who founded many monasteries around Poland after the suppression by the Russians. Feastday Nov 19 St. Nerses the Great,Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr. Bishop and martyred by the Armenian ruler, Pap, whose dissolute lifestyle caused Nerses to refuse him admission into church. Nerses was invited to a royal banquet at Kha...

  Bishop gives harrowing report on religious persecution in Nigeria https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/45930

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 18 St. Keverne , 6th century. Saint of Cornwall, England. A friend of St. Kieran.    St. Mawes , 6th century. Welsh hermit and abbot, also called Maudetus and Maudez. He lived as a solitary near Falmouth, in Cornwall, England, where his name is still venerated. He then went to an island off the coast of Brittany, France, where he is revered as St. Maudez. He is believed to have founded monasteries and churches in Cornwall and Brittany. St. Rose Phillipine Duchesne, Virgin (Born in Grenoble, France, in 1769, Rose joined the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 1818, when she was forty-nine years old, Rose was sent to the United States. She founded a boarding school for daughters of pioneers near St. Louis and opened the first free school west of the Missouri. At the age of seventy-one, she began a school for Indians, who soon came to call her "the woman who is always praying". Her biographers have also stressed her courage in frontier conditions, her single m...

  Report shows persecution of Christians is getting worse https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/45925

 SAINTS NOVEMBER 17 St. Hugh of Lincoln . Hugh of Lincoln was the son of William, Lord of Avalon. He was born at Avalon Castle in Burgundy and was raised and educated at a convent at Villard-Benoit after his mother died when he was eight. He was professed at fifteen, ordained a deacon at nineteen, and was made prior of a monastery at Saint-Maxim. While visiting the Grande Chartreuse with his prior in 1160 A, D, It was then he decided to become a Carthusian there and was ordained. After ten years, he was named procurator and in 1175 A.D.  became Abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England. This had been built by King Henry II as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket.  His reputation for holiness and sanctity spread all over England and attracted many to the monastery. He admonished Henry for keeping Sees vacant to enrich the royal coffers. Income from the vacant Sees went to the royal treasury. He was then named bishop of the eighteen year old vacant S...

  St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Neocesarea - Information on the Saint of the Day - Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/11/17/st--gregory--thaumaturgus--bishop-of--neocesarea.html ST. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, BISHOP OF NEOCESAREA 11-17 https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/11/17/st--gregory--thaumaturgus--bishop-of--neocesarea.html Meeting a master Young Theodore – Gregory’s name from birth – was born around 213 in the city of Neoceasarea in Pontus, in present-day Turkey, into a pagan family. At fourteen, shortly after his father’s death, he and his brother Athenodorus set out for Palestine. The two adolescents were escorting their sister to Caesarea in Palestine, where her husband had been appointed a government functionary. But they had also left home with a dream: from Caesarea they would continue onto Beirut and study law in one of the most prestigious schools in the Greek-speaking world. Like many young men, they wanted to make something of themselves and ...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 16 St. Alfrick, 1105 A.D. Archbishop of Canterbury who faced the Norse invasion of England. Alfrick was a monk in the Benedictine Abbey of Abingdon, England, noted for his holiness. He was appointed the bishop of Wilton, England, in 990 A.D., worked in the area, and was known for his charity. In 995 A.D. he became the archbishop of Canterbury and faced the devastating results of one of the invasions of England. St. Margaret of Scotland, 1093 A.D.  Margaret was an English princess. She and her mother sailed to Scotland to escape from the king who had conquered their land. King Malcolm of Scotland welcomed them and fell in love with the beautiful princess. Margaret and Malcolm were married before too long.   As Queen, Margaret changed her husband and the country for the better. Malcolm was good, but he and his court were very rough. When he saw how wise his beloved wife was, he listened to her good advice. She softened his temper and led him to practice gr...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 15    Bl. Hugh Faringdon, 1539 A.D. Benedictine abbot of Reading, once a friend of King Henry VIII. When he refused to allow the king to dissolve Reading Abbey, he was martyred with two companions.    St. Hugh Green, Blessed, 1642 A.D. Martyr of England. He was educated at Cambridge, converted to Catholicism, and went to Douai, France. There he was ordained in 1612. Returning to England, Hugh labored in Dorset until his arrest. He was hanged at Dorchester.   Bl. John Eynon, 1539 A.D. Martyred Benedictine of St. Giles , Reading. John served as the pastor of the local parish in St. Giles. He refused to surrender the parish to the authorities and was taken to Reading Abbey. He was executed at the abbey gateway with Blessed Hugh Farington and Blessed John Rugg. They were beatified in 1895.    Bl. John Rugg, 1539 A.D. Martyred monk of Chichester , England. In residence at Reading Abbey, he was martyred by King Henry VIII at Reading, w...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 14 ST. SERAPION OF ALGIERS -Born in London in 1179, Serapion is said to have taken part in the third Crusade, under the leadership of Richard the Lion-hearted. He eventually joined the Mercedarian order, and dedicated himself to the redemption and conversion of slaves, whom he freed by the hundreds. He was martyred in 1240.  Nov 14 St. Dubricus, 545 A.D. One of the founders of monastic life in Wales also called Dubric, Dyfrig, or Devereux. He was born in Madley, Wales, and he founded monasteries at Henllan and Moccas. These served as motherhouses for other abbeys in Herefordshire, Gwent, and the Wye Valley. Dubricus also ruled Caldrey Island. He appointed St. Samson abbot and ordained him as a bishop. Dubricus spent the last years of his life at Ynys Enlli. He is believed to have been the arch-bishop of Caerleon. He died and was buried on the island of Bardsey.    St. Lawrence O'Toole, 1180 A.D. Augustinian archbishop of Dublin, Ireland. He was born at L...

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 13 St. Columba . The patroness of two parishes in Cornwall, England. The heather king there put her to death.    St. Devinicus , 6th century. Scottish missionary and bishop also called Denick or Teavneck. He was a companion of Sts. Columba and Machar in evangelizing Caithness. Other details of his life no longer exist.  St. Gredifael , 7th century. Welsh or Breton abbot of Whitland, in Dyfed, Wales. He accompanied St. Paternus from Brittany to Wales. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, 1917 A.D. Patron of immigrants. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin.  Frances was born in Lombardi, Italy in 1850, one of thirteen children. At eighteen, she desired to become a Nun, but poor health stood in her way. She helped her parents until their death, and then worked on a farm with her brothers and sisters.  One day a priest asked her to teach in a girls' school and she stayed for six years. At the request of her Bishop, she founded the Missionary Sisters of ...

 SAINTS NOVEMBER 12 St. Ymar, 830 A.D. Benedictine martyr of England. A monk in Reculver Abbey, Kent, England, he was put to death by marauding Danes. Feast day: November 12. St. Cadwallader , 689 A.D. A king of the Saxon peoples. He is also called Cadwalla and Ceadwalla. Born circa 659, Cadwallader became king of the West Saxons in 685 or 686. He expanded his kingdom to Sussex, Surrey, as well as Kent, In 668, he resigned and went to Rome, where he was baptized on Easter eve, by Pope Sergius I. He died a few days later and was entombed in St. Peter's. St. Cummian Fada , 662 A.D. Irish monastic founder and defender of Roman liturgical customs. The son of the king of West Munster, Ireland, he entered Clonfert Monastery and headed the school there. He later became abbot of Kilcummin Monastery, which he founded. Cummian was a stout defender of the Roman liturgy against the Celtic school. His Paschal Epistle is still extant. Called “Fada,” Cummian received the name “tall” because ...

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 11 St. Cynfran , 5th century. A Welsh saint, founder, and confessor. He was the son of a local Welsh king. Cynfran founded a church in Gwynedd, and a local well was named for him.   St. Rhediw. Welsh saint. He is known principally because of the church dedicated to him in Gwynedd, Wales. Bl. Kamen Vitchev, Byzantine-Slavonic Rite Roman Catholic priest. Arrested by the Communists, falsely charged with heading a “Catholic conspiracy” against the government. On November 11, 1952, he was executed by gunfire. Feastday: November 11 ST. BARTHOLOMEW, ABBOT OF GROTTAFERRATA was an Italo-Greek abbot at the monastery at Grottaferrata. Nov 11 St. Martin of Tours, Known as the “Apostle of Gaul,” Saint Martin of Tours began life as a soldier, and went on to become a Bishop. He is known especially for his devotion to the poor, as seen in an incident from his early life, when Saint Martin cut his cloak in half and gave part to a poor man suffering from the cold. ...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 10 St. Justus of Canterbury, 627 A.D. Benedictine archbishop of Canterbury . Justus was a Roman sent by Pope St. Gregory I the Great in 601 to England, to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. Justus and others were sent as aides to St. Augustine. In 604, Justus was consecrated the first bishop of Rochester. The death of King Ethelbert in 616 caused a rise in paganism, and Justus returned to Rome. In the following year he went back to England and became archbishop of Canterbury in 624. He consecrated St. Paulinus. St. Elaeth, 1084 A.D. British king driven by locals into Wales. He became a monk there under St. Seiriol. Elaeth’s poems have survived.   St. John of Ratzeburg, 1066 A.D.  Martyred Scottish bishop. Born in Scotland, John became a missionary in Germany. Named the bishop of Ratzeburg, he labored on the coast of the Baltic Sea where he was martyred for the faith by local pagans. St. Aedh MacBricc, 589 A.D. Miracle worker and founder who reputedly cured St. ...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 09 November 9 is the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John on the Lateran Hill . Why is a feast for a church in Rome so important? Because, as the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome, it is, therefore the cathedral church of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome. It is the first of the four “patriarchal basilicas” in Rome (the others being St. Paul’s Outside- the-Walls, St. Peter’s at the Vatican and St. Mary Major). Its official title is quite long: Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist at the Lateran. St. Pabo, 510 A.D.  Early Scottish founder of a monastery on the island of Anglesey. He was originally a warrior and perhaps the son of a Scottish or Pictish chieftain who gave up his life of combat and embarked on a spiritual life. St. Benignus, 466 A.D. Bishop of Ireland, the son of Sechnaa, the psalm singer of St, Patrick. Sechnan was a chief in Meath, Ireland, converted by St. Patrick. Benignus became a disc...

 SAINTS NOVEMBER 08 St. Willehad, 789 A.D. Benedictine missionary and bishop . A native of Northumbria, England, he studied at York, was a friend of Blessed Alcuin, and became a monk in York or Ripon. About 766, he embarked upon a journey to preach among the Frisians of the Netherlands. He preached at Dokkum and Overyssel, but was forced to flee with his companions because of the violent pagan reaction. In 780, at the request of Charlemagne (r. 768-814), he became a missionary among the Saxons, but again he was forced to flee, owing to the Saxon uprising against the Franks. He went to Rome to make a report of his activities to Pope Adrian I (r. 772-795) and spent two years at Echternach monastery in Luxembourg. Wufrid gathered together missionary resources, and after Charlemagne's reconquest of Saxony, he received an appointment as bishop of Worms, Germany, in 787, with his seat at Bremen and ruissionary authority over the Saxons. He died at Bremen a few days after dedicating the c...

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 07 St. Cumgar , 6th or 8th century. Monastic founder possibly identified with St. Docuinus. A native of Devon, he founded monasteries at Budgworth, Somerset, England, and at West Glamorgan, Wales. He was buried at Somerset.    St. Florentius of Strasbourg , 693 A.D. Irish bishop of Strasbourg, France. He went to Alsace and there he became a hermit on Mount Ringelberg. After curing the blind and deaf daughter of St. King Dagobert II, he had the king’s patronage in founding a monastery. He was appointed the bishop of Strasbourg and founded St. Thomas Monastery, mostly staffed by Irish. St. Achillas, Bishop and theologian , He ordained Arius, who was to begin the influential heresy of Arianism. When Achillas recognized the untruths in Arius' preaching, he took steps to defend the faith and was attacked by Arius and another heretical group called the Meletians. Achillas remained firm in the faith. A council held in Alexandria condemned Arius and forced him t...

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 06 St. Edwen, 7th century. Patroness of Llanedwen, Anglesey, Wales. She is reported to have been the daughter of King Edwin of Northumbria, the first Christian ruler there.   St. Leonard of Reresby, 13th century. Crusader prisoner of the Saracens set free in a miraculous fashion. He was a native of Yorkshire, England.     St. Pinnock. Welsh saint , honored by a church in Cornwall, England. As there is no historical evidence for St. Pinnock’s existence, it is assumed by some scholars that Pinnock is a derivation of St. Winnow. Bl. Anthony Baldinucci, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and Missionary. He would always walk barefoot as a penance with the intent “that God may be moved by my sufferings to touch the hearts of my hearers,” as he once explained. He highly revered an image of the Blessed Virgin with the title, “Refuge of Sinners,” attributing numerous conversions and miraculous cures to its veneration. Feastday: November 6 Roman Catholi...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 05 St. Kea , 6th century. British saint honored in Devon, France, as St. Quary. He is sometimes listed as Kay or Kenan. Kea was a bishop. Saint Elizabeth STS. DOMNINUS, TEOTHIMUS AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS Originally from Cesaria, these saints sacrificed their lives for their faith. Domninus was a young doctor who died at the stake during the persecution of Diocletian. Theotimus and his companions were martyred in the circus when they were fed to wild beasts. Nov 5

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 04 St. Clarus. A priest, probably born at Rochester, England, Clarus went to Normandy, became a Benedictine monk, lived as a hermit, and settled at Naqueville, near Rouen. When he repulsed the advances of a noblewoman, she had him killed and beheaded near Saint-Calir-sur-Eph.  St. Birrstan, 934 A.D. Benedictine bishop , also called Birnstan and Brynstan. He was a disciple of St. Grimbold and the successor of St. Frithestan in Winchester, England. STS. VITALIS AND AGRICOLA   -Agricola, who was beloved for his gentleness, converted his slave, Vitalis, to Christianity; they became deeply attached to each other. Vitalis was first to suffer martyrdom, being executed in the ampitheatre. By his tortues and by flattery the persecutors sought in vain to win over Agricola, whom they finally crucified.Nov 4 St. Charles Borromeo ,  1538–1584) was the cardinal archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. Among the great reformers of the troubled sixteenth century, Bo...

SAINTS NOVEMBER 03 St. Winifred . According to legend, she was the daughter of a wealthy resident of Tegeingl, Flintshire, Wales, and the sister of St. Beuno. She was most impressed by Beuno, was supposedly beheaded on June 22 by one Caradog when she refused to submit to him, had her head restored by Beuno, and sometime later, became a nun of the convent of a double monastery at Gwytherin in Denbigshire. She succeeded an Abbess Tenoy, as Abbess and died there fifteen years after her miraculous restoration to life. A spring supposedly springing up where Winifred's head fell is called Holy Well or St. Winifred's Well and became a great pilgrimage center where many cures have been reported over the centuries. She is also known as Gwenfrewi.  St. Vulganius, 704 A.D. Irish or Welsh missionary and hermit. After working to evangelize the tribes of the Atrebati in France, he became a hermit at Arras.  St. Cristiolus, 7th century. Welsh confessor, the brother of St. Sulian. Cristiolu...

  SAINTS NOVEMBER 02 Bl. John Bodey, 1583 A.D. English martyr and schoolmaster. He was born at Wells, Somerset, and educated at Oxford. Converting to the faith, John studied law at Douai in 1557 and returned to England to become a schoolmaster and to marry. When he repudiated King Henry VIII’s claim of supremacy in spiritual matters, he was arrested in 1550. John was imprisoned at Winchester until 1583, when he was taken on November 2 to Andover where he was hanged. He was beatified in 1929. St. Maura. Maura, the Irish sister of St. Brigid. There legend is that they were Scottish princesses who were murdered by pagan outlaws while on a pilgrimage to Rome. Their bodies are enshrined there. They are believed to be the same St. Maura and St. Britt who were 5th century soldiers per St. Euphronius and St. Martin of Tours. Also there is another legend of them by St. Baya.

SAINTS NOVEMBER 01 St. Cadfan, 6th century. Missionary to Wales venerated in Owynedd and Bardsey Island as a companion of Towyn. He was a native of Brittany, France, and founded monasteries in Wales.   St Mary the Slave, Roman Catholic Martyr and slave of a Roman patrician named Tertullus. Delivered to the local prefect on charges of being a Christian, despite Tertullus' effort to save her, Mary suffered unspeakable tortures. Spectators demanded her release, and the prefect turned her over to the custody of a soldier. He aided her escape. She died a natural death but is venerated as a martyr because of the intensity of her sufferings. Feastday Nov 1 Bl. Teodor Romza, Roman Catholic priest and bishop, he was tireless in his defence of the rights of the Catholic Church there. On 27 October 1947, the Soviets attempted to kill Bishop Romzha. Heavily wounded, he was taken to the hospital in Mukachiv, where he was subsequently poisoned and died on 1 November 1947. Feastday: Novem...