SAINTS FOR FEBRUARY 04

SAINTS FOR FEBRUARY 04 

Bl. John Speed, 1594 A.D. An English martyr. he was a layman sometimes called Spence. He was executed at Durham for befriending Catholic priests. John was beatified in 1929 as one of the Durham Martyrs.  

St. John Stone, 1538 A.D. John Stone (d. 1538) + Augustinian martyr, one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was a friar at Canterbury who denied the Supremacy Act of King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) and was arrested and executed by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Canterbury.  

St. Aldate, 600 A.D. Bishop and leader of Gloucester, England. Aldate's life is not detailed historically. He is is reported to have served as bishop of the region and to have roused the countryside to resist pagan invasion forces.  

St. Liephard, 640 A.D. English martyred bishop, companion of King Caedwalla on a pilgrimage to Rome. Liephard was slain near Cambrai, France, and is revered as a martyr.  

St. Modan, 6th century. Abbot and son of an Irish chieftain. He labored in Scotland, preaching at Stirling and Falkirk, until elected against his will as abbot of a monastery. Eventually, he resigned and became a hermit, dying near Dumbarton.  

ST. JOSEPH OF LEONESSA, CAPUCHIN FRIAR

Born in 1556, he went to Constantinople where he helped Christians who had been captured by the Turks. He tried to preach the Gospel to the Sultan, for which he was arrested, tortured and driven out. He travelled around Italy on foot, preaching the Good News to the poor, the sick, and prisoners.