SAINTS FOR MARCH 25

SAINTS FOR MARCH 25 

St. Dismas, the Good Thief crucified with Christ on Calvary. Feastday March 25

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. 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. 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 murdered by Jews on Good Friday at Bury St. Edmunds, England. As was the case with other reputed victims of Jewish sacrificial rites, the story of Richard is entirely fictitious and owes its propagation to the rampant anti-Semitism of the period.  

Bl. Emilian Kovch, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr. Parish priest in 1922 at Peremyshliany, Ukraine, a village of 5,000, most of whom were Jewish. An active priest, he organized pilgrimages and youth groups, and welcomed poor and orphaned children of all faiths into his home.

When the Nazis invaded Ukraine, they began rounding up Jews. To save them, Father Emilian began baptizing them, and listing them as Christians. The Nazis were wise to this trick, and had prohibited it. Emilian continued, but was arrested by the Gestapo in December 1942. Deported to the Majdanek concentration camp in August 1943. There he ministered to prisoners, hearing confessions, and celebrating Mass when possible. He was Martyred in the ovens. Feastday Mar.25

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. Lucy Filippini, Co-foundress of the Italian institute of the Maestre Pie, the Filippine. With Rosa Venerini, Lucy started training schoolmistresses at Monte Fiascone. The institute evolved from this work. Roman Catholic Nun.Feastday Mar.25

ST. QUIRINUS