SAINTS OF THE DAY FOR June 20

SAINTS OF THE DAY FOR June 20

STS. MARK AND MARCELLIANO, ROMAN MARTYRS,

STS. GERVASIUS AND PROTASIUS, MARTYRS OF MILAN,

Bl. Anthony Turner, 1679 A.D. Martyr of England. The son of a Protestant minister, he was born in Leicestershire and educated at Cambridge. A convert to Catholicism, Anthony went to Rome and joined the Jesuits in Flanders and was ordained in 1661. He returned to England and labored in Worcester until he was arrested in the so-called Titus Oates affair. Convicted on perjured evidence, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on June 20. Anthony was beatified in 1929.

Bl. William Harcourt, 1679 A.D. Jesuit martyr of England, also called William Barrows. Born in Lancashire in 1609, he studied at St. Omer, France, where in 1632 he became a Jesuit. Returning to England in 1645, he labored in London on behalf of the Catholic mission for more than thirty years. Condemned falsely for complicity in the so-called Popish Plot, he was executed at Tyburn with five other Jesuits, He was beatified in 1929.

Bl. Thomas Whitbread, 1679 A.D. English Jesuit and martyr. A native of Essex, England, he studied at St. Omer, France, and entered the Jesuits in 1635. Back in England and using the alias Thomas Harcourt, he served as provincial of the Jesuit mission until his arrest on the entirely false charges of complicity in the Popish Plot. Thomas was tried for sheltering the plotters and was convicted of the charge of attempting to murder the king. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn.

Bls. John Fenwick and John Gavan, 1679 A.D. Jesuit Martyrs of England. John Fenwick was born in Durham and educated at Saint-Omer. He became a Jesuit in 1656. John Gavan was born in London and entered the Jesuits in 1660. They were involved in the Titus Oates Plot hysteria, falsely charged with complicity, and put to death at Tyburn with three Jesuit companions.

June 20 Japanese Martyrs St. Francis Pacheco, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and Japanese Martyr. Bl. Peter Rinshei, Roman Catholic Jesuit Martyr of Japan Bl. John Baptist Zola, Roman Catholic Jesuit Martyr of Japan. Bl. John Kinsako, Roman Catholic Jesuit Martyr of Japan Bl. Michael Tozo, Roman Catholic Jesuit Martyr of Japan Bl. Paul Shinsuki, Roman Catholic Jesuit Martyr of Japan. All burned alive with eight other Christians at Nagasaki Feastday June 20

St. Vincent Kaun, Roman Catholic Martyr of Japan. A native of Korea, he was brought to Japan in 1591 as a prisoner of war and was subsequently converted to Christianity. Entering the Jesuits, he studied at the Jesuit seminary of Arima and worked for three decades as a catechist in both Japan and China. Seized during the persecution of the Church, he was burned alive at Nagasaki with Blessed Francis Pacheco. Feastday June 20

Irish Catholic Martyrs were dozens of people who have been sanctified in varying degrees for dying for their Roman Catholic faith between 1537 and 1714 in Ireland. Feastday June 20

Bl. Conor O’Devany, Roman Catholic Bishop and Irish Martyr. Bishop O'Devany was taken by the English authorities to a scaffold in Dublin to be executed on a trumped-up charge of treason. Having been offered a pardon at his trial if he would deny his faith, he had answered that he was resolved to die in defense of the Catholic faith. On the way to the scaffold, the bishop said to a priest facing martyrdom together with him (Blessed Patrick O'Loughran), "Come, my brave comrade, noble soldier of Christ, let us imitate as best we can the death of him who was led to the slaughter as the sheep before the shearer." As the bishop passed through Dublin's streets, Catholics emerged from their homes to kneel in reverence to their prelate. Following Bishop O'Devany's execution, a paralytic who had crawled to the scaffold to venerate his body was instantaneously cured. Feastday June 20

St. Govan, 6th century. Hermit who lived on a cliff at St. Govan’s Head, Dyfed, Wales. He was a disciple of St. Ailbhe and in some lists is called Cofen or Gonen.

St Helena, Benedictine Abbess Tier Germany