SAINTS NOVEMBER 09

 SAINTS NOVEMBER 09 "There is only one tragedy in this life, not to have been a saint."- Leon Bloy

St. Theodore Tyro, Roman martyr, considered to be virtually identical with St. Theodore Stratelates. According to custom, he was a recruit (tiro) in the Roman army at Pontus, on the Black Sea. After refusing to participate in a pagan ceremony, he was brought before the tribune of the legion and the governor of the region. Freed temporarily, he immediately went out and set fire to the temple of Cybele near Amasea in Pontus. For this crime, he was burned to death in a furnace. Nov 9

STS. MARY AND NEONE, MARTYRS IN THE CEMETERY OF CALLISTUS ON THE VIA APPIA Together with their parents, Adria and Pauline; an uncle, Hippolytus; and several others; Martia (or Martana) and Neon were martyred in the persecution launched by Valerian in the year 257. In the 8th century, their relics were translated to the Roman church of Sant’Agata dei Goti. Nov 9

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 disciple of St. Patrick and succeeded him as the chief bishop of Ireland. He converted the Irish in Clare, Kerry, and Connaught. Benignus served as the superior of an abbey at Drumlease, erected by St. Patrick.