Saints Decemebr

 Holy Spirit, thank you for helping me, Please make my heart open to the word of God, make my heart open to goodness, 

make my heart open to the beauty of God every day”.****** 

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ ...

Glory be to The Father, and to The Son and to the Holy  Spirit. As it was in the beginning , is now and ever shall be world without end. amen

Blessed be God.

Blessed be his holy Name. 

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.

Blessed be the name of Jesus.

Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.

Blessed be his most Precious Blood.

Blessed be Jesus in the most holy Sacrament of the altar.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.

Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.

Blessed be her glorious Assumption.

Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.

Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse. 

Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints.

SAINTS DECEMBER 01-31

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/tag/saints-martyrs-december/

SAINTS DECEMBER 01

St. Edmund Campion. Edmund was born in London, the son of a bookseller. He was raised a Catholic, given a scholarship to St. John's College, Oxford, when fifteen, and became a fellow when only seventeen. His brilliance attracted the attention of such leading personages as the Earl of Leicester, Robert Cecil, and even Queen Elizabeth. He took the Oath of Supremacy acknowledging Elizabeth head of the church in England and became an Anglican deacon in 1564. Doubts about Protestantism increasingly beset him, and in 1569 he went to Ireland where further study convinced him he had been in error, and 

he returned to Catholicism. Forced to flee the persecution unleashed on Catholics by the excommunication of Elizabeth by Pope Pius V, he went to Douai, France, where he studied theology, joined the Jesuits, and then went to Brno, Bohemia, the following year for his novitiate. He taught at the college of Prague and in 1578 was ordained there. He and Father Robert Persons were the first Jesuits chosen for the English mission and were sent to England in 1580. His activities among the Catholics, the distribution of his rations at the University Church in Oxford, and the premature publication of his famous Brag (which he had written to present his case if he was captured) made him the object of one of the most intensive manhunts in English history. He was betrayed at Lyford, near Oxford, imprisoned in the Tower of London, and when he refused to apostatize when offered rich inducements to do so, was tortured and then hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on December 1 on the technical charge of treason, but in reality because of his priesthood. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the forty English and Welsh Martyrs.

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-edmund-campion-sj/

Bl. Alexander Briant, 1581 A.D. Missionary and martyr, one of the English priests slain in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Alexander was born in Somerset, England, circa 1556 , and entered Oxford University at a young age. He was called "the beautiful Oxford youth" because of his handsome appearance and

the radiance of his holiness. Alexander converted to Catholicism at Oxford and met Richard Holtby, following Holtby to the English seminary college at Reims, France. He was ordained a priest there on March 29, 1578. Returning to England, Alexander worked in Somerset and was caught up in a search by British authorities in April 1581. Taken to the Tower of London, he was subjected to inhuman tortures but did not reveal the names of other priests. He also wrote to the Jesuit Fathers, asking permission to join. He was accepted. In November 1581, he was condemned to death by an English court. Again Alexander suffered hideous tortures and died on December 1, 1581, at the age of twenty-five.

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-alexander-briant-sj/

Bl. John Beche, 1539 A.D Martyr of England and a friend of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More. John was abbot of Coichester Abbey. Benedictine, he received a doctorate from Oxford in 1515. He took the Oath of Supremacy in 1534, but then saw his own abbey being plundered. The deaths of Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More horrified him as well. When he refuted King Henry VIII’s right to suppress the English monasteries, he was arrested for treason and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Colchester. John was beatified in 1895. 

Bl. Richard Langley, 1586 A.D. English martyr. A member of the gentry, he was born at Grimthorpe, where he had extensive estates, as he did in Riding. He was arrested for giving shelter to Catholic priests and hanged, drawn, and quartered at York on December 1. He was beatified in 1929.

St. Natalia of Nicomedia, Roman Catholic Martyr of Nicomedia, modem Turkey She cared for Christian prisoners awaiting martyrdom during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.Dec 1

Bl. Anwarite Nangapeta, Roman Catholic Nun. She was killed during Congo's civil war at the Simba revolt in 1964 by a soldier, Colonel Pierre Colombe, when she resisted his attempted rape.Dec. 1

Blessed Charles Eugène de Foucauld was a French Roman Catholic religious and priest living among the Tuareg in the Sahara in Algeria. He was assassinated in 1916 outside the door of the fort he built for the protection of the Tuareg. Dec.1

St. Grwst, 7th century. A Welsh saint honored at Llanrwst, Clwyd, Wales.

ST. NAHUM, PROPHET

St. Nahum the Prophet St. Nahum the Prophet Around 612 BC, the minor prophet Nahum prophesied against Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Assyria had conquered and cruelly ruled much of the Middle East for 300 years, and in 622 conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and deported its people. Dec 1

St. Eligius, Roman Catholic layman was very generous to the poor, ransomed many slaves, and built several churches and a monastery at Solignac. Feastday: December 1 https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/01/st--eligius--bishop-of--noyon.html 

SAINTS DECEMBER 02

ST. PIMEN, MARTYR ON THE VIA PORTUENSE

St. Bibiana, Roman Catholic Virgin and Martyr, Apronianus ordered her to be tied to a pillar and beaten with scourges, laden with lead plummets, until she expired. Feastday December 2

St. Pontian, Roman Catholic Martyr, He was put to death with four other Christians during the persecutions of the Church under Emperor Valerian. Dec.2

St. Eusebius, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr with Adria, Aurelia, Hippolytus, Mary, Martana, Maximus, Marcellus, Neon, and Paulina. Eusebius was a priest, and Marcellus was a deacon. They were beheaded with Mary and Neon. Adria and Hippolytus, and probably Aurelia, were beaten to death. Paulina died under torture and Maximus was drowned. Dec. 2

ST. SILVERIUS, POPE

Bl. Ivan Sleziuk, Roman Catholic Priest. On June 2, 1945, Bishop Ivan was arrested and deported for ten years to the labor camps in Vorkuta, Russia. arrested again and imprisoned for five years in a camp of strict regimen.Feastday Dec2

Bl. Maria Angela Astorch, Roman Catholic Nun. she entered the Capuchin Poor Clare monastery begun by Angela Serafina Prat. Dec 2

SAINTS DECEMBER 03

Bl. Edward Coleman, 1678 A.D. English martyr, a victim of the Titus Oates Plot. Educated at Cambridge, he convened to the faith and served as secretary to the duchess of Thirsk. Condemned falsely of conspiring to restore Catholicism to England, he was executed at Tyburn. He was beatified in 1929.

St. Cassian of Tangier, Roman Catholic Martyr. He was a court recorder at the trial of St. Marcellus the Centurion. When the death penalty was imposed on St. Marcellus, Cassian threw down his pen and declared that he was a Christian. He was arrested immediately and put to death. Cassian is patron of modern stenographers. Feastday Dec 3

St. Birinus, 650 A.D. The "Apostle of Wessex." Birinus a German became a priest in Rome and a bishop in Genoa, Italy, before undertaking a missionary apostolate, sent by Pope Honorius I. He went to Britain in 634, where he preached to the West Saxons. King Cynegils was converted by Birinus and gave him the area of Dorchester as his see. He died on December 3, and was buried in Dorchester, Oxfordshire.

St. Ethernan. A Scot who studied in Ireland and was consecrated a bishop there. He returned to

Scotland as a missionary.

St. Lucius, 200 A.D. The Ruler of Britain who wrote to Pope St. Eleutherius for missionaries. A convert,

he established the dioceses of London, England, and Llandalf, Wales. St. Bede wrote of him.

Bl. Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer, Roman Catholic Priest and Bishop of Trent.Dec 3

St. Francis Xavier, (7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552), was a Roman Catholic missionary born in Xavier, Kingdom of Navarre (now part of Spain), and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time. He was influential in the spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India, but also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas which had thus far not been visited by Christian missionaries. 

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/03/st--francis--saverio--jesuit---apostle-of-the-indies--patron-of-.html 

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-francis-xavier-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 04

St. Francis Galvez, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr in Japan. Francis was burned alive in Edo. Feastday Dec 4

Bl. Jerome de Angelis, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and Martyr in Japan. He was burned alive in Edo. Feastday Dec 4

St. Theophanes & Companions, Martyrs, opponents of the Iconoclast policies of the ruler they were tortured, and Theophanes died during the ordeal. Dec. 4

ST. BARBARA, MARTYR also known as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Greek martyr born mid-third century in Heliopolis, Phoenicia. Barbara was the daughter to a rich pagan named Dioscorus. After the death of Barbara's mother, Dioscorus dedicated his life to his only daughter. Barbara was known for being extremely beautiful.Dec. 4

St. Osmund, 1009 A.D. Bishop of Salisbury who helped compile the Domesday Book. A member of the Norman nobility, he was the son of Count Henry of Seez and Isabella, half-sister of King William the Conqueror of England. He took part in the Norman Conquest and served William as his chancellor. In 1078, he was appointed bishop of Salisbury, completing the cathedral there and founding a cathedral chapter of canons regular and school for clerics. Osmund also assisted the king in assembling the massive census which became the Domesday Book. In the dispute over investiture between King William II and St. Anselm of Canterbury, Osmund initially sided with the king, but later he admitted he had made a mistake, and he begged Anselm’s forgiveness. Osmund also collected manuscripts for the cathedral library, was a copier and binder of books, authored a life of St. Aldhelm, and was thought to be responsible for drawing up the books governing the liturgical matters for the diocese such as the Mass and Divine Office, the so called Sarum Use. Canonized in 1457 by Pope Callistus III, he was the last English person to be declared a saint until the canonization of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher in 1935.

St. Giovanni Calabria, Roman Catholic Priest, he founded the "Congregation of the Poor Servants of Divine Providence. Dec. 4

St. John of Damascus, He is considered "the last of the Fathers" of the Eastern Orthodox church and is best known for his strong defense of icons. Dec.4

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/04/st--john--damasceno--priest-and-doctor-of-the-church.html 

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-jerome-angelis-simon-yemon-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 05

St. Crispina, Roman Catholic Martyr. Arrested for being a Christian, she was taken before Proconsul Anulinus at Thebaste, in Numidia, and was ordered to deny Christ. Crispina refused and was tortured and publicly ridiculed then she was beheaded. Feastday Dec.5

St. Nicholas Tavigli, Roman Catholic Franciscan Martyr of Jerusalem. He then went to the Holy Land to preach among the Muslims and was martyred at Jerusalem. Feastday Dec.5

St. John Almond, 1612 A.D One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. A native of Allerton, England, he was educated in Ireland and then at Reims and in Rome. After his ordination in 1598, he returned to England as a missionary, and was arrested in 1602. John was imprisoned in 1608 for a time and arrested again in 1612. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. 

St. Cawrdaf, 6th century. Welsh chief, the successor of Caradog in Brecknock and Hereford. He entered a monastery after retiring, serving under St. lIltyd.

Bl. Philip Rinaldi, Roman Catholic Priest Working with the 'Zelatrici di Maria Ausiliatrice', he saw the possibilities for a new form of consecrated life in the world and made it a reality. This group would later become the "Volunteers of Don Bosco".Dec. 5

St. Gerald, Roman Catholic Benedictine monk. He later became the reforming Bishop of Braga, Portugal in 1100 and stopped ecclesiastical investiture by laymen in his diocese.Dec 5

Saint Sabbas the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba.Dec.5

SAINTS DECEMBER 06

St. Peter Pascual, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr. he became bishop of Jaen, although the diocese was technically under the dominion of the Islamic Moors. Nevertheless, he preached extensively to promote the Christian faith in Islamic communities and sought to ransom Christian captives being held by  Islamic Moorish captors. He was martyred in Granada. Feastday Dec.6

ST. ASELLA, ROMAN VIRGIN

Bl. Adolph Kolping, Roman Catholic Priest. He was a leader in providing social support for young workers in the cities of industrial Germany, and worldwide. Dec. 6

St. Nicholas, Roman Catholic Priest. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos".

SAINTS DECEMBER 07

Martyrs of Africa, The collective name given to the Roman Catholic martyrs who died for the faith in Africa Latina, the northwestern region of Africa. The martyrs vary according to year and feast day. Dec. 7

St. Maria Giuseppe Rossello, Roman Catholic Nun. Foundress of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy. Feastday Dec 7

ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP OF MILAN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Among the great holy Doctors of the Western Church, Ambrose was Bishop of Milan, a writer of hymns, initiator of Mariology. He embodies the ideal of the pastor. Remembered by the Church on 7 December, he was the author of famous liturgical texts and inflexible against heresy. Dec 7

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/07/st--ambrose--bishop-of-milan-and-doctor-of-the-church.html

SAINTS DECEMBER 08

ST. EUTYCHIUS, POPE, CEMETERY OF ST. CALLISTO

St. Callixtus, the deacon whom Pope St. Zephyrinus put in charge of them and who was later elected pope (a.d. 217–22) himself. St. Callistus was a Pope who died for their faith, the first Martyr Pope after St. Peter. Dec 8

St. Romaric, Roman Catholic Monk, a Merovingian nobleman named Romaric, who became a monk at Luxeuil; and established the monastery which was later known as Remiremont (Romarici Mons).   Feastday December 8

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-st-noel-chabanel-sj/

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-st-charles-garnier-sj/

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-sg-walter-ciszek-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 09

Martyrs of Saragossa, Two groups of Roman Catholic martyrs put to death at Saragossa, Spain, by the Romans during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.  Roman prefect named Dacian. exiled all Christians from the city, and when they started toward the gates of Saragossa, they were massacred by Dacians Roman troops. Feastday Dec.9

ST. LEOCADIA,VIRGIN AND MARTYR, ST. LEOCADIA was a native of Toledo, and was apprehended by an order of Dacian, the cruel governor under Diocletian in 304, Dec 9

St. John Roberts, 1610 A.D. Benedictine member of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born in Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales, and studied at Oxford. John became a Catholic and went to Paris in 1598, Studying and becoming a Benedictine priest in 1602. He then returned to England and aided so many victims of the plague of 1603 that he became quite famous. He left England for a time to establish a seminary but then returned to London. He had many adventures until his final arrest for being a priest. With Blessed Thomas Somers, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn.

St. Ethelgiva, Benedictine abbess of Shaftesbury, England. She was a daughter of King Alfred the Great.

St. Budoc, 7th century. Bishop and hermit also called Budeux and Beuzec. He is reported to be the son of a king of Brittany and of Azenor, the daughter of the ruler of Brest, France. Azenor was supposedly exiled in a cask, and Budoc was born at sea, attended by St. Brigid. He was raised in a monastery near Waterford, Ireland, and became first the abbot of the house and then bishop of Dol, Brittany. Budoc ruled there for twenty-six years. Another tradition claims that Budoc was an Irish hermit who settled in Budock, near Falmouth, England.

St. Proculus of Verona, Roman Catholic Priest and Bishop of Verona, Italy. While he died of natural causes as bishop, he spent many years of trials during the final persecutions of the Church in the early fourth century while serving as a confessor to the faithful. Dec.9

ST. SYRUS, BISHOP OF PAVIA, Evangelized and served as first bishop of Pavia, Italy in the 1st century; tradition says that he was appointed by the Apostles, and an old legend says that he was the boy with five loaves who appears in the Gospels. Worked with Saint Juventius of Pavia. Fought Arianism. Died. relics in the cathedral of Pavia, Italy; Dec. 9

St. Peter Fourier, Roman Catholic Priest and Founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame. A native of Mirecourt, Lorraine, France.Dec. 9

St. Juan Diego, Roman Catholic layman saw apparition of the Virgin Mary at Tepeyac Mexico. This humble Mexican Indian, a convert to the faith, became the protagonist of one of the greatest moments in the history of evangelization: the apparition of the Mother of God at Tepeyac Hill, who left her image imprinted on his mantle. His feast day is December 9. Juan Diego, the simple peasant who would come to be known all over the world by the name he received when he was reborn in baptism, was born in 1474 in Cuautitlán (now part of Mexico City) with the name “Cuauhtlatoatzin,” or “the talking eagle.” 

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/09/st--juan-diego-cuauhtlatoatzin.html

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-peter-mayoral-sj/

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-louis-stephen-rabussier-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 10

ST. MAURUS, MARTYR ON THE VIA SALARIA-Dec 10.Saint Maurus' attributes is a crutch, in reference to his patronage of cripples. He was invoked especially against fever, and also against rheumatism, epilepsy, and gout. He is also sometimes depicted with a scale, a reference to the implement used to measure a monk's daily ration of bread, given to him by Benedict when he left Montecassino for France. Dec.10

St. Eustace White, 1591 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born in Louth, Lincolnshire, England. Converted to the faith, he studied for the priesthood at Reims, France, and in Rome. After ordination in 1588, he returned to England. Eustace was taken prisoner because of his missionary work and executed at Tyburn, England.

Bl. Thomas Somers, 1610 A.D English martyr. Born in Westmoreland, England, he worked for a time as a schoolmaster. Leaving England, he went to Douai, France, where he studied for the priesthood and received ordination before returning home under the alias of Wilson to assist the Catholic cause in London. Arrested for being a priest, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn with Blessed John Roberts.

St. Edmund Genings, 1591 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Born in Lichfield, England, he converted to the faith. He was ordained a priest at Reims, France, in 1590. The following years, after working in England, he was martyred at Gray’s Inn Fields in London.

Bl. John Mason, 1591 A.D. Martyr of England, a layman arrested for harboring St. Edmund Gennings, priest. He was martyred at Tyburn by being hanged, drawn, and quartered with Sts. Edmund Gennings and Palydore Plasden and With Blessed Sidney Hodgson. Pope Pius Xl beatified him in 1929.

St. Polydore Plasden, 1563-1591 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England. A native of London, he studied for the priesthood at Reims and Rome and was ordained in 1586. Sent to England soon after, he worked for the reconversion of the island until his arrest by English authorities. He was taken prisoner  with St. Edmund Genings. Polydore was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum. Beatified in 1929, he was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs.

St. Julia of Merida, Roman Catholic Laywoman and Martyr. She professed herself a Christian, insulted the pagan gods and emperor Maximian, and challenged the authorities to martyr her.Dec. 10

Pope Saint Gregory III, Roman Catholic Priest and head of the Catholic Church from 11 February 731 to his death in 741. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine Empire, and by the ongoing advance of the Lombards, in which he invoked the intervention of Charles Martel, Feastday December 10

Our Lady of Loreto, The title "Our Lady of Loreto" is associated with the Holy House of Loreto in Italy, the house of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, miraculously transported by the angels from Palestine to Europe. Dec. 10

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-hyacinth-alegre-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 11

St. Cian, 6th century. A Welsh hermit, believed to have been a servant of St. Peris.

St. Pens. Patron saint of Llanberis, Wales. No documents on his life are extant.

Pope Saint Damasus I Roman Catholic Priest. All lovers of Scripture have reason to celebrate this day. Damasus was the pope who commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Scriptures into Latin, the Vulgate version of the Bible. Feastday December 11

SAINTS DECEMBER 12

St. Alexander, Martyr and companion of St. Epimachus. Alexander and Epimachus lived in Alexandria, Egypt. They were taken prisoner during the reign of Emperor Decius, then tortured and burned to death. Four women shared their martyrdom: Ammonaria, Mercuria, Dionisia, a mother, and another woman. Dec. 12

St. Abra, Consecrated virgin, the daughter of St. Hilary of Poitiers, born before he became a bishop. Little is known about Abra, who became a consecrated virgin, dedicated to good works among the Christians of Poitiers, in France. Abra died at the age of eighteen.Dec. 12

Bl. Thomas Holland, 1642 A.D. English martyr. Also known as Thomas Sanderson and Thomas Hammond, he was born at Sutton, near Prescot, Lancashire, England, in 1600. Thomas left England to study at St. Omer, France, and Valladolid, in Spain, and entered the Jesuits after ordination in 1624. Going home, circa 1635, he worked to aid the Church in the isles for seven years until his arrest in London. Thomas was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn.

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-thomas-holland-sj/

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-francis-de-paola-tarin-sj/

St. Agatha, 790 A.D. Nun and missionary aide to St. Boniface. Agatha was a member of a Benedictine convent in England, a disciple of St. Lisba. When St. Boniface was conducting his missionary labors, Agatha went to Germany to assist him.

St. Edburga, 751 A.D. Benedictine abbess and disciple of St. Mildred. A member of the royal family of Kent, England, she succeeded St. Mildred as abbess of Minster-in-Thanet. She also conducted a correspondence with St. Boniface, whom she met while on a pilgrimage to Rome. A noted calligrapher, Edburga sent supplies to St. Boniface’s missions and built a church for her convent.

St. Corentin. Corentin or Corentinus or Cury died round about the year 490. He was the first Bishop of Cornouaille, now known as Quimper, in Brittany. He had been a recluse at Plomodiern. His cult spread throughout S. W. England, where he was known as St. Cury. It appears that his cult received a boost from the preaching of Blessed Julian Maunoir who lived in the 17th century.

St. Colman of Glendalough, 659 A.D. An abbot mentioned in the Irish calendars

St. Finian of Clonard, 549 A.D. The “Teacher of the Irish Saints.” He was born in Myshall, in County Carlow, Ireland. Trained by Sts. Cadoc and Gildas in Wales, Finian returned to Ireland where he built schools, monasteries, and churches. Clonard at Meath was his most famous foundation, and under his direction it became a renowned scriptural school. He is listed as a bishop, but it is possible that he was not consecrated in the office. St. Columba was one of his students, as he trained the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland” at Clonard. He died there during a plague.

ST. GREGORY III, POPE

Our Lady of Guadalupe, nvoked as Star of the Evangelization of Peoples, comforter of indigenous people and the poor, the faithful humbly implore her help on the Tepeyac Hill in Mexico. She is Our Lady of Guadalupe, often called the "great missionary" who brought the Gospel to the Americas

Feastday December.12 B. Vatican News https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/12/b--mary-virgin-of--guadalupe.html 

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-john-francis-regis-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 13

ST. ARISTON, MARTYR OF PORTO, Dec. 13

St. Lucy, was a young Roman Catholic martyr who lived in Syracuse lost her life during the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith. Patron of Blindness St. Lucy was martyred on December 13, 304. At her trial, the judge reportedly became enamored of her beautiful eyes, and she, to halt his passion, tore them out and sent them to him on a platter. Hence, St. Lucy - a name derived from the Latin for light, lux - is invoked as protector of the eyes.  Feastday Dec 13

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/13/st--lucy--virgin-and-martyr-of--syracuse.html 

St. Elizabeth Rose, Roman Catholic Nun. Benedictine abbess, the foundress of the convent of Sainte-Marie-du-Rozoy, near Courtenay, Loiret, France. Dec. 13

SAINTS DECEMBER 14   

St. Fingar, 5th century. Martyr of Cornwall, England, with Phiala, his sister, and companions. Irish by birth, the martyrs were slain at Hoyle, near Penzance, by pagans.

ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, PRIEST AD DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, DISCALCED CARMELITE Saint John of the Cross was a 16th century Spanish theologian and mystic. Together with Saint Teresa of Jesus, he reformed the Carmelite Order. He was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and, traditionally, is nicknamed the "Mystic Doctor". https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/14/st---john-of-the-cross--priest-ad-doctor-of-the-church--discalce.html 

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-horace-vecchi-sj-martin-de-aranda-sj-james-de-montalban-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 15

ST. VALERIAN, BISHOP IN AFRICA AND MARTYR. Bishop of Abbenza (Tunisia), he bore witness to Jesus Christ, true God and true man, during the persecution of the Vandals. The Arian heretic King Genseric forced Valerian to live on the street, though he was eighty, for refusing to hand over the Church’s sacred vessels. He died of his hardship.  Dec. 15

St. Florentius, 7th century. Abbot of Bangor Monastery in Ireland also called Flann. He was part of the great monastic program of evangelization and protection of the arts.

Saint Virginia Centurione Bracelli, Roman Catholic Nun, Feastday Dec. 15

SAINTS DECEMBER 16

St. Albina, Roman Catholic Martyr and a young witness for Christ. Albina was born in Caesarea and was martyred there. Feastday Dec.16

St. Beoc, 5th or 6th century. Irish monastic founder also called Beanus, Dabeoc, Mobeoc, and Moboac. He is credited with founding a monastery in Lough Derg, in Donegal.

ST. DAVID, KING AND PROPHET

God chose him as king of Israel, despite his being the youngest of the sons of Jesse: God does not look at the appearance but at the heart of man. A warrior and poet, David was also a great sinner, but recognized his faults and asked forgiveness. Our Lord Jesus Christ is born of David’s line.   Dec.16

St. Adelaide, Roman Catholic Holy Roman Empress and Patron of abuse victims; brides; empresses; exiles; in-law problems; parenthood; parents of large families; princesses; prisoners; second marriages; step-parents; widows, Born in 931, Adelaide was the daughter of King Rudolph of Burgundy. She married the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto the Great. Attentive to the poor, she also built churches and monasteries. She retired to a Benedictine monastery, and died in 999. Feastday Dec16

SAINTS DECEMBER 17

St. Briarch, 627 A.D. Abbot and founder, a companion of St. Tudwal. Briarch was an Irishman who entered a monastery in Wales. He went with St. Tudwal to Brittany, France. There he built a monastery and served as abbot.

St. Tydecho, 6th century. Welsh saint. He is honored by several churches in Wales. St. Cadfan was his brother. Other details of his life are no longer available.

ST. JOHN OF MATHA, PRIEST, FOUNDER OF THE TRINITARIANS. Born in 1154 in France, St. John was a professor of theology in Paris, before leaving everything to become a priest at the age of 40. He founded the Order of the Most Holy Trinity. He left for Africa, with a mission to free Christian slaves, whom he succours in his hospices. He died in Rome in 1213.   Dec.17

ST. DANIEL, PROPHET, 

A Jew of a noble family, he was deported to Babylon (VII century BC). He became an official of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel prophesied the fall of the Babylonian Empire. Because of his fidelity to the tradition of his fathers, Daniel was given to lions, but God saved him. Dec.17

STS. HANANIAH, MISHAEL AND AZARIAH, 

Young Jews in exile in Babylon (VII century BC), the youths became officials at court. Refusing to worship the statue of the king, they were thrown into a furnace: accompanied by an angel of the Lord, they sang a hymn proclaiming the lordship of the true God over all creation, and emerged unscathed.  Dec.17

B. HYACINTHE CORMIER, DOMINICAN, a French Roman Catholic priest and the seventy-sixth Master General of the Dominican Order, serving in that capacity from 1904 until 1916. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1994. Bl. Dec. 17

St. Olympias, Roman Catholic formed a religious community doing charitable works. She spent the last years of her life beset by illness and persecution but comforted by Chrysostom from his place of exile. She died in exile. Feastday Dec.17

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-stephen-kaszap-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 18

St. Rufus, Roman Catholic Martyr, with Zosimus, citizens of Antioch (or perhaps Philippi) who were brought to Rome with St. Ignatius of Antioch during the reign of Emperor Trajan. They were condemned to death for their Christianity and thrown to wild beasts in the arena two days before the martyrdom of Ignatius. FeastDay Dec. 18.

St. Paul My, Roman Catholic Vietnamese Martyr, Paul entered into Paris Foreign Missions and thus helped to spread the Catholic faith in Vietnam. He was seized by enemies of the Church and was martyred by strangulation. Feastday Dec.18

St. Winebald, 761 A.D. Benedictine abbot and missionary. The brother of Sts. Willibald and Walburga, he was born in Wessex, England, and went on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land with his brother and father. When their father died at Lucca, the brothers proceeded to Rome. Winebald remained in the Eternal City while his brother went on to the Holy Land. Winebald studied in Rome for seven years, went back to England, but then returned to Rome determined to enter the religious life. At the invitation of St. Boniface, he gathered together a group of English missionaries and went to Germany in 739. Winebald was ordained, labored in Thuringia and Bavaria, and then joined Wilibald in his missionary enterprise in Eichstatt, Frisia, Holland. With his brother, he founded the monastery of Heidenheim, Germany, where he served as abbot with his sister as abbess. He struggled against the local pagans and strove to make the monastery one of the leading ecclesiastical centers in Germany.

St. Flannan, 7th century, Bishop. Son of an Irish chieftain, Turlough he made a pilgrimage to Rome where Pope John IV consecrated him. On his return he became first bishop of Killaloe and also preached in the Hebrides.

St. Samthan, 6th century. Irish abbess and foundress of the convent of Clonbroney, County Longford. She was revered for her patronage of culture and spiritual perfection in the monastic traditions.

ST. GATIANUS, BISHOP OF TOURS, Sent in the 3rd century to evangelize the Roman province of Gaul, he was the first bishop of the city of Tours, where he met with great hostility, so much that he had to celebrate in the catacombs. There, with courage and perseverance, he preached the Gospel for 50 years. Dec. 18

ST. MALACHY, PROPHET, Lived between the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. on returning from the Babylonian exile, he denounced the external religiosity of his countrymen, far from God and justice. He exhorts us to prepare for the meeting with the Lord and foretells the coming of the messenger of God, John the Baptist.  Dec. 18

SAINTS DECEMBER 19

St. Nemesius, Roman Catholic Martyr of Egypt. He was burned alive in Alexandria, Egypt, during the persecutions under Emperor Trajanus Decius. Nemesius was arrested and scourged and then burned to death. Like Christ, he was executed between two criminals. Feastday Dec.19

St Thomas De & Companions Roman Catholic Vietnamese martyrs. Thomas was a Vietnamese tailor who entered the Dominicans as a tertiary. Arrested on the charge of giving aid and shelter to foreign missionaries, he was strangled. Four other Catholic Vietnamese died with Thomas. Feastday Dec 19

St. Manirus. Bishop and an apostle to Scotland. He evangelized the Highlanders in the northern regions and was revered for his kindness and goodwill.

ST. ANASTASIUS, POPE Anastasius of the noble Roman Maximi family was elected Pope in 399. He had a profound spirituality and lived a lifestyle of poverty. He courageously defended the Catholic faith, opposing the heresy of Donatism. He died in 401.   Dec.19

Saint Urban Pope. William de Grimoard was a scholar who taught at four universities: Paris, Montpelier, Toulouse and Avignon. In 1352, he became abbot of St Germain, Auxerre. He was chosen as abbot of St Victor, Marseille in 1361. During a papal mission to Naples, he learnt that Pope Innocent VI had died and he had been elected successor. For 50 years the papacy had been based at Avignon. In 1366 Pope Urban decided to try to return to Rome. Dec. 19

SAINTS DECEMBER 20

Bl. Peter de la Cadireta, Roman Catholic Dominican Martyr. A Spaniard, he entered the Dominicans and devoted his time to preaching to the heretics, including the Albigensians, in the area around Urgell, Spain. A group of heretics stoned him to death.Feastday Dec 20

ST PHILOGONIUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH

A Syrian lawyer, Philogonius was a great orator, highly esteemed for his wisdom and fairness. Married, he had a daughter. He was elected bishop of Antioch in 314. He combatted Arianism, a heresy that denied the divinity of Jesus. He died in prison in 324, a courageous witness to the faith.  Dec.20

SAINTS DECEMBER 21

ST. PETER CANISIUS, JESUIT AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH. St. Peter Canisius was the first Dutch Jesuit and lived in the 16th century. He is considered the second Apostle of Germany after St. Boniface. A prolific writer, he was one of the architects of the spiritual renewal of the Catholic Church promoted by the Council of Trent. "See, Peter sleeps, Judas is awake". Pope Benedict XVI quoted these words of St Peter Canisius at the beginning of Lent 2011. He called them "a cry of anguish in his historical moment", words that were destined to shake "the drowsiness of the good". 

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/21/st--peter-canisius--jesuit--and-doctor-of-the-church.html 

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-peter-canisius-sj/

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-thomas-bedingfeld-sj/

St. Andrew Dung Lac. Roman Catholic Martyr companion of St. Peter Thi. Andrew, born in 1785, was a priest in Vietnam, his homeland. He was arrested and beheaded on December 21 with Peter Thi. Feastday Dec. 21

Bl. Adrian, Roman Catholic Dominican martyr in Dalmatia. Adrian and twenty-seven others were executed by Muslims for confessing Christ. Feastday Dec.21

ST. MICAH, PROPHET, Born in the 8th century near Jerusalem, Micah was a peasant, whom God called to denounce the exploitation of the poor, the injustices committed by the powerful and corrupt, and the practice of idolatry. A prophet, he announced a great joy for Israel: the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem. Dec. 21

SAINTS DECEMBER 22

St. Chaeromon, Roman Catholic Bishop of Nilopolis, in Egypt. When the persecution was instituted by Emperor Trajanus Decius, Chaeromon Was quite elderly. He and several companions fled into the Arabian desert and were never seen again. The bishop and his companions are listed as martyrs. Feastday Dec. 22

ST. FRANCESCA SAVERIO CABRINI, VIRGIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE MISSIONARIES OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS. Pope Francis has described St Frances Xavier Cabrini as a woman who understood that the modern world would be marked by people fleeing their homes in search of peace, and that these were the people she wished to take care of. The Church remembers her on December 22nd as the patron saint of migrants.  

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/22/st--francesca-saverio-cabrini--virgin--foundress-of-the--mission.html

SAINTS DECEMBER 23

Martyrs of Crete, Ten Roman Catholic martyrs of the island of Crete who suffered during the persecution of Emperor Trajanus Decius. They are named Agathopus, Basilides, Eunician, Euporus, Evaristus, Cleomenes, Gelasius, Saturninus, Theodulus, and Zoticus. Feastday: December 23

St. Victoria, Roman Catholic Martyr, with her sister Anatolia, she refused importunate suitors. Both were imprisoned and starved by their suitors but persisted in refusing marriage. Anatolia was converted to Christianity and converted many in Picenum before being denounced for her faith, for which she was tortured and executed at Thora on Lake Velino in Italy. When Victoria refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, she too was executed, perhaps at Tribulano. The guard was converted by their example and was also martyred. Feastday Dec.23rd.

St. John of Kanty, Roman Catholic priest, scholastic philosopher, physicist and theologian, Born in Kęty, Poland, in 1390, John was a priest and professor of philosophy at the University of Krakow. He was chosen as tutor to Polish princes. With his pay he fed the poor, whom he sought in the city streets. Esteemed by all for his charity, he died during the Christmas Eve Mass of 1473 Feastday Dec.23rd.

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-michael-nakashima-sj/

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-william-eberschweiler-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 24

St. Lucian, Roman Catholic African martyr with Drusus Metrobius, Paul, Theotirnus, and Zenobius. They were martyred at Tripoli, Libya. Feastday Dec.24

ST. TARSILLA, ROMAN VIRGIN, AUNT OF ST. GREGORY THE GREAT

A Roman nun and paternal aunt of Pope St. Gregory I the Great, who reigned from 590 to 604, St. Tarsilla was praised by her nephew for her faith and charity. She dedicated her life to prayer and to assisting others in difficulty. Dec. 24

St. Caranus, 7th century. A Scottish bishop venerated in Aberdeen. He served in Eastern Scotland.

ST. IRMA, ABBESS 

Saint Irma lived between the seventh and eighth centuries, and was abbess of the Benedictine Monastery at Trier. Tradition says she was the daughter of St. Dagobert, King of Austrasia. She helped San Willibrord, the English monk who evangelised Frisia.   Dec. 24

SAINTS DECEMBER 25

St. Eugenia, Roman Catholic Martyr, Eugenia converted many others, including her mother, Claudia, and suffered martyrdom by sword for her faith in Rome, where she had gone with her mother. Her feast day is December 25th.

ST. ANASTASIA, MARTYR OF SIRMIUM

St. Anastasia lived during the time of the Emperor Diocletian, and helped the Christians persecuted by the emperor. Arrested in Sirmium, she refused to deny the faith. Embarked on a leaking ship, she escaped and reached safety, at least temporarily. Captured again, she was burned alive.  Dec.25

Bl. Michael Nakashima, Roman Catholic Jesuit martyr of Japan. A native Japanese, Michael was admitted to the Society of Jesus because of his holiness and courage. He hid priests and was placed under arrest for many months for harboring missionaries. Michael was then taken to Shimabara and was scalded to death in the hot springs at Mount Ungen. Feastday Dec.25

St. Alburga, 800 A.D. Abbess and foundress, born a princess in Wessex, England. The sister of King Egbert of Wessex, Alburga displayed piety at an early age. She was married to Wulfstan of Wiltshire as part of a political alliance. She founded Wilton Abbey while married to Wulfstan. Upon his death, Alburga retired to Wilton and became the abbess.

B. MARY OF THE APOSTLES, VIRGIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE SALVATORIAN SISTERS.She established the Sisters of the Divine Savior – also referred to as the Salvatorian Sisters – with the assistance of the priest Venerable Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan, founder of the Salvatorians. She later assumed the name of "Maria of the Apostles" following her solemn profession as a nun. Dec 25

SAINTS DECEMBER 26

ST. STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR St. Stephen Stephen's name means "crown," and he was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the martyr's crown. Stephen was a deacon in the early Christian Church. Saint Stephen is known as the “Proto-Martyr,” insofar as he was the first of the early disciples to shed his blood for Christ. The account of his martyrdom by stoning is related in the Acts of the Apostles. Because of the manner of his death, he is recognized as patron of stoneworkers and masons.  Dec.26

St. Amaethlu, 6th century. Founder and hermit. Arnaethlu also called Maethlu, lived in Wales. A church in Anglesey is named after him as the founder.

St. Pope Dionysius Roman Catholic Priest and Pope. Dionysius died in Rome, was the first pope not listed as a martyr, and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus. Dec.26

St. Vincentia Maria Lopez Y Vicuna, Roman Catholic Nun and foundress of Daughters of Mary Immaculate for Domestic Service, a religious congregation dedicated to the ministering to working girls. Dec.26

SAINTS DECEMBER 27

St. Fabiola, Roman Catholic laywoman, devoted herself to charitable works and aiding churches, and built the first Christian public hospital in the West, where she personally tended the sick. Feastday December 26

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist --The “beloved disciple” was an impetuous fisherman who became a disciple of Jesus, the only one of the apostles not to be martyred. Tradition holds him to be the author not only of the fourth Gospel, but of the Johannine letters and the Book of Revelation.  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/27/st--john--apostle-and-evangelist.html 

SAINTS DECEMBER 28

Holy Innocents, martyrs -The Holy Innocents are the children of Bethlehem, put to death by order of King Herod, as part of his efforts to 

eliminate the child Jesus, whom prophecies announced as the Messiah and new King of Israel. They have been honored as martyrs since the early centuries.  

Sts. Eutychius & Domitian, Roman Catholic Martyrs of Ancyra, in Galatia. Eutychius was a priest and Domitian a deacon, and they died for defending the faith. Feastday Dec.28

St. Romulus and Conindrus, 450 A.D. Missionaries and bishops, honored as the first evangelizers of the Isle of Man. They were contemporaries of St. Patrick and part of the great mission labors of that era.

St. Maughold, 488 A.D. Irish bishop converted by St. Patrick, also listed as Macull and Maccaldus. Originally an outlaw, he was spiritually changed by St. Patrick and performed penance and entered the religious life. Maughold was told to leave Ireland as part of his penance and set sail, landing on the Isle of Man. There he evangelized the people and was elected bishop.

SAINTS DECEMBER 29

St. Thomas Becket, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. Soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III.  From statesman to martyr: Thomas à Becket was Chancellor to his friend, the English King Henry II, who willed that he become Archbishop of Canterbury, opposed his friend the king to defend the rights and liberties of the Church. He was killed in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170.  

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/29/st--thomas--becket--bishop-of--canterbury--martyr.html

Bl. William Howard, 1680 A.D.

Martyr of England. He was born the son of Thomas, earl of Arundel, in 1616 and raised a Catholic. The grandson of Blessed Philip Howard and a member of the noble family of the Howards, William held the title of Viscount Stafford. He was made a Knight of the Bath by King Charles I (r.1624-1649), and married Mary Stafford in 1637. In 1640, William was named Baron Stafford. A county in Virginia in the United States bears his name. He was arrested on the false accusation of complicity in the so-called Popish Plot and imprisoned for two years before finally being beheaded on Tower Hill on December 29. He was beatified in 1929

St. Aileran, 664 A.D. Monk, biographer, and scholar. Also called Sapiens the Wise. Aileran was one of the most distinguished professors at the school of Clonard in Ireland. St. Finian welcomed Aileran to Clonard. In 650, Aileran became rector of Clonard, and was recognized as a classical scholar and a master of Latin and Greek. He wrote The Fourth Life of St. Patrick, a Latin-Irish Litany and The Lives of St. Brigid and St. Fechin of Fore. His last work was a treatise on the genealogy of Christ according to St. Matthew. A fragment of another of Aileran's works has survived: A Short Moral Explanation of the Sacred Names. Scholarly institutions across Europe read this work aloud annually. Aileran died from the Yellow Plague. His death on December 29, 664 is chronicled in the Annals of Ulster.

SAINTS DECEMBER 30

St. Anysia, Roman Catholic Martyr of Greece. She was a wealthy woman of Salonika, in Thessaly, who used her personal funds to aid the poor. A soldier accosted her in the street and tried to drag her to a pagan sacrifice. Anysia resisted and was killed when the soldier attacked her with his sword. Dec. 30

The Martyr Saints of China, or Augustine Zhao Rong and his 119 companions, are saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western missionaries, from the mid-17th century to 1930, were martyred because of their ministry and, in some cases, for their refusal to apostatize. Many died in the Boxer Rebellion, in which xenophobic peasants slaughtered 30,000 Chinese converts to Christianity along with missionaries and other foreigners. Dec. 30

Bl. John Alcober, Roman Catholic Dominican Priest and Martyr in China. He was held in prison until strangled to death. He died with Blessed Peter Sanz and other Dominicans. Dec. 30

St. Egwin, 717 A.D. An English noble who became the bishop of Worcester, England, in 692. Chargedwith being overly strict by his clergy, Egwin went to Rome. Upon his return to England, he founded Eversham Monastery with the aid of the kingdom of Mercia. A vision of Mary prompted this founding. In 709, Egwin returned to Rome, accompanied by King Cenred of Mercia and King Offa of the East Saxons.

ST. FELIX I, POPE Dec. 30

A Roman priest, Felix reigned as Pope from 269 to 274. He celebrated Masses over the tombs that guarded the relics of the Christian martyrs, and strongly defended the doctrines of the Trinity of God and the Incarnation of the Word.  Dec.30

Holy Family

https://www.jesuit.org.sg/dec-john-peter-medaille-sj/

SAINTS DECEMBER 31

STS. DONATA, PAULINA AND HILARY, MARTYRS ON THE VIA SALARIA NUOVA Dec. 31

 

St. Sylvester, Roman Catholic Priest and was Pope for twenty-four years and eleven months.The Council of Nicea was assembled during his reign, in the year 325, during the period in which the Roman Emperor, Constantine, built the first Roman basilicas, and the Council of Nicea clarified central Christological teachings. Pope St. Sylvester died on 31 

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/12/31/st--sylvester-i--pope.html 

ST. MELANY, ROMAN MATRON, or St. Melania, The life of St. Melania reminds us of the fleeting character of earthly wealth. We should strive to emulate her use of wealth as well as talents to further the cause of Christ. Dec.31