Christian Today

31st July - S : Founder of the Jesuits. St Ignatius was born in 1491, the youngest son of a Basque nobleman. As a young man he was a soldier and was wounded at the Battle of Pamplona against the French. During a long convalescence he read the lives of the saints, and decided to dedicate himself to God. After a year's retreat at Manresa in Catalonia he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and then from 1524 to 1534 he studied, beginning with Latin grammar with the schoolboys of Barcelona and ending by earning his Master of Arts degree at the University of Paris, at the age of 43.

30th July - Saint Peter Chrysologus - Independent Catholic News : Bishop. His name means 'Peter the golden-worded'. Born in around 380, he was Bishop of Ravenna from about 433 AD until his death in 450. Peter was born in Imola, where he was ordained a deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of Imola. Pope Sixtus III appointed him to the See of Ravenna in about the year 433. He was a counsellor of Pope Leo I. Known as 'The Doctor of Homilies' - Peter was known for his short but inspired sermons.

Bl. Richard Featherstone - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Richard Featherstone, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Richard served as a chaplain to Queen Catherine of Aragon and tutor to the princess Mary I. In the crisis which attended the king's efforts to secure divorce from his wife, Richard spoke openly in her defense and was arrested for treason and executed at Tyburn. Feastday July 30

Bl. Edward Powell - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online Bl. Edward Powell, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, a councilor to Queen Catherine of Aragon, wife of King Henry VIII. A Welshman. opposed the spiritual supremacy of Henry VIII. For this he spent six years in prison before being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Smithfield, London. Feastday July 30