Christian Today

Saint of the day August 31 Bl. Richard Bere, 1537 A.D. English martyr. Born at Glastonbury, he studied at Oxford and the Inns of Court before entering the Carthusians in London. When he and his fellow monks voiced their opposition to the planned divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon, they were starved to death in Newgate Prison. St. Aidan of Lindisfarne , 651 A.D. Aidan of Lindisfarne, born in Ireland, may have studied under St. Senan before becoming a monk at Iona. At the request of King Oswald of Northumbria, Aidan went to Lindisfarne as bishop and was known throughout the kingdom for his knowledge of the Bible, his learning, his eloquent preaching, his holiness, his distaste for pomp, his kindness to the poor, and the miracles attributed to him. He founded a monastery at Lindisfarne that became known as the English Iona and was a center of learning and missionary activity for all of northern England. He died in 651 at the royal castle at Bamburgh.   St. Raymon...

 Saint of the day August 30 Bl. Edward Shelley, 1588 A.D. English martyr of Warminghurst. He sheltered priests and was hung at Tyburn. Edward was beatified in 1929.   St. Loaran , 5th century.  Irish disciple of St. Patrick. He is sometimes listed as the bishop of Downpatrick, Ireland.   Bl. Richard Leigh, 1588 A.D. English martyr . Born in London, circa 1561, he studied at Reims and Rome and was ordained a priest in 1586. Returning to England, he was arrested and banished. He returned and was again arrested for being a priest and, with Blesseds Richard Martin, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward, was executed at Tybum. Richard was beatified in 1929.    St. Richard Martin, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in Shropshire, he studied at Oxford and was a devout Catholic. Arrested for giving shelter to priests, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flo...

 Saint of the day August 29 Bl. Richard Herst, 1628 A.D. English martyr, also called Hurst. Born near Preston, Lancashire, England, he was well known as a farmer until being arrested on the charge of murder. He fought with three men who tried to arrest him, and one of them, named Dewhurst, died. In point of fact, he was hanged at Lancaster on August 29 because of his refusal to deny Catholicism. He was offered his freedom if he took the Oath of Supremacy but declined. He was beatified in 1929. St. Velleicus , 8th century. Anglo-Saxon abbot also listed as Willeic. He journeyed to Germany to assist in the evangelization of the region as a disciple of St. Swithbert and served as abbot of Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine.   St. Sebb i, 694 A.D. Also listed as Sebbe, he became the king of Essex (or the East Saxons) following the conversion of the kingdom by St. Cedd in 664. He ruled at a time when there was relative peace and the realm was under the domination of Mercia, a nearby k...

  Saint of the day August 28 St. Edmund Arrowsmith, 1628 A.D.  St. Edmund Arrowsmith (1585 - 1628) Edmund was the son of Robert Arrowsmith, a farmer, and was born at Haydock, England. He was baptized Brian, but always used his Confirmation name of Edmund. The family was constantly harrassed for its adherence to Catholicism, and in 1605 Edmund left England and went to Douai to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1612 and sent on the English mission the following year. He ministered to the Catholics of Lancashire without incident until about 1622, when he was arrested and questioned by the Protestant bishop of Chester. He was released when King James ordered all arrested priests be freed, joined the Jesuits in 1624, and in 1628 was arrested when betrayed by a young man he had censored for an incestuous marriage. He was convicted of being a Catholic priest, sentenced to death, and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Lancaster on August 28th. He was canonized as one of the F...

  Saint of the day August 27 St. Decuman, 706 A.D. Hermit martyr, also called Dagan. He was Welsh, and he lived as a recluse in Somersetshire, England. There he was murdered in a fashion that led to his veneration as a martyr. St.  Etherius, 602 A.D.  Bishop of Lyon s, France, who welcomed St. Augustine when he was on his way to England. Pope St. Gregory I the Great  recommended Etherius to St. Augustine. Etherius is some-times listed as Alermius.   St. Malrubius. Martyred hermit of Merns , Scotland. He was slain by Norse invaders who landed in his area and razed the countryside. St. Monica, Roman Catholic Laywoman and was married by arrangement to a pagan official in North Africa, who was much older than she, and although generous, was also violent tempered. His mother Lived with them and was equally difficult, which proved a constant challenge to St. Monica. She had three children; Augustine, Navigius, and Perpetua. feastday Aug 27 Patron of Wives and Ab...

  Saint of the day August 26 Bl. Thomas Percy, 1572 A.D. English Martyr , born in 1528. Earl of Northumberland from 1537, Thomas initially enjoyed an excellent relationship with Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603). Thomas also served Queen Mary (r. 1542-1587). Queen Elizabeth bestowed the Order of the Garter on him in 1563. He then became involved in the Rising of the North and fled to Scotland but was sold to Queen Elizabeth for two thousand pounds. For three years he languished in a prison, refusing fervently to abjure his faith in return for his freedom. Thomas was finally beheaded at York and was beatified in 1896.   St. Bregwin, 764 A.D. Also Breguivine, the twelfth archbishop of Canterbury, England.  He served from 761 until his death. His letters to St. Lullus of Mainz are extant and Eadmer wrote his life.   St. Pandwyna, 10th century. A Scottish or Irish saint also called Pandonio. A church is dedicated to her in Cambridgeshire, England.   ST ZE...

  Saint of the day August 25 St. Louis IX, King of France . He was well known for protecting the French clergy from secular leaders and for strictly enforcing laws against blasphemy.  He established the Sorbonne (1252) and the monasteries of Rayaumont, Vavert, and Maubuisson. Louis led two crusades, the Sixth and the Seventh Crusades.Feastday Aug 25 Bl. Louis Sotelo, Franciscan martyr of Japan . Louis Was a noble of Spain, who was ordained and sent to Manila, Philippines, in 1601. He went to Japan in 1603 but was exiled. Returning to Spain in 1613, he visited Rome in 1622, and then went again to Japan. He was arrested in Nagasaki and burned alive at Shimabara. Feastday Aug 25 St. Patricia Roman Catholic patron of Naples, and like St. Januarius there, a vial believed to be filled with her blood reportedly liquefies thirteen hundred years after her death. St. Patricia,  fled to Italy to escape marriage and became a virgin consecrated to God in Rome. She returned to constan...