Christian Today

Christians in India Suffer More Than Two Attacks a Day - ZENIT - English : In the first half of the year, 400 episodes of violence have taken place.

The Parable of the Merchant of Precious Pearls Explained by the Pope (With Concrete Questions To Be Applied in Life) - ZENIT - English : Address on the occasion of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, July 30, 2023.

SAINTS FOR JULY 31 Bl. Everard Hanse, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, raised a Protestant in Northhamptonshire, England, studied at Cambridge, and was ordained a minister. In 1568, he converted to the Church and went to Reims, France, where he was ordained in 1581. Returning as a missionary, Everard was arrested and condemned. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on July 31 ST. JUSTIN DE JACOBIS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE MISSION, BISHOP OF ABISSINIA St. Neot, Hermit , and relative of King Alfred the Great. A monk of Glastonbury, England, he was ordained before he departed to become a hermit in Cornwall. Tradition states that King Alfred visited him for his counsel. ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, PRIEST, FOUNDER OF THE JESUITS- Thanks to a broken leg, this fame-seeking solider became the founder of the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, drawing from his own experience nearly unparalleled insight into the spiritual life. His feast day is celebrated on July 31.

SAINTS FOR JULY 30 Bl. Thomas Abel, 1540 A.D. English martyr . A graduate of Oxford University, Thomas served as chaplain to Queen Catharine of Aragon, proving intensely loyal to her cause during the ordeal of the divorce proceedings against her by King Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547). Arrested by English authorities for denying the spiritual supremacy of the king, he was incarcerated in the Tower of London for six years, finally receiving execution at Smithfield. He was beatified in 1886. Bl. Edward Powell, 1504 A.D. English martyr , a councilor to Queen Catherine of Aragon, wife of King Henry VIII. A Welshman, Edward was a canon of Salisbury, England, and a fellow of Odd, noted for treatises opposing Martin Luther. He served Queen Catherine of Aragon and opposed the spiritual supremacy of Henry VIII. For this he spent six years in prison before being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Smithfield, London. He was beatified in 1886. Bl. Richard Featherstone, 1540 A.D. Engli...

SAINTS FOR JULY 29 St. Martha Wang, Roman Catholic Martyr of Tonkin, Vietnam, who was arrested carrying letters from the imprisoned martyrs, Blesseds Joseph Tshang and Paul Tcheng. She was beheaded with them at Tsingai. Feastday July 29th. ST. BEATRICE OF ROME-Beatrice (or Viatrice, the feminine form of the Latin viator, “traveler”), is a Roman martyr. She died during the persecutions of Diocletian between 303 and 304. She is celebrated on 29 July together with the saints Simplicius, Faustinus and Rufus, also martyrs. ST. MARTHA, DISCIPLE OF THE LORD Bl. Urban II , Urban supported the Christian conquest of Spain from the Moors, and at the council of Claremont in 1095, he declared the Truce of God and preached the first crusade. Feastday 7/29 St. Kilian , 7th century. An Irish abbot who wrote the life of St. Brigid. He ruled a monastery on the island of Iniscaltra, Ireland.

SAINTS FOR JULY 28 STS. NAZARIO AND CELSO, MARTYRS IN MILAN St. Innocent I, Roman Catholic Pope, succeeding Pope St. Anastasius I, on December 22, 401. Innocent emphasized papal supremacy and strongly favored clerical celibacy. Feastday July 28th. B. URBAN II, POPE ST. VICTOR I, POPE St. Alphonsa, Roman Catholic Nun, Patron against illness. Feastday July 28 St. Samson, 565 A.D . Welsh bishop and evangelizer. Born at Glamorgan, Wales, he became a disciple of St. Illtyd at the monastery of Lianwit (Llantwit) in southern Glamorgan and then lived as a monk (and later abbot) of a community on Caldey Island (Ynys Byr). He was joined there by his uncle, Umbrafel, and his father, Amon. After a trip to Ireland, Samson became a hermit with Amon whom he cured of a mortal illness. During a trip to Cornwall, he was consecrated a bishop and appointed an abbot. He then departed England and went to Brittany where he spent the rest of his life as a missionary, even though he had long sea...

SAINTS FOR JULY 27 ST. PANTALEON, PHYSICIAN, MARTYR Sts. Natalie & Aurelius, Roman Catholic Martyr for her Faith with her husband Aurelius . According to his biography by St. Eulogius of Toledo, Aurelius was the son of a Moor and a Spanish woman, and was orphaned as a child. He was secretly raised a Christian by his aunt during the Moorish persecution of Christians. He married a half Moorish woman, Sabigotho, who took the name Natalie when he converted her to Christianity. They were both beheaded for practicing their religion openly together with George, a monk from Jerusalem whom Aurelius had befriended. FeastdayJuly 27th Bl. Rudolf Acquaviva, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and Martyr. he was the nephew of Claudius Acquaviva, the fifth master general of the Jesuits, and he followed his uncle into the Society of Jesus. In 1549, he was sent to India, going to the court of Mogul Akbar near Agra. He became superior of the Salsette mission. Rudolf was martyred at Salsette, ne...