1-20-2022 – St. Sebastian
St. Sebastian was commonly invoked as a protector against the plague. According to historical records, he defended the city of Rome against the plague in 680. His association with the plague could be because he survived being shot full of arrows and in pagan belief, pestilence was delivered by arrows shot by the gods above. […]
1/19/2022 – St. Canute
Martyred king of Denmark, sometimes called Knud. The illegitimate son of King Sven II Estridson of Denmark, Canute succeeded his brother Harald III Hen in 1081. After marrying Adela, the sister of Count Robert of Flanders, Canute built churches and monasteries. In 1085, he planned an invasion of England, but the nobles of the court […]
1/18/2022 – The Chair of Peter
This feast brings to mind the mission of teacher and pastor conferred by Christ on Peter, and continued in an unbroken line down to the present Pope. We celebrate the unity of the Church, founded upon the Apostle, and renew our assent to the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, extended both to truths which are […]
1/17/2022 – St. Anthony of Egypt
St. Anthony was born around 251 into a wealthy family, near Cairo. At that time, the Catholic Church was spreading throughout the Roman empire, although the empire remained pagan and did not recognize Catholicism. Around the year 270, both of Anthony’s parents died, and he inherited their possessions and property. He reevaluated his life in […]
1/15/2022 – St. Paul the Hermit
Also known as Paul the First Hermit and Paul of Thebes, an Egyptian hermit and friend of St. Jerome. Born in Lower The baid, Egypt, he was left an orphan at about the age of fifteen and hid during the persecution of the Church under Emperor Traj anus Decius. At the age of twenty two […]
1/14/2022 – St. Hilary of Poitiers
“They didn’t know who they were.” This is how Hilary summed up the problem with the Arian heretics of the fourth century. Hilary, on the other hand, knew very well who he was — a child of a loving God who had inherited eternal life through belief in the Son of God. He hadn’t been […]
1/13/2022 – St. Veronica of Milan
Saint Veronica was a poor maiden of Milan. Possessed of an angelic piety, she wished to enter the convent of the Augustinian nuns of Saint Martha, who were established in her native city. But the poverty of her parents had prevented the holy girl from receiving even the first rudiments of education. After working hard […]
1/12/2022 – St. Aelred
St. Aelred of Rievaulx (1109-1167) early showed signs of promise. The son of Eilaf, a Saxon priest, Aelred was educated at Roxburgh, the ancient Scottish capital, where he was known for his intellectual talents. The DNB notes that as a child, Aelred prophesied the death of a bad archbishop of York; the DNB notes also […]
1/11/2022 – St. Theodosius
bbot and founder. Born at Garissus, Cappadocia (modern Turkey), in 423, he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and after meeting with the famed St. Simeon Stylites, he entered a monastery. Later, he was named the head of a church between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, but departed to live as a hermit near the Dead Sea. As […]
1/9/2022 – St. Julian and Basilissa
Martyr with Anastasius, Anthony, Basilissa, Celsus, Marcionilla, and companions. Julian and Basilissa were married and used their home as a Christian hospital for the poor. Anthony was a priest, and Anastasius was a new convert. Marcionilla was the mother of young Celsus. They were martyred at Antioch.