BLESSED BLOG

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2008

"Christ made Himself poor for you" (2 Cor 8,9)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

1. Each year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters. In the Lenten period, the Church makes it her duty to propose some specific tasks that accompany the faithful concretely in this process of interior renewal: these are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. For this year's Lenten Message, I wish to spend some time reflecting on the practice of almsgiving, which represents a specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly goods. The force of attraction to material riches and just how categorical our decision must be not to make of them an idol, Jesus confirms in a resolute way: "You cannot serve God and mammon" (Lk 16,13). Almsgiving helps us to overcome this constant temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbor's needs and to share with others whatever we possess through divine goodness. This is the aim of the special collections in favor of the poor, which are promoted during Lent in many parts of the world. In this way, inward cleansing is accompanied by a gesture of ecclesial communion, mirroring what already took place in the early Church. In his Letters, Saint Paul speaks of this in regard to the collection for the Jerusalem community (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27).

2. According to the teaching of the Gospel, we are not owners but rather administrators of the goods we possess: these, then, are not to be considered as our exclusive possession, but means through which the Lord calls each one of us to act as a steward of His providence for our neighbor. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, material goods bear a social value, according to the principle of their universal destination (cf. n. 2404)
In the Gospel, Jesus explicitly admonishes the one who possesses and uses earthly riches only for self. In the face of the multitudes, who, lacking everything, suffer hunger, the words of Saint John acquire the tone of a ringing rebuke: "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?" (1 Jn 3,17). In those countries whose population is majority Christian, the call to share is even more urgent, since their responsibility toward the many who suffer poverty and abandonment is even greater. To come to their aid is a duty of justice even prior to being an act of charity.

3. The Gospel highlights a typical feature of Christian almsgiving: it must be hidden: "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing," Jesus asserts, "so that your alms may be done in secret" (Mt 6,3-4). Just a short while before, He said not to boast of one's own good works so as not to risk being deprived of the heavenly reward (cf. Mt 6,1-2). The disciple is to be concerned with God's greater glory. Jesus warns: "In this way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Mt 5,16). Everything, then, must be done for God's glory and not our own. This understanding, dear brothers and sisters, must accompany every gesture of help to our neighbor, avoiding that it becomes a means to make ourselves the center of attention. If, in accomplishing a good deed, we do not have as our goal God's glory and the real well being of our brothers and sisters, looking rather for a return of personal interest or simply of applause, we place ourselves outside of the Gospel vision. In today's world of images, attentive vigilance is required, since this temptation is great. Almsgiving, according to the Gospel, is not mere philanthropy: rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbor, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave His entire self for us. How could we not thank God for the many people who silently, far from the gaze of the media world, fulfill, with this spirit, generous actions in support of one's neighbor in difficulty? There is little use in giving one's personal goods to others if it leads to a heart puffed up in vainglory: for this reason, the one, who knows that God "sees in secret" and in secret will reward, does not seek human recognition for works of mercy.

4. In inviting us to consider almsgiving with a more profound gaze that transcends the purely material dimension, Scripture teaches us that there is more joy in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts 20,35). When we do things out of love, we express the truth of our being; indeed, we have been created not for ourselves but for God and our brothers and sisters (cf. 2 Cor 5,15). Every time when, for love of God, we share our goods with our neighbor in need, we discover that the fullness of life comes from love and all is returned to us as a blessing in the form of peace, inner satisfaction and joy. Our Father in heaven rewards our almsgiving with His joy. What is more: Saint Peter includes among the spiritual fruits of almsgiving the forgiveness of sins: "Charity," he writes, "covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pt 4,8). As the Lenten liturgy frequently repeats, God offers to us sinners the possibility of being forgiven. The fact of sharing with the poor what we possess disposes us to receive such a gift. In this moment, my thought turns to those who realize the weight of the evil they have committed and, precisely for this reason, feel far from God, fearful and almost incapable of turning to Him. By drawing close to others through almsgiving, we draw close to God; it can become an instrument for authentic conversion and reconciliation with Him and our brothers.

5. Almsgiving teaches us the generosity of love. Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo forthrightly recommends: "Never keep an account of the coins you give, since this is what I always say: if, in giving alms, the left hand is not to know what the right hand is doing, then the right hand, too, should not know what it does itself" (Detti e pensieri, Edilibri, n. 201). In this regard, all the more significant is the Gospel story of the widow who, out of her poverty, cast into the Temple treasury "all she had to live on" (Mk 12,44). Her tiny and insignificant coin becomes an eloquent symbol: this widow gives to God not out of her abundance, not so much what she has, but what she is. Her entire self. We find this moving passage inserted in the description of the days that immediately precede Jesus' passion and death, who, as Saint Paul writes, made Himself poor to enrich us out of His poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8,9); He gave His entire self for us. Lent, also through the practice of almsgiving, inspires us to follow His example. In His school, we can learn to make of our lives a total gift; imitating Him, we are able to make ourselves available, not so much in giving a part of what we possess, but our very selves. Cannot the entire Gospel be summarized perhaps in the one commandment of love? The Lenten practice of almsgiving thus becomes a means to deepen our Christian vocation. In gratuitously offering himself, the Christian bears witness that it is love and not material richness that determines the laws of his existence. Love, then, gives almsgiving its value; it inspires various forms of giving, according to the possibilities and conditions of each person.

6. Dear brothers and sisters, Lent invites us to "train ourselves" spiritually, also through the practice of almsgiving, in order to grow in charity and recognize in the poor Christ Himself. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that the Apostle Peter said to the cripple who was begging alms at the Temple gate: "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk" (Acts 3,6). In giving alms, we offer something material, a sign of the greater gift that we can impart to others through the announcement and witness of Christ, in whose name is found true life. Let this time, then, be marked by a personal and community effort of attachment to Christ in order that we may be witnesses of His love. May Mary, Mother and faithful Servant of the Lord, help believers to enter the "spiritual battle" of Lent, armed with prayer, fasting and the practice of almsgiving, so as to arrive at the celebration of the Easter Feasts, renewed in spirit.

With these wishes, I willingly impart to all my Apostolic Blessing.

St. Matilda
Feastday: March 14
Patron of parents of large families
968

Matilda was the daughter of Count Dietrich of Westphalia and Reinhild of Denmark. She was also known as Mechtildis and Maud. She was raised by her grandmother, the Abbess of Eufurt convent. Matilda married Henry the Fowler, son of Duke Otto of Saxony, in the year 909. He succeeded his father as Duke in the year 912 and in 919 succeeded King Conrad I to the German throne. She was noted for her piety and charitable works. She was widowed in the year 936, and supported her son Henry's claim to his father's throne. When her son Otto (the Great) was elected, she persuaded him to name Henry Duke of Bavaria after he had led an unsuccessful revolt. She was severely criticized by both Otto and Henry for what they considered her extravagant charities. She resigned her inheritance to her sons, and retired to her country home but was called to the court through the intercession of Otto's wife, Edith. When Henry again revolted, Otto put down the insurrection in the year 941 with great cruelty. Matilda censored Henry when he began another revolt against Otto in the year 953 and for his ruthlessness in suppressing a revolt by his own subjects; at that time she prophesized his imminent death. When he did die in 955, she devoted herself to building three convents and a monastery, was left in charge of the kingdom when Otto went to Rome in 962 to be crowned Emperor (often regarded as the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire), and spent most of the declining years of her life at the convent at Nordhausen she had built. She died at the monastery at Quedlinburg on March 14 and was buried there with Henry. Her feast day is March 14th.

St. Boniface Curitan
Feastday: March 14
660

Evangelist to the Picts and Scots. Probably a Roman by birth, Boniface was the bishop of Ross, England. He introduced Roman observances into the British territories and founded a vast number of parishes.

St. Eutychius
Feastday: March 14
741

Martyred Roman nobleman captured by the Arabs while in battle. When the Muslim Caliph defeated the Christians in the region, he martyred Eutychius and a large number of the faithful at Carrhae, Mesopotamia. In some lists he is called Eustathius.

St. Euphrasia
Feastday: March 13
420

Noble Roman raised by Emperor Theodosius I when her father, Antigonus, died. Her mother entered a convent in Egypt, and Euphrasia, at the age of five, went with her. At the age of twelve, orphaned, she was commanded by Emperor Arcadius to marry a senator but received permission to give her wealth to the poor and remain a nun. Also known as Euphraxia, she was known for her holiness.

Blessed Agnello of Pisa
Feastday: March 13

The founder of the English Franciscan province, Blessed Agnello, was admitted into the Order by St. Francis himself on the occasion of his sojourn in Pisa. He was sent to the Friary in Paris, of which he became the guardian, and in 1224, St. Francis appointed him to found an English province; at the time he was only a deacon. Eight others were selected to accompany him. True to the precepts of St. Francis, they had no money, and the monks of Fecamp paid their passage over to Dover. They made Canterbury their first stopping place, while Richard of Ingworth, Richard of Devon and two of the Italians went on to London to see where they could settle. It was the winter of 1224, and they must have suffered great discomfort, especially as their ordinary fare was bread and a little beer, which was so thick that it had to be diluted before they could swallow it. Nothing, however, dampened their spirits, and their simple piety, cheerfulness and enthusiasm soon won them many friends. They were able to produce a commendatory letter from Pope Honorius III, so that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Steven Langton, in announcing their arrival, said, "Some religious have come to me calling themselves penitents of the Order of Assisi, but I called them of the Order of the Apostles." In the meantime, Richard of Ingworth and his party had been well received in London and hired a dwelling on Cornhill. They were now ready to push on to Oxford, and Agnello came from Canterbury to take charge of the London settlement. Everywhere the Friars were received with enthusiasm, and Matthew Paris himself attests that Blessed Agnello was on familiar terms with King Henry III. Agnello is thought to have died at the age of forty-one, only eleven years after he landed at Dover, but his reputation for sanctity and prudence stood high amongst his fellows. It is stated that his zeal for poverty was so great that "he would never permit any ground to be enlarged or any house to be built except as inevitable necessity required." He was stern in resisting relaxations in the Rule, but his gentleness and tact led him to be chosen in 1233 to negotiate with the rebellious Earl Marshal. His health is said to have been undermined by his efforts in this cause and by a last painful journey to Italy. Opon his return he was seized with dysentery at Oxford and died there, after crying out for three days, "Come, Sweetest Jesus." The cult of Blessed Agnello was confirmed in 1892; his feast is observed in the Archdiocese of Birmingham today and by the Friars Minor on the eleventh.

St. Roderic
Feastday: March 13

Roderic, also known as Ruderic, was a priest at Cabra, Spain during the persecution of Christians by the Moors. Hew was beaten into unconsciousness by his two brothers, one a Mohammedan and the other a fallen-away Catholic, when he tried to stop an argument between them. The Mohammedan brother then paraded him through the streets proclaiming that he wished to become a Mohammedan. He escaped but was denounced to the authorities by the same brother as an apostate from Mohammedanism and imprisoned through he denied he had ever given up his Christianity. While in prison, he met a man named Solomon, also charged with apostasy, and after a long imprisonment, they were both beheaded. His feast day is March 13th.

St. Ansovinus
Feastday: March 13
840

Bishop and confessor of the Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious. He was born in Camerino, Italy, and entered the religious life at a young age. After living as a hermit for many years, Ansovinus elected Camerino. Ansovinus' sanctity and miracles also brought him to the court of Emperor Louis the Pious where he served as confessor and spiritual counselor.

St. Heldrad
Feastday: March 13
842

Benedictine abbot, also called Eldrad, who devised ways of rescuing travelers in the Alps. He was a noble from Provence, France, who set out on a pilgrimage to Rome. Entering the abbey of Novalese in the Italian Alps, he became abbot and ruled for thirty years. Heldrad built a hospice and added to the abbey's library.

St. Nicephorus
Feastday: March 13

Patriarch of Constantinople and martyr. The son of the secretary of Emperor Constantine V, he was raised as an opponent of the Iconoclasts in the imperial capital and remembered always that his father had been tortured for opposing the Iconoclast emperor. Nicephorus became known for his intellect and his eloquence, and received the post of imperial commissioner. After founding a monastery near the Black Sea, he was chosen despite being a layman to succeed to the office of patriarch of Constantinople in 806, succeeding St. Tarasius. He was opposed for a time by St. Theodore Studites after Nicephorus forgave a priest who married Emperor Constantine VI toTheodota despite the fact the Constantine’s wife, Mary, still lived. The patriarch also challenged the Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian and was deposed by a synod of Iconoclast bishops at the conniving of the emperor. Nearly assassinated on several occasions, Nicephorus was exiled to the monastery he had founded on the Black Sea, spending his remaining years there in prayer. He died on June 2 or March 13, 829. While patriarch, he brought various reforms to his large diocese and inspired the lay people. He was also the author of anti Iconoclast writings and two historical works, a Chronographia and Brevianim.

St. Mochoemoc
Feastday: March 13
656

Abbot founder of Liath Mochoemoc Monastery at Tipperary, Ireland. He was the son of Bevan and Nessa and the brother or nephew of St. Ita. Listed as Machaemhog, Puicherius, or Vuicherius, he was trained by St. Ita, at Munster, Ireland, and received ordination by St. Comgall at Bangor. Mochoemoc founded Arderin Abbey and others before he died.

St. Fina "Seraphina"
Feastday: March 12

St. Fina or Seraphina, Virgin A.D. 1253 The old town of San Geminiano in Tuscany treasures with special veneration the memory of Santa Fina, a young girl whose claim to be recognized as a saint lay in the perfect resignation with which she accepted bodily suffering. She was born of parents who had seen better days but had fallen into poverty. The child was pretty and attractive. Poor as she was she always kept half her food to give to those who were worse off than herself. As far as possible she lived the life of a recluse at home, sewing indeed and spinning during the day, ;but spending much of the night in prayer. Her father seems to have died when she was still young and about the same time Fina was attacked by a sudden complication of diseases. Her head, hands, eyes, feet and internal organs were affected and paralysis supervened. She lost her good looks and became a miserable object. Desiring to be like our Lord on the cross, for six years she lay on a plank in one position, unable to turn or to move. Her mother had to leave her for hours while she went to work or beg, but Fina never complained. Although in terrible pain she always maintained serenity and with her eyes fixed upon the crucifix she kept on repeating,"It is not my wounds but thine, O Christ, that hurt me".
Fresh trouble befell her. Her mother died suddenly and Fina was left utterly destitute. Except for one devoted friend Beldia she was now so neglected that it was clear she could not live long, dependent on the casual attentions of poor neighbors who shrank from contact with her loathsome sores. Someone had told her about St. Gregory the Great and his sufferings, and she had conceived a special veneration for him. She used to pray that he, who was so much tried by disease would intercede with God that she might have patience in her affliction. Eight days before her death as she lay alone and untended, Gregory appeared to her and said, "Dear child on my festival God will give you rest". And it came to pass when her body was removed from the board on which it had rested, the rotten wood was found to be covered with white violets. All the city attended the funeral and many miracles were reported as having been wrought through her intercession. In particular she is said as she lay dead, to have raised her hand and to have clasped and healed the injured arm of her friend Beldia. The peasants of San Geminiano still give the name of Santa Fina's flowers to the white violets which bloom about the season of her feast day of March 12th.

St. Theophanes
Feastday: March 12
b. 818

St. Theophanes Abbot and Confessor MARCH 12 A.D. 818 His father, who was governor of the isles of the Archipelago, died when he was only three years old, and left him heir to a very great estate, under the guardianship of the Iconoclast emperor, Constantine Copronymus. Amidst the dangers of such an education, a faithful pious servant instilled into his tender mind the most generous sentiments of virtue and religion. Being arrived at man's estate, he was compelled by his friends to take a wife; but on the day of his marriage, he spoke in so moving a manner to his consort on the shortness and uncertainty of this life, that they made a mutual vow of perpetual chastity. She afterwards became a nun, and he for his part built two monasteries in Mysia one of which, called Megal-Agre, near the Propontis, he governed himself. He lived, as it were, dead to the world and the flesh, in the greatest purity of life, and in the exercises of continual mortification and prayer. In 787, he assisted at the second council of Nice, where all admired to see one, whom they had formerly known in so much worldly grandeur, now so meanly clad, so modest, and so full of self-contempt as he appeared to be. He never laid aside his hair shirt; his bed was a mat, and his pillow a stone; his sustenance was hard coarse bread and water. At fifty years of age, he began to be grievously afflicted with the stone and nephritic colic; but bore with cheerfulness the most excruciating pains of his distemper. The emperor Leo, the Armenian, in 814, renewed the persecution against the church, and abolished the use of holy images, which had been restored under Constantine and Irene. Knowing the great reputation and authority of Theophanes, he endeavored to gain him by civilities and crafty letters. The saint discovered the hook concealed under his alluring baits, which did not, however, hinder him from obeying the emperor's summons to Constantinople, though at that time under a violent: fit of the stone; which distemper, for the remaining part of his life, allowed him very short intervals of ease. The emperor sent him this message. "From your mild and obliging disposition, I flatter myself you are come to confirm my sentiments on the point in question with your suffrage, it your readiest way for obtaining my favor, and with that the greatest riches and honors for yourself, your monastery, and relations, which it is in the power of an emperor to bestow. But if you refuse to comply with my desires in this affair, you will incur my highest displeasure, and draw misery and disgrace on yourself and friends." The holy man returned for answer: "Being now far advanced in years, and much broken with pains and infirmities, I have neither relish nor inclination for any of these things which I despised for Christ's sake in my youth, when I was in a condition to enjoy the world. As to my monastery and my friends, I recommend them to God. If you think to frighten me into a compliance by your threats, as a child is awed by the rod, you only lose your labor. For though unable to walk, and subject to many other corporeal infirmities, I trust in Christ that he will enable me to undergo, in defense of his cause, the sharpest tortures you can inflict on my weak body." The emperor employed several persons to endeavor to overcome his resolution, but in vain: so seeing himself vanquished by his constancy, he confined him two years in a close stinking dungeon, where he suffered much from his distemper and want of necessaries. He was also cruelly scourged. having received three hundred stripes. In 818, he was removed out of his dungeon, and banished into the isle of Samothracia, where he died in seventeen days after his arrival, on the 12th of March. His relics were honored by many miraculous cures. He has left us his Chronographia, or short history from the year 824, the first of Dioclesian, where George Syncellus left off, to the year 813. His imprisonment did not allow him leisure to polish the style.

St. Alphege
Feastday: March 12
951

Bishop and prophet, called "the Elder" or "the Bald." Also known as Elphege, he was the bishop of Winchester, England. There he ordained St. Dunstan. A holy prophet, Alphege is credited with helping to restore monasticism to England.

St. Bernard of Carinola
Feastday: March 12
1109

Bishop and patron saint of Carinola, also called Bernard of Capua. He was the confessor of Duke Richard II of Capua until appointed the bishop of Forum Claudii in 1087 by Pope Victor III. He transferred the see to Carinola in 1100.

St. Vindician
Feastday: March 12
712

Bishop of Arras-Cambrai. Born at Bullecourt, France, in 632, he became a disciple of St. Eligius. Named bishop of Cambrai about 669, he was a dedicated prelate who visited parishes and promoted monasticism. He also courageously opposed the actions of the Frankish king Thierry III (r. 670-687) and his mayor of the palace, Ebroin, in executing Bishop St. Leodegarius of Autun, and he secured reparations for the sin from the ruler, He spent his final years at St. Vaast Monastery, Arras, an institution that King Thierry supported. Vindician died while on a visit to Brussels, Belgium.

St. Peter of Nicomedia
Feastday: March 12
303

Martyr. According to tradition, he was a chamberlain at the court of Emperor Diocletian at Nicomedia. Arrested for being a Christian when the last great persecution of the Church was launched at Diocletian’s command, Peter was cruelly tortured by having the flesh stripped from his body and salt and vinegar poured and rubbed into the wounds. Finally, he was roasted to death over a fire. He is ranked as one of the first victims of the last persecution by the Roman Empire.

St. Constantine
Feastday: March 11

Constantine was king of Cornwall. Unreliable tradition has him married to the daughter of the king of Brittany who on her death ceded his throne to his son and became a monk at St. Mochuda monastery at Rahan, Ireland. He performed menial tasks at the monastery, then studied for the priesthood and was ordained. He went as a missionary to Scotland under St. Columba and then St. Kentigern, preached in Galloway, and became Abbot of a monastery at Govan. In old age, on his way to Kintyre, he was attacked by pirates who cut off his right arm, and he bled to death. He is regarded as Scotland's first martyr. His feast day is March 11th.

St. Teresa Margaret Redi
Feastday: March 11
1770

Carmelite nun. Anna Maria Redi was a native of Florence, Italy. She entered the Carmelites in 1765 and took the name Sister Teresa Margaret. She died at the age of twenty-three, but in the very brief time of her life in the cloister, she displayed a remarkable prayer life and a deeply penitential demeanor. She was canonized in 1934 by Pope Pius XI (r. 1922-1939).

St. Aengus
Feastday: March 11
824

Called Dengus and "the Culdee," a hermit and author of the Festlology of the Saints of Ireland, The Felire. The term Culdee refers to Aengus' love of solitude: Ceile De was a name given to the hermits of the time. Aengus, born in Clonengh, Ireland, became a solitary monk on the banks of the river Nore, where he communed with angels. In time he sought a more remote site near Maryborough, erecting a small hermitage there. Visitors drawn by his reputation for holiness drove Aengus to the monastery of Tallaght, near Dublin, then under the control of St. Maelruain. He tried to enter as a simple lay brother, not telling anyone who he was. Aengus, along with Maelruain (who had discovered the Culdee's real identity), wrote the Martyrology of Tallaght together in 790. Aengus completed his Felire in 805 in his Maryborough hermitage, having returned there when Maelruain died. Aengus passed away on March 11, 824, and was buried in Clonenagh.

St. Aurea
Feastday: March 11

Aurea was a native of Villavelayo, Spain. During the Moorish occupation of Spain, she became a nun at a nearby Benedictine San Millan de la Cogolla abbey and lived as a solitary famed for her visions and miracles. Her feast day is March 11th.

St. Benedict Crispus
Feastday: March 11
725

Archbishop of Milan, Italy, listed in the Roman Martyrology. Benedict was involved in a lawsuit of some sort during his forty-five years as archbishop. He also wrote the epitaph for Caedwalla, the English king of Wessex, who was buried in St. Peter's in Rome.

St. Vigilius
Feastday: March 11
685

Bishop and martyr. The successor to St. Palladius as bishop of Auxerre, France, in 661, he was murdered in the forest near Compiegne at the order of Warator, Frankish mayor of the palace, because of a disagreement. He was thus venerated as a martyr.

St. John Ogilvie
Feastday: March 10

Born in 1569, John Ogilvie belonged to Scottish nobility. Raised a Calvinist, he was educated on the continent. Exposed to the religious controversies of his day and impressed with the faith of the martyrs, he decided to become a Catholic. In 1596, at age seventeen he was received into the Church at Louvain. Later John attended a variety of Catholic educational institutions, and eventually he sought admission into the Jesuits. He was ordained at Paris in 1610 and asked to be sent to Scotland, hoping some Catholic nobles there would aid him given his lineage. Finding none, he went to London, then back to Paris, and finally returned to Scotland. John's work was quite successful in bring back many people to the Faith. Some time later he was betrayed by one posing as a Catholic. After his arrest he was tortured in prison in an effort to get him to reveal the names of other Catholics, but he refused. After three trials, John was convicted of high treason because he converted Protestants to the Catholic Faith as well as denied the king's spiritual jurisdiction by upholding the Pope's spiritual primacy and condemning the oaths of supremacy and allegiance. Sentenced to death, the courageous priest was hanged at Glasgow in 1615 at the age of thirty-six. His feast day is March 10.

St. Anastasia Patricia
Feastday: March 10

Anastasia Patricia according to a fanciful and romantic legend, was the beautiful daughter of an Egyptian nobleman and a lady-in-waiting at the court of Emperor Justinian in Constantinople. To escape the attentions of the Emperor, she left the court and entered a convent in Alexandria. On the death of Justinian's wife, Theodora, the Emperor again sought her, whereupon she fled to the desert and met Abbot Daniel, who allowed her to dress as a monk and live as a hermit in his community, where she lived a solitary life of constant prayer and austerity until her death twenty-eight years later.

St. Marcarius of Jerusalem
Feastday: March 10

St. Marcarius, Bishop (Feast - March 10) St. Marcarius was bishop of Jerusalem from about 313 until his death about 334. He was a lifelong staunch opponent of Arianism and fought strenuously against this pernicious heresy. He was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and played a large roll in drafting the Creed. Soon after the Council, he miraculously discovered the true Cross in Jerusalem together with St. Helena, and he was commissioned by her son, Emperor Constantine, to build the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Later, he and his fellow Bishops of Palestine received another letter from Constantine to construct at Mamre.

St. Attalas
Feastday: March 10
627

Abbot and companion of St. Columban. Born in Burgundy, France, he studied under Bishop Aregius of Gap. He became a monk at Lérins but then went to Luxeuil, where St. Columban taught him a strict rule of religious life. Attalas served as Columban's companion when the Irish saint went to Bobbio, in Italy, and founded a monastery there on lands donated by King Agilulf of the Lombards. In 615 St. Columban died, and Attalas succeeded him as abbot. Attalas was a foe of the heretical Arians. lie was also noted for performing miracles. His tomb Is in Bobbio, beside the shrine of St. Columban.

St. Sedna
Feastday: March 10
570

Bishop of Ossory, in Ireland. Sedna was also the abbot of Seir-Kieran Abbey, founded by St. Kieran with the aid of St. Patrick’s miraculous bell. Ossory was governed by abbot-bishops until circa 1184.

St. Codratus of Corinth
Feastday: March 10
258

Martyr with Dionysius, Cyprian, Anectus, Paul, and Crescens. Hisnother dies in the wilderness of Greece during Emperor Trajanus Decius’ persecution of the Christians. Codratus grew up in the wilds and then studies medicine. During the reign of Valerian, he and his companions were tortured and thrown to wild animals. When the animals refused to harm them, they were beheaded.

St. Droctoveus
Feastday: March 10
580

Abbot and disciple of St. Germanus of Paris, also called Droctonius and Drotte. Born at Auxerre, France, he was a monk and then abbot of St. Symphian Abbey at Autun, France. When King Childebert I built a new abbey for Germanus, Droctoveus was called there to be the abbot. The monastery, once named St. Vincent and the Holy Cross, is now called Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

St. Himelin
Feastday: March 10
750

Irish or Scottish priest who went on a pilgrimage to Rome. A maid of the parish of Vissemaeken, Belgium, gave him water from a pitcher and it turned to wine. He died at Vissemaeken, where he is venerated.

St. Kessag
Feastday: March 10
560

Prince of Cashel, Ireland, and bishop of Scotland. sometimes called Mackessag. Kessag went to Scotland as a missionary bishop, using Monk’s Island in Loch Lomond as his center. He was martyred at Bantry or at some unknown site. Kessag is credited with some extraordinary miracles. He is patron of Lennox, England.

St. Frances of Rome
Feastday: March 9

Frances was born in the city of Rome in 1384 to a wealthy, noble family. From her mother she inherited a quiet manner and a pious devotion to God. From her father, however, she inherited a strong will. She decided at eleven that she knew what God wanted for her -- she was going to be a nun.
And that's where her will ran right up against her father's. He told Frances she was far too young to know her mind -- but not too young to be married. He had already promised her in marriage to the son of another wealthy family. In Rome at that time a father's word was law; a father could even sell his children into slavery or order them killed.

Frances probably felt that's what he was doing by forcing her to marry. But just as he wouldn't listen to her, Frances wouldn't listen to him. She stubbornly prayed to God to prevent the marriage until her confessor pointed out, "Are you crying because you want to do God's will or because you want God to do your will?"
She gave in to the marriage -- reluctantly. It was difficult for people to understand her objection. Her future husband Lorenzo Ponziani was noble, wealthy, a good person and he really cared for her. An ideal match -- except for someone who was determined to be a bride of Christ.

Then her nightmare began. This quiet, shy thirteen year old was thrust into the whirl of parties and banquets that accompanied a wedding. Her mother-in-law Cecilia loved to entertain and expected her new daughter-in-law to enjoy the revelry of her social life too. Fasting and scourging were far easier than this torture God now asked her to face.

Frances collapsed from the strain. For months she lay close to death, unable to eat or move or speak.

At her worst, she had a vision of St. Alexis. The son of a noble family, Alexis had run away to beg rather than marry. After years of begging he was so unrecognizable that when he returned home his own father thought he was just another beggar and made him sleep under the stairs. In her own way, Frances must have felt unrecognized by her family -- they couldn't see how she wanted to give up everything for Jesus. St. Alexis told her God was giving her an important choice: Did she want to recover or not?

It's hard for us to understand why a thirteen-year-old would want to die but Frances was miserable. Finally, she whispered, "God's will is mine." The hardest words she could have said -- but the right words to set her on the road to sanctity.

St. Alexis replied, "Then you will live to glorify His Name." Her recovery was immediate and complete. Lorenzo became even more devoted to her after this -- he was even a little in awe of her because of what she'd been through.

But her problems did not disappear. Her mother-in-law still expected her to entertain and go on visits with her. Look at Frances' sister-in-law Vannozza --happily going through the rounds of parties, dressing up, playing cards. Why couldn't Frances be more like Vannozza?

In a house where she lived with her husband, his parents, his brother and his brother's family, she felt all alone. And that's why Vannozza found her crying bitterly in the garden one day. When Frances poured out her heart to Vannozza and it turned out that this sister-in-law had wanted to live a life devoted to the Lord too. What Frances had written off as frivolity was just Vannozza's natural easy-going and joyful manner. They became close friends and worked out a program of devout practices and services to work together.

They decided their obligations to their family came first. For Frances that meant dressing up to her rank, making visits and receiving visits -- and most importantly doing it gladly. But the two spiritual friends went to mass together, visited prisons, served in hospitals and set up a secret chapel in an abandoned tower of their palace where they prayed together.

But it wasn't fashionable for noblewomen to help the poor and people gossiped about two girls out alone on the streets. Cecilia suffered under the laughter of her friends and yelled at her daughters-in-law to stop theirs spiritual practices. When that didn't work Cecilia then appealed to her sons, but Lorenzo refused to interfere with Frances' charity.

The beginning of the fifteenth century brought the birth of her first son, Battista, after John the Baptist. We might expect that the grief of losing her mother-in-law soon after might have been mixed with relief -- no more pressure to live in society. But a household as large as the Ponziani's needed someone to run it. Everyone thought that sixteen-year-old Frances was best qualified to take her mother-in-law's place. She was thrust even more deeply into society and worldly duties. Her family was right, though -- she was an excellent administrator and a fair and pleasant employer.

After two more children were born to her -- a boy, Giovanni Evangelista, and a girl, Agnes -- a flood brought disease and famine to Rome. Frances gave orders that no one asking for alms would be turned away and she and Vannozza went out to the poor with corn, wine, oil and clothing. Her father-in-law, furious that she was giving away their supplies during a famine, took the keys of the granary and wine cellar away from her.

Then just to make sure she wouldn't have a chance to give away more, he sold off their extra corn, leaving just enough for the family, and all but one cask of one. The two noblewomen went out to the streets to beg instead.

Finally Frances was so desperate for food to give to the poor she went to the now empty corn loft and sifted through the straw searching for a few leftover kernels of corn. After she left Lorenzo came in and was stunned to find the previously empty granary filled with yellow corn. Frances drew wine out of their one cask until one day her father in law went down and found it empty. Everyone screamed at Frances. After saying a prayer, she led them to cellar, turned the spigot on the empty cask, and out flowed the most wonderful wine. These incidents completely converted Lorenzo and her father-in-law.
Having her husband and father-in-law completely on her side meant she could do what she always wanted. She immediately sold her jewels and clothes and distributed money to needy. She started wearing a dress of coarse green cloth.

Civil war came to Rome -- this was a time of popes and antipopes and Rome became a battleground. At one point there were three men claiming to be pope. One of them sent a cruel governor, Count Troja, to conquer Rome. Lorenzo was seriously wounded and his brother was arrested. Troja sent word that Lorenzo's brother would be executed unless he had Battista, Frances's son and heir of the family, as a hostage. As long as Troja had Battista he knew the Ponzianis would stop fighting.

When Frances heard this she grabbed Battista by the hand and fled. On the street, she ran into her spiritual adviser Don Andrew who told her she was choosing the wrong way and ordered her to trust God. Slowly she turned around and made her way to Capitol Hill where Count Troja was waiting. As she and Battista walked the streets, crowds of people tried to block her way or grab Battista from her to save him. After giving him up, Frances ran to a church to weep and pray.
As soon as she left, Troja had put Battista on a soldier's horse -- but every horse they tried refused to move. Finally the governor gave in to God's wishes. Frances was still kneeling before the altar when she felt Battista's little arms around her.

But the troubles were not over. Frances was left alone against the attackers when she sent Lorenzo out of Rome to avoid capture. Drunken invaders broke into her house, tortured and killed the servants, demolished the palace, literally tore it apart and smashed everything. And this time God did not intervene -- Battista was taken to Naples. Yet this kidnapping probably saved Battista's life because soon a plague hit -- a plague that took the lives of many including Frances' nine-year-old son Evangelista.

At this point, her house in ruins, her husband gone, one son dead, one son a hostage, she could have given up. She looked around, cleared out the wreckage of the house and turned it into a makeshift hospital and a shelter for the homeless.

One year after his death Evangelista came to her in a vision and told her that Agnes was going to die too. In return God was granting her a special grace by sending an archangel to be her guardian angel for the rest of her life. She would always been able to see him. A constant companion and spiritual adviser, he once commanded her to stop her severe penances (eating only bread and water and wearing a hair shirt). "You should understand by now," the angel told her, "that the God who made your body and gave it to your soul as a servant never intended that the spirit should ruin the flesh and return it to him despoiled."

Finally the wars were over and Battista and her husband returned home. But though her son came back a charming young man her husband returned broken in mind and body. Probably the hardest work of healing Frances had to do in her life was to restore Lorenzo back to his old self.

When Battista married a pretty young woman named Mabilia Frances expected to find someone to share in the management of the household. But Mabilia wanted none of it. She was as opposite of Frances and Frances had been of her mother-in- law. Mabilia wanted to party and ridiculed Frances in public for her shabby green dress, her habits, and her standards. One day in the middle of yelling at her, Mabilia suddenly turned pale and fainted, crying, "Oh my pride, my dreadful pride." Frances nursed her back to health and healed their differences as well. A converted Mabilia did her best to imitate Frances after that.

With Lorenzo's support and respect, Frances started a lay order of women attached to the Benedictines called the Oblates of Mary. The women lived in the world but pledged to offer themselves to God and serve the poor. Eventually they bought a house where the widowed members could live in community.

Frances nursed Lorenzo until he died. His last words to her were, "I feel as if my whole life has been one beautiful dream of purest happiness. God has given me so much in your love." After his death, Frances moved into the house with the other Oblates and was made superior. At 52 she had the life she dreamed of when she was eleven. She had been right in discerning her original vocation -- she just had the timing wrong. God had had other plans for her in between.

Frances died four years later. Her last words were "The angel has finished his task -- he beckons me to follow him."

St. Catherine of Bologna
Feastday: March 9
Patron of Artists
1463

St. Catherine of Bologna, Virgin (Patroness of Artists) Feast - March 9th Born in 1413, Catherine de Vigri was the daughter of a diplomatic agent of the Marquis of Ferrara. At the age of eleven, she was appointed maid of honor to the daughter of the Marquis and shared her training and education. When the daughter eventually married, she wanted Catherine to remain in her service, but Catherine left the court and became a Franciscan Tertiary at the age of fourteen.

Catherine had determined to live a life of perfection, and was admired by her companions for her holiness. Eventually her Community became part of the Poor Clares. She soon began to experience visions of Christ and Satan, and wrote of her experiences, one of which occurred one Christmas. Through her efforts with Pope Nicholas V, the Poor Clare convent at Ferrara erected an enclosure, and Catherine was appointed Superioress. The reputation of the Community for its holiness and austerity became widespread. She then was appointed Superioress of a new convent in Bologna.

In Lent of 1463, Catherine became seriously ill, and she died on March 9th. Buried without a coffin, her body was exhumed eighteen days later because of cures attributed to her and also because of the sweet scent coming from her grave. Her body was found to be incorrupt and remains so today in the Church of the Poor Clare convent in Bologna. She was canonized in 1712.

Despite the opportunity to live a noble life at court, St. Catherine eagerly responded to her call to lead the religious life. Her piety, charity, and kindness attracted many to follow her along the road to perfection. The beauty of her life and death encourages us to resolve to live in perfect charity as a Lenten goal.

St. Bosa
Feastday: March 9
705

Bishop of York, praised by St. Bede. Bosa was a Benedictine monk at Whitby, England, a monastery ruled by St. Hilda. In 678, he was consecrated a bishop by St. Theodore. He was involved in St. Wilfrid's refusal to accept the division of the see of York. Bosa became the bishop in 691, when Wilfrid was exiled by King Aldfrid. St. Bede called Bosa a man of unusual merit and sanctity, "a man beloved of God."

St. Pacian
Feastday: March 9
390

Bishop of Barcelona.A Spaniard by birth, he became bishop in 365. Little is known about his life beyond his extensive writings, which are themselves extant only in part in three letters and a short treatise, Paraenesis ad Poenitentiam. Among the topics he examined in his writings are ecclesiastical discipline, Baptism, papal supremacy, and orthodox teachings on penance against the heresy of Novatianism, which were then flourishing in Spain. He is also remembered for including in one of his letters the phrase Christian us mihi nomen est, catholicos vero cognomen. In De Viris Illustribus, St. Jerome praised Pacian for his eloquence and deep sanctity. Pacian’s son, Flavius Dexter, became a praetorian prefect under the Western Roman Emperor Honorius.

St. John of God
Feastday: March 8
Patron of Booksellers

From the time he was eight to the day he died, John followed every impulse of his heart. The challenge for him was to rush to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit gave him, not his own human temptations. But unlike many who act impulsively, when John made a decision, no matter how quickly, he stuck with it, no matter what the hardship.

At eight years old, John heard a visiting priest speak of adventures that were waiting in the age of 1503 with new worlds being opened up. That very night he ran away from home to travel with the priest and never saw his parents again. They begged their way from village to village until John fell sick. The man who nursed him back to health, the manager of a large estate, adopted John. John worked as a shepherd in the mountains until he was 27. Feeling pressure to marry the manager's daughter, whom he loved as a sister, John took off to join the Spanish army in the war against France. As a soldier, he was hardly a model of holiness, taking part in the gambling, drinking, and pillaging that his comrades enjoyed. One day, he was thrown from a stolen horse near French lines. Frightened that he would be captured or killed, he reviewed his life and vowed impulsively to make a change.

When he returned he kept his spur of the moment vow, made a confession, and immediately changed his life. His comrades didn't mind so much that John was repenting but hated that he wanted them to give up their pleasures too. So they used his impulsive nature to trick him into leaving his post on the pretext of helping someone in need. He was rescued from hanging at the last minute and thrown out of the army after being beaten and stripped. He begged his way back to his foster-home where he worked as a shepherd until he heard of a new war with Moslems invading Europe. Off he went but after the war was over, he decided to try to find his real parents. To his grief he discovered both had died in his absence.

As a shepherd he had plenty of time to contemplate what God might want of his life. When he decided at 38 that he should go to Africa to ransom Christian captives, he quit immediately and set off for the port of Gibraltar. He was on the dock waiting for his ship when he saw a family obviously upset and grieving. When he discovered they were a noble family being exiled to Africa after political intrigues, he abandoned his original plan and volunteered to be their servant. The family fell sick when they reached their exile and John kept them alive not only by nursing them but by earning money to feed them. His job building fortifications was grueling, inhuman work and the workers were beaten and mistreated by people who called themselves Catholics. Seeing Christians act this way so disturbed John that it shook his faith. A priest advised him not to blame the Church for their actions and to leave for Spain at once. John did go back home -- but only after he learned that his newly adopted family had received pardons.

In Spain he spent his days unloading ship cargoes and his nights visiting churches and reading spiritual books. Reading gave him so much pleasure that he decided that he should share this joy with others. He quit his job and became a book peddler, traveling from town to town selling religious books and holy cards. A vision at age 41 brought him to Granada where he sold books from a little shop. (For this reason he is patron saint of booksellers and printers.)
After hearing a sermon from the famous John of Avila on repentance, he was so overcome by the thought of his sins that the whole town thought the little bookseller had gone from simple eccentricity to madness. After the sermon John rushed back to his shop, tore up any secular books he had, gave away all his religious books and all his money. Clothes torn and weeping, he was the target of insults, jokes, and even stones and mud from the townspeople and their children.
Friends took the distraught John to the Royal Hospital where he was interned with the lunatics. John suffered the standard treatment of the time -- being tied down and daily whipping. John of Avila came to visit him there and told him his penance had gone on long enough -- forty days, the same amount as the Lord's suffering the desert -- and had John moved to a better part of the hospital.

John of God could never see suffering without trying to do something about it. And now that he was free to move, although still a patient, he immediately got up and began to help the other sick people around him. The hospital was glad to have his unpaid nursing help and were not happy to release him when one day he walked in to announce he was going to start his own hospital.

John may have been positive that God wanted him to start a hospital for the poor who got bad treatment, if any, from the other hospitals, but everyone else still thought of him as a madman. It didn't help that he decided to try to finance his plan by selling wood in the square. At night he took what little money he earned and brought food and comfort to the poor living in abandoned buildings and under bridges. Thus his first hospital was the streets of Granada.
Within an hour after seeing a sign in a window saying "House to let for lodging of the poor" he had rented the house in order to move his nursing indoors. Of course he rented it without money for furnishings, medicine, or help. After he begged money for beds, he went out in the streets again and carried his ill patients back on the same shoulders that had carried stones, wood, and books. Once there he cleaned them, dressed their wounds, and mended their clothes at night while he prayed. He used his old experience as a peddler to beg alms, crying through the streets in his peddler's voice, "Do good to yourselves! For the love of God, Brothers, do good!" Instead of selling goods, he took anything given -- scraps of good, clothing, a coin here and there.

Throughout his life he was criticized by people who didn't like the fact that his impulsive love embraced anyone in need without asking for credentials or character witnesses. When he was able to move his hospital to an old Carmelite monastery, he opened a homeless shelter in the monastery hall. Immediately critics tried to close him down saying he was pampering troublemakers. His answer to this criticism always was that he knew of only one bad character in the hospital and that was himself. His urge to act immediately when he saw need got him into trouble more than a few times. Once, when he encountered a group of starving people, he rushed into a house, stole a pot of food, and gave it to them. He was almost arrested for that charity! Another time, on finding a group of children in rags, he marched them into a clothing shop and bought them all new clothes. Since he had no money, he paid for it all on credit!

Yet his impulsive wish to help saved many people in one emergency. The alarm went out that the Royal Hospital was on fire. When he dropped everything to run there, he found that the crowd was just standing around watching the hospital -- and its patients -- go up in flames. He rushed into the blazing building and carried or led the patients out. When all the patients were rescued, he started throwing blankets, sheets, and mattresses out the windows -- how well he knew from his own hard work how important these things were. At that point a cannon was brought to destroy the burning part of the building in order to save the rest. John stopped them, ran up the roof, and separated the burning portion with an axe. He succeeded but fell through the burning roof. All thought they had lost their hero until John of God appeared miraculously out of smoke. (For this reason, John of God is patron saint of firefighters.)

John was ill himself when he heard that a flood was bringing precious driftwood near the town. He jumped out of bed to gather the wood from the raging river. Then when one of his companions fell into the river, John without thought for his illness or safety jumped in after him. He failed to save the boy and caught pneumonia. He died on March 8, his fifty-fifth birthday, of the same impulsive love that had guided his whole life.

John of God is patron saint of booksellers, printers, heart patients, hospitals, nurses, the sick, and firefighters and is considered the founder of the Brothers Hospitallers.

St. Senan
Feastday: March 8

Senan was born of Christian parents at Munster, Ireland. He was a soldier for a time and then became a monk under Abbot Cassidus, who sent him to Abbot St. Natalis at Kilmanagh in Ossory. Senan became known for his holiness and miracles and attracted great crowds to his sermons. He made a journey to Rome, meeting St. David on the way back. He built several churches and monasteries, and then settled on Scattery Island, where he built a monastery that soon became famous. He died at Killeochailli on the way back from a visit to St. Cassidus monastery. His feast day is March 8.

St. Arian and Companions
Feastday: March 8
311

An Alexandrian martyr with Theoticus and three others. Arian was the governor of Thebes. He and his companions witnessed the martyrdom of Sts. Apollonius and Philemon in Alexandria and were converted. Upon confessing the faith, the men were thrown into the sea.

St. Beoadh
Feastday: March 8
518

Irish bishop. He was called Aeodh, receiving the prefix "Beo" because of his evident holiness. He was the bishop of Ardcarne. One of his relics, called the "Bell of St. Beoadh," has long been venerated and recognized as a work of art.

St. Veremundus
Feastday: March 8
1092

Benedictine abbot. Born in Navarre, Spain, he joined the Benedictines at the abbey of Our Lady of Hirache and eventually was elected abbot, succeeding his uncle, Munius. Under his leadership, the monastery became quite influential in the religious life of the region. A miracle worker, Veremundus was much sought after as a royal counselor. He also was known for his deep religious fervor, his aid to the poor, and traditionally is reported as feeding three thousand at an abbey during a famine. He was also famous for his successful defense of the Mozarabic rite.

St. Vincent Kadlubek
Feastday: March 8
1223

Cistercian bishop, also called Vincent of Cracow. Born in Carnow, Poland, circa 1150, he studied in France and Italy before receiving appointment as provost of the cathedral of Sandomir (modern Poland). In 1208 he was appointed bishop of Cracow and worked to promote the reforms then being decreed by Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216) and to improve the monastic and religious conditions of the diocese. Resigning in 1128, he entered the Cistercians at Jedrzejow Abbey, where he established himself as one of Poland's first chroniclers through his authorship of the Chronicles of the Kings and Princes of Poland. His cult was confirmed in 1764, and he is venerated in Poland as a saint.

St. Duthac
Feastday: March 8

Bishop of Ross, in Scotland. An Irishman by birth, he was venerated for miracles and prophecies. He is recorded to have predicted the Danish invasion.

St. Julian of Toledo
Feastday: March 8
690

Archbishop of Toledo, the first to serve as primate over the entire Iberian peninsula. He was reportedly of Jewish descent but was raised a Christian and became a monk at Agali under St. Eugene. Julian eventually became abbot and then a bishop in 680. A powerful Church leader in his era, he convened synods, established Toledo as the primal see of Spain and Portugal, revised the Mozarabic liturgy, and wrote Prognostics, on death.

St. Ogmund
Feastday: March 8
1121

Bishop of Holar, Iceland, who is considered one of the apostles of Iceland. He was born Jon Helgi Ogmundarson and was a disciple of Isleifur, a southern Icelandic prelate.

St. Philemon
Feastday: March 8
305

Martyr with Apollonius. An actor at Antinoe, Egypt, in the Nile Delta, he was converted to Christianity by the deacon Apollonius and was arrested with him by Roman authorities during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. Taken to Alexandria, they were wrapped in chains and hurled into the sea.

Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
Feastday: March 7

With the lives of so many early martyrs shrouded in legend, we are fortunate to have the record of the courage of Perpetua and Felicity from the hand of Perpetua herself, her teacher Saturus, and others who knew them. This account, known as "The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity," was so popular in the early centuries that it was read during liturgies.

In the year 203, Vibia Perpetua made the decision to become a Christian, although she knew it could mean her death during Septimus' persecution. Her surviving brother (another brother had died when he was seven) followed her leadership and became a catechumen as well.
Her father was frantic with worry and tried to talk her out of her decision. We can easily understand his concern. At 22 years old, this well-educated, high-spirited woman had every reason to want to live -- including a baby son who was still nursing. We know she was married, but since her husband is never mentioned, many historians assume she was a widow.

Perpetua's answer was simple and clear. Pointing to a water jug, she asked her father, "See that pot lying there? Can you call it by any other name than what it is?"

Her father answered, "Of course not." Perpetua responded, "Neither can I call myself by any other name than what I am -- a Christian."
This answer so upset her father that he attacked her. Perpetua reports that after that incident she was glad to be separated from him for a few days -- even though that separation was the result of her arrest and imprisonment.

Perpetua was arrested with four other catechumens including two slaves Felicity and Revocatus, and Saturninus and Secundulus. Their catechist, Saturus, had already been imprisoned before them.
She was baptized before taken to prison. Perpetua was known for her gift of "the Lord's speech" and receiving messages from God. She tells us that at the time of her baptism she was told to pray for nothing but endurance in the face of her trials.

The prison was so crowded with people that the heat was suffocating. There was no light anywhere and Perpetua "had never known such darkness." The soldiers who arrested and guarded them pushed and shoved them without any concern. Perpetua had no trouble admitting she was very afraid, but in the midst of all this horror her most excruciating pain came from being separated from her baby.
The young slave, Felicity was even worse off for Felicity suffered the stifling heat, overcrowding, and rough handling while being eight months pregnant.

Two deacons who ministered to the prisoners paid the guards so that the martyrs would be put in a better part of the prison. There her mother and brother were able to visit Perpetua and bring her baby to her. When she received permission for her baby to stay with her "my prison suddenly became a palace for me." Once more her father came to her, begging her to give in, kissing her hands, and throwing himself at her feet. She told him, "We lie not in our own power but in the power of God."

When she and the others were taken to be examined and sentenced, her father followed, pleading with her and the judge. The judge, out of pity, also tried to get Perpetua to change her mind, but when she stood fast, she was sentenced with the others to be thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. Her father was so furious that he refused to send her baby back to Perpetua. Perpetua considered it a miracle that her breasts did not become inflamed from lack of nursing.
While praying in prison, she suddenly felt "gifted with the Lord's speech" and called out the name of her brother Dinocrates who had died at seven of gangrene of the face, a disease so disfiguring that those who should have comforted him left him alone. Now she saw a vision that he was even more alone, in a dark place, hot and thirsty -- not in the eternal joy she hoped for him. She began to pray for Dinocrates and though she was put in stocks every day, her thoughts were not on her own suffering but on her prayers to help her brother. Finally she had another vision in which she saw Dinocrates healed and clean, drinking from a golden bowl that never emptied.

Meanwhile Felicity was also in torment. It was against the law for pregnant women to be executed. To kill a child in the womb was shedding innocent and sacred blood. Felicity was afraid that she would not give birth before the day set for their martyrdom and her companions would go on their journey without her. Her friends also didn't want to leave so "good a comrade" behind.

Two days before the execution, Felicity went into a painful labor. The guards made fun of her, insulting her by saying, "If you think you suffer now, how will stand it when you face the wild beasts?" Felicity answered them calmly, "Now I'm the one who is suffering, but in the arena Another will be in me suffering for me because I will be suffering for him." She gave birth to a healthy girl who was adopted and raised by one of the Christian women of Carthage.

The officers of the prison began to recognize the power of the Christians and the strength and leadership of Perpetua. In some cases this helped the Christians: the warden let them have visitors -- and later became a believer. But in other cases it caused superstitious terror, as when one officer refused to let them get cleaned up on the day they were going to die for fear they'd try some sort of spell. Perpetua immediately spoke up, "We're supposed to die in honor of Ceasar's birthday. Wouldn't it look better for you if we looked better?" The officer blushed with shame at her reproach and started to treat them better.

There was a feast the day before the games so that the crowd could see the martyrs and make fun of them. But the martyrs turned this all around by laughing at the crowd for not being Christians and exhorting them to follow their example.

The four new Christians and their teacher went to the arena (the fifth, Secundulus, had died in prison) with joy and calm. Perpetua in usual high spirits met the eyes of everyone along the way. We are told she walked with "shining steps as the true wife of Christ, the darling of God."

When those at the arena tried to force Perpetua and the rest to dress in robes dedicated to their gods, Perpetua challenged her executioners. "We came to die out of our own free will so we wouldn't lose our freedom to worship our God. We gave you our lives so that we wouldn't have to worship your gods." She and the others were allowed to keep their clothes.

The men were attacked by bears, leopards, and wild boars. The women were stripped to face a rabid heifer. When the crowd, however, saw the two young women, one of whom had obviously just given birth, they were horrified and the women were removed and clothed again. Perpetua and Felicity were thrown back into the arena so roughly that they were bruised and hurt. Perpetua, though confused and distracted, still was thinking of others and went to help Felicity up. The two of them stood side by side as all five martyrs had their throats cut.

Perpetua's last words were to her brother: "Stand fast in the faith and love one another."

Blessed John Ireland
Feastday: March 7
1544

English martyr and chaplain to St. Thomas More. He became a pastor at Eltham, Kent, prior to his arrest for resisting the supremacy of King Henry VIII of England over the Church of England. Executed at Tyburn, he died with Blesseds Jermyn Gardiner and John Larke.

St. Ardo
Feastday: March 7
843

Benedictine abbot from Languedoc, France, originally baptized Smaragdus. He became a Benedictine, took the name Ardo, and served under St. Benedict of Aniane. Ardo directed the monastery school at Aniane and accompanied St. Benedict on his journeys. In 814, Ardo became St. Benedict's successor when the abbot was named superior of the Aachen monastery in Germany. Ardo wrote the biography of St. Benedict of Aniane.

St. Theophylact
Feastday: March 7
845

Bishop of Nicomedia (in modern Turkey). An opponent of the Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian (r. 813-820), he was banished to Caria where he died after some three decades of exile. Theophylact, sometimes called Theophilus, was an Asian. He was known for his many charitable works and goodness.

St. Drausinus
Feastday: March 7
576

Bishop of Soissons, France, also called Drausius. Educated by St. Anseric, Drausinus fostered monastic life in his diocese. He built a monastery at Rethondes, two churches, and a convent at Soissons. Drausinus’ shrine was visited by St. Thomas Becket just before his own martyrdom.

St. Enodoch
Feastday: March 7
520

Welsh saint of the line of the chieftain Brychan of Brecknock, also called Wenedoc. Enodoch is believed by some historians to have been a woman, called Qendydd.

St. Esterwine
Feastday: March 7
668

Benedictine abbot, a relative of St. Benedict Biscop. A noble from Northumbria, England, he was abbot of Wearmouth Abbey during a pe¬riod of Benedict’s absence.

Blessed John Larke
Feastday: March 7
1544

English martyr and priest. John Larke served as a pastor in Bishopgate, Woodford, Essex, and then Chelsea until his arrest for opposing the religious supremacy of King Henry VIII of England . He was executed at Tybum with John Ireland and Jermyn Gardiner. His longtime patron was St. Thomas More.

St. Paul of Prusa
Feastday: March 7
840

Bishop of Prusa in Bithynia, Asia Minor, who was a vigorous opponent of the Iconoclast policies of the Byzantine emperors of the time. As he refused to give up his devotion to the icons, Paul was exiled by imperial decree to Egypt. He died in exile.

St. Paul the Simple
Feastday: March 7
339

A hermit and disciple of St. Anthony. Paul had long been a humble farmer in Egypt when, at the age of sixty, he discovered that his wife was unfaithful. Leaving her, he set out for the desert and went to Anthony to become a follower. Anthony at first refused him, owing to Paul’s advanced years and because he doubted Paul’s sincerity. As Paul was persistent, Anthony gave him a host of demanding and arduous tasks which Paul fulfilled with such humility, obedience, and simplicity that Anthony allowed him entry into the community. Paul was termed by Anthony the ideal monk and the so called “Pride of the Desert,” bearing with honor the title “the Simple.” The monk and historian Rufinus and the historian Palladius both made reference to Paul. By tradition, he could read minds and cure the sick.

St. Basil
Feastday: March 6
335

Bishop of Bologna, Italy, ordained by Pope St. Sylvester in 315. Basil served his diocese until his death.

St. Colette
Feastday: March 6

Colette was the daughter of a carpenter named DeBoilet at Corby Abbey in Picardy, France. She was born on January 13, christened Nicolette, and called Colette. Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor. She became a Franciscan tertiary, and lived at Corby as a solitary. She soon became well known for her holiness and spiritual wisdom, but left her cell in 1406 in response to a dream directing her to reform the Poor Clares. She received the Poor Clares habit from Peter de Luna, whom the French recognized as Pope under the name of Benedict XIII, with orders to reform the Order and appointing her Superior of all convents she reformed. Despite great opposition, she persisted in her efforts. She founded seventeen convents with the reformed rule and reformed several older convents. She was reknowned for her sanctity, ecstacies, and visions of the Passion, and prophesied her own death in her convent at Ghent, Belgium. A branch of the Poor Clares is still known as the Collettines. She was canonized in 1807. Her feast day is March 6th.

St. Fridolin
Feastday: March 6
540

Benedictine abbot, an Irishman venerated as “the Apostle of the Upper Rhine.” He traveled to France and settled in Poitiers, rebuilding the monastery of St. Hilary which had been destroyed by Vandals. He then became a hermit on the Rhine. There he built the abbey of Sackingen. Fridolin was called “the Wanderer’ because of his many evangelizing trips in the region.

St. Baldred
Feastday: March 6
8th century

Bishop of Scotland, successor of St. Kentigern in Glasgow. He retired from his see to become a hermit on the Firth of Forth.

St. Balther
Feastday: March 6
756

Irish Benedictine hermit of Lindisfarne, also called Baldred. Balther went to Tynningham on the Scottish border to live in retirement, settling at Bass Rock in Northumbria. He lived a life of great asceticism and died at Aldaam. His remains were enshrined with the relics of St. Bilfrid at Durham, England.

St. Bilfrid
Feastday: March 6
8th century

Benedictine hermit, the silversmith who bound the Lindisfarne Gospels. He was a hermit in Lindisfarne, Ireland, off the coast of Northumbria, in northern England, where he aided Bishop Eaddfrid in preparing the binding of that masterpiece. He used gold, silver, and gems to bind the famous copy of the Gospels of St. Cuthbert. His relics were enshrined in Durham, England, in the eleventh century.

St. Cadroe
Feastday: March 6
976

A Scottish prince and Benedictine abbot. He studied in Arrnagh, Ireland, and went to England where tradition states he saved London from a fire. In Fleury, France, Cadroe became a Benedictine. Soon after, he became the abbot of Waul sort Monastery on the Meuse River in Belgium. He then went to Metz, Prance, to become abbot of St. Clement's monastery.

St. Evagrius
Feastday: March 6
380

Bishop of Constantinople. He was chosen for that office but after a few months was banished by Emperor Valens, an Arian. Because of his defense of orthodoxy, Evagrius remained in exile until his death.

St. Kyneburga, Kyneswide, & Tibba
Feastday: March 6
680

Abbesses whose relics are in St. Peterborough Abbey in England. Kyneburga and Kyneswide were daughters of King Penda of Mercia . The former founded an abbey at Castor, Northamptonshire. She was joined there by Kyneswide. Tibba was probably a relative who entered the same convent.

St. Marcian
Feastday: March 6

Bishop of Tortona, Italy, and a dis¬ciple of St. Barnabas. He was reportedly martyred af¬ter serving for forty-five years.

St. Ollegarius
Feastday: March 6
1060-1137

Also known as Olaguerand and Olegari, Augustinian and bishop. A native of Barcelona, Spain, he was the son of Visigoth parents. After entering the Augustinian canons, he became prior at St. Aidan’s monastery and was ordained. In 1115, he was appointed bishop of Barcelona, but it took a papal bull to compel him to accept the office. The following year, he was transferred to Tarragona and elevated to the rank of archbishop. Ollegarius attended the first General Council of the Lateran in 1123, and Pope Callistus II made him a papal legate with the mission of preaching a crusade against the Moors of Spain. As archbishop, Ollegarius rebuilt most of Tarragona, which had been long neglected after its sack and occupation by the Moors, and promoted the work of the Knights Templar in the region.

St. John Joseph of the Cross
Feastday: March 5

St. John Joseph of the Cross was born about the middle of the seventeenth century in the beautiful island of Ischia, near Naples. From his childhood he was the model of virtue, and in his sixteenth year he entered the Franciscan Order of the Strictest Observance, or Reform of St. Peter of Alcantara. Such was the edification he gave in his Order, that within three years after his profession he was sent to found a monastery in Piedmont. He became a priest out of obedience, and obtained, as it seems, an inspired knowledge of moral theology. With his superiors' permission he built another convent and drew up rules for that community, which were confirmed by the Holy See. He afterward became Master of Novices. Sometimes later he was made provincial of the province of Naples, erected in the beginning of the eightheenth century by Clement XI. He labored hard to establish in Italy that branch of his Order which the sovereign Pontiff had separated from the one in Spain. In his work he suffered much, and became the victim of numerous calumnies. However, the saint succeeded in his labors, endeavoring to instill in the hearts of his subjects, the double spirit of contemplation and penance bequeathed to his Reform by St. Peter of Alcantara. St. John Joseph exemplified the most sublime virtues, especially humility and religious discipline. He also possessed numerous gifts in the supernatural order, such as those of prophesy and miracles. Finally,consumed by labors for the glory of God, he was called to his reward. Stricken with apoplexy, he died an octogenarian in his convent at Naples on March 5, 1734. His feast day is March 5th.

St. Piran
Feastday: March 5

Piran was a hermit near Padstow in Cornwall and sometimes called Perran. He is the patron saint of tin mines there and is often erroneously identified with St. Kyran (Kieran) of Saighir. His feast day is March 5th.

St. Theophilus
Feastday: March 5
195

Bishop of Caesarea (modern Israel). He is best known for his opposition to the Quartodecimans, a Christian sect which believed that Easter should be held on the Jewish Passover and not necessarily on a Sunday

St. Colman of Armagh
Feastday: March 5

St. Colman of Armagh: Disciple of St. Patrick, buried by him in Armagh, Ireland.

St. Adrian
Feastday: March 5 & 7
309

A missionary and martyr who was caught up in the persecutions conducted by Emperor Galerius. With a companion, Eubulus, he was arrested in Caesarea, in modern Israel. The local governor, Firmilian, tried Adrian and his fellow missionary who had come to the region to counsel the local Christians. Both of these men endured torture before being executed.

St. Virgilius of Arles
Feastday: March 5
610

Archbishop and miracle worker. A native of Gascony, France, he studied on the island of Lerins, off the French coast near Cannes, eventually serving as abbot of the monastery there. He Iater was abbot of St. Symphorien in Autun and archbishop of Aries, also serving as apostolic vicar to King Childebert II (r. 575-595). He probably consecrated St. Augustine as archbishop of Canterbury and was responsible for founding churches in ArIes. Virgilius was also rebuked by Pope St. Gregory I the Great (r. 590-604) for permitting the forced conversion of Jews. He was also a wonder worker, credited with many miracles.

St. Carthach
Feastday: March 5
540

An Irish bishop, called “the Elder” and Carthage. He was the successor of St. Kieman in Ossory. He was the son or grandson of a local king.

Blessed Dionysius Fugishima
Feastday: March 5
1622

Martyr of Japan. He was a Japanese-born Jesuit novice. Dionysius belonged to a noble house of Aitzu, Arima province, in Japan. He was martyred at Shimabara on November 1, with Blessed Paul Navarro.

St. Eusebius of Cremona
Feastday: March 5
423

Abbot of Bethlehem, Israel, a friend of St. Jerome and St. Paula. A native of Cremona, Italy, he went to Rome and met St. Jerome and went to the Holy Land where he met St. Paula and her mother, St. Eustochium. They settled in Bethlehem, and Eusebius returned to Italy to raise funds for a pil¬grim hostel. He was involved in the dispute over Origen and is believed to have persuaded Pope St. Anastasius to condemn Origen’s writings. Eusebius served for a time as an abbot in Bethlehem but then returned to Cremona in 400. A tradition credits him with founding Guadalupe Abbey in Spain. He supported St. Jerome’s writings and work.

St. Gerasimus
Feastday: March 5
475

Hermit and follower of St. Euthymius. Born in Lycia, Asia Minor. He was a merchant who visited hermits in Egypt. Upon his return to Palestine, he founded a laura, or eremtical community, in Jericho, Israel. Gerasimus was famous for his austerity and miracles.

St. Kieran
Feastday: March 5
530

The “first born of the saints of Ireland,” sometimes listed as Kieran Saighir or Kevin the Elder. He was a native of Ossory, and after living for a time as a hermit, he is believed to have been consecrated a bishop by St. Patrick, taking his place as the first bishop of Ossory. Another tradition states that he was consecrated in Rome. Legends attribute remarkable miracles to Kieran.

St. Casimir
Feastday: March 4
Patron of Poland and Lithuania
b: 1461 d: 1484

Casimir grew up in a world where his life was not his own. As a prince of Poland, the second son of King Casimir IV and Elizabeth of Austria, his life was scheduled to cement his father's authority and increase Poland's power.
Casimir realized from an early age that his life belonged to someone else, but to a much higher King than his father. Despite pressure, humiliation, and rejection, he stood by that loyalty through his whole life.
Born the third of thirteen children in 1461, Casimir was committed to God from childhood. Some of that commitment was the result of a tutor, John Dlugosz, whose holiness encouraged Casimir on his own journey.
It may be hard for us to imagine royal luxury as a pressure. But for Casimir, the riches around him were temptations to forget his true loyalties. Rebelling against the rich, fashionable clothes he was expected to enjoy, he wore the plainest of clothes.
Rejecting even ordinary comforts, he slept little, spending his nights in prayer. And when he did sleep, he lay on the floor not on a royal bed. Even though he was a prince, many of those around him must have laughed and joked at his choices. Yet, in the face of any pressure, Casimir was always friendly and calm.
Though his father must have wondered about him, he must have seen and admired Casimir's strength. He showed that he misunderstood this strength when he sent Casimir as head of an army to take over the throne of Hungary at the request of some nobles there. Casimir felt the whole expedition was wrong but was convinced to go out of obedience to his father. He could not help but feel at every step that it was disobedient to his other Father. So when soldiers started deserting, he was only too glad to listen to the advice of his officers and turn back home. His feelings were confirmed when he discovered that Pope Sixtus IV had opposed the move.
His father, however, was furious at being deterred from his plans and banished Casimir to a castle in Dobzki, hoping that imprisonment would change Casimir's mind. Casimir's commitment to what he believed was right only grew stronger in his exile and he refused to cooperate with his father's plans any more despite the pressure to give in. He even rejected a marriage alliance his father tried to form. He participated in his true King's plans wholeheartedly by praying, studying, and helping the poor.
He died at the age of 23 in 1484 from lung disease. He was buried with his favorite song, a Latin hymn to Mary called "Omni die dic Mariae" which we know as "Daily, Daily Sing to Mary." Because of his love for the song, it is known as the Hymn of St. Casimir though he didn't write it.
Casimir is patron saint of Poland and Lithuania.

St. Lucius I
Feastday: March 4

Lucius I, a Roman, was elected Pope to succeed Pope St. Cornelius on June 25, 253, and ruled only eighteen months. He was exiled briefly during the persecution of Emperor Gallus, but was allowed to return to Rome. A letter of St. Cyprian praises him for condemning the Novatians for their refusal of the sacraments to those who had fallen but were penitent. He did not suffer martyrdom, as a erroneously stated in the Liber Pontificalis, but died probably on March 4 in Rome and was buried in St. Callistus' catacomb. The remains after an early translation were transferred to the church of St. Cecilia, where they now lie, by order of Clement VIII. His feast day is March 4th.

St. Adrian
Feastday: March 4
875

A bishop and missionary, possibly of royal blood. Adrian was born in Pannonia, in modern Hungary, and was appointed bishop of the local diocese. He resigned to undertake a missionary project. After laboring among the Scots, he retired to a monastery in the area of Firth of Forth. He and his fellow religious were murdered by Danish Viking invaders. In some records, St. Adrian is identified with St. Odhern of Ireland, and in other accounts he is listed as a missionary to Ireland.

Blessed Humbert
Feastday: March 4

Humbert was the son of Count Amadeus III of Savoy and Matilda of Vienna. He was born at Avigliana, educated by Bishop Amadeus of Lausanne, and became Count of Savoy when quite young on the death of his father. Humbert ruled wisely and engaged in several wars to defend his principality. Late in life, he returned to the Cistercian Abbey of Hautecombe, where he probably died, though legend says that he emerged to lead his troops against invading German troops and died at Chambery. His cult was approved in 1831.

St. Appian
Feastday: March 4
800

A Benedictine hermit and missionary. Appian was born in Liguria, in Italy. He entered the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter of Ciel d'Oro in Pavia, where he adopted the life of a hermit. Appian lived as a recluse on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, but his mere presence served to convert many it' in the area.

St. Basil and Companions
Feastday: March 4
4th century

Martyred bishop, with Agathodorus, Elpidius, Ephraem, lftherius, Eugene, Arcadius, Capito, and Nestor. These prelates served as bishops. Nestor and Arcadius were rnartyred on Cyprus. The others died in the Crimean area and elsewhere in southern Russia.

St. Basinus
Feastday: March 4
705

Benedictine bishop of Trier, Germany. He was abbot of St. Maximin Abbey in Trier until succeeding St. Numerian as bishop. Basinus was a patron of the English missionaries of the time, including St. Willibrord. Basinus retired to his former abbey, where he died.

St. Felix of Rhuys
Feastday: March 4
1038

Benedictine abbot and hermit. Born in Brittany, France, he was a recluse on Quessant Island and then entered the Benedictines at Flery, Saint Benoit sur Loire. He restored Rhuys Abbey.

St. Owen
Feastday: March 4
680

Benedictine monk. Once a steward in the household of St. Etheldreda, he entered a Benedictine monastery at Lastingham, England, under St. Chad. He later migrated to Lichfield, following St. Chad.

St. Katharine Drexel
Feastday: March 3
1955

Saint Katharine Drexel, Religious (Feast Day-March 3) Born in 1858, into a prominent Philadelphia family, Katharine became imbued with love for God and neighbor. She took an avid interest in the material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans. She began by donating money but soon concluded that more was needed - the lacking ingredient was people. Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, whose members would work for the betterment of those they were called to serve. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of 20 million dollars to this work. In 1894, Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other schools quickly followed - for Native Americans west of the Mississippi River, and for the blacks in the southern part of the United States. In 1915 she also founded Xavier University in New Orleans. At her death there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country. Katharine was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988.

St. Cunegundes
Feastday: March 3
Patron of Lithuania
1040

St. Cunegundes, Empress (Patroness of Lithuania) Feast - March 3
The father of St. Cunegundes was Sigfrid, first Count of Luxemburg. After a pious education, she was married to St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of Emperor Otho III, was chosen King of the Romans. St. Cunegundes was crowned at Paderborn in 1002. In 1014 she went with her husband to Rome and became Empress, receiving together with him the imperial crown from the hands Pope Benedict VIII. Though married, she lived in continence, for, with her husband's consent, she had made a vow of virginity before marriage. Calumniators accused her of scandalous conduct, but her innocence was signally vindicated by Divine Providence, as she walked over pieces of flaming irons without injury, to the great joy of the Emperor. Her husband, Henry II, died in 1024, leaving his widow comparatively poor, for she had given away nearly all her wealth in charitable works. In 1025, on the anniversary of his death, and on the occasion of the dedication of a monastery which she had built for Benedictine nuns at Kaffungen, she clothed herself with a poor habit, adopted the veil, which she received from the hands of the Bishop, and entered that same monastery. Her occupations consisted in prayer, reading, and manual labor, and thus she spent the last fifteen years of her life. She died in 1040, and her body was carried to Bamberg, where it was laid near that of her husband, St. Henry.

St. Anselm of Nonantola
Feastday: March 3
803

Benedictine abbot and duke. He was born in Forum Juhi, modern Friuli, Italy, heir to a local title and brother-in-law of King Aistulf, the Lombard ruler who married Anselm's sister, Gisaltruda. Anselm left his titles and power, and in 750 founded a monastery at Tanano, Italy. Two years later he built the monastery of Nonantola near Modena, Italy. He then went to Rome where Pope Stephen II invested him with the habit of the Benedictine Order. Anselm founded many charitable institutions; however, he lost his patronage when Aistulf died. Desiderius, the new Lombard ruler, banished Anselm from his kingdom in 756. He went to Monte Cassino for seven years, until Desiderius fell to the armies of Charlemagne. Anselm remained in Nonantola until his death. He is patron of the region.

St. Arthelais
Feastday: March 3
6th century

Virgin and patron of Benevento, Italy. She is recorded as having fled Constantinople, to escape the attentions of Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Arthelais was the daughter of Proconsul Lucius and his wife, Anthusa. When Arthelais fled from the emperor, she went to her uncle, Narses, in Benevento. Tradition states that the entire population of the city welcomed her. Arthelais died at the age of sixteen.

St. Winwaloc
Feastday: March 3
6th century

Abbot-founder, also called Wonnow, Wynwallow, and Gwenno. Born at Ploufragen, in Brittany, France, he was ofAnglo-Saxon descent. At the age of fifteen he entered the monastery on Lauren Island under Abbot Budoc. Several years later he and eleven monks founded Landevenne Monastery near Brest, in Brittany on land donated by Prince Gallo. Winwabe died there. As there are several churches in Cornwall, England, dedicated to him, it is possible that he had some connection with that region or that some of his relics were translated there in later years.

St. Camilla
Feastday: March 3
437

Recluse and disciple of St. Germanus of Auxerre, at Ravenna, Italy. She was born in Civitavecchia, became St. Germanus' disciple, and accompanied his missions to Auxerre, France. There she became a hermitess.

St. Non
Feastday: March 3

Mother of St. David of Wales also called Nonnita or Nonna. Perhaps born of noble descent in Dyfed, Wales, she was seduced by or possibly married a local chieftain named Sant. The result of their union was St. David. She supposedly went to Cornwall and died in Brittany Her relics were enshrined in Cornwall until the Reformation.

Blessed Charles the Good
Feastday: March 2

In 1086, St. Canute, King of Denmark and father of Blessed Charles the Good, was slain in St. Alban's Church, Odence. Charles who was only five years old was taken by his mother to the court of Robert, Count of Flanders, his maternal grandfather. When he grew up, he became a knight and accompanied Robert in a crusade to the Holy Land where he distinguished himself; on their return, Charles also fought against the English with his uncle. On Robert's death, his son Baldwin succeeded him and designated Charles as the heir. At the same time, he arranged for Charles' marriage to the daughter of the Count of Clermont. During Baldwin's rule, Charles was closely associated with him, and the people came to have a high regard for his wise and beneficent ways as well as his personal holiness. At Baldwin's death, in 1119, the people made his cousin their ruler. Charles ruled his people with wisdom, diligence, and compassion; he made sure that times of truce were respected and fought against black marketeers who horded food and were waiting to sell it at astronomical prices to the people. This encouraged their undying wrath and one day in 1127 as Charles was praying in the Church of St. Donatian they set upon him and killed him.Blessed Charles the Good feast day is March 2nd.

St. Chad
Feastday: March 2
673

Irish archbishop and brother of St. Cedd, also called Ceadda. He was trained by St. Aidan in Lindisfarne and in England. He also spent time with St. Egbert in Ireland. Made the archbishop of York by King Oswy, Chad was disciplined by Theodore, the newly arrived archbishop of Canterbury, in 669. Chad accepted Theodore’s charges of impropriety with such humility and grace that Theodore regularized his consecration and ap¬pointed him the bishop of Mercia. He established a see at Lichfield. His relics are en¬shrined in Birmingham. In litur¬gical art he is depicted as a bishop, holding a church.

St. Agnes of Boheinia
Feastday: March 2
1282

Called Agnes of Prague in some lists, a princess, abbess, and thaumaturgist or miracle worker. She was born in 1200 in Prague, the daughter of King Ottocar and Queen Constance of Hungary, a relative of St. Elizabeth. As a child she was educated in the Cistercian convent of Treinitz and was betrothed to Emperor Frederick II of Germany (r. 1215-1250). She refused this marriage, which angered Frederick, but in time he came to understand her decision, remarking: "If she had left me for a mortal man, I would have taken vengeance with the sword, but I cannot take offense because in preference to me she has chosen the King of Heaven." Agnes became a Poor Clare, the Franciscan cloistered order, entering the monastery of St. Savior in Prague,which she had founded. During her religious life, Agnes was gifted by miracles. She predicted the victory of her brother Wenceslaus over the duke of Austria. She was canonized in 1989 by Pope John Paul II.

St. Willeic
Feastday: March 2
726

Benedictine monk, a disciple of St. Swithbert. Willeic served as prior of Kaiserwerth Abbey. The town of Kaiserswerth grew up around this abbey near Dusseldorf, Germany, and it was a great spiritual center.

St. David
Feastday: March 1

According to tradition, St. David was the son of King Sant of South Wales and St. Non. He was ordained a priest and later studied under St. Paulinus. Later, he was involved in missionary work and founded a number of monasteries. The monastery he founded at Menevia in Southwestern Wales was noted for extreme asceticism. David and his monks drank neither wine nor beer - only water - while putting in a full day of heavy manual labor and intense study. Around the year 550, David attended a synod at Brevi in Cardiganshire. His contributions at the synod are said to have been the major cause for his election as primate of the Cambrian Church. He was reportedly consecrated archbishop by the patriarch of Jerusalem while on a visit to the Holy Land. He also is said to have invoked a council that ended the last vestiges of Pelagianism. David died at his monastery in Menevia around the year 589, and his cult was approved in 1120 by Pope Callistus II. He is revered as the patron of Wales. Undoubtedly, St. David was endowed with substantial qualities of spiritual leadership. What is more, many monasteries flourished as a result of his leadership and good example. His staunch adherence to monastic piety bespeaks a fine example for modern Christians seeking order and form in their prayer life.His feast day is March 1.

Saint Albinus
Bishop
(470-550)

Saint Albinus was of an ancient and noble family in Brittany, and from his childhood was fervent in every exercise of piety. He ardently sighed after the happiness which a devout soul finds in being disengaged from all earthly things. Having embraced the monastic state, despite his parents’ disapproval, he shone a perfect model of virtue, taking upon himself all the humblest offices and disciplining his flesh by every kind of mortification. In brief, he lived as if in all things he were without any will of his own; and his soul seemed so perfectly governed by the spirit of Christ as to live only for Him.
In 504, at the age of thirty-five Saint Albinus was chosen Abbot of his monastery; Saint Fortunatus, his first historian, compared the monastery at that time to a garden rendered beautiful by the most exquisite, most varied, most fragrant flowers. Twenty-five years later, divine Providence gave the Abbot to the entire region as Bishop of Angers. A day did not pass without his instructing his people, for he believed that the soul needs daily nourishment just as imperatively as does the flesh.
Many Christians of his diocese had fallen into slavery through the invasions of the barbarians, and Saint Albinus used every resource available to him for their redemption. To the graces of charity from which his people benefitted, were joined those deriving from his public miracles. He resurrected a young child; and when one of his servants died during his absence, those who carried the man to his grave were unable to lower him until the bishop arrived to give the final benediction. He established and restored measures of ecclesiastical discipline, through the third Council of Orleans, convened through his influence over King Childebert, son of Clovis, who greatly respected his opinions. In brief, he was inflamed with a holy zeal for the glory of God in all aspects of life. Honored by all, he was never affected with vanity.
Saint Albinus died after making a long journey which he undertook to consult Saint Cesarius, Bishop of Arles, concerning matters of episcopal government. He had been the benediction of his diocese for twenty-one years; he died on March 1, 549. He is often represented preaching in the episcopal pulpit or curing the sick, or holding chains while commanding prison doors to be opened.

St. Eudocia
Feastday: March 1
100

Penitent Samaritan martyr in the reign of Emperor Trajan. A native of Coele ¬ Syria, she repented her sinful life and lived in Heliopolis, a suburb of modem Cairo, Egypt, before being martyred by beheading.

St. Hermes and Adrian
Feastday: March 1
290

Martyrs with twenty four companions, probably the Massylitan martyrs praised by St. Augustine. They suffered in Massylis, or Marula, in Numidia

St. Monan
Feastday: March 1

Monan was a monk at St. Andrew's under St. Adrian. Monan worked as a missionary in the Firth of Forth area in Scotland until he and a large number of Christians were murdered by marauding Danes. His feast day is March 1.

St. Herculaflus
Feastday: March 1
549

Bishop of Perugia, Italy, beheaded by King Totila of the Ostrogoths. He is probably the same Herculanus sent to Perugia from Syria to evangelize the region.

St. Leo of Rouen
Feastday: March 1
900

Bishop of Rouen, France, who was martyred during a Saracen invasion. Pirates beheaded him near Bayonne, and he is honored as a patron saint of that city.

St. Lupercus
Feastday: March 1
300

Martyred bishop, venerated at Tarbes, near Lourdes, France. He was French or possibly Spanish and is also listed as Luperculus.

St. Rudesind
Feastday: March 1
977

Benedictine abbot and bishop, listed also as Rosendo. Born in Galicia, Spain, in 907 to a noble family, he was appointed bishop of Mondonedo at the age of eighteen and against his personal wishes. Soon after, he was given the duty of replacing the dissolute bishop of Compostela, his cousin Sisnand. He distinguished himselfwith his military skills by leading armies in the field against invading Norsemen and Moors. When Sisnand escaped from imprisonment, he drove Rudesind from his office as bishop under threat of murder. Rudesind retired to the monastery of St. John Caveiro which he had built, and founded the abbey of Celanova at Villar, where he lived as a monk. He built several other monastic communities, installing in each strict observance of the Benedictine rule. Elected abbot of Celanova to succeed the first abbot, Franquila, he became a leading figure of his time, receiving visits from Church leaders throughout Portugal who sought his spiritual advice. A relative of St. Senorina, Rudesind earned a reputation for performing miracles. He died at Celanova and was canonized in 1195.

St. Marnock
Feastday: October 25 & March 1

Irish bishop, a disciple of St. Columba. He resided on Jona, Scotland, and is also called Marnan, Marnanus, or Marnoc. He died at Annandale and is revered on the Scottish border. His name was given to Kilmarnock, Scotland.