Saint Florian

Saint Florian was born around 250 AD in the ancient Roman city of Aelium Cetium, presently known as Pölten, Austria.

He joined the Roman Army and advanced in the ranks, rising to commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing and leading firefighting brigades. Saint Florian organized and trained an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires.

During the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians, reports reached Rome that Saint Florian was not enforcing the proscriptions against Christians in his territory. Aquilinus was sent to investigate these reports. When Aquilinus ordered Florian to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods in accordance with Roman religion, Florian refused. Florian was sentenced to be burned at the stake.

Saint Florian was a Christian holy man. He is a patron saint of firefighters, chimney sweeps, and brewers. He is invoked against fires, floods, lightning, and the pains of Purgatory.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Florian

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Saint Athanasius of Alexandria

Daily Saints

Saint Athanasius I of Alexandria was also known as Athanasius the Great and Athanasius the Confessor. He was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian Christian leader of the fourth century.

In 325, at age 27, Saint Athanasius began his leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman Emperor Constantine the Great had convened the council to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father. Three years after that council, Athanasius succeeded his mentor as pope of Alexandria.

Athanasius’ episcopate began on 9 May 328 as the Alexandrian Council elected Athanasius to succeed after the death of Alexander. During his first years as bishop, Athanasius visited the churches of his territory, which at that time included all of Egypt and Libya. He established contacts with the hermits and monks of the desert, including Pachomius, which proved very valuable to him over the years. Patriarch Athanasius spent over 17 years in five exiles ordered by four different Roman Emperors, not counting approximately six more incidents in which Athanasius fled Alexandria to escape people seeking to take his life.

Athanasius’ “Letter Concerning the Decrees of the Council of Nicaea” (De Decretis), is an important historical as well as theological account of the proceedings of that council. His other important works include his Letters to Serapion, which defends the divinity of the Holy Spirit. In a letter to Epictetus of Corinth, Athanasius anticipates future controversies in his defence of the humanity of Christ. Athanasius also wrote several works of Biblical exegesis, primarily on Old Testament materials. The most important of these is his Epistle to Marcellinus on how to incorporate psalm-saying into one’s spiritual practice. Excerpts remain of his discussions concerning the Book of Genesis, the Song of Solomon, and Psalms.

Gregory of Nazianzus called Saint Athanasius as the “Pillar of the Church”. His writings were well regarded by subsequent Church fathers in the West and the East, who noted their devotion to the Word-become-man, pastoral concern and interest in monasticism. Athanasius is considered one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church in the Catholic Church.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria

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Saint Joseph the Worker

Daily Saints

To foster deep devotion to Saint Joseph among Catholics, and in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955. This feast extends the long relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers in both Catholic faith and devotion. Beginning in the Book of Genesis, the dignity of human work has long been celebrated as a participation in the creative work of God. By work, humankind both fulfills the command found in Genesis to care for the earth (Gn 2:15) and to be productive in their labors. Saint Joseph, the carpenter and foster father of Jesus, is but one example of the holiness of human labor.

Jesus, too, was a carpenter. He learned the trade from Saint Joseph and spent his early adult years working side-by-side in Joseph’s carpentry shop before leaving to pursue his ministry as preacher and healer. In his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II stated: “the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”

Saint Joseph is held up as a model of such work. Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Savior of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.”

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-joseph-the-worker/

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Saint Marie of Incarnation

Daily Saints

Saint Marie of Incarnation was an Ursuline nun born in France as Marie Guyart. From an early age she was drawn to religious liturgy and the sacraments. When Marie was seven years old, she recounted her first mystical encounter with Jesus Christ.

Intent on belonging to Christ, Marie, aged fourteen, proposed to her parents that she enter religious life with the Benedictines of Beaumont Abbey but her parents disregarded her desire. Instead, she was married to Claude Martin, a master silk worker in 1617. Her husband died only months after the birth of their son, leaving Marie a widow at the age of nineteen.

With her husband’s death, Saint Marie inherited his failing business which she then lost. Forced to move into her parents’ home, Saint Marie secluded herself to pursue a deepening of her commitment to spiritual growth. Free to pursue her religious inclinations after her husband’s death, Saint Marie took a vow of chastity, obedience, and poverty. On 24 March 1620, she reported a religious vision that set her on a new path of devotional intensity.

In 1631, after working with a spiritual director for many years, Saint Marie decided to enter the Ursuline monastery in Tours to answer her religious vocation. As part of a group of nuns sent to New France to establish the Ursuline Order, Saint Marie was crucial in the spread of Catholicism in New France. She was a religious author and has been credited with founding the first girls’ school in the New World.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_the_Incarnation_(Ursuline)

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Saint Catherine of Siena

Daily Saints

The value Catherine makes central in her short life and which sounds clearly and consistently through her experience is complete surrender to Christ. What is most impressive about her is that she learns to view her surrender to her Lord as a goal to be reached through time.

She was the 23rd child of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa and grew up as an intelligent, cheerful, and intensely religious person. Catherine disappointed her mother by cutting off her hair as a protest against being overly encouraged to improve her appearance in order to attract a husband. Her father ordered her to be left in peace, and she was given a room of her own for prayer and meditation.

She entered the Dominican Third Order at 18 and spent the next three years in seclusion, prayer, and austerity. Gradually, a group of followers gathered around her—men and women, priests and religious. An active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly for spiritual instruction and encouragement of her followers, began to take more and more note of public affairs. Opposition and slander resulted from her mixing fearlessly with the world and speaking with the candor and authority of one completely committed to Christ. She was cleared of all charges at the Dominican General Chapter of 1374.

Her public influence reached great heights because of her evident holiness, her membership in the Dominican Third Order, and the deep impression she made on the pope. She worked tirelessly for the crusade against the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope.

In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes and putting even saints on opposing sides. Catherine spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Pope Urban VI and the unity of the Church. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its agony. She died surrounded by her “children” and was canonized in 1461.

Catherine ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Church. In 1939, she and Francis of Assisi were declared co-patrons of Italy. Pope Paul VI named her and Teresa of Avila doctors of the Church in 1970. Her spiritual testament is found in The Dialogue.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-catherine-of-siena/

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Saint Zita

Daily Saints

Saint Zita was an Italian saint, born in Tuscany. She entered domestic service at the age of twelve and served the same family for almost fifty years.

Through her diligence and fidelity, she became a trusted and valued servant. She gave one-third of her wages to her parents, kept a third, and gave the rest to the poor. The mistress of the house placed Zita in charge of the household almsgiving, and allowed her to visit the sick poor in their own homes and tend to their needs.

She always rose several hours before the rest of the family and took care to hear Mass every morning before she began work. She attended to her tasks with diligence and fidelity, and studied when possible to anticipate what needed to be done. Saint Zita continued to serve the Fatinellis after the death in 1260 of Guglielmo Fatinelli when his son Pagano became the head of the family.

Saint Zita was known for her kindness and generosity to the poor. She is known as the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost keys.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zita#:~:text=Zita%20is%20the%20patron%20saint,of%20Saint%20Zita's%20feast%20day.
Jones, Terry. "Zita". Patron Saints Index. Retrieved 2007-03-11.

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Pope Anacletus

Daily Saints

Also known as Saint Cletus, was the bishop of Rome, following Peter, and Linus. He served between c. AD 79 and his death, c. AD 92.

As with much of the earlier papacy, little is known of Anacletus’ pontificate. According to tradition, Pope Anacletus divided Rome into twenty-five parishes. One of the few surviving records concerning his papacy mentions him as having ordained an uncertain number of priests.

Traditionally, it was accepted that he reigned for twelve years, though the dates of that reign are questionable. The Annuario Pontificio states, “For the first two centuries, the dates of the start and the end of the pontificate are uncertain”, before placing Anacletus’ pontificate from AD 80 to AD 92. However, AD 76 to AD 88 are also frequently cited.

Pope Anacletus was martyred, ending his pontificate. A tomb ascribed to Anacletus is located near St Peter’s tomb in the Vatican Necropolis field P, underneath St Peters Basilica.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Anacletus

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Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen

Daily Saints

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen was a Capuchin friar who was involved in the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He taught philosophy at this university, ultimately earning the degree of Doctor of Law. During his time as a student he did not drink wine, and wore a hair-shirt. He was known for his modesty, meekness and chastity.

He practiced law as a counselor or advocate, at Colmar in Alsace, France, where he came to be known as the ‘poor man’s lawyer’. He scrupulously forbore all invectives, detractions, and whatever might affect the reputation of any adversary. Disenchanted with the evils associated with his profession, he determined to join his brother George as a member of the Capuchin friars.

As soon as Saint Fidelis finished his course of theology, he was immediately employed in preaching and in hearing confessions. During a severe epidemic in a city, Fidelis cared for and cured many sick soldiers.

The Calvinists of that territory, being incensed at his success in converting their brethren, loudly threatened Fidelis’ life, and he prepared himself for martyrdom. He was eventually confronted by 20 Calvinist soldiers who demanded unsuccessfully that he renounce the Catholic faith, and when he refused, they subsequently murdered him.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelis_of_Sigmaringen#:~:text=Saint%20Fidelis'%20feast%20day%20in,is%20celebrated%20on%2024%20April.

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Saint George

Daily Saints

Saint George is the object of a vast amount of imagination. There is every reason to believe that he was a real martyr who suffered at Lydda in Palestine, probably before the time of Constantine. The Church adheres to his memory, but not to the legends surrounding his life. That he was willing to pay the supreme price to follow Christ is what the Church believes. And it is enough.

The story of George’s slaying the dragon, rescuing the king’s daughter, and converting Libya is a 12th-century Italian fable. George was a favorite patron saint of crusaders, as well as of Eastern soldiers in earlier times. He is a patron saint of England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Catalonia, Genoa, Milan and Bologna.

Sources:

Saint George

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Saints Epipodius and Alexander

Daily Saints

Saints Epipodius and Alexander were both martyred during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The earliest mention of Epipodius and Alexander is in a homily of St. Eucherius, about 440. Epipodius was born in Lyon and Alexander was a Greek, originally from Phrygia. Of distinguished birth, they were close friends since their childhood schooldays. Epipodius is said to have been a confirmed celibate bachelor, who devoted his time to Christian works.

In the aftermath of the Persecution in Lyon in the summer of 177, Epipodius and Alexander, having been denounced as Christians, left the city and retired to a nearby village. There they found refuge in the house of a poor Christian widow situated north-west of the hill of Fourvière. They were betrayed to imperial authorities by a servant. Both men were subsequently imprisoned, tortured, and condemned. According to Alban Butler, after enduring torture on the rack, Epipodius, the younger of the two, was beheaded.

Alban Butler says that Alexander, after suffering an extended and brutal beating, was crucified and died almost immediately. Another account says that he died of the beatings and ill treatment in gaol.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-anselm/

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Daily Saints

Saint Florian

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Saint Athanasius of Alexandria

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Saint Joseph the Worker

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Saint Marie of Incarnation

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Saint Catherine of Siena

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Saint Zita

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Pope Anacletus

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Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen

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Saint George

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Saints Epipodius and Alexander

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