Daily Saints

Saint Nicholas, Bishop

Patron Saint of children, sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people, Russia, and numerous countries and cities

Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari, Nicholas the Wonderworker, and Saint Nick, was a fourth-century bishop in Myra, Asia Minor, modern-day Demre, Turkey. His life is also the origin of the legend of Santa Claus. By the sixth century, his tomb had become widely venerated because of the numerous reported miracles worked through his intercession. In the eleventh century, his body was transferred to Bari, Italy, where it remains today.

To this day, his bodily remains excrete a liquid, at first thought to be an oil but now believed to be water, which is collected, mixed with holy water, and distributed to the faithful in bottles every May 9, the day his remains arrived in Bari. The liquid is commonly referred to as the “Manna of Saint Nicholas” and is believed to contain miraculous healing power. For this reason, along with the mythical character of Santa Claus, he remains a highly venerated saint within the Church.

Very little is known about Saint Nicholas that is historically verifiable. What we do know is that he was the Bishop of Myra, most likely suffered imprisonment during the persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian, and was one of the bishops who attended the Council of Nicaea in 325. In addition to these historical details, many later legends have developed about his life.

Nicholas was born into an affluent and devout Christian family. When Nicholas was young, his parents died from an epidemic, leaving him an orphan and heir to his family wealth. Conscious of the exhortation Jesus gave to the rich young man to “sell what you have and give to the poor,” Nicholas did exactly that. He sold his inheritance and distributed it to those in need. Some accounts of his life state that his uncle instead was the Bishop of Myra and that he ordained Nicholas a priest.

One popular legend is that among the recipients of his wealth were three girls whose father could not afford dowries for them to be married. Their future options were grim and included the possibility of their resorting to prostitution to survive. When Nicholas found out about this dire situation, he threw a bag of gold through the window of their home that the father used as a dowry for his first daughter. Nicholas then did this a second time.

After the second daughter was married, the father stayed up all night waiting for a third bag of money. When Nicholas threw the third bag through the window, the father ran out and thanked him. Nicholas asked him not to tell anyone. One version of the story states that each night, the bag of gold landed in stockings hung by the fire to dry, leading to the Christmas tradition of placing stockings out for Saint Nick, who secretly fills them.

In another popular story, Nicholas was traveling to the Holy Land by ship. A storm suddenly arose, and the crew were fearful for their lives. Nicholas prayed, and the storm ceased. For this reason, Saint Nicholas is patron saint of sailors and those taking sea voyages.

How Nicholas became a bishop is a mystery. One version of the story is that shortly after Father Nicholas’ return from the Holy Land, the bishop of Myra died. The clergy of Myra then gathered to pick a successor. During their meeting, God inspired them to pick the first person to enter their church the following morning. Because Father Nicholas had spent the entire night in prayer, he was the first person in the church and was chosen bishop.

During his time as Bishop of Myra, a great persecution broke out in the Roman Empire under Emperor Diocletian. In 303, Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius—who made up a tetrarchy that governed the whole Roman Empire—issued a series of edicts outlawing Christianity and imposing the penalties of torture and death on those who practiced the faith. This was the last and the most violent persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. At some point, between the years of 303 and 306, Bishop Nicholas was among those arrested and tortured.

In 305, Diocletian renounced the throne, and in 306, Caesar Constantius died. Constantius’ son, Constantine, then became Caesar in his place and ordered Bishop Nicholas’ release. In 312, Constantine is said to have seen a vision of the Cross with the words, “In this sign, you will conquer.” In 313, he and his co-emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, granting religious tolerance to Christians.

An early list of the bishops who attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 includes Bishop Nicholas. That council was called to address the heresy of Arianism that denied the full divinity of Christ, asserting that the Son was a created being and not co-eternal with the Father. Some legends relate that Bishop Nicholas was so appalled by the Arians at the council that he slapped one of them across the face, was imprisoned for that act, but was released by Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Other accounts state that the heretic he slapped was Arius himself. The slap is a common motif in sacred art, including Orthodox iconography.

Other legends abound about Saint Nicholas. He is said to have won the release of various individuals unjustly condemned to death, going so far as to stay the sword of the executioner. During a famine, an evil butcher killed three children and pickled their remains to sell them as ham. Bishop Nicholas intervened and raised the pickled children from the dead. While shocking to the modern hearer, the story was widely told in the Middle Ages.

An image of that miracle is found in sacred art and is one of the reasons many came to consider Saint Nicholas as the patron saint of children. Still another story relates that during another famine, a ship full of wheat for the emperor arrived in Myra. Bishop Nicholas convinced the sailors to give him enough to feed the people for two years, promising them that the emperor would still receive all his wheat. When the trusting sailors delivered the rest of the wheat to the emperor, it weighed the same as when it was loaded, despite much of it having been given to the people of Myra.

Bishop Nicholas died on or around December 6, 346 (the year of death varies by source), and was canonized by popular acclaim. His feast day became a day when the faithful performed charitable works, especially toward children, a custom that continues today. In 1054, the Catholic Church split between the East and West, resulting in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

This left the remains of Saint Nicholas in the hands of the Orthodox. In 1071, the Seljuk Turks captured Orthodox-controlled Myra. In 1087, fearful that the Turks would mistreat the relics of their revered saint, Catholic Italian sailors from Bari took part of Saint Nicholas’s remains from his Myra tomb and brought them to Bari, Italy, where the pope later had a church built in the saint’s honor.

Though most of what we know about Saint Nicholas’ life is legendary rather than historically certain, those legends have added much to the faith of the people of God throughout the centuries. These tales have inspired faith and hope and have led to numerous reported miracles.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/december-6—saint-nicholas-bishop–optional-memorial

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Saint Sabbas of Mar Saba

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Sabbas was a spiritual student of Saint Euthymius the Great at age 20. Anchorite from age 30, living in a cave, he devoted himself to prayer and manual labor. He wove ten willow baskets each day. On Saturday he would take them to the local monastery, led by Saint Euthymius, and trade them for a week’s food, and a week’s worth of willow wands for more baskets. He took over leadership of the monks upon the death of Saint Euthymius. He was a co-superior with Saint Theodosius over 1,000 monks and hermits in the region.

Sabbas was a simple man with little education, but with a firm belief in the spiritual benefits of simple living. The combination of his lack of education and his severe austerities caused some of his charges to rebel. Sabbas tired of the squabbling, and he missed his time in prayer, so he fled to TransJordania. There he found a cave inhabited by a lion; the lion moved on, finding a new home, and giving the cave to the holy man.

A distorted version of this tale reached the rebellious monks; they seized on it, reported to the patriarch that Sabbas had been killed by a lion, and requested a new leader be appointed. As this message was being formally presented to the patriarch, Sabbas walked into the room. This led to a confrontation during which the complaints of the monks were aired. However, the patriach took Sabbas’s side, and the two restored order and discipline to the lives of the anchorites.

Sabbas led a peaceful uprising of 10,000 monks who demanded the end of the persecutions of Palestinian bishops of Anastatius I.

At age 90, Sabbas travelled to Constantinople where he successfully pled for clemency from Justinian for Samarians who were in revolt.

Born

439 at Motalala, Cappadocia

Died

532 of natural causes
relics enshrined in Venice, Italy

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Representation

man holding the rule of his monastery in his hand
man seated at the edge of a cliff
man praying in a cave with a lion nearby

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-sabbas-of-mar-saba/

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Saint John Damascene, Priest, Religious and Doctor

Daily Saints

Patron Saint of pharmacists, icon painters, and theology students Pre-Congregation canonization Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1890

As a monk, John spent his first two decades growing in spiritual perfection. Under the guidance of his spiritual director, he embraced monastic disciplines, such as renouncing his own will, avoiding worldly attachments, dedicating all actions to God, rooting out pride, rejecting the seeking out of extraordinary spiritual experiences, eliminating worldly thoughts, and maintaining silence. He fulfilled every humble task his superiors assigned him. He studied, prayed, did penance, and continuously entrusted himself to His merciful God.

John advanced so greatly in the spiritual life, humility, and learning, that his superiors deemed him worthy of priestly ordination, which was uncommon among the monks. They also believed that, as a priest, he could offer great service to the Church through ministry and writing. Thus, John was ordained and instructed by his superiors to address important theological issues within the Caliphate and Byzantine Empire.

According to various early sources, the first issue arose from Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik, the Islamic Umayyad Caliph, who opposed the use of icons and sacred images in Christian churches. One story relates that a Jewish magician from Tiberias promised Yazid a long life of fortune if he banned Christian icons within his caliphate. The Jews followed the Torah, which banned using images of God. Yazid took his advice and, in 721, issued an edict by which Christian icons were destroyed in churches across the caliphate.

Shortly afterward, between the years 726–729, Byzantine Emperor Leo III, a very religious man, also became convinced that the veneration of sacred images was idolatry. Therefore, he issued his own series of edicts by which he outlawed icons and sacred images throughout the Byzantine Empire. The Patriarch of Constantinople opposed Leo, so Leo appointed a new patriarch on his own authority. The pope also opposed Leo, so grave tensions arose between East and West.

Under obedience, Father John wrote his first great work, Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images, in which he articulated in three treatises the rationale for the use of icons in a profoundly theological way but also in a way that the common layman could understand. In these treatises, Father John was the first to distinguish between latreia (worship), which is due only to God, and proskynesis (veneration), which can be directed towards sacred images representing divine figures.

Because the Old Testament forbade the worship of idols or any images of God, Father John’s explanation had the effect of reconciling the Christian use of sacred images with the Old Testament prohibition. He argued that veneration of images was proper because of the Incarnation of the Son of God. In Old Testament times, the Incarnation had not yet taken place. Therefore, it was forbidden to use any material means to represent the unseen and immaterial God.

In Christ, however, the invisible God became visible and material, sanctifying the physical world, thus endowing the physical world with the ability to reflect the majesty of God. Father John extended this logic to the veneration of images of the saints who now share in the glory of God’s divine life (See quote above).

Tradition holds that the Byzantine Emperor was so outraged at Father John’s condemnation of his decrees that he forged a letter in Father John’s name that implicated him in a planned attack against Damascus. When the Caliph received the letter, he ordered that Father John’s hand be cut off and mounted on a pole. Once the deed was done, Father John beseeched the Mother of God to intervene so he could continue writing. The next day, his hand was miraculously restored.

Five years after his death, John’s treatise was condemned by the Council of Hieria in 754, which was called by the Byzantine Emperor. In 787, however, John was fully exonerated at the Second Council of Nicaea, which ruled in favor of icon veneration and declared that the Council of Hieria was illegitimate, given the absence of the five patriarchs.

In addition to his writings against the iconoclasts, Saint John Damascene is known for his summary of the doctrinal teachings of the Early Church Fathers, called De Fide Orthodoxa (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith). Along with that work, he also wrote against heresies and on logic and philosophy. Further works include hymns, letters, commentaries, and sermons. Among his sermons is a series on the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was also critical of Islam, pointing out many of its flaws.

Saint John Damascene left behind a clear exposition of the faith of the Church that became a standard for study in the centuries to follow. None of that would have been possible, however, had he not first entered the monastery and perfected his spiritual life as a hermit.

As we honor this great saint, reflect upon the foundation that you need to establish within your own spiritual life. Without that solid foundation of deep union with God, God will be limited in the ways He can use you. With that foundation established, great things can be done in and through you for the salvation of souls and the glory of God.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/december-4—saint-john-damascene-priest-and-doctor–optional-memorial

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Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

Daily Saints

Patron Saint of foreign missions, missionaries, navigators, and parish missions Invoked against plague epidemics Canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622

Central to Jesuit spirituality are Saint Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, based on his own conversion. Francis Xavier was among the first to use the exercises to deepen his prayer life and communion with God. The exercises, along with the spiritual support and encouragement from his brothers—especially Ignatius—transformed him into one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Church.

During his first three years as a priest, Father Francis Xavier cared for the poor and sick and deepened his prayer life, first in Venice and then in Rome. Decades earlier, Portuguese explorers had captured and colonized Goa, a city on India’s western coast. In 1540, the King of Portugal, upon hearing reports of immoral behavior among the Portuguese colonizers of Goa, petitioned the pope to send missionaries to Goa to assist.

Seeing that the Society of Jesus was newly formed and young, the pope identified the Jesuits as the ideal group to send. Upon receiving the request, Father Ignatius of Loyola chose two of his first companions for the mission. When one became ill, Ignatius chose Father Francis instead, sending him to Portugal to have an audience with the king and queen. In 1541, at the age of thirty-five, after being named apostolic nuncio to the East by the pope, Father Francis and two Jesuits companions set sail to Mozambique and then to Goa, arriving on May 6, 1542.

For the next ten years, Father Francis’ missionary activity of traveling, preaching, converting, catechizing, building churches, baptizing, and miracle working were so extensive that he has since been referred to as another Saint Paul and the “Apostle to the East.” In 1904, Pope Pius X named him the patron saint of foreign missions. In addition to his ordinary missionary work of preaching, teaching, and administration of the Sacraments, stories abound about Father Francis healing the sick, calming a storm at sea, raising the dead, and preaching in tongues, a charism which enabled him to preach in his language while others heard him in their language.

Upon arriving at his first mission in Goa, Father Francis and his companions ministered to the Portuguese settlers. Though a bishop and diocesan priests were present, there was a need for preachers who would call the people to repentance. He began by tending the sick, which won the esteem of the people. He also called the children to himself by walking through town ringing a bell, inviting them to follow him to the church where he taught them about Jesus. The children, in turn, shared the faith with their family and friends.

After several months, Father Francis became aware of numerous indigenous people along the southern coast and on the southern tip of India who had been baptized years earlier but were never catechized and formed in the faith. In a desire to minister to these natives, Father Francis and local priests from the seminary in Goa traveled south, teaching, offering the sacraments, and building dozens of churches with the help of the natives. Many unbaptized were converted, and thousands were baptized on that two-year mission. Though many welcomed him, others fiercely opposed him. At times, attempts were made on his life, but he persevered.

Over his decade of missionary activity, Father Francis set up missions in Malacca, in modern-day Malaysia; the Spice Islands, in modern-day Indonesia; Cochin and the coastal areas of modern-day Kerala, India; and the island of Sri Lanka. In 1548, Father Francis wrote a letter to his Jesuit brothers in Europe saying, “All the Portuguese merchants coming from Japan tell me that if I go there I shall do great service for God our Lord, more than with the pagans of India, for they are a very reasonable people.”

Father Francis took their advice and set sail for Japan, arriving on August 15, 1549, at Kagoshima, making him the first foreign missionary to reach that land. He was accompanied by a Japanese convert named Anjiro (whose Christian name was Paul), a fellow Jesuit priest, and a lay brother. After spending many months learning the Japanese language and translating the Gospel into Japanese, he was able to make a considerable number of converts. Father Francis’ initial success in Japan was due to the fact that he learned and respected the local customs and culture, allowing him to more effectively share the Gospel in a way that the Japanese would embrace.

Because of his foundational effort, the Catholic faith grew to number over 300,000 Japanese converts within the next sixty-five years. Saint Francis Xavier later wrote about the Japanese people: “These are the best people so far discovered, and it seems to me that among unbelievers no people can be found to excel them.” By the end of the century, however, Japanese Christians had undergone decades of severe persecution and hundreds of thousands of martyrdoms, so the Church went underground. The faith, however, was passed on from generation to generation, emerging once again in the public eye in the mid-nineteenth century.

In 1552, Father Francis received an invitation to travel to China to bring the Gospel to that land for the first time. During the journey, he fell ill and died on the island of Shangchuan, just off the coast of mainland China, at the age of forty-six.

Within ten years of intense missionary work, it is estimated that Saint Francis Xavier traveled about 38,000 miles on land and sea, being the first to bring the Gospel to many parts of Asia, baptizing about 30,000 souls. Though he wrote extensively to those he left behind in Europe, he never returned; once he left his family at the age of nineteen, he never saw them again. His life was a true sacrifice. His body was eventually brought back to Goa where it is buried and venerated today. In honor of his numerous baptisms, his arm was removed from his body in 1614 and is venerated at the Gesù, the Jesuit church in Rome.

Saint Francis Xavier was truly another Saint Paul to the Asian peoples. His constant traveling and founding of mission churches planted the seeds of faith deep in the soil he traversed. Though persecution stifled Catholicism’s later growth in Japan, that stifling ultimately deepened the resolve and faith of those persecuted. As we honor this great apostle of Christ, ponder all that he accomplished in ten short years. As you do, consider the next ten years of your own life, and rededicate yourself to the mission Christ has for you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/december-3—saint-francis-xavier-priest–memorial

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Saint Bibiana

Daily Saints

Profile

Her parents, Saint Flavian of Acquapendente and Dafrosa of Acquapendente, were martyred in the persecutions of Julian the Apostate, and Vivian and her sister Demetria were turned over to a woman named Rufina who tried to force them into prostitution. Upon her continued refusal to cooperate, Vivian was imprisoned in a mad house, then flogged to death.

A church was built over her grave, in the garden of which grew an herb that cured headache and epilepsy. This and her time spent with the mentally ill led to her areas of patronage.

Born

in 4th century in Rome, Italy

Died

Bibiana was scourged to death c.361, and her body was left to the dogs, but none would touch her. She was buried two days later in the Pretestato Catacombs, Rome, Italy. Her relics were enshrined in the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Los Angeles, California from 1855 until the building burned in August 1865, and in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California.

Patronage

against epilepsy
against hangovers
against headaches
against insanity
against mental illness
epileptics
mentally ill people
single laywomen
torture victims
archdiocese of Los Angeles, California
Bibiana, Italy

Representation

branch
pillar
green branch covered with twigs and foliage

Sources: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-bibiana/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Bibiana#/media/File:Saint_Bibiana_by_Bernini.jpg

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Saint Eligius of Noyon

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Eligius was the son of Eucherius and Terrigia. He was extremely skillful metalsmith, apprenticed to the master of the mint at Limoges, France. He was the treasurer at Marseilles, France, and a master of the mint under King Clotaire II in Paris, France; a close friend of and advisor to Clotaire.

Noted for his piety, hard work and honesty, Eligius was generous to the poor, ransomed slaves (including Saint Tillo of Solignac), built churches, a monastery at Solignac, France, and a major convent in Paris. It was said that you could easily find his house by the number of poor people there that he was caring for. Counselor to and diplomat for King Dagobert I. Friend of Saint Ouen of Rouen with whom he formed a small religious society. Persuaded Breton King Judicael to accept the authority of Dagobert.

Ordained in 640. Bishop of Noyon, France and Tournai, Belgium in 641. Built the basilica of Saint Paul. Preacher in Antwerp, Ghent, and Courtai in Belgium, with many converts, generally brought to the faith by his example of charity and work with the poor and sick. Friend and spiritual teacher of Saint Godeberta. Encouraged devotion to the saints and reverence for their relics; he discovered the relics of Saint Quentin, Saint Piaton, and Saint Lucian of Beauvais, and made many reliquaries himself. Miracle worker with the gifts of clairvoyance and prophecy; he foresaw the date of his own death.

He has become the traditional patron of all smiths, metal workers, and craftsmen. His patronage of horses and the people who work with them stems first from his patronage of smiths and craftmen, but also from his having left a horse to a priest at his death. The new bishop liked the horse, and took it from the priest. The horse became sick, but recovered immediately when it was returned to the priest that Eligius had chosen.

There is also a legend of Eligius removing a horse‘s leg in order to easy shoe it, then putting the leg back in place. In some places horses are blessed on his feast day. Through the years, horse-drawn cabs were replaced by motorized ones, and stables were supplanted by garages and gas stations, but the patronage of the people who do those jobs and work in those places has remained.

Born

588 at Catelat, near Limoges, France

Died

1 December 660 at Noyon, France of high fever
interred in the cathedral of Noyon

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Patronage

against boils
against epidemics
against equine diseases
against poverty
against ulcers
agricultural workers
basket makers
blacksmiths
boilermakers
cab drivers
cabmen
candle makers
carpenters
carriage makers
cart makers
carters
cartwrights
clock makers
coachmen
coachwrights
computer scientists
craftsmen
cutlers
cutlery makers
electricians
engravers
farm workers
farmers
farriers
garage workers
gas station workers
gilders
gold workers
goldsmiths
guards
gunsmiths
harness makers
horse traders
horseshoe makers
jewelers
jockeys
knife makers
laborers
lamp makers
livestock
locksmiths
mechanics
metal workers
metalsmiths
miners
minters
minting
numismatics
REME
Royal Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers
saddle makers
saddlers
scissors grinders
security guards
servants
silversmiths
taxi drivers
teamsters
tinsmiths
tool makers
veterinarians
watch makers
wheelwrights
Worshipful Company of
Blacksmiths
coin collectors
garages
gas stations
horses
livestock
metal collectors
numismatists
peasants
petrol stations
precious metal collectors
sick horses
Eloois-Vijve, Belgium
Sint-Eloois-Winkel, Belgium
Carrozzieri, Italy
Schinveld, Netherlands

Representation

anvil
bishop with a crosier in his right hand, on the open palm of his left a miniature church of chased gold
bishop with a hammer, anvil, and horseshoe
bishop with a horse
courtier
goldsmith
hammer
horseshoe
man grasping a devil‘s nose with pincers
man holding a chalice and goldsmith‘s hammer
man holding a horse‘s leg, which he detached from the horse in order to shoe it more easily
man shoeing a horse
man with hammer and crown near a smithy
man with hammer, anvil, and Saint Anthony
pincers
with Saint Godebertha of Noyon
giving a ring to Saint Godebertha
working as a goldsmith

Sources: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eligius/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Eligius#/media/File:Petrus_Christus_003.jpg

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Saint Andrew the Apostle

Daily Saints

Patron Saint of boatmen, butchers, farm workers, fish dealers, fishermen, happy marriages, maidens, miners, paralytics, pregnant women, ropemakers, sailmakers, sailors, singers, spinsters, textile workers, water carriers, and women who wish to become mothers Invoked against cramps, convulsions, dysentery, fever, gout, neck pain, paralysis, sore throats, and whooping cough

Saint Andrew, one of the Twelve Apostles, was most likely born in Bethsaida, just north of the Sea of Galilee, in what is today the Golan Heights. As a young man, he and his brother, Peter, worked as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. John’s Gospel reveals that Andrew was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist prior to his encounter with Jesus. This shows that Andrew was searching and took his faith seriously.

As is recorded in John 1:35–42, Andrew and another disciple were listening to John preach in the desert. As they listened to him, the Baptist saw Jesus in the distance and prophetically exclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” After Andrew and the other disciple inquired of Jesus where He was staying, Jesus invited them to follow Him by saying, “Come, and you will see.” They then spent the rest of the day with Jesus. Andrew is, therefore, the first of the Apostles to be called and to respond to that call. For that reason, the Greek Church calls Andrew the “Protokletos,” meaning, “the first called.”

Shortly after this encounter, Andrew becomes an apostle to his brother, Simon Peter. He tells Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” This statement says much about Andrew’s interior spiritual sensibilities. First, he clearly understood that John the Baptist’s ministry was special. Andrew followed John the Baptist, discerning that he was a prophet.

When John points Andrew to Jesus, Andrew immediately follows Him, engages Him, and believes in Him. It’s clearly an act of supernatural revelation that enabled Andrew to profess his faith in Jesus as the Messiah within a day of meeting Him. And the fact that he wanted his brother to share in this discovery shows that this grace was overflowing.

Though Andrew’s missionary work after Pentecost is not recorded in the New Testament, later traditions emerged from the late second or early third century. According to those traditions, Andrew traveled to Scythia, a region that today makes up part of Ukraine, southern Russia, and parts of Kazakhstan. He is also believed to have founded the Church in Byzantium, which became known as Constantinople when Emperor Constantine made it the capital of the Roman Empire. Today it is the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Byzantium-Constantinople became the central Church for the East, the Greeks. Many have seen it as significant that Peter founded the Church of Rome in the West, and his brother founded the Church in the East, revealing the unity of East and West.

In addition to other legends that Andrew preached in Asia Minor and the Black Sea region, his life is said to have ended in the city of Patras, Greece, where he was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Peter is believed to have requested to be crucified upside-down because he did not deem himself worthy of dying on a cross like Jesus. Andrew is said to have requested the X-shaped cross for the same reason.

According to that tradition, which comes to us in a second-century document called Acts of Andrew, Proconsul Ægeates was visiting the city of Patras, where Andrew was preaching. Ægeates sought to put an end to the new Christian religion and to convince Christians to honor the Roman gods and offer sacrifice to them. When Andrew heard of this, he ran to meet Ægeates, telling him that the Son of God “came on account of the salvation of men.” Of the Roman gods he said, “…these idols are not only not gods, but also most shameful demons, and hostile to the human race…” Ægeates was outraged but carried out a long dialogue in which he inquired about Jesus’ death on the Cross, suggesting that Jesus’ death was foolish and was because of Jesus’ false doctrine.

Andrew, however, proclaimed to him the true mystery of the Cross in which Christ embraced it freely so that He could win the salvation of those who would believe in Him. By the end of their conversation, Ægeates ordered Andrew’s crucifixion. Saint Andrew did not see Christ’s Cross as an instrument of torture and death but as a glorious means of eternal salvation. He saw his own suffering and death as a sharing not only in Christ’s sufferings but also in Christ’s redemption. Thus, he ran to that cross and embraced it wholeheartedly.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-30–st-andrew-apostle

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Saint Saturninus of Toulouse

Daily Saints

Profile

Saturninus was born to the third century Roman nobility. He was a missionary to Gaul, the Pyrenees, and the Iberian peninsula. He worked with Saint Papoul. He converted many, including the farmer now known as Saint Honestus who joined him as a missionary.
Imprisoned in Carcassone by the prefect Rufinus, Saturninus and his group were freed by an angel. He became the first bishop of Toulouse (in modern France), where he teamed with Saint Martial to perform miraculous healings. Converted and baptized Saint Firminus of Amiens.
When Saturninus began his work in Toulouse, the local pagan priests stopped receiving oracular messages from their gods. One day in 257, when the priests were hopelessly frustrated, Saturninus passed by in the street. The priests blamed the bishop, and ordered the crowd of heathens to seize him and force him to offer sacrifice to their gods. The idols fell to pieces in front of the bishop, and the crowd murdered him.

Born

Patras, Greece

Died

dragged to death by a bull c.257 in Toulouse, France
two Christian women gathered up his remains and buried them in a ditch
a church called the Taur (bull) was built where the bull stopped
relics at the basilica at Toulouse

Patronage

against ants
against bovine spongiform encephalopathy
death anxiety
against fraud
against headaches
against mad cow disease
against nausea
against pain
against plague
against scrapie
against smallpox
against syphilis
bullfighters
smallpox patients
—
Burgo de San Cernin, Navarra, Spain
Minderau, Germany
Motte-Saint-Jean, Burgundy, France
Pamplona, Spain
Roche-Vineuse, Burgundy, France
Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, Catalonia, Spain
Sant Sadurni d’Osormort, Catalonia, Spain
Sant Sadurni de l’heure, Catalonia, Spain
Sardinia, Italy
Navarre, Spain
St-Sernin-d’Apt, France
St-Sernin-du-Bois, Burgundy, France
St-Sernin-du-Plain, Burgundy, France
Toulouse, France
Vauban, Burgundy, France
Weissenau, Germany

Representation

bishop dragged by a bull
bishop with a bull at his feet
bull, cross and mitre

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-saturninus-of-toulouse/

Saint Saturninus of Toulouse Read More »

Saint Catherine Laboure

Daily Saints

Also known as

Zoe Laboure
Catherine Labore

Profile

Ninth of eleven children born to a farm family, and from an early age, Catherine felt a call to the religious life. She never learned to read or write. She was forced to take over running the house at age eight after her mother died and her older sister joined the Sisters of Charity. She worked as a waitress in her uncle’s cafe in Paris, France. Upon entering a hospital run by the Sisters of Charity, she received a vision in which Saint Vincent de Paul told her that God wanted her to work with the sick, and she later joined the Order, taking the name Catherine.
On 18 July 1830, she had a vision of Our Lady who described to her a medal which she wished struck. On one side it has the image of Our Lady, and the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”; on the other are the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Our Lady told Catherine that wearers of the medal would receive great graces. It has become known as the Miraculous Medal, and its wearing and devotion has spread worldwide.

Born

2 May 1806 at Fain-les-Moûtiers, Côte d’Or, Burgundy, France as Zoe Laboure

Died

31 December 1876 at Enghien-Reuilly, France
body incorrupt
entombed in her convent chapel

Venerated

19 July 1931 by Pope Pius XI (decree of heroic virtues)

Beatified

28 May 1933 by Pope Pius XI

Canonized

27 July 1947 by Pope Pius XII

Patronage

pigeon fanciers
pigeons

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-catherine-laboure/

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Saint James Intercisus

Daily Saints

Also known as

Jakob Intercisus
James the Mutilated

Profile

Military officer and courtier to King Jezdigerd I. During Jezdigerd’s persecution of Christians, James apostacized. Following Jezdigerd’s death, he was contacted by family members who had never renounced their faith. James experienced a crisis of faith and conscience, and openly expressed his faith to the new king Bahram. He was condemned, tortured and martyred.

Born

Beth Laphat, Persia

Died

slowly cut into 28 pieces, finally dying from beheading in 421

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Patronage

lost vocations
torture victims

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-james-intercisus/

Saint James Intercisus Read More »

Saint Nicholas, Bishop

Patron Saint of children, sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people, Russia, and numerous countries and cities

Saint Sabbas of Mar Saba

Saint John Damascene, Priest, Religious and Doctor

Patron Saint of pharmacists, icon painters, and theology students Pre-Congregation canonization Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1890

Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

Patron Saint of foreign missions, missionaries, navigators, and parish missions Invoked against plague epidemics Canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622

Saint Bibiana

Saint Eligius of Noyon

Saint Andrew the Apostle

Saint Saturninus of Toulouse

Saint Catherine Laboure

Saint James Intercisus

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