| 10 December |
• yesterday • tomorrow |
• 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
• 1 December as one of the Martyrs of Oxford University
Son of John and Anna Roberts; his ancestors were princes in Wales. Raised Protestant, John always felt an affinity for Catholicism. He studied at Saint John's College, Oxford from 1595 to 1597, but left without a degree. He then studied law at the Inns of Court at age 21. In 1598, while travelling in France, he joined the Church of Rome at Notre Dame in Paris.
Entered the English College at Valladolid, Spain on 18 October 1598. He left the College in 1599 to join the Abbey of Saint Benedict in Valladolid. Benedictine novice at the Abbey of Saint Martin in Compostela, Spain in 1600. Ordained there.
Father John returned to England as a missioner, leaving on 26 December 1602, and entering the country in April 1603. Arrested in May 1603, and exiled. Returned to England in 1604, and worked with plague victims in London; arrested and banished again. Returned to England in 1605. During a search for suspects involved in the Gunpowder Plot, John was found in the home of Mrs Thomas Percy, and was arrested again. Though he had no connection to the Plot, he spent seven months in prison, and was exiled again in July 1606.
While in exile he founded a house in Douai for exiled English Benedictines; this house became the monastery of Saint Gregory. Responsible for the conversion of Blessed Maurus Scott. Returned to England in October 1607, was arrested in December, and sent to Gatehouse prison. He escaped, and spent a year working in London, but was again arrested. His execution was scheduled for May 1609, but the intercession of the French ambassador led to a reduction in sentence; he was exiled yet again.
Returned to England a few months later, he was arrested while celebrating Mass on 2 December 1610. Convicted on 5 December 1610 of the crime of priesthood. Martyred with Blessed Thomas Somers.
1577 at Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, Gwynedd, northern Wales
• hanged, drawn, and quartered on 10 December 1610 at Tyburn, London, England
• body taken to Saint Gregory's in Douai, France, but disappeared during the French Revolution
• two fingers are preserved at Downside Abbey and Erdington Abbey
25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-roberts/
Born to pious parents, the daughter of Joaquín Riquelme y Gómez and María Emilia Zayas de la Vega. She received a good education, studying painting, singing, piano and languages. At age 7, Maria received a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus; she made a vow to devote herself to God, and consecrated herself to Our Lady of Carmel. Maria's mother died when the girl was 8 years old.
As she grew older, she explained her call to religious life to her father; he wouldn't have it, and arranged many social events for her; she wouldn't have it and ignored most of them to spend her time visiting hospitals and ministering to the poor. Any money she received, she gave away to poor young women to keep them from a life of prostitution, and to young men who felt a call to the priesthood.
When her father died in 1885, Maria tried to enter religious life, but health problems forced her to give up. She built a chapel at her house, and spent her time praying and helping the poor. Her work and personal piety attracted other like-minded women, and they formed a community which became the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Mary Immaculate. They received archdiocesan approval in 1896, and Mother Maria became their superior, serving the remaining 44 years of her life. The Missionaries continue their good work today in Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil and the United States.
5 August 1847 in Granada, Spain
10 December 1940 in Granada Spain of natural causes
• 9 November 2019 by Pope Francis
• the beatification recognition celebrated at the Cathedral of Encarnación in Granada, Spain with Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu the chief celebrant
Missionary Sisters of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Mary Immaculate
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-maria-emilia-riquelme-y-zayas/
• 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
• 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai
Convert to Catholicism which led to his anti-Catholic father cursing him and caused a permanent estrangement from his family. In 1584 Eustace began studies for the priesthood in Rheims, France and Rome, Italy, and was ordained at the English College in Rome in 1588. In November 1588 he returned to the west of England to minister to covert Catholics. The Church was going through a period of persecution in England, made even worse by the attack of the Armada from Catholic Spain. Arrested in Blandford, Dorset, England on 1 September 1591 for the crime of being a priest. He was lodged in Bridwell prison in London, and repeatedly tortured. At his trial he forgave the judges who sentenced him to death. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
1559 in Louth, Lincolnshire, England
hanged, drawn and quartered on 10 December 1591 in Tyburn, London, England
25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI
The morrow after Simon and Jude's day I was hanged at the wall from the ground, my manacles fast locked into a staple as high as I could reach upon a stool: the stool taken away where I hanged from a little after 8 o'clock in the morning till after 4 in the afternoon, without any ease or comfort at all, saving that Topcliffe came in and told me that the Spaniards were come into Southwark by our means: 'For lo, do you not hear the drums' (for then the drums played in honour of the Lord Mayor). The next day after also I was hanged up an hour or two: such is the malicious minds of our adversaries. - Saint Eustace, 23 November 1591, in a letter to Father Henry Garnet from prison
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eustace-white/
Arsenio of Trigolo
The fifth of twelve children born to Glicerio Migliavacca and Annunziata Strumia. Giuseppe entered the diocesan seminary in Cremona, Italy in 1863, and was ordained a priest in 1874. Parish priest in Cassano d'Adda, Italy. Joined the Jesuits in 1875. He founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary, Most Holy Consolatrix in 1893, and the sisters continue their good work today with hundreds of members in several countries. In 1902 Father Giuseppe felt a new calling, and became a Capuchin friar novice.
13 June 1849 in Trigolo, Cremona, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (modern Italy)
• 10 December 1909 in his convent cell in Bergamo, Kingdom of Italy of a brain aneurysm
• buried in the city cemetery of Bergamo
• re-interred in the cemetery of Cepino Imagna, Italy in 1940
• re-interred in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mary, Most Holy Consolatrix in Milan, Italy on 13 October 1953
• 7 October 2017 by Pope Francis
• the beatification recognition was celebrated in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Nascente in Milan, Italy with Cardinal Angelo Amato as the chief celebrant
• the beatification miracle involved the healing of Sister Ausalia Ferrario from pulmonary and intestinal tuberculosis; the miracle occurred in the chapel of the Sisters of Mary convent in Voghera, Italy on 17 October 1946 after those present at a Eucharistic Adoration prayed for the intercession of Father Giuseppe
Sisters of Mary, Most Holy Consolatrix
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-giuseppe-antonio-migliavacca/
The title Our Lady of Loreto refers to the Holy House of Loreto, the house in which Mary was born, and where the Annunciation occurred, and to an ancient statue of Our Lady which is found there. Tradition says that a band of angels scooped up the little house from the Holy Land, and transported it first to Tersato, Dalmatia in 1291, then Recanati, Italy in 1294, and finally to Loreto, Italy where it has been for centuries. It was this flight that led to her patronage of people involved in aviation, and the long life of the house that has led to the patronage of builders, construction workers, etc. It is the first shrine of international renown dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and has been known as a Marian center for centuries. Popes have always held the Shrine of Loreto in special esteem, and it is under their direct authority and protection.
• air crews • Air Forces • aircraft pilots • Argentinian Air Force • Arpino, Italy • aviation • aviators • Belgian air crews • builders • construction workers • flyers • flying • Ghajnsielem Gozo, Italy • Guidonia Montecelio, Italy • Italy • Loreto, Italy • Spanish air crews •
https://catholicsaints.info/our-lady-of-loreto/
Priest at Saint Crisogono Church in Rome, Italy; except that his father's name was John, nothing else is known about his life prior to being elected 90th pope by popular acclamation in 731. Noted for his learning and virtue. The beginning of his pontificate was troubled by the excesses of the iconoclasts. He called a synod in November 731 to condemn iconoclasm; iconoclast leaders responded by seizing papal territories and assets, and insisting on the ecclestiastical allegiance to the Patriarch of Constantinople. The end of Gregory's reign was troubled by the invasions of the Lombards, against these he sought the help of Charles Martel, establishing ties with the French crown that would echo for centuries. Gregory promoted the Church in northern Europe, supporting the missions of Saint Boniface in Germany and Saint Willibald in Bohemia, bestowed palliums on Egbert of York and Saint Tatwine of Canterbury, beautified Rome, and supported monasticism in general.
• in Syria
• last pope born outside Europe until the ascension of Pope Francis
• elected on 11 February 731
• enthroned in March 731
28 November 741 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-gregory-iii/
Aulaire, Aulazie, Olalla
A consecrated virgin who, from her early youth, wanted to be a martyr. During the Diocletian persecutions, when she was around 12 to 14 years old (sources vary), she went to the tribunal, and confessed her faith on her own initiative. Tortured and martyred with Saint Julia of Merida. Legend says that when she was thrown naked into the street, snow fell to cover her; later when her ashes were dumped in a field, snow fell on them to create a burial pall. Often confused with Saint Eulalia of Barcelona.
c.290 in Spain
tortured and burned alive c.304 Merida, Spain
• Merida, Spain
• Oviedo, Spain
• runaways
• torture victims
• widows
• young woman with a cross, stake, and dove
• naked young woman lying in the snow
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eulalia-of-merida/
Oliver Palmer
• 1 December as one of the Martyrs of the English College
• 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
Son of a horn maker. Studied for the priesthood at Rheims, France and the English College in Rome, Italy. Ordained on 7 December 1586, he return to England to minister to covert Catholics during the persecutions of Queen Elizabeth I. Arrested on 2 November 1591 at the home of Saint Swithun Wells in Gray's Inn Fields while Saint Edmund Gennings was celebrating Mass. Executed for the crime of being a priest. Martyr.
1563 in London, England
hanged, drawn and quartered on 10 December 1591 in Tyburn, London, England
25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-polydore-plasden/
• Angelina of Krusedol
• Angelina of Krushedol
• Angelina Arianit Komneni
• Angelina Brankovic
• Mother Angelina
Born to the nobility, the daughter of Prince Georg Skenderberg of Albania. Married to King Stefan Brankovic of Serbia, and with him live in Mexile. As a mother she concentrated on the Christian part of her sons' education. Widowed, she renounced her position in the world to become a nun and then abbess at the Krushedol abbey so she could spend her days in prayer and caring for the poor.
late 15th-century in modern day Berat, Albania as Angelina Arianit Komneni
• 1510 in Fruska Gora, Serbia of natural causes
• buried beside her husband and sons Stephen and John Maxim in Krusedol Abbey
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-angelina-of-serbia/
25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
Married layman teacher in the apostolic vicariate of England. Martyred in the persecutions of Queen Elizabeth I for having provided shelter to priests, noteably Saint Edmund Gennings and Saint Polydore Plasden, hiding from the anti-Catholic authorities, and for permitting Mass to be celebrated in his house.
1536 in Bambridge, Hampshire, England
hanged, drawn and quartered on 10 December 1591 in Tyburn, London, England
25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-swithun-wells/
Edmund Jennings
• 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
• 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai
Convert to Catholicism at age 17. He studied and was ordained at Rheims, France in 1590. He then returned to England to minister to covert Catholics. Martyr.
1567 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England
hanged, drawn and quartered on 10 December 1591 at Gray's Inn Fields, Tyburn, London, England
25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edmund-gennings/
Melchiades
Pope during the time that Constantine the Great declared tolerance for Christians in the Roman Empire. Counted as a martyr on many lists due to the sufferings he endured prior to the toleration decree. May have been Pope when the Church was given the Lateran Palace which became the pope's residence and the seat of the central administration of the Church. Saint Augustine of Hippo thought highly of him, and mentioned him in his writings.
Africa
2 July 311
11 January 314 at Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-miltiades/
Yorkshire country gentleman. Cousin, companion and assistant to Venerable Father Montford Scott Arrested in 1586 for helping and hiding priests. Arrested again in 1591 when his own brother Richard betrayed him, Brian was tortured at Bridewell prison to learn the names of more people who had helped priests. Finally arraigned down the Old Bailey, he was condemed to death for his faith, for aiding priests and encouraging Catholics. Martyr.
Brockdish, Norfolk, England
hanged on 10 December 1591 at Tyburn, London, England
15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-brian-lacey/
Thomas Wilson
29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai
Schoolmaster. Seminarian in Douai, France. Priest. Returned to England to minister to covert Catholics in London, sometimes using the alias Thomas Wilson. Arrested and condemned to death for the crime of being a priest. Martyred with Saint John Roberts.
Skelsmergh, Westmoreland, England
hanged, drawn, and quartered on 10 December 1610 at Tyburn, London, England
15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-thomas-somers/
• Bruno von Braunsberg
• Brun
Born to the noblity in Braunschweig, Germany. Knight. He gave up worldly privilete and joined the Premonstratensians. Abbot of the Rommersdorf cloister near Engers am Rhein, Germany; he expanded the house and enlarged its library. Assigned by Pope Honorius III to preach Crusade in the Rhineland. Friend of Blessed Louis IV of Thuringia and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
12th century Germany
10 December 1236 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-bruno-of-rommersdorf/
Marcantonio Durando
Priest in the Congregation of the Mission of Saint Vincent de Paul. Founded the Institute of the Sisters of Jesus the Nazarene.
22 May 1801 in Mondovi, Italy
10 December 1880 in Turin, Italy of natural causes
20 October 2002 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-marco-antonio-durando/
1 December as one of the Martyrs of Oxford University
Layman. Servant to a Mr Owen of Oxfordshire. Arrested for harbouring priests in general, and Saint Edmund Gennings in particular, physically restraining the men who were going to arrest Gennings during Mass. Martyr.
at Kendal, Westmoreland, England
hanged, drawn, and quartered on 10 December 1591 at Tyburn, London, England
15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-john-mason/
• Mercury of Leontium
• Mercurius of...
Officer in the imperial Roman army. Led a group of soldiers escorting Christian prisoners to trial during the persecutions of emperor Licinius and governor Tertyllus. Mercurius and many of his men were converted to the faith by the prisoners while on the road, and were martyred with them.
beheaded in Lentini, Sicily, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-mercury-of-lentini/
Benedictine monk. Pilgrim to the Holy Land. Lived as a hermit near Farfa Abbey, Italy. Friend of the duke of Spoleto, Italy. Restored Farfa Abbey with the financial aid of the duke. Abbot.
at Maurienne, Savoy, France
c.720 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-thomas-of-farfa/
The feast is so named from the tradition that the house where the Holy Family lived in Nazareth, was transported by angels to the city of Loreto, Italy. The Holy House is now encased by a basilica. It has been one of the famous shrines of the Blessed Virgin since the 13th century.
https://catholicsaints.info/holy-house-of-loreto/
• Gemellus of Edessa
• Gemellus of Paphlagonia
Martyred in the persecutions of Julian the Apostate.
crucified in 362 at Ancyra, Galatia (Asia Minor)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gemellus-of-ancyra/
Benedictine monk at the monastery of Saint Airy in Verdun, France. When the monastery, was dissolved due to political conflicts, Fulgentius became monk and then abbot of the monastery of Afflighem, Belgium.
latter 11th century in Wallonia (in modern Belgium)
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-fulgentius-of-afflighem/
Layman. Convert. Martyred for assisting priests during a period of English history when Catholicism was outlawed.
English
hanged, drawn, and quartered on 10 December 1591 at Tyburn, London, England
15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-sidney-hodgson/
• Caesarius of Durazzo
• Caesarius of Durrës
• Caesarius of Dyrrachium
• Cesare of...
One of the 72 disciples of Christ described in Acts. Bishop of Epidamnus (modern Durrës, Albania). Martyr.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-caesarius-of-epidamnus/
Born to the nobility, the son of Count Gualterio of Sassovivo, Foligno, Umbria, Italy who gave land to Blessed Mainard the land to build the Benedictine Holy Cross Abbey. Albert became a monk and later abbot there.
c.1012 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-albert-of-sassovivo/
Dominican missionary to Zacateca, Mexico. When some natives treated the Eucharist with disrespect, Sebastian chastised them; they murdered him.
Spanish
murdered in 1616 in Zacateca, Mexico
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-sebastian-montanol/
Dreiuls, Sindolf, Sindulfe, Sindulfus, Sindulphe, Sindulphus, Syndulphe
Bishop of Vienne, France. Attended councils in 625 and 630. Encouraged the monastic life in his diocese.
c.669
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-sindulf-of-vienne/
William of Carraria
Soldier. Mercedarian knight at the convent of Santa Maria d'Esteron in Menorca, Spain. Noted for his austere lifestyle and personal piety.
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-guglielmo-de-carraria/
Carpoforo
Priest. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.
martyred c.300 at Spoleto, Italy or Seville, Spain (records vary)
Arona, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-carpophorus/
Guimar, Guimare, Guimer, Guitmaire, Guitmar, Guitmer, Vitmar, Vitmarus, Widmar, Widmer, Witmaire, Witmar, Witmer
Abbot at Saint-Riquier Abbey, Normandy, France.
c.765
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-guitmarus/
Benedictine monk. Abbot of the house at Carracedo, Leon, Spain. Greatly esteemed by King Alphonsus VII.
1156 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-florentius-of-carracedo/
Bishop of Brescia, Italy. Played a leading role in the councils convened against the Monothelite heresies.
c.700
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-deusdedit-of-brescia/
Abundantius
Deacon. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.
c.300 at Spoleto, Italy or Seville, Spain (records vary)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-abundius/
Child martyr, celebrated by Pope Damasus.
Via Salaria, Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-maurus-of-rome-10-december/
Martyred with Saint Eulalia of Merida in the persecutions of Diocletian.
c.304 at Merida, Spain
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-julia-of-merida/
Benedictine monk at Corbie Abbey. Bishop of Beauvais, France in 821.
c.844
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-hildemar-of-beauvais/
Benedictine monk at Farfa, Italy. Abbot of the house at Maurienne, France.
740 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lucerius/
Roman martyr whose cultus was very popular in France during the time of Saint Eligius.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-valeria/
A group of Christians murdered for their faith in the persecutions of Galerius Maximian. The only details that have survived are three of the names - Eugraphus, Hermogenes and Mennas.
beheaded c.312 at Alexandria, Egypt
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-alexandria-10-december/
Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. I have pages on each of them, but in most cases I have only found very minimal information. They are available on the CatholicSaints.Info site through these links:
• Blessed Agustín García Calvo
• Blessed Antonio Martín Hernández
• Blessed Emérico Martín Rubio
• Blessed Gonzalo Viñes Masip
• Luca di Melicucc`
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