| 12 March |
• yesterday • tomorrow |
The youngest of seven children born to a poor family, his parents divorced when Rutilio was small, and he was raised by his grandmother and an older brother. He began attending a high school seminary in San Salvador at age 12, and joined the Jesuits when he was 17. Ordained a priest on 30 July 1959.
Father Rutilio came into his own as a priest in the 1960’s; what he took from the work of Vatican II was that his own spiritual development would come from his self-sacrifice for the good of others. He became director of social action projects in San Salvador, and for nine years taught seminarians to live and work with the poor so that they were part of the flock, and to be an example of the church among them.
After work at the seminary, he became a parish priest and school teacher in Aguilares, El Salvador where he was murdered by El Salvadoran security forces while on his way to celebrate Saturday night Mass; he was the first priest martyred in the lead up to the civil war. A friend of Saint Oscar Romero, Saint Oscar later said the death of Blessed Rutilio was his own wake-up call to the cause of the Salvadoran people.
5 July 1928 in El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador
• shot around 5pm on Saturday 12 March 1977 on the road between Aguilares and El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador
• he was hit by 12 rounds
• 22 January 2022 by Pope Francis
• beatification celebrated at Plaza Divino Salvador del Mundo, San Salvador, El Salvador, presided by Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-rutilio-grande-garcia/
Born to the nobility, Giustina grew up in a wealthy household. As a child, she frequently fasted on her own, and had a habit of hiding away to pray. She was drawn to the religious life, but her parents strongly opposed it, not wishing to lose their only daughter to the cloister. However, her father fell seriously ill, and during his recovery time he meditated on what was and was not important in life. This led him to give his blessing to Giustina becoming a nun.
She began her Benedictine novitiate at the monastery of San Marco at age 12; legend says that a dove landed on her as she walk into the convent, and all took this as a sign of blessing from the Holy Spirit on her choice. Feeling the need for more solitude, with her bishop‘s permission she became a hermitess and anchoress. She lived in isolation for 35 years; legend says that when wolves would gather around her hermitage, an angel would drive them off. In later years, her health began to fail, she became blindess, and she was forced to return to live in the convent. When the convent became unsafe due to civil unrest, she returned to her family home in 1315, and spent her remaining years there. Subject to ecstasies and received visions.
c.1257 in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
• 12 March 1319 in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy of natural causes while praying
• a white lily grew out of the stone of her tomb
• body found incorrupt when moved in 1329
• body enshrined in an iron in the Holy Spirit Benedictine monastery in Arezzo
• body found incorrupt when moved in 1709
• relics enshrined in the Santa Maria del Flore Benedictine monastery in Lapo, Italy in 1968
14 January 1891 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmation)
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-giustina-bezzoli-francucci/
Aloysius Orione
Joined the Franciscans at Voghera, Italy as a young man, but developed severe health problems and returned to his family. Studied under Saint John Bosco at Turin, Italy, was present at Saint John's death, and was cured of his illness during Saint John's funeral.
Studied at the seminary in Tortona, Italy. While still a layman and student, he opened San Luigi House at San Bernardino in 1893, a home for the poor, homeless and abandoned. Ordained on 13 April 1895.
Founded the Hermits of Divine Providence congregation, the Ladies of Divine Providence, and an orphanage in Rome, Italy in 1899. Under the patronage of Pope Saint Pius X, he founded the Little Missionaries of Charity. Constructed the Marian shrine at Tortona, a site that became a rallying point for people during times of political unrest. To administer the houses of his congregations, Luigi travelled the world, visiting houses in Wales, Brazil, the United States, and throughout Italy.
23 June 1872 at Pontecurone, Allessandria, Italy
• 12 March 1940 at San Remo, Imperia, Italy from heart disease
• body found intact when exhumed in 1965
• interred at the shrine of Our Lady of Safe Keeping, Tortona, Italy
16 May 2004 by Pope John Paul II
Engage always in good works to everyone but never do harm to anybody. - Saint Luigi's life motto
Without Prayer nothing good is done. God's works are done with our hands joined, and on our knees. Even when we run, we must remain spiritually kneeling before Him. - Saint Luigi
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-luigi-orione/
• Iosephus Zhang Depeng
• Joseph Tchang Taong
• Joseph Tshang-ta-Pong
• Ruose
28 September as one of the Martyrs of China
A clever and inquisitive boy, he was much attracted to Taoism in his youth. He moved to Guiyang in 1794, and entered the silk business. Through a business contact, he first learned of Christianity. He converted, but was unable to join the Church because, in the custom of the day, he kept a concubine. He eventually left her, and in 1800, against strong opposition from his family and business associates, he joined the Church, taking the name Joseph.
Because of trouble at his business over his new-found faith, he went out on his own, opening his own store. He began a ministry of preaching and teaching, and converted a house into a small school for religion. He became a school principal in 1808, and worked as a catechist and altar server.
During the anti-Christian persecutions led by the White Lotus Cult, Joseph went briefly into hiding, but continued his catechist work covertly. In 1814 he was betrayed by his anti-Christian brother-in-law, and was arrested. He was lodged with Saint Peter Wu Gousheng, and the two spent their prison time ministering to other prisoners. He was offered his freedom if he would denounce Christianity; he declined. Martyr.
c.1754 in Duyun, Guizhou Province, China
• strangled to death on 12 March 1815 in Guiyang, Guizhou, China
• buried in Xijiaotang, China
• grass from his grave has become part of local folk remedies
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-joseph-zhang-dapeng/
Aniela Salawa
Daughter of Salaw Bartlomiej and Ewa Bochenek, the youngest of ten children in a pious tradesman's family. She received two years of formal education, and at age 12 began work as a domestic in nearby homes. On 27 April 1900 she joined the Saint Zita Assocation, a religious group for maids. Within this church-centered place, Angela felt at home, and devoted her free time to the house, the church, and a call to religion, attending Mass daily and in routine contact with Franciscans. She was unable to enter religious life due to poor health, and continued to work as a maid and to mentor other young women. She became a Franciscan tertiary on 15 March 1912. Worked as a nurse in a Krakow hospital during World War I, spending her own money and any that she could beg to buy better food for injured soldiers. In 1917 her health collapsed completely; she spent the last five years of her life in a small room, surviving on the charity of the Saint Zita Association, and spending her time in prayer.
9 September 1881 in Siepraw, Malopolskie, Poland
• 12 March 1922 in Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland of natural causes
• relics transferred to the Franciscan Chapel of the Lord's Passion on 13 May 1949
13 August 1991 by Pope John Paul II
"Aniela Salawa can serve as an example of a strong faith, a perfect conformity with God's will and an unusual piety." - Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-angela-salawa/
Fina, Serafina
Born poor, and though she stayed that way, she still found ways to help those in worse shape that herself. A pretty girl, she lived as a hermit in her home, doing chores, giving to the poor when she could, spinning, sewing, and praying through the nights. Seraphina's father died when the girl was very young. Soon after, she was stricken with a condition that made any movement painful; she had to be carried everywhere on a board. Fina lived the rest of her life in constant suffering, and neglect, which she turned over to God in her constant prayers. She never joined an order but lived her life under Benedictine Rule. Devoted to Saint Gregory the Great who suffered from a condition like hers. She received a vision from Saint Gregory who foretold the date of her death.
1238 at San Geminiano, Tuscany, Italy
12 March 1253 of natural causes
• disabled people
• handicapped people
• physically challenged people
• spinners
• San Gimignano, Italy
• violets
• with Saint Gregory the Great
• lying on a wooden board
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-seraphina/
• Paul of Léon
• Paol Aorelian
• Paulinus Aurelianus
• Paul Aurelian of Léon
• Pol Aurelian
• Pol de Léon
Born a Romano-Briton prince, the son of Perphius, a Welsh chieftain. Educated at Llantwit Major with Saint David of Wales, Saint Samson of York, Saint Gildas the Wise and Saint Illtyd. Hermit. To escape being made a bishop, he and 12 companions established a monastery at Porz-Pol, Ouessant Island, Brittany (part of modern France. He later relented and became bishop of Ouismon. Spiritual director of his nephew, Saint Joavan of Brittany.
Legend says that Saint Pol subdued a dragon on the Île de Batz by wrapping his clerical stole around the animal's neck, then used his bishop‘s crozier to drag it to the north edge of the island and ordered it to disappeared into the sea.
Glamorgan, Wales
572 on Île de Batz, France
Saint-Pol-de-Léon, France
bishop with a dragon leashed with a clerical stole
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-paul-aurelian/
28 December as part of the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia
Eight Christians who were martyred in succession in a single incident during the persecutions of Diocletian. First there were the eight imprisoned Christians, Domna, Esmaragdus, Eugene, Hilary, Mardonius, Maximus, Mígdonus and Peter, about whom we know little more than their names. Each day for eight days one of them would be strangled to death in view of the others so that they would spend the night in dread, not knowing if they were next.
in 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey)
• Mura of Fahan
• Murames, Muran, Murin
Abbot of Fahan (Othan Mor), appointed by Saint Columba. Friend of King Hugh of Ireland. Spiritual teacher of Saint Laserian of Leighlin. Member of the O'Neill clan. Writer of a number of works including a rhymed biography of Saint Columba. In the ruined church of Saint Mura at Fahan is a beautiful Irish cross, and nearby is Saint Mura's Well.
c.550 in County Donegal, Ireland
• 645 of natural causes
• relics include his crozier at the National Museum, Dublin, Ireland, and his bell-shrine at the Wallace Collection, London, England
• Fahan, Ireland
• O'Neill clan
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-mura-mcferedach/
• Theophanus the Chronicler
• Theophanus the Confessor
• Theophanus of Isaurius
• Teofane...
Educated at the Byzantine imperial court. Married layman. Both he and his wife entered religious life. Founded two monasteries. Abbot at Mount Migniana abbey. Wrote a Chronography, a sort of abstract of history from 284 to 813. Arrested, tortured, and exiled to Samothrace by Leo the Armenian for opposing iconoclasm.
Constantinople
12 March 817 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-theophanes-the-chronographer/
• Maximilian of Tebessa
• Maximilian of Theveste
• Mamilian...
Son of a Roman army veteran. Conscientious objector - when drafted into the Roman army, he refused to serve on the grounds that his faith prohibited it. Martyred for this stand.
274
• beheaded c.295 at Thebeste, Numidia, North Africa
• buried at Carthage
My army is the army of God, and I cannot fight for this world. - Saint Maximilian
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-maximilian-of-thebeste/
Innocenzo
Friend of Saint John Chrysostom. 40th pope. Brought several churches back from the Novatian heresy to orthodoxy. Helped Emperor Honorius oppose the Montanists. Settled the Arian schism at Antioch. Condemned the teachings of Pelagius, and opposed Pelagianism. Opposed Priscillianism. Reigned during the sack of Rome by Alaric the Goth in 410. Maintained the supremacy of the bishop of Rome.
at Albano Laziale, Italy
402
12 March 417 at Rome, Italy of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-innocent-i/
• Peter Cubicolario
• Peter Cubicularius
28 December as one of the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia
Chamberlain in the palace of Diocletian in Nicomedia (in modern Turkey). When he was overheard lamenting the cruelty shown to the Martyrs of Nicomedia during the persecutions of Diocletian, he was exposed as a Christian, arrested, tortured and martyred for his faith.
whipped until his bones showed, had salt and vinegar poured on the wounds, and then was roasted to death over a slow fire in 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-peter-of-nicomedia/
Gorgonius
28 December as one of the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia
Army officer and member of the staff in the house of emperor Diocletian. He was exposed as a Christian when he objected to the torture of fellow servant and Catholic, Saint Peter of Nicomedia. This led to his own arrest, torture and execution. Martyr.
hanged in 303 in Nicomedia, Bythinia (in modern Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gorgonio-of-nicomedia/
Doroteus
28 December as one of the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia
Clerk in the house of emperor Diocletian. He was exposed as a Christian when he objected to the torture of fellow servant and Catholic, Saint Peter of Nicomedia. This led to his own arrest, torture and execution. Martyr.
hanged in 303 in Nicomedia, Bythinia (in modern Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-doroteo-of-nicomedia/
• Girolamo Gherarducci
• Jerome...
Priest. Member of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, and lived in their convent in Recanati, Italy. Worked as a peacemaker between warring Italian political and military factions.
• 12 March 1350 in Recanati, Piceno, Italy of natural causes
• relics enshrined in the church of Sant'Agostino in Recananti
1804 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmation)
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-girolamo-da-recanati/
Bernard of Capua
Studied at Monte Cassino Abbey; spiritual student of the abbot who later became Pope Victor III; fellow student of Saint Peter Damian. Priest. Counselor and chaplain to prince Jordan of Capua, Italy. Bishop of Forum Claudii, Italy, consecrated on 21 March 1087; he moved the see city to Carinola, Campania, Italy in 1100.
1040 at Capua, Italy
• 1109 of natural causes
• interred in a marble sarcophagus in the cathedral of Carinola, Italy
Carinola, Campania, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-bernard-of-carinola/
Lifelong layman in the archdiocese of San Salvador, El Salvador. He was married to Eleuteria Antonia Guillén, and the couple had ten children. In Aguilares, Chile, he sold seeds and cattle for a living. Murdered by El Salvadoran security forces while on his way to serve at Saturday night Mass. Martyr.
c.1905 in Suchitoto, Cuscatlán, El Salvador
shot around 5pm on Saturday 12 March 1977 on the road between Aguilares and El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador
22 January 2022 by Pope Francis
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-manuel-solorzano/
Dominican nun in 1262 at the convent of Engelport in Hundsrück, Germany. All the nuns at the convent became Premonstratensians in 1272. Beatrix may have served as the first prioress.
13th century Germany
• c.1275
• interred in the choir loft of the convent church
• legend says that if the convent forgot to celebrate her feast day, Beatrix would make knocking noises in her tomb
• relics destroyed during the anti-Church excesses of the French Revolution
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-beatrix-of-engelport/
Young, single layman in the archdiocese of San Salvador, El Salvador. Murdered by El Salvadoran security forces while on his way to serve at Saturday night Mass. Martyr.
10 November 1960 in El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador
shot around 5pm on Saturday 12 March 1977 on the road between Aguilares and El Paisnal, San Salvador, El Salvador
22 January 2022 by Pope Francis
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-nelson-rutilio-lemus-chavez/
Peter Levita
Benedictine monk, sub-deacon in Sicily, deacon in Rome. Friend, spiritual student and secretary to Pope Saint Gregory the Great; Gregory dictated four books of the Dialogues to Peter.
6th century
early c.605
Salassola, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-peter-the-deacon/
• Alphege of Winchester
• Alphege the Elder
• Ælfheah, Elphege, Elfego, Elpigio
Relative of Saint Dunstan of Canterbury and Saint Ethelwold. Monk. Bishop of Winchester, England in 935. Great supporter of the monastic life. Ordained Saint Dunstan and Saint Ethelwold.
951 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-alphege-the-bald/
Almud
Born to the royal family. With her sister Digmund, she founded the convent of Wetter in Oberlahngau, Germany, and served as its first abbess.
9th century Germany
10th century
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-almut-of-wetter/
First nun to take vows in Northumbria (part of modern England), consecrated by Saint Aiden of Lindisfarne. Founded a convent at Hartlepool, Northumbia, and later another at Healaugh, Northumbria.
mid-7th century
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-heiu-of-hartlepool/
Fiachna
Spiritual student of Saint Columbanus. Went with Columbanus to evangelize in Scotland.
northern Ireland
• 580 of natural causes
• miracles reported at his tomb
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-fechno/
Coman
Seventh-century priest. Monk at Iona Abbey. Missionary to Northumbria in northern England; he may have been the first priest to evangelize the area.
Ireland
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-corman-of-iona/
Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian with seven other Christians.
hung by his feet over a fire to die of smoke inhalation in 303 in Nicomedia, Asia Minor
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-egdunus/
Monk. Abbot of Iona Abbey. Martyred by Saxons while travelling to Rome, Italy.
854
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-indrecht-of-iona/
Claude
Franciscan monk.
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-claudius-the-minor/
Married to a man named Felicius. Martyred, date unknown.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-basilissa-of-asia/
• Brian Bòruimhe
• Symeon the New Theologian
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