| 13 December |
• yesterday • tomorrow |
| Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr |
Lucia, Lucie
Rich, young Christian of Greek ancestry. Raised in a pious family, she vowed her life to Christ. Her Roman father died when she was young. Her mother, Eutychia, arranged a marriage for her. For three years she managed to keep the marriage on hold. To change the mother's mind about the girl's new faith, Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha, and her mother's long haemorrhagic illness was cured. Her mother agreed with Lucy's desire to live for God, and Lucy became known as a patron of those with maladies like her mother's.
Her rejected pagan bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian to the governor of Sicily. The governor sentenced her to forced prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her killed instead. After torture that included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire; they went out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and was executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger. Her name is listed in the prayer "Nobis quoque peccatoribus" in the Canon of the Mass.
Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name led to her connection with eyes, the blind, eye trouble, etc.
c.283 at Syracuse, Sicily
• stabbed in the throat c.304 at Syracuse, Sicily
• her relics are honoured in churches throughout Europe
light; bringer of light (= Lucy)
• against blindness • against dysentery • against epidemics • against eye disease • against eye problems • against hemorraghes • against sore eyes • against sore throats • against throat infections • against fire • against poverty • against spiritual blindness • blind people • martyrs • peasants • penitent prostitutes • poor people • sick children • authors • cutlers • eyes • farmers • glass blowers • glass makers • glaziers • gondoliers • laborers • lamp lighters • lawyers • maid servants • notaries • ophthalmologists • opticians • porters • printers • saddlers • sailors • salesmen • seamstresses • stained glass workers • tailors • upholsterers • weavers • writers • Santa Lucia • 12 cities •
• cord
• eyes
• eyes on a dish
• lamp
• swords
• woman hitched to a yoke of oxen
• woman in the company of Saint Agatha, Saint Agnes of Rome, Barbara, Catherine of Alexandria, and Saint Thecla
• woman kneeling before the tomb of Saint Agatha
Those whose hearts are pure are temples of the Holy Spirit. - Saint Lucy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lucy-of-syracuse/
Oldest child in a devout family. Antonio's father, Vincenzo Grassi, died when the boy was only 10 years old, but he managed to pass on his devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. Antonio, who attended Mass each day as a boy, joined the Oratorian Fathers at age 17 where he showed a natural talent for the study of theology and Scripture. Priest.
At age 29, while praying in the church of the Holy House of Loreto, Antonio was struck by lightning; he was not expected to survive, but recovered completely. He took his survival as a gift from God, to be used in God's service; he also donated his scorched clothes to the church of the Holy House as an offering, and he made a yearly pilgrimage to the Holy House. He devoted himself entirely to his priestly vocation, especially hearing confessions, and was given the gift of reading consciences.
Pilgrim to Rome, Italy in 1625. Elected superior of the Oratory in Fermo, Italy in 1635; he was re-elected every 3 years for the next 36 years. With penitents he insisted on adherence to the laws of God, with brother Oratorians he added the constitutions of the Order, but he was alway supportive and kind everyone, never severe, and encouraged the same behavior in priests and parishioners. Instead of social engagements to which his position entitled him, Antonio spent his evenings visiting the sick and dying.
Old age was a hard and humbling time on Father Antonio; his spirit was not only willing but eager, but his body began to break down. When he lost his teeth his speech became difficult to understand, and he gave up preaching; when his hearing began to fail, he gave up hearing confessions; and a fall eventually led to him being confined to his room, unable to visit the other sick and elderly. But he bore it all as part of the gift he had been given.
13 November 1592 in Fermo, Italy
13 December 1671 in Fermo, Italy of natural causes
30 September 1900 by Pope Leo XIII
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-antonio-grassi/
• Odilia of Hohenbourg
• Odilia of Hohenburg
• Adilia, Odile, Odilia, Othilia, Ottilia
Born blind to the family of the Duke of Alsace Lord Aldaric (aka Etichon, aka Athich) and Bereswinda; because she was a girl and disabled, the family decided to put her out. Rather that having her killed, she was given to a peasant family. Taken in by a convent at age twelve, she gained her sight upon being touched by chrism during her baptism by Saint Erhard of Regensburg. Her brother wanted her back for use in an arranged marriage; when he heard of his son's machinations and Odilia's miraculous healing, her father was so angry that he struck and killed the brother. Odilia raised her brother back to life, then fled to the convent to escape the marriage. Her father followed her, but when a mountain opened a cave to hide her, and then dropped rocks on him, he gave up the idea. She joined the abbey, and eventually became abbess. Founded the Hohenburg Abbey on the Odilienberg mountain in Alsace.
c.660 at Oberheim in the Vosges Mountains
• 13 December 720 at Niedermunster, Mount Sainte Odile, Germany of natural causes
• reported to have returned briefly to life to tell her sisters about the beauty of heaven, and to take communion one last time
• buried in a chapel near the convent church on the Odilienberg
• against eye diseases and problems
• Alsace, France (proclaimed in 1807 by Pope Pius VII)
• abbess praying before an altar
• larkspur (associated with the herbal healing of eye problems)
• rooster, a symbol of vigilance
• woman with a book on which are two eyes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-odilia-of-alsace/
Maria Maddalena della Passione
Consecrated as a baby to Our Lady of Sorrows. Attended a boarding school run by the Daughters of Charity in Castellammare di Stabia, Italy. Costanza was attracted to the religious life, but for health reasons she returned to her parents and was taught by a tutor who also helped her start a regular prayer life. In her teens she tried to enter religious life twice, but her poor health caused her to return to her parents each time. She became a Servite tertiary, making her final profession on 18 June 1867, taking the name Sister Mary Magdalene of the Passion. Her bishop placed her in charge of the Pious Union of the Daughters of Mary, and she taught catechism to young people.
Following a series of cholera outbreaks, there was so much misery, and so many orphans in her area that Sister Mary Magdalene gathered like-minded women into a loose group to help the survivors. They formed the basis of the Suore Compassioniste Serve di Maria (Compassionist Sisters Servants of Mary) which received initial approval on 27 May 1871. Though she fought recurring health problems her remaining 50 years, Mother Mary Magdalene spent her life leading the Sisters.
5 September 1845 in Castellammare di Stabia, Naples, Italy as Costanza Starace
• 13 December 1921 in Castellammare di Stabia, Naples, Italy of pneumonia
• re-interred at the shrine of the Sacred Heart in Scanzano, Italy on 19 August 1929
• 15 April 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI
• recognition celebrated in the cathedral of Castellammare di Stabia, Italy by Cardinal Jose Martins Sarajva
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-costanza-starace/
Giudoco, Giudioco, Iodocus, Jodoc, Jodokus, Joost, Jos, Josse, Jost, Jouven, Judganoc, Judgeonoc, Judoc, Judocus
• 9 January in Winchester (translation of relics)
• 26 July in Amiens, France
Seventh century king in Brittany, the son of King Juthael of Amorica. Following a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy c.636, he abdicated to lead a religious life. Ordained at Ponthieu. Hermit at Runiacum, which was later renamed Saint-Josse-sur-Mer. Felt a special call to pray for sailors.
In the early 10th century, refugees from Brittany to England brought some of his relics with them, mainly clippings from his hair and nails which were reported to continue to grow after his death; they were enshrined in Winchester Cathedral. Joducus, often under the name Josse, was very popular in Middle Ages England, even used in oaths by the Wife of Bath in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
• c.668 at Saint-Josse-sur-Mer, France of natural causes
• body incorrupt
• entombed at Saint-Josse-sur-Mer
• some relics in Cathedral of Winchester, England
• a set of relics, which were ascribed to Jodocus, were found in Flanders, Belgium in 977
• against blight • against fever • against fire • against plague • against storms • against shipwrecks • bakers • blind people • boatmen • cattle • harvest • hospitals • mariners • pilgrims • sailors • watermen •
man with a pilgrim's staff in his hand and a crown at his feet
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jodocus/
• Antiochus of Plumbaria
• Antioco of...
Travelling physician in Galatia and Cappadocia who evangelized as he went, converting many. When Emperor Hadrian issued orders against Christians, Antiochus, who had been very public in his work, was arrested immediately. He was ordered to renounce his faith; he declined and was sentenced to forced labour in the mines on the Italian islands of Sardinia. There he managed to build a small chapel in a cave, ministered to other prisoners, and even converted his guard. Martyred as an example to the other prisoners; he died praying for all the people on Sardinia. The island on which he died is now known as Isola di Sant'Antioco in his honour.
beaten to death c.110 on Sulci, Sardinia (part of modern Italy)
Sardinia
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-antiochus-of-sulci/
• Aubert of Cambrai
• Albert, Audebertus, Authbert, Autbertus, Obrecht
Bishop of the diocese of Arras, France in 603. Built churches and founded several monasteries in Flanders and Hainault in Belgium. Accepted the vows of Saint Waltrude. Advisor to King Dagobert on both spiritual and temporal matters.
• c.669 of natural causes
• buried in the church of Saint Peter near Cambrai, France
• relics move to the Church of Our Lady in Cambrai in 888
• re-interred in the church of Saint Autbertus in Cambrai in 1015
• bakers
• confectioners
• bishop with loaves of bread
• baker's peel
• with a donkey laden with bread
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-aubert-of-arras/
• Francesco Marinoni
• Giovanni Marinoni
Priest. Canon of Saint Mark's cathedral, Venice, Italy. In 1530 he gave up his position to work with Saint Cajetan, founder of the Theatines. Irrepressible preacher, always speaking the theme of Christ crucified. Spiritual director of Blessed Paul Burali d'Arezzo. Refused the archbishopric of Naples.
25 December 1490 at Venice, Italy
13 December 1562 at Naples, Italy of natural causes
• 5 December 1764 by Pope Clement XIII (cultus confirmed)
• 27 June 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI (decree of heroic virtues)
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-john-marinoni/
Tassio of Jumièges
Born to the nobility. Duke of Bavaria (in modern Germany). Founded and endowed many monasteries and churches. Retired to live his later days as a monk at Jumièges Abbey in France.
c.794 in Lorsch, Germany of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-tassio-of-bavaria/
Benedictine nun at Chelles, France. Founded the convent of Sainte-Marie-du-Rozoy, near Courtenay, Loiret, France, and served as its first abbess. Eventually retired to live as an anchoress in a hollow oak tree.
c.1130 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-elizabeth-rose/
An admiral in the imperial fleet. Shipwrecked in a violent storm, he learned that he benefitted from living as a hermit. Rescued, he returned to life as a mountain hermit. Monk near Miletus, Caria (in modern Turkey). Miracle worker.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-arsenius-of-latro/
Job of Tuscany
Franciscan tertiary. Priest. Suffered from leprosy for the final 20 years of his life.
1300 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-bartholomew-of-tuscany/
Mercedarian friar and then commander of the Santa Maria convent in Bilbao, Spain.
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-martino-de-pomar/
Einhild
Benedictine nun at Hohenburg, Alsace, France. Abbess of nearby Niedermunster.
8th century of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-einhildis-of-hohenburg/
Edburga of Lyminge
Seventh century nun at Lyminge in Kent, England.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edburgh-of-lyminge/
Sister of Saint Ottilia. Benedictine nun at Hohenburg, Alsace, France.
8th century of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-roswinda/
Monk and then abbot of Saint Victor Abbey in Marseilles, France.
1021 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-wifred/
Martyr.
Porto Romano, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-aristone/
A group of Mercedarian knights who fought the enemies of the Catholic faith in the first century of the Order.
• Blessed Bernardo de Podio
• Blessed Giacomo de Copons
• Blessed Giovanni de Bruquera
• Blessed Guglielmo de Sa
• Blessed Pietro Boguer
• Blessed Pietro Ricart
• Blessed Raimondo de Frexa
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-mercedarian-knights/
Six Christian laymen who were imprisoned, tortured and martyred together in the persecutions in Korea.
• Bartholomaeus Chong Mun-Ho
• Iosephus Han Won-So
• Peter Cho Hwa-so
• Petrus Son Son-Ji
• Petrus Yi Myong-So
• Petrus Chong Won-Ji
beheaded on 13 December 1866 in Supjeong-i, Jeongju, Chungcheong-do, South Korea
6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-jeongju/
A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little more than their names - Auxentius, Eustratius, Eugene, Mardarius and Orestes.
• c.302 at Sebaste, Armenia (in modern Turkey)
• relics enshrined at the church of Saint Apollinaris in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-sebaste-13-december/
• Cormac of Killala
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