| 17 August |
• yesterday • tomorrow |
| Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Élisabeth Turgeon |
Nicolò Politi
Born to the nobility, an only child and born to aged parents. Received a good cultural and religious education. He was a pious child with a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and contemplation of the Passion of Christ, and was early drawn to a life consecrated to God. Wed at age 17 in an arranged marriage; the wedding was a crisis point in his discernment of a vocation, and he fled to become a lay monk with the Basilian monastery of Santa Maria Del Rogato. He retired to become a cave hermit on Mount Calanna, Arcaria, Sicily. He lived a life of severe asceticism, but returned to the monastery of Rogato every weekend to go to Confession and receive Communion.
Nicholas had a reputation as a miracle worker, and some incidents record his connection to the miraculous –
• When the water used to wash him at birth was thrown out, a spring began gushing up from where it hit the ground.
• Even as a newborn, he refused to nurse or eat on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, beginning a self-imposed fast his first week on earth.
• As a boy, he could drive wolves away from the sheep by making the sign of the cross at them, and could heal both humans and sheep through prayer.
• When he decided to flee his wedding, an angel appeared to help him sneak out; the angel would reappear to warn him whenever his family sent guards to bring him home.
• When he was fleeing his parents to the cave that would become his home, he was fed along the way by an eagle, and obtained water by striking a rock with his staff.
• The eagle sitting at the entrance would later let him know he had reached the correct cave.
• During his flight from the wedding, Satan came to him in the form of a wealthy merchant, and tried to convince him to return to a worldly life and earthly pleasures; Nicholas prayed for strength, and Satan vanished.
• An angel gave him a warning of his own impending death so that Nicholas could make his way to the monastery for his final Confession, final Communion, and a final evening of prayer with his Basilian brothers.
1117 in Adrano (Aderno), Catania, Sicily, Italy
at dawn on 17 August 1167 in Arcaria, Sicily, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-nicholas-politi/
• Apostle of the North
• Apostle to Poland
• Hyacinth of Cracow
• Jacek Odrowaz
• Jackek, Jacinto, Jacynthe
Relative, possibly the brother of Blessed Ceslas Odrowaz. Educated in Krakow, Prague, Paris and Bologna. Doctor of Law and of Sacred Studies. Priest. Worked to reform convents in his native Poland. While in Rome working with his uncle, Bishop Ivo Konski of Krakow, he witnessed a miracle performed by Saint Dominic de Guzman. He became of friend of Saint Dominic, and became one of the first Dominicans. The first Polish Dominican, he brought the Order to Poland, then evangelized throughout Poland, Pomerania, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Scotland, Russia, Turkey, and Greece. During an attack on a monastery, Hyacinth managed to save a crucifix and statue of Mary, though the statue weighed far more than he could normally have lifted; the saint is usually shown holding these two items. Hyacinth never served as provincial nor even a prior, but toiled as a simple friar, focusing on the internal and external missions facing the Polish Dominicans: to deepen their own faith, and to spread it through Poland.
1185 at Lanka Castle, Kamien Slaski, Opole, Upper Silesia (in modern Poland)
• 15 August 1257 at Krakow, Poland of natural causes
• relics at Paris, France
17 April 1594 by Pope Clement VIII
• against drowning
• Camalaniugan, Philippines
• Ermita de Piedra de San Jacinto, Tuguegarao, Philippines
• Krakow, Poland, archdiocese of
• Lithuania (named by Pope Innocent XI in 1686)
• Poland
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-hyacinth/
• Ioanna Delanoue
• Jeanne del Croi Delanoue
• Joan Delanoue
• Johanna Delanoue
Youngest of twelve children. Her father was draper; her mother owned and operated a religious goods store. Her mother died in 1691, and Jeanne took over the business. Smart and hard-working, she made a success of the small business.
During the Pentecost season in 1698, Jeanne had two mystic experiences. The first was a vision, the second a series of pious commentaries by Frances Souchet, a widowed pilgrim from Rennes, France. The two events altered Jeanne's outlook, took her eyes from her safe, bourgious world to a more spiritual level. She closed her shop, turned her mind from worldly comfort and success, and began to serve the poor, the sick, and the neglected.
Using funds raised from generous benefactors she'd met in business, she founded and furnished three orphanages. She attracted followers, and in 1704 a small group of them founded the Sisters of Saint Anne of Providence of Samur, and Jeanne became Jeanne of the Cross. Noted for her miraculous healing abilities, she and her companions founded orphanages and hospices throughout France.
18 June 1666 at Samur, Anjou, France as Jeanne Delanoue
17 August 1736 at Fencet, France of natural causes
31 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy
It is the Spirit of God which animates you and prompts you to this penitential life. Henceforth, then, be without fear and follow your inspirations. - Saint Louis de Montfort to Saint Jeanne
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jeanne-of-the-cross-delanoue/
• Brites
• Beatrix da Silva
• Beatriz da Silva Meneses
Daughter of the Count of Viana. Sister of Saint Amedeus of Portugal. Raised in the household of Princess Isabel, and accompanied her to Castile when she married John II of Castile. Beatrice spent much of her life as a courtier, but tired of it. She retired to a Cistercian convent in the city of Toledo, and dedicated the rest of her life to God.
Around 1484, Beatrice left the Cistercians and founded the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Conceptionists). With the help of Queen Isabel, who funded the start of the new order, Beatrice established a house near the city of Toledo in the castle of Galliana, served as its abbess, and spent the final six years of her life working with the women who joined the order.
1424 at in Campo Maior, Portalegre, Portugal
17 August 1492 in Toledo, Spain of natural causes
• 28 July 1926 by Pope Pius XI (cultus confirmed)
• 21 January 1974 by Pope Paul VI (decree on heroic virtues)
• recorded miracles involved the instantaneous and perfect healing of Sister Mary of Saint Anne, 22, from a hemorrhage subretinica, retinicis, and a secondary lesions of the eye on 25 March 1923 in Mexico City; and Elizabeth Orozco Estrada, 63, from the small intestine and colon malignant neoplasia in September 1945 in Mexico City
3 October 1976 by Pope Paul VI
prisoners
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-beatrice-da-silva-meneses/
Baptized at the age of two days. He studied in the Colegio de San Juan Almería and the San Indalecio Seminary. Ordained a priest in the diocese of Almería, Spain in December 1907. He was known for a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, and was known to compose songs about her that he used to teach catechism. Father Florencio served in a series of parishes for nearly 30 years.
At the start of the Spanish Civil War, friends tried to get him to flee to Argentina, but he thought that would be abandoning his parishioners, so stayed and tried to hide from the anti–Catholic forces. He was found and seized by militiamen on a family farm in the Barranco del Nero on the night of 16 August 1936. As they marched him off into the dark, Florencio sang "Save the Spanish People in Haste", one of his songs to Mary. His kidnappers beat him, stabbed him in the eyes with cactus thorns, and cut off his body parts, all the while ordering Father Florencio to renounce his faith; he refused. Martyr.
27 August 1883 in Tahal, Almeria Spain
early morning hours of 17 August 1936 in La Higuerra del Conejo, Turre, Almeria Spain
• 25 March 2017 by Pope Francis
• beatification celebrated in the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos de Aguadulce, Almería, Spain, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato
Viva Christo Rey! ("Long live Christ the King!") – what Blessed Florencio repeatedly shouted as he was being tortured by his abductors on the night he died
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-florencio-lopez-egea/
Also known as
• Gerone, Hiero, Hieron, Iero, Ieron, Jero, Jeron
• Jeroen van Noordwijk
• Jéron Noordwijk
Born to the Scottish nobility, the son of a large land-owner. Known as a pious child who preferred to spend his time in church. Against the wishes of his parents, who wanted him to take over his father's estates, he became a monk in his teens. Priest. Missionary to the area of the modern Netherlands. Founded the first church in Noordwijk in 851. Martyred by raiding Vikings for refusing to worship their pagan gods.
late 8th century Scotland
• beheaded on 17 August 856 in Noordwijk, Netherlands
• buried in the dunes of Noordwijk
• c.980 he appeared in a series of dreams to a farmer named Nothbodo, showing the man where his relics could be found
• relics enshrined in Egmond Abbey c.985
• relics taken to Haarlem, Netherlands in June 1573
• several relics redistributed to assorted churches, altar and monasteries over the centuries after
• on 16 August 1892, following a lengthy study to authenticate the remaining relics, they were taken to the Saint Jeroen church in Nodowijk
to find lost articles
priest with a falcon (his soul that soared to heaven) and sword (used in his murder)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jeroen-of-noordwijk/
José María of Manila
Son of Eugenio del Saz-Orozco de la Oz, the last Spanish mayor of Manila, Philippines, and Felisa Mortera y Camacho. Educated at Ateneo de Manila University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and University of Santo Tomas. Against the wishes of his parents, Eugenio felt a call to religious life, and joined the Franciscan Capuchins in Lecaroz, Navarra, Spain on 4 October 1905, taking the name José María; he made his solemn profession on 18 October 1908. Ordained a priest on 30 November 1910. He wanted to return to the Philippines, but was unable to, and so stayed to minister to the poor in Spain. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
5 September 1880 in Manila, Philippines
17 August 1936 in Montaña barracks, Madrid, Spain
• 13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
• beatification recognition celebrated at Tarragona, Spain by Cardinal Angelo Amato
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-eugenio-sanz-orozco-mortera/
• Elias of Enna
• Elias of Salinas
• Elia, Elijah
• Giovanni Rachites
Monk in the tradition of the Eastern Fathers. Escaping the persecutions of invading Muslim Saracens, Elias fled to Jerusalem where he received the monastic habit from the Patriarch of Jerusalem and taking the name Elias. He spent three years in a monastery in Sinai, then travelled to Alexandria, Egypt, to Persia, to Antioch, and finally back to Palestine. In 878, he moved to Calabria in Sicily in 859, and there spent an austere life devoted to prayer. In 884 he founded a monastery in the nearby Salinas area, and was well known as a spiritual teacher. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy, and was on a pilgrimage to Constantinople when he died.
c.823 in Enna, Sicily, Italy as Giovanni Rachites
• 903 in Thessalonica, Macedonia of natural causes
• buried in the Salinas monastery he had founded in Calabria, Italy
• the monastery was destroyed by earthquake in the 18th century
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-elias-the-younger/
Clare of the Cross
Claimed by both the Franciscans and Augustinians. Pious from childhood, and devoted to Christ's Passion and the Cross. Franciscan tertiary. Joined with her blood sisters and some friends to form a new Franciscan house, Holy Cross Convent in Montefalco, Italy, with Clare's sister Joan as its first abbess. Reluctant abbess of the community at Santa Croce in 1255 following the death of her sister; the house eventually adapted the Rule of Saint Augustine. Upon her death, a cross was found emblazoned on the flesh above her heart.
c.1268 at Montefalco, diocese of Spoleto, Italy
• 18 August 1308 at Montefalco, diocese of Spoleto, Italy
• body incorrupt
13 April 1737 by Pope Clement XII
8 December 1881 at Pope Leo XIII
Montefalco, Italy
scales
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-clare-of-montefalco/
Donatello, Donato
Born to a poor family; named for Saint Donatus d'Arezzo. Benedictine monk at the monastery of Sant'Onofrio Massadiruta, Petina, Italy. Transferred to the Montevergine abbey in 1194. Returned to Sant'Onofrio Massadiruta in 1195 where he worked in the garden, with the farm animals, and in the bakery; he regularly got in trouble for giving away the house's food to the poor. Would stand naked in an icy river at night to pray to do penance for his sins, and would often sleep in a nearby cave. His reputation for piety led to many to seek his spiritual wisdom.
1179 at Ripacandida, diocese of Rapallo, Italy
17 August 1198 of natural causes
• Auletta, Italy
• Basilicata, Italy
• Melfi, Italy
• Montevergine, Italy
• Rapolla, Italy
• Ripacandida, Italy
• Ruoti, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-donatus-of-ripacandida/
• Giacomo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga
• Iacobus of Saint Mary
• Iacobus Tomonaga Gorobyoe
• Jakob Kyushei Gorubioye Tomanga
Catechist. Joined the Dominicans in Manila, Philippines. Ordained in 1626, he returned to Japan as a missionary and to minister to covert Catholics during a period of persecution. Worked with Saint Michaël Kurobyoe. Arrested in July 1633 for spreading Christianity, he was tortured and executed.
1582 in Kyudetsu, Nagasaki, Japan
• 17 August 1633 in Nishizaka, Nagasaki, Japan
• body cremated, ashes thrown into the sea
18 October 1987 by Pope John Paul II at Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jacobo-kyushei-gorobioye-tomonaga-de-santa-maria/
Father Enric of the Sacred Hearts
Son of Francisco Canadell Presta and Margarita Quintana, Enric was baptized at the age of one day. Joined the Piarists on 22 October 1905 in Moyà, Spain, making his solemn vows on 29 June 1912. Priest, ordained on 20 September 1913 in Lérida, Spain. Teacher in the Piarist schools in the Spanish cities of Mataro, Barcelona and Balaguer, and served as vice-rector of the school in Barcelona. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
20 June 1890 in Olot, Diocese of Girona, Spain
• shot on 17 August 1936 in Castellfullit, Girona, Spain
• relics enshrined in the church of San Esteban in Olot, Diocese of Girona, Spain
1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-enric-canadell-quintana/
One of nine children born to Louis-Marc Turgeon and Angèle Labrecque; her father died when Elisabeth was 15 years old. She graduated from Laval Normal School in Quebec, Canada in 1862, and taught at several schools. Founded the Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary on 12 September 1879, and served as its first superior.
7 February 1840 in Beaumont, Quebec, Canada
17 August 1881 in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada of natural causes
• 26 April 2015 by Pope Francis
• beatification recognition celebrated at the Church of Saint Robert, Rimouski, Canada, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-marie-elisabeth-turgeon/
Mammas, Mamans, Mamante, Mamede, Mamés, Mammes, Mammès, Mammet
Son of Saint Theodotus and Saint Rufina; he was born in prison where they were being held prior to martyrdom, and he was raised by Saint Ammi. Shepherd who was known to preach to the animals in the fields; they gathered around to hear the good news, and a lion stayed with him as a protector, even accompaning him when he was examined in the persecutions of Aurelian. Martyr.
• c.275 in Cappadocia
• relics translated to Langres, France in the 8th century
• guardians
• orphans
• torture victims
• Langres, France, cathedral of
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-mamas/
Son of a gardener. Priest in the diocese of Bourges, France. Director of music for the cathedral of Bruges, France. Imprisoned on a ship in the harbor of Rochefort, France and left to die during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the French Revolution. One of the Martyrs of the Hulks of Rochefort.
3 October 1765 in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, France
17 August 1794 aboard the prison ship Deux-Associés, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France
1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-noel-hilaire-le-conte/
Son of a physican. 31st pope in 310. His papacy lasted only four months, most of which he spent in exiled to Sicily by emperor Maxentius due to disturbances over how to deal with the lapsi, Christians who lapsed from the faith during the persecutions of Diocletian, and then came back to it. Eusebius wanted to welcome them back, after penance. Baptized Saint Eusebius of Vercelli.
Greek
18 April 310
• 17 August 310 in Sicily, Italy of natural causes
• buried in the catacombs of San Callistus in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-eusebius/
Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family.
31 May 1773 in Florence, Italy
17 August 1834 in Verona, Italy of natural causes
• 29 April 2017 by Pope Francis
• beatification recognition celebrated in the Basilica of Sant'Anastasia, Verona, Italy, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato
Sisters of the Holy Family
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-leopoldina-naudet/
Eldest son of Charles Martel. King of Austrasia in 741. Supported the founding of monasteries at Fulda in Germany, and of Lobbes and Stavelot in Belgium. Supported the missionary work of Saint Boniface. Late in life, and on the advice of Saint Boniface, Carloman abdicated the throne in favour of his brother, and became a monk, first on Mount Soracte and then Monte Cassino in Italy where he worked in the kitchen and as a shepherd.
707
755 at a monastery in Vienne, France
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-carloman/
Hermit near Perugia, Italy. Bishop of Terni, Italy. Helped keep his flock from following the Arian heresy. Following the destructive invasion of his area by Totila, Anastasius led rescue and rebuilding efforts of homes and churches.
Syrian
• c.553
• chapel built over his tomb due to the number of miracles reported there
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-anastasius-of-terni/
• Drithelm Cuningham
• Drithelm of Northumbria
• Dritham of Melrose
Wealthy and pious layman, a husband and father. Following a terrifying vision of the afterlife during a near-death experience during an epidemic in 696, he became a hermit and then monk at Melrose, Scotland. Bede writes of him in his History.
Northumbria, England
c.700 at Melrose, Scotland of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-drithelm/
Ordained a priest of the archdiocese of Granada, Spain on 1 March 1890. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War; he died forgiving his killers.
29 March 1865 in Almuñécar, Granada, Spain
17 August 1936 in Salobreña, Granada, Spain
28 November 2019 by Pope Francis (decree of martyrdom)
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-ramon-cervilla-luis/
Miron
Priest who tried to face down the people who came to destroy his church in the persecutions of Decius and Antipater. They tortured and killed him, and then razed the building.
beheaded c.250 at Cyzicus in the Hellespont (in modern Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-myron-of-cyzicus/
Miguel, Mikael
Dominican lay catechist. Martyr.
Japanese
martyred on 17 August 1633 at Nishizaka, Nagasaki, Japan
18 October 1987 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-michael-kurobyoie/
Sister of Saint Paul of Ptolemais. Martyred with him in the persecutions of Aurelian.
beheaded c.270 at Ptolemais, Palestine
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-juliana-of-ptolemais/
Brother of Saint Juliana. Martyred with her in the persecution of Aurelian.
beheaded c.270 at Ptolemais, Palestine
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-paul-of-ptolemais/
Tenth-century princess, the daughter of the king of Lorraine. Sister of Saint Cecilia of Lorraine. Nun and then abbess of Susteren Abbey in the German Rhineland.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-benedicta-of-lorraine/
Tenth-century princess, the daughter of the king of Lorraine. Sister of Saint Benedicta of Lorraine. Nun and then abbess of Susteren Abbey in the German Rhineland.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-cecilia-of-lorraine/
Amator, Amour
Worked with Saint Pirmin as an 8th-century missionary in Germany. Founded the monastery of Amorbach in Franconia.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-amor-of-amorbach/
Benedictine monk. Deacon. Missionary with Saint Paulinus of York to Northumbria, England.
7th century Italian
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-james-the-deacon/
Exiled for his faith.
Greece
310 in Sicily
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eusebius-of-sicily/
A priest and seven brothers, all members of the Hospitallers of Saint John of God, all martyred together in the Spanish Civil War.
• Antonio del Charco Horques
• Eusebio Ballesteros Rodríguez
• Florentino Alonso Antonio
• Isidro Valentín Peña Ojea
• Juan Antonio García Moreno
• Manuel Sanz y Sanz
• Pedro Pastor García
• Silvestre Perez Laguna
17 August 1936 in Málaga, Spain
13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-malaga/
Three priests in the archdiocese of Tarragona, Spain. Martyred together in the Spanish Civil War.
• Josep Mañé March
• Magí Civit Roca
• Miquel Rué Gené
17 August 1936 in Maspujols, Tarragona, Spain
• 13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
• beatification celebrated in Tarragona, Spain
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-maspujols/
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:
• Agustín Fernández Vázquez
• Antoni Carmaniú Mercarder
• Bartolomé Díaz Laurel
• Facundo Escanciano Tejerina
• Joan Prats Gibert
• Josep Puigdeséns Pujol
• Julio Aramendía Urquía
• Ramón Cervilla Luis
• Alberto da Chiatina
• José Maria de Manila
• Ugo di Tennenbach
CatholicSaints.Info Portable Edition