Calendar of Saints - 23 January

23 January	• yesterday • tomorrow
Optional Memorial of Saint Marianne Cope (United States); Optional Memorial of Saint Vincent of Saragossa (United States)

He did not treat us as our sins deserved. For we are now sons of God. How do we show this? The only Son of God died for us, so that He might not remain alone. He who died as the only Son, did not want to remain as the only Son. For the only Son of God made many sons of God. He bought brothers for Himself by His blood, He made them welcome by being rejected, He ransomed them by being sold, He honoured them by being dishonoured, He gave them life by being put to death. - Saint Augustine of Hippo

Man in the Garden of Eden, by Father Richard O'Kennedy

Espousal of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Article

Feast in honor of the Blessed Virgin's espousal to Saint Joseph. It dates from 1517 when it was granted to the nuns of the Annunciation by Pope Leo X with nine other Masses in honor of Our Lady. Adopted by many religious orders and dioceses, it was observed for a time by nearly the whole Church, but is no longer in the Calendar. It is the subject of a famous painting by Raphael and Viterbo.

https://catholicsaints.info/espousal-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/

Blessed Benedetta Bianchi Porro

Also known as

Bianchi Porro

Profile

Daughter of Guido Bianchi Porro and Elsa Giammarchi, the second of six children. Afflicted with poliomyelitis at an early age, leaving her with a crippled left leg and a need to wear a brace to prevent her spine from deforming. A clever and happy child, she began keeping a diary at age five; it became a lifelong record of her faith and the way she carried the cross of her disability. Much of her primary education was provided by Ursulines. In her teens she began to lose her hearing, and her overall health continued to deterioate.

At age 17 she enrolled in the University of Milan, Italy with a plan to study physics, but later changed to medicine. Some teachers objected to having a pre-med student who was so deaf that had to have written questions during an oral eximation, but Benedetta was an excellent student. In 1957 her studies had reached a point that she was able to diagnose herself; she had Recklinghausen Disease-Neuro-Fibromatosis which leads to paralysis of the nervous system. She had surgery in 1958 to treat part of the condition, but it was of little benefit, and left the left side of her face paralysed. She continued her studies, but in 1959 she began losing the sense of touch, taste and smell, was completely deaf, and had to give up the idea of a medical career.

Benedetta had further surgery in August 1959; it left both legs paralyzed, and the young woman wheelchair bound. She then turned her sick room into a center of support and communication for others. Her friends from medical school were frequent visitors, and she began correspondences; in person or in print she was uniformly optimistic about life and the love of God. Benedetta and her family visited Lourdes in May 1962 in search of a cure; a paralyzed girl lying next to her was completely healed, but there was no change for Benedetta.

In Milan on 27 February 1963 Benedetta had another operation; it left her blind. She could barely speak, and could only move her right hand. However, the number of her visitors increased as word of her holiness and her gentle understanding of to love God even these circumstances. On 24 June 1963 she went again to Lourdes; as her family waited for her to be healed, she received her own miracle – the understanding that she would not change a thing about her condition.

Born

8 August 1936 at Dovádola, Forli, Italy

Died

• 23 January 1964 at Sirmione, Italy of complications resulting from her Recklinghausen DiseaseNeuro-Fibromatosis
• buried in the cemetery at Sirmione
• body later transferred to a sarcophagus in the Benedictine Church of Saint Andrew, Dovadola, Italy

Beatified

• 14 September 2019 by Pope Francis
• beatification recognition celebrated at the Cathedral of Santa Croce in Forlì, Italy, presided by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu

Readings

Dear Diary – The universe is enchanting! It is great to be alive! – Blessed Benedetta, age 7

Dear Diary – Some day soon, I will hear only the voice of my soul and that is the road I will follow. – Blessed Benedetta

For those who believe, everything is a sign – Blessed Benedetta

Sometimes I find myself defeated under the weight of this heavy cross. Then, I call upon Jesus and lovingly cast myself at His feet; He kindly permits me to rest my head on His lap. Do you understand Maria Grazia? Do you understand the ecstatic joy of those moments? – Blessed Benedetta in a letter to a friend

Her bed became the pulpit from which Benedetta 'preached without preaching' lessons of patience, humility, fortitude, resignation to God's will, the value of the Cross endured with Christ and for Christ. – Father Francis Xavier Grasso, S.J.

I am aware more than ever of the richness of my condition and I don't desire anything but to continue in it. This has been for me the miracle of Lourdes this year. – Blessed Benedetta

The cross in the sign of God in man. – Blessed Benedetta

Life has only one face – LOVE. – Blessed Benedetta

When we 'hunger and thirst' for God, we 'hunger and thirst' for others. – Blessed Benedetta

God gives us His spiritual bread through others. I have experienced it. And others nourish themselves with the Living Bread. – Blessed Benedetta

Let us not be overcome by doubt, never, never. And if this should happen even for a moment, Jesus will look down upon us and lovingly restore us to life, just as He did Lazarus. Have no fear. – Blessed Benedetta

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-benedetta-bianchi-porro/

Saint Maimbod

Also known as

Mainbeouf, Mainbodo

Profile

Wandering missionary who made pilgrimages to tombs of saints and martyrs throughout Gaul and northern Italy, preaching to those he met on the way.

Born

Irish

Died

• c.880 in Kaltenbrunn, Alsace, Gaul (modern France)
• there are two stories of his death
• he was martyred by pagans while preaching to them
• a Burgundian nobleman gave Maimbod a gift of a fine pair of gloves as a reminder to pray for him; while Mainbod was praying at the church of Domnipetra, he was attacked by thieves who thought he had money because of the gloves
• buried at the church of Domnipetra, Kaltenbrunn, Alsace, Gaul
• miracles reported at his tomb, and during the translation of his relics
• Count Aszo of Monteliard asked the blind bishop Berengarius for a gift of the saint's relics; during the move, Berengarius miraculously recovered his sight, and he instituted the feast in honor of Mainbod
• relics destroyed in the 16th century

Canonized

c.900

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-maimbod/

Saint Emerentiana

Also known as

Emerentia

Profile

Foster-sister of Saint Agnes of Rome. Catechumen. While on her way to pray at Saint Agnes's grave a few days after her sister's martyrdom, she was confronted by an angry mob of pagans. Emerentiana professed her Christianity and her relationship to Agnes. Martyr.

Born

Roman

Died

• stoned to death c.304 at Rome, Italy
• buried in the cemetery at Via Nomentana
• relics later translated to the Basilica of Saint Agnes

Patronage

• against abdominal pains
• against colic
• against stomach ache

Representation

• girl with stones in her lap and holding a palm of martyrdom or lily of a holy death
• girl being stoned by a mob near the tomb of Saint Agnes of Rome

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-emerentiana/

Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo

Also known as

Ildefonso, Ildefonsus

Profile

Born to the Spanish nobility. Nephew of Saint Eugene of Toledo. Studied at Seville, Spain under Saint Isidore of Seville. Monk at Agli (Agalia) on the River Tagus near Toledo, Spain while still a young man. Abbot at Agli. Attended the Council of Toledo in 653 and 655. Archbishop of Toledo in 657. Responsible for the unification of the Spanish liturgy. Noted writer, especially on Our Lady; only four of his works have survived. Reported to have received an apparition of the Virgin Mary during which she presented him with a chalice.

Born

607 at Toledo, Spain

Died

667 of natural causes

Patronage

San Ildefonso Indian Pueblo

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ildephonsus/

Blessed Margaret of Ravenna

Also known as

• Margaret Molli
• Margarita, Margherita, Marguerite

Profile

Nearly blind. Pious youth, given to severe, self-imposed austerities. She attracted followers, and founded a religious community of men and women. She wrote a separate rule for the community, but the group did not survive her death, the members joining other, established groups.

Born

8 May 1442 at Russi, Ravenna, Italy

Died

23 January 1505 at Ravenna, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

never formally beatified or canonized, but a popular devotion developed soon after her death, the devotees referring to her as Blessed

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-margaret-of-ravenna/

Saint Andreas Chong Hwa-Gyong

Also known as

• Andeurea Jeong Hwa-Gyeong
• Andrea Tyong Hwa-Gyong

Additional Memorial

20 September as one of the Martyrs of Korea

Profile

Layman catechist in the the apostolic vicariate of Korea. Assistant to Saint Lawrence Imbert. Turned his home into a safe-house for Christians hiding from official persecutions, for which he was shot, arrested and finally executed. Martyr.

Born

1808 in Cheongsan, Chungcheong-do, South Korea

Died

strangled on 23 January 1840 in prison at Seoul, South Korea

Canonized

6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-andreas-chong-hwa-gyong/

Saint Dositheus of Gaza

Profile

Born a rich pagan, Dositheus spent a wild and worldly youth. During a visit to Jerusalem he was so impressed by Christians, by an horrific image of the torments of hell, and by the message of a woman he saw in a vision, he converted, and became a monk at Gaza. He was placed under the direction of Saint Dorotheus the Younger, who had a long and steady struggle to teach Dositheus discipline, and take him from his worldly ways. Dositheus learned, changed, and became known for his gentle and supportive ways with the sick. When he became too ill to care for other sick people, he prayed that God would relieve him of his life, and soon after, he died quietly in his sleep.

Died

c.530 of a respiratory problem, possibly tuberculosis

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-dositheus-of-gaza/

Saint Asclas of Antinoe

Profile

Arrested and tortured for his faith by order of Arrian, governor of Egypt, during the persecutions of Diocletian. While Asclas was in prison, Arrian had reason to cross the River Nile on government business - but found he was absolutely unable to leave the water's edge. Asclas sent word that the governor would never be able to cross the river until he acknowledged Christ in writing. Arrian wrote out the statement, and was promptly able to leave the river bank. He crossed the Nile, and the moment he was on the other side, he ordered that Asclas be tortured and drowned. Martyr.

Born

Thebaid, Egypt

Died

drowned in the River Nile at Antinoe, Egypt c.287

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-asclas-of-antinoe/

Saint Lufthild

Also known as

Lufthildis

Profile

Abused by a jealous step-mother for her kindness to the poor, Lufthild left home young to live as an often-homeless hermit in and around Cologne, Germany.

Died

c.850

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation
• cultus confirmed by Archbishop Ferdinand von Wittelsbach of Cologne in 1623

Patronage

• child abuse victims
• hoboes
• homeless people
• tramps

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lufthild/

Saint Messalina of Foligno

Profile

Spiritual student of Saint Felician of Foligno. Nun, receiving the veil from Saint Felician. During a period of persecution, Felician was imprisoned; when she visited him, Messalina was suspected of being a Christian. She was arrested, put on trial and ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods; she refused. Martyr.

Died

• beaten to death in 251
• relics re-discovered in 1599
•relics enshrined in the chapel of Our Lady of Loreto in the cathedral of Foligno, Italy

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-messalina-of-foligno/

Abel the Patriarch

Article

Old Testament patriarch. Second son of Adam and Eve, slain by his brother Cain because the latter's oblation was not accepted favourably by God as was Abel's. For his death in this way he is regarded as a type of Our Saviour. His death symbolizes, too, the bloody sacrifice of the Cross and the unbloody one of the altar. He is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass, and his name holds first place in the Litany for the Dying.

https://catholicsaints.info/abel-the-patriarch/

Blessed Joan Font Taulat

Also known as

Brother Arnal Ciril

Profile

Member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.

Born

1 July 1890 in Viladamat, Girona, Spain

Died

23 January 1937 in Lleida, Spain

Beatified

• 13 October 2013 by Pope Francis
• beatification celebrated in Tarragona, Spain

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-joan-font-taulat/

Saint Agathangelus

Profile

Adult convert to Christianity, baptized by Saint Clement of Ancyra. Deacon. Evangelized in Ancyra (in modern Turkey) with Saint Clement, and was martyred with him.

Born

Roman

Died

• martyred in 309 in Ancyra (in modern Turkey)
• relics returned to Paris, France by Crusaders in the 13th century

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-agathangelus/

Blessed Juan Infante

Profile

Mercedarian priest. With Blessed Juan Solorzano and Venerable Jorge of Seville, Blessed Juan accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas, and was the first celebrate Mass in South America.

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-juan-infante/

Saint Jurmin

Profile

Prince. Relative of King Anna of East Anglia, England. Brother of Saint Etheldreda. Confessor of the faith.

Born

England

Died

• 653 of natural causes
• interred originally at Blythburgh, Suffolk, England
• relics enshrined at Bury Saint Edmunds in 1095

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-jurmin/

Saint Clement of Ancyra

Profile

Fourth-century bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, Asia Minor. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximinian.

Died

• 303
• relics later taken to Constantinople
• Crusaders later took the relics to western Europe

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-clement-of-ancyra/

Saint Ormond of Mairé

Also known as

Armand

Profile

Monk. Abbot of the monastery of Saint Mairé in France, c.587. He supported monastic expansion and evangelization in his region.

Born

French

Died

6th century

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ormond-of-maire/

Saint Colman of Lismore

Profile

Monk under Saint Hierlug. Abbot-bishop of the monastery at Lismore, Ireland in 698. During his leadership, Lismore's fame for holiness and scholarship reached its peak.