Calendar of Saints

27 April	• yesterday • tomorrow

Saint Zita of Lucca

Also known as<

Cita, Sita, Citha, Sitha

Profile

Born to a very poor but pious family. At age twelve she became a domestic servant for the wealthy Fainelli family in Lucca, Italy, a position she kept all her life; she looked at it as a way to serve God. She often gave her own food, and sometimes that of her master, to those poorer than herself, which caused her to get in frequent trouble with her employers and the other servants in the house who resented her. However, she did such a fine job she was eventually placed in charge of the house, and entrusted with its keys. Attended daily Mass before beginning her duties, and would go to a nearby monastery to pray in private. Her reputation was such that Dante in the Inferno referred to the city of Lucca as “Santa Zita”.

Born

1218 at Bozzanello, Monte Sagrate, Tuscany, Italy

Died

• 27 April 1272 at Lucca, Italy of natural causes
• buried in the church of San Frediano in Lucca
• her tomb was re-discovered in 1580

Beatified

• 1652 by Pope Innocent X
• during the recognition proceedings, her remains were found to be incorrupt

Canonized

• the office in her honour approved by Pope Leo X
• 5 September 1696 by Pope Innocent XII (cultus confirmed)
• added to the Roman Martyrology in 1748 by Pope Benedict XIV

Patronage

• against losing keys
• butlers
• domestic servants (proclaimed by Pope Pius XII)
• homemakers
• housemaids
• lost keys
• maids
• manservants
• people ridiculed for their piety
• rape victims
• servants
• servers
• single laywomen
• waiters, waitstaff, waitresses
• Lucca, Italy

Representation

• bag
• cooking equipment
• dishes
• keys
• kitchen equipment
• loaves
• plates
• platters
• rosary
• serving maid with a bag and keys

Video

YouTube PlayList

Readings

A servant is not holy if she is not busy; lazy people…is fake holiness. - Saint Zita

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-zita-of-lucca/

Blessed Hosanna of Cattaro

Also known as

• Catherine Cosie
• Catherine Kosic
• Catherine of Montenegro
• Hosanna of Kotor
• Ossana of Cattaro
• Ozana Kotorska
• Teacher of Mysticism
• Trumpet of the Holy Spirit

Profile

Born to Greek Orthodox parents, and baptized in that tradition. She was a shepherdess in her youth, spending her solitary hours in prayer, and began to have visions of the Christ child. When she was 12 years old, the visions were followed by an odd desire to travel to the town of Cattaro, Dalmatia (modern Kotor, Montenegro) where she felt she could pray better. Her mother arranged a position for Catherine as a servant to a wealthy Catholic woman who allowed the girl as much time as she wished for church visits. In Cattaro, Catherine converted to Roman Catholicism.

In her late teens she felt a call to live the hard, spiritual life of an anchoress. Though she was very young for such a calling, her spiritual director had her a walled up cell built near Saint Bartholomew's church in Cattaro. She later moved to a cell at Saint Paul's church, and became a Dominican tertiary, taking the name Osanna in memory of Blessed Osanna of Mantua; she would follow the Dominican rule for the next 52 years. A group of Dominican sisters took up residence near her, consulted her for guidance, sought her prayers, and considered her their leader; there were so many that a Dominican convent was founded for them.

In her tiny cell she received many visions including the Christ as a baby, Our Lady, several saints, and demons who opposed her prayer life. Satan appeared once in the guise of Mary; she knew it was the devil when the vision tried to get her to give up the religious life. When the city was attacked by the Turks, the towns people credited their deliverance to her prayers. Tradition says that her prayers saved the city from the plague.

Born

25 November 1493 at Kumano, Montenegro as Catherine Cosie

Died

• 27 April 1565 in Kotor, Montenegro of natural causes
• interred in the Church of Saint Paul, Kotor, Montenegro
• remains moved to the Church of Saint Mary in Kotor, Montenegro in 1807 after the French army turned the Church of Saint Paul into a warehouse

Beatified

• 21 December 1927 by Pope Pius XI (cultus confirmed)
• 1934 by Pope Pius XI (beatified)

Patronage

Kotor, Montenegro

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-hosanna-of-cattaro/

Blessed Jakov Varingez

Also known as

• Giacomo de Bitetto
• Giacomo of Bitetto
• Giacomo Varingez
• Giacomo Veringuez
• James of Bitetto
• James of Dalmatia
• James of Illyricum
• James of Sclavonia
• James of Zara
• James the Illyrian
• James the Slav

Additional Memorial

20 April (Franciscans)

Profile

Son of Leonardo and Beatrice Varingez. Jakov re-located to Bari, Italy to escape Turkish invaders. There he felt a call to religious life and joined the Order of Friars Minor at the friary of Bitetto, Italy; he lived there nearly all the rest of his life. He served as cook, alms-beggar, gardener, porter, and sacristan. Known for being continually in prayer, he was given to ecstasies, noted as a miracle worker and for the ability to levitate. In his 80's he worked with victims of the plague of 1482.

Born

c.1400 in Zadar, Zadarska, Croatia

Died

• 27 April 1496 in Bitetto, Bari, Italy
• body incorrupt about 20 years after his burial, and parts of the body are still so today

Beatified

• 29 December 1700 by Pope Clement XI (cultus confirmation)
• 19 December 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI (decree of heroic virtues)

Patronage

Bitetto, Italy

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-jakov-varingez/

Blessed Peter Armengol

Also known as

• Pere Ermengol
• Peter Armengaudius
• Peter Ermengol
• Pietro Armengaudio

Profile

Born to the nobility, Pietro wasted his youth in dissolute living, and rode for a while as a brigand and thief. His band once tried to hijack his father‘s entourage, which caused the young man to re-evaluate his life. He had a conversion, and joined the Mercedarians in 1258.

From that point on he worked tirelessly to ransom hostages. Personally took the place of 18 captured Christian children. and endured enough torture for the entire group, including being hanged until his tormenters thought he was dead. He survived the experience and retired to the convent of Saint Mary of the Meadows, but it, and the life of pain he led as a result of the torture, led to his being considered a martyr.

Born

1238 at Tarragona, Urgell region, eastern Spanish Pyrenees

Died

1304 at Tarragona, Urgell region, eastern Spanish Pyrenees of natural causes

Beatified

28 March 1686 by Pope Innocent XI (cultus confirmed)

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-peter-armengol/

Blessed Nicolas Roland

Profile

Raised in a pious family. Educated by Jesuits. Canon of Rheims, France while still a seminarian. Priest. Noted preacher. Assigned as parish priest in Rouen, France. Returned to Rheims with the plan to start schools for poor girls; he took a run-down orphanage and turned it into a successful school for orphaned and abandoned girls. Founder of the Soeurs de l'Enfant-Jésus (Sisters of the Infant Jesus) whose first members were teachers at his school; they received formal approval on 9 May 1678. He and the Sisters expanded the work and founded more schools around the city. Friend and mentor of Saint John Baptist la Salle who continued Nicolas' work by supervising the Sisters, and later founding schools for boys.

Born

8 December 1642 in Rheims, Marne, France

Died

• 27 April 1678 in Rheims, Marne, France of natural causes
• interred in the crypt of the Sisters of the Child Jesus in Rheims

Beatified

16 October 1994 by Pope John Paul II

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-nicolas-roland/

Saint John of Kathara

Also known as

• John di Catari
• John of Cathares
• John of Constantinople

Profile

Entered a monastery at age nine. Attended the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. Ordained at the Dalmatus monastery in Constantinople. Hegumen (abbot) of the Kathara monastery in Bithynia (in modern Turkey) in 805. Removed from his office, beaten and sent into exile in 815 for opposing the iconoclasm of emperor Leo V. Worked with Saint Theodore the Stoudite to defend icons. Brought to Constantinople in 817, both the emperor and the patriarch tried to convince him to support the iconoclasts; he refused and was exiled again. He was allowed to return to his house in late 820, but was exiled again in 832 when the iconoclasts came to power again.

Born

Irenopolis, Isaurian Decapolis

Died

c.835 on the prison island of Aphousia (modern Avsa, Balikesir, Turkey) of natural causes

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-of-kathara/

Saint Adelelmus of Le Mans

Also known as

• Adelelmus of Etival
• Adelelmus of Flanders
• Adelermus, Adelhelm, Adelinus, Alleaume, Adelelmo, Adelermo, Adelino

Profile

Friend and spiritual student of a hermit named Albert around Le Mans, France. Spiritual student of Saint Bernard of Tiron on Chaussey in the Channel Islands, but he returned to live as a hermit with Albert. With help from the count of Beaumont, Adelelmus founded a monastery for monks in the forest of Charnier, and a convent in Etival-a-Charnier in 1109. Though he lived near, and helped teach monks and nuns, Adelelmus apparently took any vows or joined any religious order.

Born

Flanders, Belgium

Died

27 April 1152 of natural causes

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-adelelmus-of-le-mans/

Saint Maughold

Also known as

• Apostle of the Isle of Man
• Macaille, Macaldus, Macallius, Macc Cuill, Maccaldus, Maccul, Machalus, Machaoi, Machella, Macull, Maghor, Maguil, Mawgan, Morgan, Mauchold

Profile

Prince, pirate and thief. Converted to Christianity by Saint Patrick. To avoid temptation, he set sail from Ireland in a wicker boat, letting God set his course. He landed on the Isle of Man where he served as missionary bishop. Some versions say that Patrick ordained him, and assigned him to the Isle of Man as penance for his earlier life. Many geographic features on the Isle still bear his name. Legend says he divided the island into parishes, but it is unlikely.

Died

c.488

Patronage

Isle of Man

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

Saint Liberalis of Treviso

Also known as

• Liberalis of Altino
• Liberale of...

Profile

Priest. Worked to convert Arians to orthodox Christianity, and was much abused by the Arians because of it. Late in life he retired to live as a hermit on a small island.

Born

near Ancona, Italy

Died

• c.400
• relics brought to Treviso, Italy in 452 by parishioners fleeing invading Huns

Patronage

• Castelfranco Veneto, Italy
• Treviso, Italy

Representation

young knight

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-liberalis-of-treviso/

Saint Laurensô Nguyen Van Huong

Also known as

Lawrence, Lorenzo

Additional Memorial

24 November as one of the Martyrs of Vietnam

Profile

Priest of the apostolic vicariate of West Tonkin (in modern Vietnam). Arrested as he was visiting a dying man during the persecutions of Emperor Tu-Duc; he was ordered to trample a cross; he refused. Flogged and executed. Martyr.

Born

c.1802 in Ke Sài, Hanoi, Vietnam

Died

beheaded on 27 April 1856 in Ninh Bình, Vietnam

Canonized

19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-laurenso-nguyen-van-huong/>

Saint Asicus of Elphin

Also known as

Ascicus, Asic, Assic, Assicus, Tassach

Profile

Married coppersmith and silversmith. Convert. Disciple of Saint Patrick. First bishop of the diocese of Elphin, Ireland. Late in life, citing his unworthiness to lead his parishioners, he retired to live as a prayerful hermit on an island in Donegal Bay; monks from his diocese followed and tried to get him to return.

Died

c.490 of natural causes at Racoon, Donegal, Ireland

Canonized

19 June 1902 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmed)

Patronage

diocese of Elphin, Ireland

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-asicus-of-elphin/

Saint Theodore of Tabenna

Also known as

• Theodore of Tabennísi
• Theodor, Theodoros

Additional Memorial

16 May (Eastern calendar)

Profile

Monk at age 14. Spiritual student of Saint Pachomius at the monastery in Tabenna, Egypt; Pachomius delegated Theodore to bury him in secret. Chosen abbot of Tabenna in 350. Founded several monasteries in Egypt. Miracle worker.

Born

c.314 in Isna, Egypt

Died

27 April 368 of natural causes

Representation

with a large cross and wearing chains on his hands and feet

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodore-of-tabenna/

Saint Floribert of Liège

Also known as

Blessed Umberto di Miribel

Also known as

Umberto of Valence

Profile

Carthusian monk. Prior of the Charterhouse of Silve-Bénite, France. Bishop of Valencia, Spain in 1200. The law at that time made the bishop the civil governor of the city, which caused his time as bishop to be filled with political conflicts with the local nobility.