| 29 July |
• yesterday • tomorrow |
| Memorial of Saint Martha of Bethany |
Wonder Worker of Southern Gaul
Sister of Saint Lazarus and Saint Mary of Bethany. Friend of Jesus, and hostess to him in her house. May have been part of an early mission to France.
c.80 of natural causes
• butlers
• Congregation of Martha and Mary (founded in 1979)
• cooks (proclaimed on 1 July 1963 by Pope Paul VI)
• dieticians
• domestic servants
• homemakers
• hotel-keepers
• housemaids
• housewives
• innkeepers (proclaimed on 1 July 1963 by Pope Paul VI)
• laundry workers
• maids
• manservants
• servants
• servers
• single laywomen
• travellers
• Villajoyosa, Spain (chosen after a flash flood saved the village from Moorish invaders on her feast day in 1538)
• broom (referring to being a home maker)
• dragon
• keys (referring to keeping the home)
• with a holy water sprinkler or holy water pot
• ladle (reference to her home-making, cooking, etc.)
Martha and Mary were sisters, related not only by blood but also by religious aspirations. They stayed close to our Lord and both served him harmoniously when he was among them. Martha welcomed him as travelers are welcomed. But in her case, the maidservant received her Lord, the creature her Creator, to serve him bodily food while she was to be fed by the Spirit. No one of you should say, "Blessed are they who have deserved to receive Christ into their homes!" Do not grieve or complain that you were born in a time when you can no longer see God in the flesh. He did not in fact take this privilege from you. As he says, "Whatever you have done to the least of my brothers, you did to me." - from a sermon by Saint Augustine
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-martha/
• Heilag-Olav
• Holy Olaf
• Olaf Haraldson
• Olaf Haraldsson
• Olaf of Norway
• Olaf the Fat
• Olaf the Holy
• Olaf the Thick
• Olaus, Olavs, Tola, óláfr
Son of Harald Grenske King of Norway and Åsta Gudbrandsdatter. Viking pirate. Convert to Christianity, baptised in 1010. Helped Ethelred of England against pagan Danish invaders. King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Brought missionaries, including Blessed Theodgar of Vestervig, to Norway to evangelize his people. Olaf tried to force Christianity on them, but they revolted in 1029, and drove him first to Sweden and then to Kiev (in modern Russia). There he gathered his forces, and in 1030 tried to re-take his throne. He was killed in battle, and regarded by Norwegians as the great champion of national independence and a martyr.
995
• killed in battle at Stiklestadt on 29 July 1030 while trying to recover his throne
• buried at the Trondheim Cathedral
• miracles reported at his tomb, and it became a noted place of pilgrimage for Scandanavians
1164 by Pope Alexander III
• carvers
• difficult marriages
• kings
• Norway
• king, crowned and in armour with his weapons and a symbol of charity (food basket, etc.)
• the arms of Norway are a lion with the battle-axe of Saint Olaf in the forepaws
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-olaf-ii/
Odo, Otho, Eudes
Studied at Rheims, France. Monk and prior at Cluny. Assistant to Pope Saint Gregory VII, and helped in his reforms. Bishop of Ostia, Italy. Cardinal. Papal legate to Germany. As pope, he continued the reforms in the face of opposition by Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and his anti-pope Clement III (Guibert of Ravenna); he was unable to move to Rome until 1093 when Clement was removed. Urban concentrated his efforts in places that recognized him, such as southern Italy, Tuscany. and the Lombard cities. Urban summoned councils of whole populations to advertise and gain popularity for the reforms. There were councils at Piacenza, Italy in 1095, Clermont, France in 1095, Rome in 1097 and 1099, and Bari, Italy in 1098. At Clermont, Urban preached a sermon that started the First Crusade. Urban condemned King Philip I of France over Philip's repudiation of his wife. Without Urban's work, most of the reforms instituted by Pope Saint Gregory VII would have been vanished.
c.1042 in Lagery, France as Odo (or Otho or Eudes) of Lagery
March 1088
29 July 1099 in Rome, Italy of natural causes
1881 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmation)
https://catholicsaints.info/pope-blessed-urban-ii/
Joined the Salesians in 1890. Ordained in 1895. Secretary to Blessed Felipe Rinaldi for ten years. Director of the College of La Esmeralda in Sarria, Spain. Leader of the Salesians in Camaguey, Cuba in 1916. Salesian Provincial for Bolivia and Peru. Salesian Provincial in Barcelona and Valencia, Spain in 1925. Known not just for his administrative skills, but as a mentor and spiritual director for his brother Salesians. In the persecutions the Spanish Civil War, he was arrested while conducting a retreat in Valencia; the others there were imprisoned, but because he was a priest, Father José was sent out for immediate execution. Martyr.
23 November 1872 in Azanuy, Huesca, Spain
shot on 29 July 1936 in Puente de San José, Valencia, Spain
11 March 2001 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-jose-calasanz-marques/
• William Pinchon
• William of San Brieuc
Born to a peasant family. Priest. Canon of the cathedral of Tours, France. Bishop of San-Brieuc, Brittany, France in 1220; he served for 14 years. Known for his simplicity, charity, and his fight to defend the faithful and the rights of the Church against civil authority; it led to him being exiled, imprisoned and tortured before finally returning to his diocese in 1230. Worked to construct the cathedral. Had the ability to heal by prayer.
11 October 1180 in Saint-Alban, San-Brieuc, Brittany (in France)
• 29 July 1234 of natural causes
• body found incorrupt in 1236
24 March 1247 by Pope Innocent IV
diocese of Saint-Brieuc, France
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-william-of-saint-brieuc/
Luis Exarch
10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan
Relative of Saint Louis Bertrán. Joined the Dominicans at the convent of Santa Catalina in Barcelona, Spain in 1611. Priest. Missionary to the Philippines in 1618. Missionary to Japan in 1623; he worked the rest of his life in the Omura region. He brought many to the faith, especially working with Dominican tertiaries. During a period of persecution he hid from authorities in a leper colony, but was found and executed with Blessed Mancio de la Cruz, Blessed Pedro de Santa Maria and three of the patients who had given them shelter. Martyr.
1596 in Barcelona, Spain
burned to death in 29 July 1627 at Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-luis-bertran/
• Seraphia of Syria
• Serapia...
When Seraphia was very young, her family fled from Syria to Italy to escape the persecutions of Hadrian. Orphaned as a young woman, she had many offers of marriage, but was drawn to a religious life; she sold all her possessions, gave the money to the poor, and then sold herself into slavery. By her good example, she converted her owner, Saint Sabina. Martyr.
Antioch, Syria
beheaded in 110 in Italy
• with Saint Sabina
• woman holding a book
• woman holding a tablet
• woman working as an imperial Roman household slave
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-seraphia-the-martyr/
• John Lo
• John Baptist Lo
• John Baptist Leo
• Johannes Baptist Luo Tingyin
• Ruohan
28 September as one of the Martyrs of China
Married layman servant in the apostolic vicariate of Guizhou, China. Convert. Martyr. One of the Martyrs of China.
c.1825 in Qingyian, Guiyang, Guizhou, China
tortured and beheaded on 29 July 1861 in Qingyian, Guiyang, Guizhou, China
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ioannes-baptista-luo-tingyin/
10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan
At age 13 Petrus began studying to be a catechists; Blessed Luis Bertrán was his teacher. He supported the work of the missionaries, spending his wages to buy them supplies, strengthening the faith of new Christians. During a period of persecution, he hid from authorities in a leper colony, but was found and imprisoned in Kuwara, Japan. While in prison he was admitted to the Dominicans as cooperator brother. Martyr.
1610 in Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
burned to death in 29 July 1627 at Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-petrus-of-saint-mary/
Joined the Hospitallers of Saint John of God at age 30. Worked at an asylum hospital. Seized as he was leaving the hospital, he was ordered to blaspheme to prove that he renounced Christianity; he refused. Martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
13 March 1882 in Nuin, Navarra, Spain
• shot on 29 July 1936 in Barcelona, Spain
• body dumped in a field in Esplugas de Liobregat, Spain
25 October 1992 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-juan-bautista-egozcuezabal-aldaz/
• Martha Wang Luoshi
• Mande
28 September as one of the Martyrs of China
Married lay woman in the apostolic vicariate of Guizhou, China. Widow. Carried letters from Blessed Joseph Tshang and Blessed John Baptist Lo to their bishop. Arrested for helping spread Christianity. Martyr.
c.1812 in Zunyi, Guizhou, China
tortured and beheaded on 29 July 1861 in Qingyian, Guiyang, Guizhou, China
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-martha-wang/
Born to a wealthy family. A pious child, at age seven she moved into a convent of Béguines. She later joined the Cistercian nuns at Valfleury, France. Known for severe austerities, punishing her body almost to the point of torture. Received a vision of Jesus. Founded the convent called Our Lady of Nazareth near Lier, Belgium, and served as its first prioress.
• 1269 at the convent of Our Lady of Nazareth of natural causes
• legend says that years later when the convent was abandoned during a period of civil unrest, her body was taken to Lier, Belgium by angels
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-beatrix-of-valfleury/
Eudist priest. 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.
11 October 1763 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France
29 July 1794 aboard the prison ship Deux-Associés, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France
1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-charles-antoine-nicolas-ancel/
10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of Japan
Worked with Blessed Luis Bertran, often acting as a guide for the missionaries. During a period of persecution, he hid from authorities in a leper colony, but was found and imprisoned in Kuwara, Japan. While in prison he was admitted to the Dominicans as cooperator brother during the last Mass celebrated by Blessed Luis. Martyr.
Japan
burned to death in 29 July 1627 at Omura, Nagasaki, Japan
7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX
https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-mancius-of-the-cross/
Beatrix, Viatrice, Viatrix
Sister of Saint Faustinus of Rome and Saint Simplicius of Rome. Betrothed to be married even though she had taken personal vows of chastity. When she was caught burying her martyred brothers, she was denounced as a Christian by her fiance Lucretius, which led to imprisonment and execution. Martyr.
strangled in 303 in Rome, Italy
woman holding a rope in her left hand and a candle in her right hand
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-beatrice-of-rome/
Baolu
28 September as one of the Martyrs of China
Seminarian in the apostolic vicariate of Guizhou, China. Locked in a cold, damp cave, tortured and martyred for his faith.
c.1838 in Xingren, Guizhou, China
tortured and beheaded on 29 July 1861 in Qingyian, Guiyang, Guizhou, China
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-paulus-chen-changpin/
Leu
Married the sister of Saint Hilary for seven years at which point they separated so that Lupus could become a monk at Lérins Abbey. Bishop of Troyes, France in 426. Travelled with Saint Germanus of Auxerre to fight Pelagianism in Britain. Saved Troyes from the attack of Attila the Hun in 453.
384 in Toul, France
478
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lupus-of-troyes/
• Joseph Tshang
• Ruose
28 September as one of the Martyrs of China
Seminarian at Su-tchuen, China. Martyr.
c.1831 in Ba, Sichuan, China
beheaded on 29 July 1861 at Tsin-gai, China
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-iosephus-zhang/
Faustinus of Spello
Spiritual student of Saint Felix of Martano near Spoleto, Italy, and was there at Felix's martyrdom. Faustinus was abused for his faith, but allowed to live.
3rd century Italy
4th century at Todi, Umbria, Italy of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-faustinus-of-spoleto/
Olaf, Olave
King of Sweden. Convert, brought to the faith by Saint Anscharius. During a time of famine, he was sacrificed to the old pagan gods because he would not offer such sacrifices himself as priest-king.
early 10th century at Birca, Sweden (near modern Stockholm)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-olaus-of-sweden/
Fourth-century Christian soldier in the imperial Roman army during the reign of Julian the Apostate. Assisted persecuted and imprisoned Christians, and ministered to the sick and poor.
interred in the church of Saint John the Theologian, Constantinople (in modern Istanbul, Turkey)
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-the-soldier/
Fiora
Sister of Saint Lucilla of Rome, she was kidnapped and enslaved by Saint Eugene of Rome before his conversion, and then was freed after his conversion. One of 23 Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Gallienus.
c.260 in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-flora-of-rome/
Chosen bishop of Orléans, France in 453. Formally received Saint Genevieve of Paris when she passed through Orléans.
c.463 of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-prosper-of-orleans/
Felix av Via Portuensis
Martyr.
San Felice cemetery, mile marker three, Via Portuense, outside Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-felix-of-rome-29-july/
Martyr.
Paphlagonia, Asia Minor
burned to death in the 3rd century in Gangrae, Asia Minor
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-callinicus-of-paphlagonia/
Brother of Saint Beatrice of Rome. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.
c.303 in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-simplicius-of-rome-2/
Silin
Founded the monastery of Luxulyan in Cornwall, England, and served as its first abbot.
6th century of natural causes
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-sulian/
Brother of Saint Beatrice of Rome. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.
c.303 in Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-faustinus-of-rome/
Monk. Abbot of monastery on the island of Inishcaltra. Wrote a biography of Saint Brigid.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-kilian-of-inishcaltra/
One of 23 Christians martyred as a group in the persecutions of Gallienus.
c.260
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eugene-29-july/
One of 23 Christians martyred in the persecutions of Gallienus.
c.260
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-antony-29-july/
One of 23 Christians martyred in the persecutions of Gallienus.
c.260
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodore/
One of 23 Christians martyred in the persecutions of Gallienus.
c.260
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lucilla/
Martyr.
c.426 at Civitas Mamiensis
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-seraphina-29-july/
Martyr.
Generosa cemetery, Rome, Italy
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-rufo-of-rome/
A group of Dominican priests and friars who were martyred over the course of a day in the same town by the same group of anti-Christian forces in the Spanish Civil War.
• Antonio Manuel López Couceiro
• Felicísimo Díez González
• Gumersindo Soto Barros
• Lamberto María de Navascués de Juan
• Lucio Martínez Mancebo
• Matías Manuel Albert Ginés
• Saturio Rey Robles
• Tirso Manrique Melero
29 July 1936 in Calanda, Teruel, Spain
11 March 2001 by Pope John Paul II
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-calanda/
Carmelites of the Ancient Observance novices, friars and priests who were all martyred together in the Spanish Civil War.
• Àngel Prat Hostench
• Eliseo Maneus Besalduch
• Gabriel Escoto Ruiz
• Ginés Garre Egea
• Joan Maria Puigmitjà Rubió
• Joan Prat Colldecarrera
• Josep Solé Rovira
• Lluis Fontdecava Quiroga
• Manuel Serrano Buj
• Miquel Soler Sala
• Pere Dorca Coromina
• Pere Ferrer Marín
29 July 1936 in Clot dels Aubens, Cervera, Lleida, Spain
28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI
https://catholicsaints.info/martyrs-of-lleida/
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:
• Blessed Bartolomé Rodríguez Soria
• Chirsk-Pskov Icon of the Mother of God
• Holy Mary of the Miracles
• Four Anonymous Martyrs
• Martyrs of Rome
• Alexander of Cîteaux
• Anastasia and Companions
• Berius of Constantinople
• Peter of Algiers
CatholicSaints.Info Portable Edition