A couple of New Testament Saints for Monday

 

St. Gamaliel

Rabbinical teacher, the mentor of St. Paul. Gamaliel counseled the Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to release St. Peter and other apostles. He reportedly became a Christian, and the finding of his body in Jerusalem was celebrated on August 3 by early Christians.

Acts 5:34-40

Acts 22:3

St. Lydia Purpuraria

Lydia Purpuraria (1st century) was born at Thyatira (Ak-Hissar), a town in Asia Minor, famous for its dye works, (hence, her name which means purple seller). She became Paul's first convert at Philippi. She was baptized with her household, and Paul stayed at her home there. Her feast date is August 3.

Acts 16:14–15

Saints of the Day for Tuesday

 

Sts. Nereus & Achilleus

So often we hear people or even ourselves excuse an action by saying "I was only following orders." But for Nereus and Achilleus this excuse could not stand in the face of the cross.

Everything we know from authority about the two first- century martyrs come from a testimony written by Pope St. Damasus in the fourth century and inscribed on a memorial tablet that commemorates their lives. But even this commentary comes 300 years after they died.

Damasus tells us that Nereus and Achilleus were soldiers in the Roman army where they helped carry out the persecution of Christians. They probably had nothing against Christians and didn't carry for the bloody slaughter they were commanded to perform, but they obeyed these cruel orders out of fear of dying themselves. After all, that was what soldiers have always been expected to do.

We are not told how they were converted, only that it was a "miracle of faith." After this miracle, they threw down their weapons and escaped from their camp, discarding armor and arms as they went toward their new life in Christ. As participants in the persecution, they knew perhaps better than any other Christian what pain awaited them. Faith, however, had triumphed over fear of death and the victory of faith was the sweetest they had known.

We are told they were martyred but Damasus doesn't mention how.

Later legend had it that they served Flavia Domitilla, the great-niece of Emperor Domitian, and were exiled and executed with her when she converted. This legend probably originated in the fact that the martyrs were buried in what was later known as the cemetery of Domitilla.

Saint of the Day for Friday

 

St. Michael de Sanctis

Feastday: April 10
Patron: of cancer patients
Birth: 1591
Death: 1625

Michael de Sanctis was born in Catalonia, Spain around 1591. At the age of six he informed his parents that he was going to be a monk. Moreover, he imitated St. Francis of Assisi to such a great extent that he had to be restrained. After the death of his parents, Michael served as an apprentice to a merchant. However, he continued to lead a life of exemplary fervor and devotion, and in 1603, he joined the Trinitarian Friars at Barcelona, taking his vows at St. Lambert's monastery in Saragosa in 1607. Shortly thereafter, Michael expressed a desire to join the reformed group of Trinitarians and was given permission to do so. He went to the Novitiate at Madrid and, after studies at Seville and Salamanca, he was ordained a priest and twice served as Superior of the house in Valladolid. His confreres considered him to be a saint, especially because of his devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament and his ecstacies during Mass. After his death at the age of thirty-five on April 10, 1625 many miracles were attributed to him. He was canonized in 1862 by Pope Pius IX. St. Michael de Sanctis is noted in the Roman Martyrology as being "remarkable for innocence of life, wonderful penitence, and love for God." He seemed from his earliest years to have been selected for a life of great holiness, and he never wavered in his great love of God or his vocation. As our young people look for direction in a world that seems not to care, St. Michael stands out as worthy of imitation as well as of the prayers of both young and old alike. His feast day is April 10.

Saint of the Day for Friday

 

St. Rupert

Bishop and missionary, also listed as Robert of Hrodbert. A member of a noble Frankish family, he was appointed bishop of Worms, Germany, and then dedicated himself to spreading the faith among the Germans. With the patronage of Duke Thedo of Bavaria, he took over the deserted town of luvavum about 697, which was renamed Salzburg, Austria. Rupert founded a church, a monastery, and a school; brought in groups of missionaries; and established a nunnery at Nonnberg with his sister, Eerentrudis, serving as the first abbess. He died at Salzburg and is venerated as the first archbishop of this major diocese in the West. Rupert is revered as the Apostle of Bavaria and Austria.

Pope Leo XIV advances six causes for sainthood

 

Servant of God Stanisława Samulowska moves closer to sainthood 

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• Pope Leo XIV
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Pope Leo advances six causes for sainthood

Pope Leo XIV advances several individuals toward sainthood, including an Italian who was a father of a family and another who offered his life for the faith, as well as a Spanish religious who served the Church throughout the 20th century.

Vatican News

Pope Leo XIV received Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, in the Vatican on Monday morning and authorized the Dicastery to promulgate several decrees advancing six individuals toward sainthood.

The Pope recognized the offering of life of Servant of God Ludovico Altieri, Bishop of Albano, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, born on 17 July 1805 in Rome, Italy, who died on 11 August 1867 in the Italian hill town of Albano Laziale.

The Holy Father also recognized the following heroic virtues of four religious and an Italian layperson who was a father of a family:

- Servant of God Edward Joseph Flanagan, diocesan priest, Founder of Boys Town, born on 13 July 1886 in Ballymoe, Ireland, and died on 15 May 1948 in Berlin, Germany.

- Servant of God Henri Caffarel, diocesan priest, Founder of the Association “Teams of Our Lady” (Équipes Notre-Dame) and of the Secular Institute “Fraternity of Our Lady of the Resurrection”, born on 30 July 1903 in Lyon, France, who died on 18 September 1996 in Beauvais.

- Servant of God Stanisława Samulowska (born Barbara), professed religious of the Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, born on 30 January 1865 in Woryty in present-day Poland, who died on 6 December 1950 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

- Servant of God María of Bethlehem of the Heart of Jesus Romero Algarín (born María Dolores), professed religious of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Divine Heart, born on 7 October 1916 in Seville, Spain, who died on 12 November 1977 in Sanlúcar la Mayor.saints

- Servant of God Giuseppe Castagnetti, lay faithful and father of a family, born on 15 March 1909 in Montebaranzone, Italy, and died there on 22 June 1965.

With the decrees on heroic virtues, the respective candidates receive the title Venerable Servant of God, or simply Venerable.