July 2012
11 posts
Botuid
Swedish missionary, murdered by a slave he had set free.
Seven Sleepers
These 7 men were walled up in a cave in 250 AD; their relics discovered in 479.
James
Apostle, patron of equestrians & veterinarians. Spain reinvented him as a Moor-slayer.
Mary Magdalene
Often pictured with a skull, as in this Life Magazine photo, 1944.
Life magazine, May 22, 1944, “Photo of the Week,” by Ralph Crane: Her hair is perfectly styled, pinned up behind her with a huge flower. She wears a blazer, rests her chin on her left hand while her right hand holds a poised pen. In a perfectly proportioned composition, her head and right hand make two points of a triangle; the...
Astius
Martyred; covered in honey & left to be attacked by bees & hornets.
Maria Goretti
Virgin-martyr who wouldn’t submit to her rapist; he later attended her canonization.
Anthony Zaccaria
Penance weakened him & he died of fever; afterward his body was incorruptible.
Elizabeth of Portugal
Formerly a double feast, in 1962 her day was lowered to “third-class.”
Thomas
Finger-in-the-wound Apostle, patron of builders & architects
Bernardino Realino
On his deathbed, the people of Leece asked for his help. Then, his relics bled.
Veep
From Cornwall, a saint of uncertain gender.
June 2012
30 posts
Theobald of Provins
Patron of shoemakers, charcoal-burners, belt-makers, dry cough, panic attacks.
The Apostle Peter
Called on for aid with foot problems, fever & frenzy. Patron of horologists.
Irenaeus
Early martyr, whose tomb & remains were destroyed utterly by Huguenots in 1562.
Cyril of Alexandria
His followers murdered astronomer & philosopher Hypatia, hacking apart her body.
Josemaría Escrivá
Supporter of Franco & Pinochet, & self-mortification. Beloved by John Paul II.
Eurosia
Patron of the demonically possessed, who would carry her urn in procession (banned in 1947).
Amphibalus
On the run, hid with Albans, whom he converted, then sent to martyrdom in his place.
Joseph Cafasso
Social reformer, “The Priest of the Gallows.” Patron of captives.
The Utopian St. Thomas More
Martyr, patron of difficult marriages, large families & civil servants.
Aloysius Gonzaga
Patron of AIDS sufferers & care-givers, his remains lie in an urn of lapis lazuli.
Silverius
6th century pope, appeared to stranded sailors and guided them to safety.
Romauld
“Sit in your cell as in paradise.” -Romauld, patron of very little, maybe nothing at all.
Mark & Marcellian
Twins, among the litany of dead Sebastian converted so they could be martyred.
Hervé
Now invoked to cure sick horses, refused to be ordained except as an exorcist.
Luthgard
Another patroness of the blind, her feast day almost exactly six months from Lucy’s Day.
Alice
The leper-saint, kept from drinking from the cup of Eucharist for fear she’d contaminate it.
Methodius I
Exiled by Emperor Michael II as a lover of images, later welcomed back to the fold.
Anthony of Padua
A quick saint, patron of starvation, seekers of lost things, & shipwrecks.
Cuniald & Geslar
“Confessors of whom nothing is known.”
Barnabas, the Apostle
Invoked against hailstorms, presumably since he was stoned to death.
Bardo
Archbishop of Mainz, so savaged his own body the Pope told him to relent his mortifications.
Ephrem
The Harp of the Spirit, patron of spiritual leaders, about whom many tall tales exist.
William of York
Poisoned at Mass, 1154. Miracles soon followed from his perfumed, fireproof corpse.
Robert of Newminster
Accused of lust, fled to Bernard for protection. Owned a miraculous belt.
Norbert
For childbirth. Protestants & Catholics fought for his body, now an auto-icon in Prague.
Boniface
Attributes: axe; book; oak; scourge; sword. Patron of brewers, & of World Youth Day.
Francis Caracciolo
d. 1608. Patron of Naples and of those who prepare food.
Charles Lwanga
Ugandan, baptized several youths so they could be burned alive along with him, 1886.
Marcellinus & Peter
A priest & an exorcist. Martyred at an out-of-the-way spot. Beardless.
Justin Martyr
Millenarian, waiting for the End since 165. Flogged, beheaded. Patron of apologists.
