List of African

Name Year of Death Description Feast Day

St. Fulgentius 533 of , January 1

Egyptian and founder of St. Paul 342 January 15 Monastic life in Thebes

Founder of monastic life in the St. Anthony 356 January 17 desert of

St. John the Alms Giver 619 of January 23

Bishop of and third African St. Gelasius 496 (492-496)

Martyred in along with 6 SS. Perpetua and Felicity 202 March 7 other companions

Martyred at , after St. Maximilian (Marmilian) 295 March 12 refusing to serve in the Roman army

Sicilian, son of African parents; the St. Benedict the Black 1585 first African to be canonized through April 12 the regular canonical process

Born at , ; St. Zeno 380 in Verona, , where he April 12 become Bishop of Verona (c.362)

He was an African missionary to St. Marcellinus 4th Cent. April 20 France

St. Athanasius 373 Bishop May 2

Husband and wife martyred in SS. Timothy and Maura 298 May 3 Southern Egypt

Alexandrian army officer beheaded St. Isdore of Chios 251 May 15 for his faith

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Sudanese slave girl who joined the Canossian Sisters, Italy, lived a holy life, Blessed Josephine Bakhita 1947 and beatified May 17, 1992. of Josephine Bakhita by Pope John Paul II is scheduled on October 1, 2000

St. Julia of Tunisia ? Slave girl crucified for her faith May 22

Martyrs, canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964. The 22 young court servant were St. Charles Lwanga and 1886 martyred for their faith by the Buganda June 3 Companions King Mwanga in 1886. Along with them were 80 young Anglicans

St. 4th Cent. Egyptian hermit June 12

St. Orsiesius c.380 Abbot of Tabennisi , Egypt June 15

St. 444 Patriarch of Alexandria (412-444) June 27

St. Shenute c.450 Founder of monastic life in Egypt July 1

St. Anatolius c.282 Philosopher and scientist of Alexandria July 3

Head of Alexandrian Catechetical School St. Pantaenus 190 July 9 and missionary to Persia (Iran)

St. Eugenius 5th Cent. Archbishop of Carthage, Tunisia July 20

The 12 of Scillum, Carthage, St. Speratus and Companions 180 July 17 Tunisia

St. Aurelius 5th Cent. Archbishop of Carthage, Tunisia July 20

Bishop of Rome and first African Pope St. Victor I 199 July 23 (189-199)

St. Rutilius 4th Cent. North African August 2

Blessed Isidore Bakanja 1909 A Congolese laborer and catechist August 17

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martyred for his faith

Foundress of the Catholic Action in Blessed Victoire Rasoamanarivo 1894 August 21 Madagascar, beatified in 1989

Thrown into a pit of quicklime in Utica, 153 martyrs of Utica c.260 August 24 Tunisia

Mother of St. , widowed St. Monica 387 August 27 at age 40

A desert known for his holiness, and St. c.400 August 27 who encouraged frequent Communion

Bishop of (modern ) St. Augustine of Hippo 354-430 August 28 on coast of Algeria,

A slave, gang leader, who after conversion died a martyr of non-violence on August St. the Black 395 28, his feast day. The date providentially August 28 coincides with the march to Washington by 200,000 African Americans in 1963

Blessed Ghebre Mikha'el 1855 Ethiopian priest and martyr September 2

9 , several deacons and lay persons St. Donatian and Companions 257 September 10 who died in a marble quarry in North

Martyrs, who were killed at Agauno, St. Maurice and his Theban 287 Switzerland for refusing to sacrifice to September 22 Legion (from Egypt) pagan divinities

Apostle and Evangelist. According to one St. Matthew 1st Cent. ancient tradition, he was the first September 21 evangelizer of Nubia (modern Sudan)

St. Raissa c.300 and martyr from Alexandria September 22

Twin Brothers; Aizan was the first Christian SS. Aizan and Sazan 360 October 1 Emperor of the Kingdom of Axum, Ethiopia

St. Thais c.350 Egyptian penitent, converted after many October 8

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years as a prostitute

St. Cerbonius 573 African missionary Bishop in Italy October 10

St. Aragave 4th Cent. One of the first Ethiopian October 11

A of St. Anthony of Egypt, martyred St. Sarmata 357 October 11 by Saracens in the Egyptian desert

5000 African martyrs and African martyrs deported and killed for 483 October 12 confessers of the faith their faith by the Vandal King Huneric

Commemoration of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church: St. Syriac monks and founders of the Church in 380 October 27 (Abba Salama) and Ethiopia Aedesius

An Ethiopian King who died as a monk in St. Elesbaan 555 October 27

St. Lalibala (Ghebre Mesgel) 1255 An Ethiopian Emperor revered for his faith October 27

St. Tekla Hymanot 1313 A great Ethiopian reformer of monasticism October 27

Born in Peru, son of a Spanish father and an African slave mother, who became a pharmacist at an early age and later joined St. 1639 the , where he continued November 3 to dispense medicine to the poor, while living a humble and austere life, with great devotion to the Eucharist

Head of the Catechetical School in St. Pierius 4th Cent. November 4 Alexandria

St. Achilias 312 Head of religious instruction in Alexandria November 7

An Egyptian soldier in Phygia, who fled St. Nennas c.300 November 11 from persecution and became a hermit

Martyrs, victims of the Arian Kind of the St. Arcadius and Companions 437 November 13 , Genseric

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Bishop of Rome and third African Pope (492-496), liturgical reformer, who ordered St. Gelasius 496 November 21 the reception of Communion under both species

Virgin and martyr who suffered martyrdom St. 4th Cent. in Alexandria. Her relics are said to be kept in the monastery of St. Catherine on Sinai

Patriarch of Alexandria during the Roman St. Peter Martyr of Alexandria 311 November 25 persecution

Virgin and martyr, a member of the Holy Blessed Anuarite Nengapeta 1964 Family Sister in Congo Kinshasa, martyred December 1 by the Simba rebels

A who resigned and became St. Cassian of 298 December 3 Christian and died as a martyr

Bishop of Rome and second African Pope St. Melchiades 314 December 10 (311-314)

List prepared by: J. Mutiso-Mbinda, 1998.

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