Saints for July JULY Wed 1 – Henry, John and Henry (the younger) Venn, priests, John helped to found the Church Missionary Society was part of the Clapham Sect and worked for the abolition of the slave trade, Henry devoted himself to the work of the CMS as secretary and organiser, they died 1797, 1813 and 1873 - Shenoute, hero of the Coptic Church, a charismatic leader of monks and nuns, died 466 - Thierry (aka Theodoric) a priest, spiritual student of Saint Remigius, he founded the abbey at Mont d’Or in France and was the first abbot. A noted evangelist and healer who miraculously cured King Theodoric of an eye disease, died 533. - Oliver Plunkett, archbishop of Armagh who worked hard to instill discipline among the priests and encourage the faith of the faithful , martyred for supposed treason for ‘promoting the Catholic faith’ in a kangaroo court, he was the last Catholic to die for his faith at Tyburn in London and the first of the Irish Martyrs to be beatified, Patron Saint of Armagh, died in 1681 Gall of Clermont, had good singing voice, was cantor for the monastery, later he became a bishop who was noted for his patience when injured by others and his forgiving nature, he died 645 Thu 2 - Otto of Bamburg, a Swabian noble and priest. He worked for Emperor Henry IVth and became the ‘pig-in-the-middle’ when Henry broke with Rome, he was loyal to the Emperor in state matters and to the pope in religious ones. Made Bishop and established monasteries and churches and worked to heal the problems between the church and state. A preacher who evangelised Polish pagans converting 20,000! Patron Saint of Bamberg and invoked against hydrophobia, mad dogs and rabies, died 1139 Fri 3 - Thomas the 'doubting' apostle, mentioned in all four gospels, tradition has it that he went to India and is named as ‘apostle to India’ Patron Saint of builders, masons, stone cutters, architects and theologians, the blind, invoked against blindness and doubt, he died in 1st century Sat 4 - Andrew of Crete, a great preacher and writer of hymns some are still sung in the Byzantine liturgy, died 740 - Pier-Giorgio Frassati, endlessly generous to everyone in need, worked for the poor, a partygoer, practical joker, and fund-raiser, known for always being cheerful, liked climbing mountains, famous in Turin but unappreciated by his family, he died of polio aged 24 in 1925. and – Elizabeth (Isabel) of Portugal, (great neice of Elizabeth of Hungary) daughter of a Spanish king she married King Denis of Portugal, and was noted for her care of those in need, her generosity and piety, she founded hospitals, schools, convents and hostels. She had a quarrelsome family and was noted as a peacemaker even stopping a war by reconciling the warring leaders, Patron Saint of brides, charities, difficult marriages, falsely accused people, peace, victims of adultery jealousy and unfaithfulness, and widows, she is invoked against jealousy, and in time of war, she died in 1336. Sun 5 - Grace and Probus of Cornwall, a married couple, there is no other information but during the renovation of a church named after them a male and female skull were found near the site of the altar and are believed to be the relics of the couple, Patron Saint of Probus in Cornwall. No date of death and – Gwen who was married to St Fragan and mother of Saints Winwallus, Jacut and Guithern! She was forced to flee from Britain when the Imperial Roman troops pulled out and life became hard and chancy as pagans reclaimed their land, she travelled and helped to spread the faith in Brittany, died 5th Century Mon 6 - Thomas More scholar and Chancellor to Henry Vlll, he agreed with Henry’s efforts to reform the clergy but disagreed over Henry’s disputes with the Pope about his request to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Thomas was imprisoned and while there he refused to take the oath that declared King Henry the protector and supreme head of the Church in England – (the Oath on the Act of Succession) and - John Fisher (Bishop of Rochester),a close friend and ally of Thomas More, a brilliant academic he reformed the life of the University of Cambridge (using the wealth and influence of Henry Vll’s mother – Lady Margaret Beaufort) both Thomas and John were Reformation victims when they opposed Henry’s relationships and actions, and were martyred in 1535 and - Maria Goretti a twelve year old who was murdered when she resisted rape, Patron Saint of teenage girls, her canonization ceremony in 1950 was attended by her murderer and her mother! died 1902 Tue 7 – Anthony Zaccaria a doctor who also became a priest. He formed a community – ‘The Clerks Regular of St Paul’ who although they were ordained continued their work in the world, he also formed a congregation of women devoted to rescuing and protecting prostitutes, he died 1539. Wed 8 – Kilian, Colman, and Totnan , evangelists to Franconia and East Thuringia where they were martyred, Kilian went with eleven companions to Wurzburg where they resolved to convert the pagans. They told the local duke that his marriage to his brother’s widow (Geilana, a pagan) was unlawful and persuaded him to leave her and she arranged to have all three killed. Geilana and the murderer both went mad! The heads of the saints are preserved in the cathedral at Wurtzburg and are processed around the town on this day each year. All three are Patron Saints of Wurzburg and whitewashers and invoked against gout and rheumatism, died 689 Thu 9 - Veronica Giuliani, for fifty years a Poor Clare nun in Umbria, she was novice mistress for thirty years then led her community for eleven years, she was very practical (put in piped water and enlarged the convent rooms) and kind, she suffered with the stigmata for thirty years, died 1727. Fri 10 – Knud (Canute) King of Denmark, he was ambitious and sought to strengthen the Danish monarchy, he was devoted to the Catholic Church and had designs on the Enmglish throne. He was slain by rebels and the first Danish king to be canonised, Patron Saint of Denmark, died 1086. Sat 11 - Benedict of Nursia, abbot of Monte Cassino, father of western monasticism, he created a ‘Rule’ for his monks that fused prayer and labour into their community life, Patron Saint of Europe, coppersmiths and schoolchildren, invoked against fever and poison, by the dying, and servants who have broken their master’s belongings! died 550 and - Olga/Helena the first Christian queen of Ukraine who was married to Igor 1st duke of Kiev. She ruled Kievan Rus after Igor’s assassination in 945. After her conversion and baptism twelve years later she tried to introduce Christianity to the Ukraine but failed, she handed the throne to her son Sviatoslav when he reached adulthood. She was grandmother of St Vladimir and great grandmother of Saints Boris and Gleb, died 969. Sun 12 – Veronica a possibly mythical saint who was thought to have offered Christ a cloth to wipe his face with, on his way to the crucifixion, the features of his face were supposedly left on the cloth (there is a cloth called ‘St Veronica’s veil’ at St Peter’s in Rome, last exhibited in 1933), Patron Saint of washerwomen, died 1st century. Mon 13 - Mildred of Thanet, daughter of the King of Mercia and Saint Ermenburga of Thanet, her sisters were Saints Milburga and Mildgytha, she was educated near Paris then entered the Benedictine convent at Minster on the Isle of Thanet having refused an offer of marriage, (the convent is still in use and is one of the oldest continuously occupied structures in Britain and one of my aunts was a nun there) she (Mildred) became the abbess and worked with St Theodore of Canterbury and had Saint Edburga as one of her novices. Mildred was noted for her generosity to the poor and special attention to social outcasts, a yearly pilgrimage to her relics at Minster still happens. She died c.700 Tue 14 - John Keble, son of a priest and a priest and writer himself, he won praise for his poems and became Professor of Poetry in Oxford, after five years became a parish priest near Winchester continuing his writing and guest-preaching. A sermon he preached in Oxford (on the 14th July in 1833) is considered to be the beginning of the ‘Oxford Movement’, he died 1866 - Camillus de Lellis, founded Servants of the Sick in Rome, caring for plague victims and prisoners, he died 1614 - Humbert of Romans (a town in France), master-general of the Dominicans, died 1277. and – Katherine (Kateri) Tekawitha, a native-born North American saint, given to excessive penances, she worked for the Jesuits who did try to curb her self-abuse! She died 1680 Wed 15 - Swithun, bishop of Winchester, founded new churches in Wessex, compassionate and charitable, the weather connection is because the removal of his remains into the cathedral was delayed by very heavy rainfall and couldn’t take place on July 15th as intended, there were some miraculous cures at the same time, his head was later removed and put in another shrine and later taken to Canterbury! died c. 862 - Bonaventure, master-general of the Franciscans who was involved in the dispute between those who insisted that poverty (as shown by St Francis) was the most important thing, and his own desire that the friars should do some serious study which would need buildings and books! In 1274 he was involved in a meeting at which the Orthodox and Roman churches agreed on re-union but shortly after his death the re- union was rejected by Constantinople! died 1274 - Anne-Marie Javouhey a 'velvet brick'! nicknamed ‘Nanette’, she was a determined founder of schools for poor children in France, and later in Africa and S.