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CALENDAR of the SAINTS
30 July 2006 A.D.
Saint Abdon
With Saint Senen, he befriended Catholics persecuted under Diocletian. They were both tortured and executed c.250 at Rome, when they were found collecting the remains of martyrs in order to give them a respectable burial.
Saint Senen
With Saint Abdon, he befriended Christians persecuted under Diocletian. Tortured and executed when they were found collecting the remains of martyrs in order to give them a respectable burial. Tortured and executed c.250 at Rome Blessed Edward Powell
Priest. Canon of Salisbury and a fellow of Oriel. Author of several treatises opposing Martin Luther. Counsellor to Queen Catherine of Aragon, wife of King Henry VIII. Convicted on high treason in 1534 on the basis of denying the king's supremacy over the Church. Spent six years imprisoned in the Tower of London before being hanged, drawn, and quartered on 30 July 1540 at Smithfield, England with Blessed Thomas Abel and Blessed Richard Featherstone. Blessed Everard Hanse
Educated at Cambridge University. Anglican minister. A near-fatal illness caused him to re-examine his life and ministery. With the support of his brother, William, he converted to Catholicism in 1568. Studied in Rheims, France, and was ordained on 25 March 1581. Sailed for England on 24 April 1581 with a plan to minister to covert Catholics. Captured soon after in the Marshalsea prison while visiting Catholic prisoners. Found guilty of the crime of persuading others to join the Catholic Church. He was hanged, drawn and quartered on 31 July 1581 at Tyburn, England. Saint Hatebrand Saint Julitta 
Saint Leopold Mandic
Apostle of the Confession; Apostle of Unity
Twelfth child born to Peter and Caroline Mandic. Physically malformed and delicate of health, Bogdan early showed signs of great spiritual strength and integrity. At age 16, Bogdan left Dalmatia for Italy. There he became a student at the Capuchin Seraphic School at Udine, and an aspirant to the Capuchins. He applied himself to his studies, and entered the Capuchin Order as a novice on 20 April 1884 at Bassano del Grappa, taking the religious name Brother Leopold. After his Profession of Vows in May 1885, he began clerical studies at Padua and Venice. Ordained in Venice on 20 September 1890.
He wanted to be a missionary in Eastern Europe, torn apart by much religious strife, but was denied by his superiors because of his frailty and general ill-health. Stationed at various Friaries in the Venetian Province from 1890 to 1906, including his homeland of Dalmatia, where the Italian friars had a mission. Posted to Padua, Italy in 1906 where, except for a year spent in a prison camp in World War I because he would not renounce his Croat nationality, he remained for the rest of his life. In Padua he became a Confessor and Spiritual Director for almost forty years.
The life of Saint Leopold Mandic is a contrast between his physical frailty and his spiritual strength. Four foot five inches tall, and born physically weak, his health became worse as he grew older. He had a stammer, suffered abdominal pains, and was gradually deformed by chronic arthritis, making his frame stooped, his hands gnarled, and causing much pain.
Spiritually, Leopold Mandic was a giant, full of Christian strength. His humility and faith in God's Goodness and Providence enabled him to recognise and accept his poor physical condition. This led to a greater realisation of his own lowliness in relation to God's mighty power - that without God he could do nothing. This strong faith was communicated to others when they came to Father Leopold for spiritual advice. He would exclaim: "Have faith! Everything will be alright. Faith, Faith!"
Father Leopold gave tremendous encouragement to many people, especially those despairing of hope because of an enslavement to sin. He was truly an apostle; though he did not go to the mission territory, his long service in the Confessional proved to be his own distinct apostolate. For nearly forty years, twelve hours a day, he received, counselled, and absolved thousands of penitents, working as a herald of God's love and forgiveness. And his human weakness highlights the gift of spiritual strength which enabled him to carry out this untiring apostolate.
Early in his Capuchin life, Leopold Mandic was asked to surrender his missionary aspirations and personal preference, and to work as Confessor and Spiritual Advisor. Looking back on this decision, he once said: "I am like a bird in a cage, but my heart is beyond the seas."
Blessed Maria Vicenta of Saint Dorothy Chavez Orozco
Youngest of four, and as a child was known for her devotion to the Infant Jesus, making little altars, asking other children to pray with her.
Her neighborhood was the Mexicaltzingo, inhabited by poor and unskilled workers, and her parish priest was Father Agustin Beas. Devoted to the infirm poor, Father Beas set up six beds in a room of his rectory, called it Holy Trinity Hospital, and the sick were cared for by the women of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.
On 20 February 1892 Vicentita entered this hospital with pleurisy, and there received the inspiration to dedicate her live to God in the person of the poor and the sick. By 10 July 1892 she had recovered, and returned to the hospital to begin her life of charity.
She took private vows with Catalina Velasco and Juana Martin del Campo in 1895. On 12 May 1905 she founded the Congregation of the Servants of the Poor, later renamed the Servants of the Holy Trinity and the Poor. She made her canonical profession in 1911, and was named Superior General in 1913, a service she performed for 30 years, fervent in prayer, seeing obedience as the greatest form of sacrifice.
In 1914, during the Mexican Revolution, Carranza's troops commandeered Guadalajara's cathedral, and imprisoned priests and religious, including the Servants. In 1926 Saint Vincent's Hospital in Zapotlan was turned into a military headquarters; the Servents ignored the danger, caring for the wounded, and insuring they received reconciliation and Communion. The faith and hard work of the Servants paid off over the years with abundant vocations and 17 new hospitals, clinics and nurseries.
At age 75, Mother Vicentita began to have eye and other health trouble, but was the still first in chapel each morning at 4:00, but on 29 July 1949 did not appear. The chaplain anointed her, and Archbishop Jose Garibi Rivera, Mexico's first Cardinal, heard her confession and celebrated Mass. At the elevation of the Host, Mother Vicentita dropped into death like a baby falling asleep. Saint Maxima Saint Olaf of Sweden Saint Peter Chrysologus
Adult convert. Deacon. Priest. Bishop of Ravenna, Italy in 433. Fought paganism and the Monophysite heresy, enforced reforms, and built several churches and ornate altars in his see. Preacher with such language skills, he was given given the name Chrysologus, referring to his golden word. 176 of his sermons have survived; it is the strength of these beautiful explanations of the Incarnation, the Creed, the place of Mary and John the Baptist in the great plan of salvation, etc., that led to his being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII. Saint Rheticus Blessed Richard Featherstone
Saint Rufinus of Assisi
First bishop of Assisi, Umbria, Italy. Martyred in the 1st century Saint Tatwine Blessed Thomas Abel
Received his Doctor of Divinity from Oxford University. Priest. Chaplain to Queen Catherine of Aragon, wife of King Henry VIII. He delivered the letter of Emperor Charles V that sought the permission and blessing of Pope Julius II for the marrige of Henry and Catherine. He confided to the emperor that Catherine had been coerced into writing the letter; Charles refused to pass on the request to the pope, and Thomas returned empty-handed to England.
When Henry sought to divorce Catherine, Thomas published Invicta Veritas, which argued against Oxford University's support of the divorce; for this he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1532. Released soon after, he was arrested again in 1533, accused of involvement in the Holy Maid of Kent incident in which a woman named Elizabeth Barton went into trances at the sight of the image of Mary and gave teachings in favour of the Mass and Catholicism. While in prison he established a correspondence with Blessed John Forest who was doing time in Newgate prison. The warden of the Tower released Thomas in 1539, but he was soon re-arrested, and the warden was imprisoned for releasing him. Convicted on high treason on the basis of denying the king's supremacy over the Church. Hanged, drawn, and quartered on 30 July 1540 at Smithfield, England with Blessed Edward Powell and Blessed Richard Featherstone. Saint Ursus |
