Monday, January 22, 2007

Today

is the feast day of St Vincent of Digne:

St. Vincent of Digne
Feastday: January 22
380
Bishop of Digne, France Originally from Africa, he became bishop of Digne and was later venerated as the patron saint of the city.

and
St Vincent Pallotti:

St. Vincent Pallotti
Feastday: January 22
St. Vincent Pallotti, Priest (Feast - January 22) Born in Rome in 1795, St. Vincent became a priest and dedicated himself completely to God and cared for souls. He dreamed of gaining for Christ all non-Catholics, especially the Mohammedans. To this end he inaugurated a revolutionary program which envisaged the collaboration of the laity in the apostolate of the clergy. But St. Vincent was also well aware of the many deprivations in the natural sphere that hindered the spread of the Faith. He thus obtained and spent huge sums for the poor and underprivileged. He founded guilds for workers, agriculture schools, loan associations, orphanages and homes for girls - all of which made him the pioneer and precursor of Catholic Action. His great legacy was the congregation which he founded for urban mission work, known as the "Society for Catholic Action". This indefatigable laborer for Christ in 1850 from a severe cold which he most likely caught on a cold rainy night after giving his cloak to a beggar who had none.

and
St Anastsius XIV:

St. Anastasius XIV
Feastday: January 22
628
Martyr, originally a Persian called Magundat. Once a magician, Anastasius was a soldier in the army of King Khusrow II, ruler of Persia, when that ruler carried the Holy Cross from Jerusalem to Persia. He was so impressed with the relic and with the demeanor of the Christians that he left the army, became a Christian, and then a monk in Jerusalem. After seven years, Anastasius went to Persia to convert his own people. He was taken prisoner and promised honors by King Khusrow if he denied Christ. Remaining constant in the faith, Anastasius was strangled and beheaded with 68 or 70 other Christians on January 22, 628. His remains were taken to Palestine, and later Rome

and
St Blaesilla:

St. Blaesilla
Feastday: January 22
383
Widow of Rome, the daughter of St. Paula and a disciple of St. Jerome. Blaesilla died at the age of twenty-three from a fever. She and her husband were married only seven months when he predeceased her

and
St Brithwald:

St. Brithwald
Feastday: January 22
1045
Benedictine bishop and a benefactor of Glastonbury Abbey in England. Brithwald was a monk at Glastonbury when he was named bishop of Ramsbury in 1005. He eventually moved his see to Old Sarum. Both Glastonbury and Malmesbury abbeys were under his patronage. Brithwald had visions and was a true prophet.

and
St. Vincent, Orontius, & Victor:

St. Vincent, Orontius, & Victor
Feastday: January 22
305
Three martyrs of the Pyrenees. Vincent and Orontius were brothers, born in Cimiez, near Nice, France. They served as missionaries in the Pyrenees and were martyred at Puigcerda, with St. Victor. Their relics were enshrined at Embrun, France.

and
St Vincent the Deacon:

St. Vincent the Deacon
Feastday: January 22
304
Deacon and martyr. Born at Huesca, Spain, he became a deacon and served St, Valerius at Saragossa until their martyrdom at Valencia during the persecutions under Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). St. Valerius was exiled, but Vincent was cruelly tortured because he would not surrender the holy books. He converted the warden of the prison and then died. He was honored by Sts. Augustine, Pope Leo I, and Prudentius, and is considered the patron saint of vinedressers in some regions of Spain.

and
Blessed William Patenson:

Bl. William Patenson
Feastday: January 22
1592
English martyr. Born at Durham, he departed his homeland and studied at Reims before receiving ordination there in 1587. The following year he sailed home and worked to promote the Catholic cause in the dangerous atmosphere of Elizabethan England. Arrested in 1591, he was tried and condemned for being a priest and was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. During his imprisonment, he converted six other prisoners to the Catholic faith. Beatified in 1929.

and
St Dominic of Sora:

St. Dominic of Sora
Feastday: January 22
1031
Benedictine abbot and founder. Born in Foligno, Etruria, Italy, he established monasteries in the old kingdom of Naples. He died at Sora, in Campania.

and
St Francis Gil de Frederich:

St. Francis Gil de Frederich
Feastday: January 22
1745
Dominican martyr of Tonkin, China, and Vietnam. Born in Tortossa, Spain in 1702, Francis entered the Dominicans in Barcelona and was assigned to the Philippine missions. In 1732, he went to Tonkin and labored there. Arrested, he was a prisoner for several years and was beheaded. Francis was canonized in 1988.

and
St Matthew Alonso Leziniana:

St. Matthew Alonso Leziniana
Feastday: January 22
1745
Dominican martyr of Vietnam. He was born in Navas del Rey in Spain and became a Dominican priest. Assigned originally to the Philippines, he was sent later to Vietnam where he was beheaded during the anti-Christian oppression. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988

and finally
St Paschasius:

St. Paschasius
Feastday: January 22
312
Bishop of Vienne, France. No details of his life are extant, although his era was a remarkably turbulent one.

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