Jmj

Today, December 25, we members of the Catholic Church family celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We also honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints whose souls are now in heaven:

St. Adalsindis of Hamay (French, daughter or two saints and sister or another, Benedictine nun, c. 715)
St. Alburga of Wilton (British, widow, Benedictine, nun, d. 810)
St. Anastasia of Sirmium (Roman, matron, named in Eucharistic Prayer I, martyred [in what is now Serbia] c. 304)
St. Eugenia (Roman, noblewoman, martyred probably by beheading c. 258)
St. Folquet of Toulouse (French, Cistercian abbot, bishop, helped St. Dominic found his order, d. 1231)
Holy Martyrs of Nicomedia (from Asia Minor [Turkish], thousands martyred [burned in basilica when gathered for worship] in 303)
St. Matthew of Albano (French, Benedictine prior, bishop, papal legate, d. 1134)
St. Nera of Siena (Italian, Dominican tertiary, nurse, d. 1287)
St. Romulus (French, priest, c. 700)

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron saint -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John


-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 25, 2001

Answers

-- (_@_._), December 29, 2001.

John, Do you know why the Church has other saint feastdays on Christmas ?

Thanks, David S

-- David S (asdzxc8176@aol.com), December 29, 2001.

Hi, David S. I cannot give you a great answer, but I will try my best.

One of the most common ways (but not the only way) that the Church chooses a day on which to commemorate a saint is to consider the day of the saint's death. This is sometimes called the saint's "birthday into eternal life." [The only saints whose birthdays into "temporal life" are celebrated are Our Lady and St. John the Baptist.]

I do not know on which day of the year the above-listed saints died, but I would have to guess that at least some of them died on December 25. Perhaps, however, for one or more of them, the Nativity was a feast of particular importance -- and the Church took note of this fact by linking the saint forever with Christmas Day.

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

Jmj

On December 25, we members of the Catholic Church family celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We also honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints whose souls are now in heaven:

St. Adalsindis of Hamay (French, daughter or two saints and sister or another, Benedictine nun, c. 715)
St. Alburga of Wilton (British, widow, Benedictine, nun, d. 810)
St. Anastasia of Sirmium (Italian, matron, named in Eucharistic Prayer I, martyred [in what is now Serbia] c. 304)
St. Eugenia of Rome (Italian, noblewoman, martyred probably by beheading c. 258)
St. Folquet of Toulouse (French, Cistercian abbot, bishop, helped St. Dominic found his order, d. 1231)
Bl. Mary of the Apostles von Wüllenweber of Monchengladbach [baptized Theresia] (German, noblewoman, co-founder and superior of Sisters of the Catholic Teaching Society and superior general of Sisters of the Divine Savior, d. 1907 [beatified 1968])
St. Matthew of Albano [Mathieu] (French, Benedictine prior, bishop, papal legate, d. 1134)
Bl. Michael Nakajima of Machiai (Japanese, associate of Jesuit missionaries, martyred [scalded in hot springs] at about age 45 in 1628 [beatified 1867])
St. Nera of Siena (Italian, Dominican tertiary, nurse, d. 1287)
Holy Martyrs of Nicomedia (from Asia Minor [Turkish], thousands martyred [burned in basilica when gathered for worship] in 303)
St. Romulus of Berry (French, priest, c. 700)

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints or blesseds and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 24, 2003.