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On December 27, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- "saints" and "blesseds" whose souls are now in heaven:

St. John son of Zebedee of Galilee [Yohanan bar Zebedi] [also called John the Evangelist, John the Divine, John the Theologian, the "Beloved Disciple," and one of the "Sons of Thunder"] (Israelite, apostle of Jesus, witness at Calvary, guardian of Our Lady, virgin, author of fourth gospel, author of three epistles and the Book of Revelation, exile on Patmos, died probably in Ephesus [in what is now Turkey] c. 101 [last apostle to die, only non-martyr])

Bl. Adelaide of Tennenbach [Adelheidis] (German, Cistercian nun, d. 1273)
Bl. Bonaventure Tolomei of Siena [Bonaventura] [baptized Giovanni (John)] (Italian, Dominican friar, cared for plague victims, d. 1348)
St. Fabiola of Rome (Italian, wealthy widow, cared for sick poor, d. 399)
Bl. Hesso of Beinwil (German, Benedictine abbot, d. 1133)
St. John Stone of Canterbury (English, erudite theologian, Augustinian friar, martyred [drawn, hanged, quartered] under Henry VIII in 1539 [beatified 1886, canonized 1970])
St. Maximus of Alexandria (Egyptian, bishop, d. 282)
St. Nicarete of Constantinople (from Asia Minor [now called Turkey], virgin, c. 405)
Sts. Theodore and Theophanes of Kerak ["The Graptoi" (i.e., branded)] (Moabite [from part of what is now Jordan], biological brothers, monks in Jerusalem [later priest and archbishop of Nicaea], tortured and branded by iconoclasts, died [Theodore being martyred] in what is now Turkey at about ages 66 and 70 c. 841 and 845)
Bl. Walto of Wessobrünn [also known as Balto] (Bavarian, Benedictine abbot, miracle worker, died at about age 66 in 1156)

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. Additional information is sometimes available on the Internet.

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

[In Greek, the following text was branded by iconoclasts, over a two-day period, into the foreheads of the brothers "Graptoi"]:
"These men have appeared at Jerusalem as vessels full of the iniquity of superstitious error, and were driven thence for their crimes. Having fled to Constantinople, they forsook not their impiety. Wherefore they have been banished from there and thus stigmatized on their faces."

-- J. F. Gecik ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 23, 2004

Answers

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 27, 2004.