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On February 4, 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. Aldate of Gloucester (British, 5th centuy)
St. Andrew Corsini of Florence [Andrea] (Italian, Carmelite prior and provincial, bishop of Fiesole, died at about age 71 in 1373 [beatified 1374, canonized 1629])
Sts. Aquilinus, Geminus, Gelasius, Magnus, and Donatus, of Fossombrone (Italian, martyred in 3rd century)
St. Aventinus of Troyes (French, hermit, d. 538)
St. Aventinus of Chartres (French, bishop, c. 520)
St. Eutychius of Rome (Italian, tortured and martyred [thrown into well] in 4th century)
St. Gillebert of Limerick (Irish, bishop, d. 1140)
St. Isidore of Pelusium (Egyptian, hermit, abbot, theologian, author of over 2,000 extant letters, died at about age 74 c. 450)
St. Joan of Valois [Jeanne] (French, princess, co-foundress of the contemplative Order of the Annonciades, died at about age 40 in 1505 [beatified 1742, canonized 1950])
Bl. John Speed of Durham [alias Spence] (English, layman who helped "illegal" priests, martyred under Elizabeth I in 1594 [beatified 1929])
St. John de Britto of Lisbon [João] (Portuguese, nobleman, Jesuit priest, missionary to central Asia, may have converted 10,000 Hindus, martyred [dismembered and beheaded] in India at age 45 in 1693 [beatified 1853, canonized 1947])
St. Joseph Desideri of Leonissa [Giuseppe] [baptized Eufranio] (Italian, Capuchin Franciscan priest, converted highway bandits, missionary to Moslems, chaplain to galley slaves, died at age 56 in 1612 [beatified 1737, canonized 1746])
St. Liephard (British, martyred in 649)
St. Modan of Dryburgh (Irish, abbot in Scotland, hermit, 6th century?)
Bl. Nicholas Hermansson of Skänninge [Nils] (Swedish, poet, bishop of Linköping, died at about age 60 in 1391) [commemorated by some on July 24]
St. Nicholas Studites of Canea (Cretan, abbot, died what is now Turkey at about age 70 in 863)
St. Nithard of Corbie (German, Benedictine monk, missionary, martyred by Swedish pagans in 845)
Bl. Obitius of Brescia [Obizio] (Italian, knight, Benedictine monk, c. 1204 [beatified 1900])
St. Phileas of Thmuis, Philoromus of Alexandria, and companions (Egyptian ... bishop, official, and others ... tortured and marytred by beheading c. 305)
Bl. Rabanus Maurus of Mainz (German, headmaster of school, Benedictine abbot, archbishop, fed hundreds of poor daily, religious writer and poet [composed "Veni, Creator Spiritus"], died at about age 79 in 856)
St. Rembert of Bruges (Belgian, monk, missionary to Scandinavia, bishop of Hamburg-Bremen in Germany, d. 888)
Bl. Simon of Saint-Bertin (French, Benedictine abbot, d. 1148)
St. Theophilus the Penitent of Adana (Cilician [Turkish], archdeacon, c. 538)
St. Vincent of Troyes (French, bishop, c. 546)
St. Vulgis of Lobbes (French, Benedictine abbot, bishop, c. 760)

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

-- J. F. Gecik ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 04, 2005

Answers

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 04, 2005.