Old Stuff

The Twenty-ninth Day of July

At Tarascon, in the province of Narbonne in Gaul, St. Martha, virgin, the hostess of our Saviour, and the sister of SS. Mary Magdalene and Lazarus. A simple feast.

At Rome, on the Via Aurelia, St. Felix II, pope and martyr. He was removed from his see by the Arian Emperor Constantius for his defense of the Catholic faith, and secretly put to the sword at Cera in Tuscany, meeting with a glorious death. His body was taken thence by the clergy, and buried on the Via Aurelia. Afterward it was removed to the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian. There it was found under the altar by the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory XIII, together with the relics of the holy martyrs, Mark, Marcellian, and Tranquillinus. It was again buried in the same place, together with the other relics, on July 31. In that altar were found also the bodies of SS. Abundius, priest, and Abundantius, deacon, both martyrs. Not long after, these were removed to the Church of the Jesuits on the day before their birthday.

Likewise at Rome, on the Via Portuensis, the holy martyrs Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrice, in the time of the Emperor Diocletian. The two former, after many and varied tortures, were ordered to undergo capital punishment; Beatrice, their sister, was strangled in prison for confessing Christ. A memory.

At Rome likewise, the holy martyrs Lucilla and Flora, virgins, Eugene, Antoninus, Theodore, and eighteen of their companions, who suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Gallienus.

Also at Rome, St. Serapia, virgin. In the reign of Emperor Hadrian, she was handed over to two evil young men. She could not be corrupted by them, nor could she afterward be injured by flaming torches. By command of the judge Derillus she was scourged and then beheaded with the sword. Her body was buried by St. Sabina in her own tomb near the Vindician field, but the memory of her martyrdom is kept more especially on September 3, on which day their common tomb was finished, adorned, and consecrated as a fitting place of prayer.

At Gangra in Paphlagonia, St. Callinicus, martyr. He was scourged with iron rods and subjected to other tortures. Last of all, when cast into a furnace, he rendered up his spirit to God.

In Norway, St. Olaf, king and martyr.

At Troyes in Gaul, St. Lupus, bishop and confessor, who went forth with St. Germanus to combat the Pelagian heresy in Britain. By his fervent prayer he defended the town of Troyes from the fury of Attila, when he was laying waste to all Gaul. At last, after fulfilling worthily the office of the priesthood for fifty-two years, he died in peace.

In the city of St. Brieuc in Gaul, St. William, bishop and confessor.

Likewise, the death of Blessed Prosper, Bishop of Orleans.

At Todi in Umbria, St. Faustinus, confessor.

In the city of Mamia, St. Seraphina.

At Rome, Blessed Urban II, pope, who followed the policy of St. Gregory VII. He was resplendent for his zeal for learning and religion. He aroused the faithful to be crusaders and recover the holy places of Palestine from the power of the infidels. The Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII, ratified and confirmed the cult given him from time immemorial.

The death of the venerable brother Barnabas Sassone of Naples, 34th master general of the Order.

V. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.

R. Thanks be to God.

Posted by billw at July 29, 2003 06:59 PM