Today, 13 November, is the feast of ...
* Brice, bishop of
Tours (444)
- although brought up by St Martin of Tours, he was a very troublesome young man, claiming
his master was insane; eventually he begged Martin's forgiveness, which was granted with
the words, 'If Christ could tolerate Judas, surely I can put up with Brice'
* Maxellendis, virgin
and martyr (c. 670)
- she so resisted getting married that her intended, in his anger, killed her; he went
blind immediately, and was cured only during the translation of his victim's remains about
three years later
* Homobonus (1197)
- son of a merchant in Cremona, he himself became a
merchant, making his holiness all the more remarkable; he was canonized two years after
his death (one of the fastest such events ever); patron of tailors and clothworkers in
Italy, France and Germany
St. Homobonus
Today, 14 November, is the
feast of ...
* Laurence O'Toole or
Lorcan Ua Tuathail, archbishop (1180)
- son of chieftan of the Murrays; lived as a monk even after election as
archbishop of Dublin; almost murdered by a madman at Canterbury cathedral, just a few
year's after martyrdom of Thomas Becket; died at abbey of St Victor at Eu (diocese of
Rouen); canonized in 1225
St. Lawrence O'Toole
* Serapion, martyr
(1240)
- as a Mercedarian devoted to the redemption of captives, he himself was
imprisoned in Algiers, where he was nailed to a cross and cut to
pieces
St.
Serapion the Scholastic
Today, 15 November, is the
feast of ...
* Malo, bishop
(seventh century)
- born in south Wales, he was ordained then moved to Brittany; among many
marvels, he once celebrated Easter on the back of a whale
* Fintan of Rheinau
(879)
- native of Leinster, enslaved by Vikings and taken to the Orkney
islands; escaped and made pilgrimage to Rome; on his return he stayed with some hermits in
the Black Forest, where he spent the rest of his life
* Leopold of Austria
(1136)
- at the request of his son, Otto of Freising, he founded the abbey of Heiligenkreuz in
the Wienerwald; also founded Klosterneuburg, near Vienna; refused to be nominated as
Emperor
* Albert the Great,
bishop and doctor (1280)
- taught Thomas Aquinas at Dominican studium of Cologne; helped the Franciscan Berthold of
Ratisbon to preach the crusade in Germany; in 1278, during a lecture, his memory suddenly
failed; he died two years later, sitting in his chair among his Dominican brothers in
Cologne; patron of students of natural sciences
Saint Albert the Great
Today, 16 November, is the
feast of ...
* Dionysius, bishop of
Alexandria (265)
- in opposition to the schism of Novatian, he ordered
that no one should be refused communion as long as it was requested in the right
disposition; late in his life, it was so dangerous in his see that he had to write letters
to his flock, since he said it was easier to go from East to West than from Alexandria to
Alexandria
* Gregory, bishop of
Tours (594)
- he attributed all miracles associated with himself to Martin of Tours
and other saints, whose relics he always carried
* Hilda, virgin (680)
- she was head of double monastery of monks and nuns at Streaneshalch,
also known as Whitby: there, the great synod of 664 was held; her name appears in the
calendar of St Willibrord, written at the beginning of the eighth century
* Hugh, bishop of
Lincoln (1200)
- Carthusian bishop, but not the only one; in pictures, he is portrayed
with a swan, recalling his pet wild swan which guarded him so zealously that no one could
'approach the bishop without being attacked by it' (*Magna Vita*, by Adam of Eynsham,
Hugh's chaplain)
* Salome, widow (1268)
- a member of Polish royalty, she lived as a Franciscan tertiary before
retiring to a Franciscan convent, where she eventually was elected abbess
* Gertrude the Great,
virgin (1302)
- noted mystic, she had visions such as one in which Christ told her: 'You
have licked the dust with my enemies and sucked honey from thorns; now come back to me,
and my divine delights shall be as wine to you'; took communion frequently, and had
devotions to St Joseph and the Sacred Heart
St. Gertrude
the Great
Today, 17 November, is the
feast of ...
* Eucherius, bishop of
Lyon (449)
- he had two sons, Salonius and Veranus, who both became bishops and were
venerated as saints; he left his family and retired to Lerins before living as a hermit on
the island of Sainte-Marguerite, where he wrote a book on the solitary life; served as
bishop for last fifteen years of his life
* Edmund of Abingdon,
archbishop of Canterbury (1240)
- as a schoolboy in Oxford, he had a vision of the boy Jesus, who told him
that whoever should before sleeping trace the words 'Jesus of Nazareth' on his or her
forehead should be preserved that night from sudden and unprepared death: this was
supposedly the origin of a custom of tracing the initials 'INRI' on the forehead while
praying; in the late 1220s, he was commissioned by pope Gregory IX to preach the crusade
against the Saracens; later, as archbishop, he had many troubles with monks of his diocese
as well as with king Henry III, going into exile in France, where he stayed with
Cistercian monks of Pontigny; canonized in 1246
* Agnes of Assisi,
virgin (1253)
- sister of St Claire of Assisi; abbess of convent of Monticelli in
Florence, she supervised many foundations
Agnes of Assisi
Today, 18 November, is the
feast of ...
* Dedication of the
Basilicas of St Peter and of St Paul
- St Peter's basilica, as we see it today, was consecrated by Urban VIII on 18 November
1626; the new basilica of St Paul-outside-the-walls, built after the primitive one was
destroyed by fire, was consecrated by Pius IX on 10 December 1854, but the annual
commemoration was appointed for 18 November
* Odo of Cluny, abbot
(942)
- when the abbey of Cluny was founded, its first abbot (St Berno) appointed Odo to run the
monastery school; Odo succeeded Berno as abbot, and was noted for his stern rule and
discipline (at least once, monks threatened to kill him); wrote a life of Gerald of
Aurillac, moral essays, poems and works on music
Today, 19 November, is the
feast of ...
* Pontian, pope and
martyr (c. 236)
- exiled to Sardegna by emperor Maximinus, he resigned his office; some
sources state he was beaten to death with sticks
* Elizabeth of
Hungary, widow (1231)
- promised in marriage at age of four to Louis, son of the landgrave of
Thuringia; eventually did marry him, and with his help she worked with the poor; after his
death, she joined the Franciscan Third Order (of which she is now patron); canonized four
years after her death
* Mechtildis, virgin
(1298)
- German mystic, known for her singing as a 'nightingale of Christ', she
wrote *Book of Special Grace* (also known as *Revelations*); some have identified her with
the Donna Matelda in Dante, *Purgatorio* 27-28
Today, 20 November, is the
feast of ...
* Edmund, martyr (870)
- at age 14, elected king by nobles and clergy of Norfolk; a talented leader and
pious man, he memorized the Psalter as a way of emulating king David; part of his
martyrdom involved being shot with arrows by Danes until he looked 'like a hedgehog whose
skin is closely set with quills, or a thistle covered with thorns'; buried in Bury St
Edmund's
* Bernward or Berward,
bishop of Hildesheim (1022)
- guardian of the young emperor Otto III; the Hildesheim Gospels are
supposedly written and illuminated by the saint's own hand; was also a fine metal-worker
* Felix of Valois
(1212)
- co-founder of the Trinitarian Order, with his disciple St John of Matha,
dedicated to redeeming captives
Today, 21
November, is the feast of ...
* Presentation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
- associated with story, told in several apocryphal gospels, that she was
brought to the Temple of Jerusalem at age of three; probable origin of the feast in the
East is linked with dedication of new St Mary's church in Jerusalem in 543; earliest
observance in the West was in eleventh-century England, but only in 1585 did this feast
become part of the Western calendar
* Gelasius I, pope
(496)
- insisted on communion in both kinds due to Manicheans' regard of wine as
unlawful, and their abstinence from the eucharistic cup; referred to bishop of
Constantinople as 'an unimportant suffragan of Heraclea'
* Albert of Louvain,
bishop of Liege, martyr (1192)
- when his election as bishop was contested, he travelled in disguise to
Rome, where the pope confirmed the election; while in exile in Rheims, he was murdered by
agents of emperor Henry VI
Meri
Heinonen
TY
