THE SAINTS THIS WEEK
10th May
St Comgall, abbot
After being trained by St Fintan, this Irish Saint became founder and first Abbot of the famous monastery of Benchor, at the end of the sixth century. He wrote a celebrated but very severe Rule for Monks. He is said to have lived some time in Wales or Cornwall. He died AD 601. Saints Columbanus and Gallus were among his disciples.
Readings
Psalm 10(11):4-5, 7
John 21:20-25
11th May
Pentecost
The "Birthday of the Church" when we the arrival of the promised Holy Spirit, and the start of the preaching by the Apostles.
Readings
Psalm 103(104):1, 24, 29-34
1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
John 20:19-23
12th May
Saints Nereus and Achilleus, martyrs
Two Roman soldiers at the time of Diocletian, who were put to death probably in 304, for refusing to serve in the army after their conversion to Christianity.
also 12th May
St Pancras, martyr
A Roman martyr from the time of the Diocletian persecution.
Readings
Psalm 118(119):67-76
Mark 8:11-13
13th May
S FELIX OF DUNWICH
Secondary Diocesan Patron
St Felix, a native of Burgundy, when he was consecrated Bishop, was destined to the work of the Evangelisation of the Anglo-Saxons. St Honorious of Canterbury, on the arrival of St Felix in England, advised him to betake himself to East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk), where the pious King Sigebert was seeking conversion of his still heathen subjects. There he laboured with such success that at his death (AD 646) practically the whole country had become Christian. He was buried at Dunwich in Suffolk, which town, now swallowed up by the sea, he had chosen for his See. Several centuries later his relics were translated to Ramsey Abbey.
also 13th May
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament
We celebrate our heavenly Mother under the title of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, because she is the Mother of the Saviour who lives in the Eucharist, and because it was from her that He took the Flesh and the Blood with which He feeds us in that most precious sacrament. This is also the anniversary of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima.
Readings
Psalm 93(94):12-19
Mark 8:14-21
14th May
St Matthias, apostle
The story of how Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas is told in the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 1 Verses 15 to 26.
Readings
Psalm 112(113):1-8
John 15:9-17
15th May
St Carthage, bishop
This Saint was born in Kerry in the first half of the sixth century, and attached himself to St Carthage of Ossory. After this teacher, he had as his Abbot St Comgall of Benchor, and was soon himself placed at the head of a monastery in which he ruled over a thousand monks. His Abbey developed into the famous bishopric and school of Lismore. He passed away at the age of 90, about AD 638.
Readings
Psalm 33(34):2-7
Mark 8:27-33
16th May
St Simon Stock, religious [Carmelite]
Born at Aylesford in Kent. After dwelling as a hermit in the hollow trunk of a tree (stock), he joined the Carmelite Order, of which he became General, organising its constitutions and illustrating it by his piety and learning. It was to him that Our Blessed Lady presented the brown scapular and gave the promise of Her special protection to all who would wear it. St Simon died at Bordeaux in France, AD 1265.
also 16th May
St Brendan, abbot
A celebrated Irish monk, a disciple of St Finnian at Clonard, and of St Gildas of Llancarvan Abbey in Wales. Then Saint Brendan had Saint Malo among his own disciples. He died at the age of 94 in AD 578 at Enachduin in Connaught. He founded several schools and monasteries, among them the famous Abbeys of Ardfert and Clonfert, and wrote a monastic Rule remarkable for its austerity. Saint Brendan's celebrated voyage to the West, resulting in his discovery of America, the "Land of Promise," is, by many, not without some evidence, upheld as an historical fact. It certainly cannot lightly be rejected as a mere myth, though it had no immediate results.
Readings
Psalm 111(112):1-6
Mark 8:34-9:1
17th May
St Maden
A Breton saint of Cornish descent to whom many churches are dedicated. At St Maden's Well in Cornwall, the reputed site of his hermitage, many miracles have been wrought even in comparatively recent times.
Readings
Psalm 11(12):2-8
Mark 9:2-13
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10th May 2008
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