Dictionary of Saints

[eschator83]

In the midst of this morning's prayer I found myself imagining I was starting this thread, in which I hope we can discuss a variety of books about the lives of Saints and also follow and celebrate the feasts of the Saints.  I'm thinking this might help to bring some people back to reading books, even though I wonder if most folks today would look up a Saint in the web before looking in a book.
I've chosen, and recommend, John Delaney's Dictionary because I find it the most useful and generally devotional of the dozen or more books I own on lives of Saints.  The three volumes in the Library of Catholic Devotion are much more beautiful, but almost always they have only one Saint per day and are awkward to carry.  Same comment for Butler's Lives and the monthly edition, although I admit I only have books for two months, plus a book for the first quarter of the year.  I pray you will join me in comments here.

[eschator83]

Today is the feast of St Marcian aka Marian (dc 488), who fled the Visigoth occupation in Gaul and became a lay brother in the monastery at Auxerre.  His humility and remarkable rapport with both domestic and wild animals were greatly admired and led to the monastery being named for him after his death.

[CyrilSebastian]

Best Loved Saints by Reverend Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D. has information on more than fifty Saints.

[eschator83]

Today is the feast of St Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury and a Doctor of the Church, recognized as the Father of Scholarship due to his extensive writings of analysis of the truths of Faith through the aid of reason.  Born in 1033, he entered the Bec monastery in 1060, was elected prior in 1063, abbot in 1078, and Archbishop in 1093.

[eschator83]

The Lovasik sounded strangely familiar to me, so I went to LibraryThing to find out more, and surprise- I have it too.  I've looked all over the house for it (well, truth is the house isn't really big).  I know I have at least one Saint book at camp; we expect to go there this weekend and I hope to read what you are reading

[eschator83]

Today is the feast of Bishop St Theodore of Sykeon, Galatia, Asia Minor (d613).  He was a hermit as a youth, joined a monastery in Jerusalem, founded several others including Sykeon where he served as abbot until his selection as Bishop of Anastasiopolis.  He was renowned for miracles, prophesy, and healing.

[CyrilSebastian]

Best Loved Saints by Reverend Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D. has information on more than fifty Saints.

   

Some of the Saints include Saint Jerome, Saint John of God, Saint John of the Cross, and Saint Elizabeth Seton.

[eschator83]

Today is the feast of St George, one of the 14 Holy Helpers, who is believed to have been a soldier martyred in Syria in 303.  Sadly there is little tangible evidence, yet his legend has been widely celebrated throughout Christian history.

[eschator83]

I've looked all over for the Lovasik book without success.  I have a card file for books I've loaned to others, or given away, but I can't find that either.  Now that we are at camp most of the time I am struggling with multiple distractions, but I have both my Delaney and Foley Saint books here and am fairly consistent about reading a Saint's life each day.  I find myself disappointed with some of the writing, and find myself searching often for more reverent comments already written here in Saintsworks.
Today is the feast of St Antonius Pierozzi, Archbishop of Florence from 1446-1459.  His remarkable career includes service as prior, superior, and provincial at numerous Dominican locations and
 Summa theologica moralis.  Tomorrow is the feast of St Mamertius, Bishop of Vienne, Gaul 461-dc 475.  He was originator of the penitential Rogation Days preceding the Feast of the Ascension.

[eschator83]

Today is the feast of St Bruno, Bishop of Wurzburg 1033-1045.  He was an advisor to Conrad II and was believed responsible for ending the siege of Milan.  He was with the entourage of Emperor Henry III's expedition against the Hungarians, and died in 1045 when the building in which they were housed collapsed.  St Btuno pray for us.

[eschator83]

I regret my inconsistency in posting here- I would love to have a thread honoring at least one Saint everyday, and much admire the many other threads and the effort of so many people, especially Cyril.  I would be very grateful for prayer to help me overcome several difficulties, as follows.
Most of my prayer books have many dates with no listing for a Saint, but several list multiple Saints for many days.  This leads me to distraction in comparing the articles for individual Saints, which causes me to think I see contradictions, and also causes me to struggle with the question of which Saint to honor.
I think Cyril has a great idea of keeping posts generally concise and thus permitting subsequent additions, but my search efforts frequently fail to find the prior entries for a saint, and my efforts to copy/quote often don't get to the intended destination.
For several days I've been struggling to write about St Joan of Arc (feast 5/30).  Sadly Foley's book does not include her (nor any other Saint on this date).  I suspect she is one of the best known Saints despite the dreadful controversies about her life.  For me, her life teaches many important lessons:
We must do our best to understand and follow God's Will.
To have the best chance to understand His Will we must seek guidance from the most credible sources available to us: the Holy Spirit, Scripture, the Church, wise and reliable aquaintances, and our God-given reason.
Again I ask your prayer and comment.  I will try to use the Insert Quote option in the Topic Summary below.

[eschator83]

Today's feast in my Foley book is for St Charles Lwanga and 21 other Ugandan martyrs, canonized by Pope Paul VI on Oct 18, 1964.  Delaney states that about 100 Christians were martyred by King Mwanga, including 14 young court pages, a protestant minister, tthree soldiers, two judges, a young catechist, and a native chief.

[eschator83]

Today's feast is from Delaney for St Francis Caracciolo (1563-1608), who helped found and served seven years as Superior of Minor Clerks Regular. and later as prior of Santa Maria Maggiore in Naples.  He was reputed to have had gifts of ecstasies, miracles, and prophecies.

[eschator83]

St Boniface (c672-754) who was known as the Apostle of Germany, was sent by Pope Gregory II on his first mission in 719.  Despite his appointment as bishop, and a letter of safe passage from Charles Martel, Boniface and 53 companions were martyred as they prepared for the celebration of Confirmation.

[eschator83]

June 6 is the feast of St Norbert (c1080-1134), Archbishop of Magdeburg (Germany) and founder of the Order of Premonstratensians (aka Norbertines) in the Premontre region of France.  The Foley book comments the German archdiocese was difficult and dangerous but provides little detail.  Strangely, sadly, Foley adds several unnecessary distracting comments.

[eschator83]

Today's feast is of St Paul of Constantinople, elected Patriarch by Orthodox bishops in 336 but immediately challenged by a rival, Macedonius, who was elected by Arian bishops.  Paul was deposed and banished until he was accepted by Emperor Constans I in 344, but again exiled in 350 to Armenia, where he was strangled.