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On August 11, 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. Clare Offreducia of Assisi [Chiara] (Italian, noblewoman, first female disciple of St. Francis, co-founder of Order of Poor Ladies [Poor Clares], abbess for 40 years, died at age 59 in 1253 [canonized 1255])

St. Alexander of Comana (Greek, maker of charcoal, bishop, martyred by burning c. 275)
St. Araght of Sligo (Irish, noblewoman, disciple of St. Patrick, hermitess, healer, 6th century)
Sts. Chromatius and Tiburtius of Rome (Italian, father and son, prefect and subdeacon, martyred in 3rd century)
St. Digna (Italian, hermitess, 4th century)
Bl. Francis of St. Mary [Francisco de Santa Marķa] (Spanish, Franciscan missionary in Japan, martyred by burning in Nagasaki in 1627 [beatified 1867])
St. Gaugericus of Trier (French, bishop of Cambrai-Arras, c. 625)
Bl. John and Bl. Peter Becchetti of Oxford (English, brothers, relatives of St. Thomas a Becket [d. 1170], Augustinian friars, professors, c. 1420 [beatified 1835])
Bl. John Sandys of Cheshire (English, priest, martyred [drawn, hanged, and quartered] under Elizabeth I in 1586 [beatified 1987])
Bl. Lawrence Nerucci [Lorenzo], Bl. Augustine Cennini [Agostino], Bl. Bartholomew Donati [Bartolomeo], Bl. John Baptist Petrucci [Giovanni Battista], and sixty companions (Italian, Servite missionaries in Bohemia [now part of the Czech Republic], martyred [burned] by Hussite heretics in 1420 [beatified 1918])
St. Lelia of Munster (Irish, abbess)
Bl. Maurice Tornay of La Rosičre (Swiss, priest, religious of the Canonical Order of the Regulars of St. Augustine, martyred in Tibet at age 39 in 1949 [beatified 1993])
Bl. Peter Faber of Villaret [also called Favre and le Fevre] [Pierre] (French, shepherd boy, priest, one of the original Jesuits, preached throughout Europe, died in Italy in 1546 [beatified 1872])
St. Rufinus of Marsi (Italian, bishop, early martyr)
St. Susanna of Rome (Italian, noblewoman, niece of a pope, virgin, martyred by beheading in 295)
St. Taurinus of Evreux (French, bishop, d. 412)

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), August 11, 2004

Answers

A group of great contemplative nuns -- Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (in Washington, D.C.) -- sent me the following short litany in honor of their "mother," St. Clare:

St. Clare, chaste spouse of Christ, pray for us.
St. Clare, strong in faith, pray for us.
St. Clare, unwavering in hope, pray for us.
St. Clare, resplendent in charity, pray for us.
St. Clare, ardent lover of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament, pray for us.
St. Clare, fearless in difficulties, pray for us.
St. Clare, patient and persevering in trials, pray for us.
St. Clare, peaceful, kind, gentle, and strong, pray for us.
St. Clare, worker of miracles, pray for us.
St. Clare, universal patroness of television, pray for us.
Let us pray:
St. Clare, obtain for us strong and courageous hearts to do God's will always and everywhere. Amen.

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 11, 2004.