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On January 28, 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. Thomas Aquinas of Roccasecca [Tommaso d'Aquino] ["The Dumb Ox," "The Angelic Doctor"] (Italian, Dominican priest, philosopher, theologian, Doctor of the Church, died at about age 48 in 1274)

Holy Martyrs of Alexandria (Egyptian, members of flock of St. Athanasius, martyred by Arian heretics in 356)
Bl. Amadeus of Chattes [Amédée] (French, son of Bl. Amadeus of Clermont, Cistercian abbot, bishop of Lausanne, died at about age 49 in 1159 [beatified 1903])
St. Antimus of Brantôme (French, Benedictine abbot, 8th century)
Bl. Anthony Migliorati of Amandola [Antonio] (Italian, Augustinian hermit, died at about age 95 in 1450 [beatified 1759])
Bl. Bartholomew Aiutamicristo of Pisa [Bartolomeo] (Italian, Camaldolese brother, constantly prayed "Help me o Christ" [Aiuta mi Cristo], hermit, d. 1224 [beatified 1857])
St. Cannera of Inis Cathaig (Irish, hermitess, c. 530)
Bl. Charlemagne (French, first Holy Roman emperor, died at age 71 in 814)
St. Flavian of Civita Vecchia (Italian, public official, martyred c. 304)
Bl. Giles of Lorenzana [Egidio] (Italian, farmhand, Franciscan brother, hermit, died at about age 75 in 1518 [beatified 1880])
St. Glastian of Kinglassie (Scottish, bishop of Fife, d. 830)
St. James the Anchorite (Palestinian, hermit, lived in a sepulchre, 6th century)
Bl. James the Almsgiver of Citta delle Pieve [Giacomo] (Italian, priest, ran hospital, d. 1304 [beatified 1806])
Sts. Jerome Lu Ting-Mei of Mo-Kou and Laurence Wang Bing of Guiyang (Chinese, catechists, tortured and martyred [beheaded] at ages 47 and 56 in 1858 [beatified 1909, canonized 2000])
St. John of Réomé (French, hermit, abbot, died at about age 113 c. 544)
St. John the Sage of Malmesbury (English, 11th century)
St. Joseph Freinademetz of Pedraces ["Joseph of Shantung"] (Austrian, priest, missionary of the Society of the Divine Word in China, died at age 55 in 1908 [beatified 1975, canonized 2003])
St. Julian of Burgos (Spanish, bishop of Cuenca, died at about age 81 in 1208)
Bl. Julian Maunoir of Saint-Georges-de-Reitembault [Julien] ["Apostle to Brittany"] (French, Jesuit priest, home missioner, died at age 76 in 1683 [beatified 1951])
Sts. Leonidas and companions (Egyptian, martyred in 304)
Bl. Mary Mancini of Pisa [Maria] [baptized Catarina (Catherine)] (Italian, noblewoman, widowed at age 16, remarried, mother of seven [six of whom died in childhood], widowed at age 24, Dominican tertiary, prioress, died at about age 75 in 1431 [beatified 1855])
Bl. Odo of Beauvais (French, soldier, Benedictine abbot, bishop, died at about age 79 in 880)
St. Palladius of Antioch (Syrian, hermit, c. 390)
St. Paulinus of Cividale (Italian, farmer, bishop of Aquileia, theologian, died at about age 77 in 804)
St. Peter Nolasco of Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles [Pierre] (French, nobleman, co-founder of Order of Our Lady of Mercy [Mercedarians], died at age 76 in 1258 [canonized 1628])
Bl. Peter Thomas of Breil [Pierre] (French, diplomat, Carmelite priest, bishop in Italy, archbishop of Candia in Crete, Latin Patriarch [archbishop] of Constantinople, worked for Christian unity, died on Cyprus at about age 60 in 1366 [beatified 1608])
St. Richard of Vaucelles (English, Cistercian abbot in France, d. 1169)
Bl. Richard the Sacristan of Dundrennan (English, Cistercian monk, c. 1142)
Sts. Thyrsus, Leucius, and Callinicus, of Apollonia (Phrygian [from what is now part of Turkey], martyred in 251)

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), January 28, 2005

Answers

[From St. Thomas Aquinas:]

"Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace."

"Most loving Lord, grant me a steadfast heart that no unworthy desire may drag downards, an unconquered heart that no hardship may wear out, an upright heart that no worthless purpose may ensnare. Impart to me also, O God, the understanding to know you, the diligence to seek you, a way of life to please you, and a faithfulness that may embrace you, through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen."

"Hence we must say that, for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever, man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural knowledge."

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 28, 2005.