St Laurence, Deacon and Martyr

Saint Laurence was one of the seven deacons martyred during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian in 258. 10 August is his feast day. The breviary entry about him says:

Laurence was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome and was executed on 10th August 258, four days after Sixtus II and his companions. By now, few of the facts of his life are known for certain: he was probably a Spaniard from Toledo.

A basilica was built over Laurence’s tomb fifty years after his death, by the Emperor Constantine, and the anniversary of his martyrdom was kept as a solemn feast – with considerably more solemnity than that of Pope Sixtus II (we do not know why). By the sixth century, it was one of the most important feasts throughout much of western Christendom. His name occurs (with Sixtus’s) in the Roman Canon of the Mass.

The First Martyrs of the See of Rome

30 June is the memorial of The First Martyrs of the See of Rome. We do not know the names of those martyrs, nor do we know their number. The breviary entry for today says about them:

In the first persecution against the Church, that of the Emperor Nero, after the City of Rome had been burnt in the year 64, many of the faithful suffered death after terrible tortures. Testimony to their deaths is found in the writings of the pagan Tacitus (Annales, 15, 44) as well as in the letter to the Corinthians of Pope Saint Clement (cap. 5-6)

Ss John Fisher and Thomas More

Today is the feast day of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, martyred in the fallout over Henry VIII's desirre for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

St John Fisher was Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge University. He was created a cardinal while awaiting execution and remains the only member of the College of Cardinals to suffer martyrdom.

St Thomas More was a lawyer and Lord Chancellor of England.

Ultimately, both men were executed as a result of their obedience to the Pope, and their refusal to acknowledge Henry as head of the Church in England.

On a note of enormous irony both men are recognised as saints by the Anglican Church.

Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko

Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, Polish priest and martyr was beatified today in Warsaw in the presence of 120 bishops and over 1600 priests! His 90 year old mother was there to take part in the celebration.

Blessed Fr Jerzy, pray for us.

This video is in Polish but you'll get the idea.

Saints Marcellinus and Peter

Saints Marcellinus and Peter the Exorcist were martyred in 304. Today is their memorial and we read in the breviary:

The account of the death of these two martyrs, who died in the persecution of Diocletian, comes from Pope Damasus who in turn obtained it from the executioner. The were beheaded in a wood and then buried in the cemetery called The Two Laurels on the Via Labicana. When peace came to the Church a basilica was erected over their tomb.

More info here (Wiki entry) and here (Catholic Encyclopedia).

St Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr

 

23 February is the memorial of St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Martyr.

The Breviary says about him: Polycarp was a disciple of the apostles and bishop of Smyrna, as well as a friend of St Ignatius of Antioch. He went to Rome to confer with Pope Anicetus about the celebration of Easter. He suffered martyrdom about the year 155 by being burnt to death in the city stadium.

Patronal feast day

Today is one of the two patronal feast days of our parish church, Our Lady of the Annunciation and the Martyrs of Japan.

St Paul Miki and his 25 companions were martyred, by crucifixion, in Nagasaki on 5 February 1597.  Of the 26, six were European Franciscan missionaries, three (including St Paul Miki) were Japanese Jesuits and the remaining 17 were Japanese laymen. Three were children, or at least young boys.

The Japanese Martyrs were added to the General Calendar in 1969.