On 10th March 2010 we remember...

St Anastasia Patricia.
Died 6th C. ~ Untrustworthy information tells of Anastasia being the beautiful daughter of an Egyptian nobleman. She was born in the emperor’s court and had to enter a convent in Alexandria as to avoid the emperor’s attentions. When the emperor’s wife died, Anastasia fled into the desert so the emperor could not find her. She met an abbot, named Daniel who allowed her to dress as a monk and she lived as a hermit in complete isolation for the next twenty-eight years until her death.

St Attalas.
Died 627. ~ Attalas was born in Burgundy and joined the monks at Lerins monastery, but moved to Luxeuil in search of an order with stricter rules. He entered a monastery under the rule of St Columban and together they moved to Bobbio near Milan. Columban died a year later and Attalas became the abbot of Bobbio. He introduced very strict rules in his monastery, but this was met with some opposition by the monks. Gradually his rules were accepted and Bobbio grew into one of the great monasteries in Italy. Attalas had a constant fight against the heresy, Arianism. He died at Bobbio and is buried with St Columban.

St Codratus.
Died 258. ~ Codratus’ parents were Greek Christians, but they both died and he was left an orphan when still only a child. It is not clear who brought him up, but when old enough, he studied medicine. During this time, he lived a disciplined life, doing penances and praying. His holiness became known and he was arrested with four of his friends and all were tortured to make them give up their religion. They all refused to comply and were sentenced to death by wild animals in the arena. The animals did not harm them, so they were beheaded.

St Droctovens.
Died 580. ~ Born in Auxerre, France Droctovens was educated by St Germanus at Autun. He later became abbot of a monastery in Paris next to St Germanus’ church.

St Himelin.
Died 750. ~ It is believed that Himelin was a priest born in Ireland who travelled to Rome on a pilgrimage. He was taken ill on the return journey and rested at Brabant in France. A young woman, passing by gave him a drink of water even though it was forbidden, as the plague was widespread in that area. When the local parish priest was told, he discovered it was wine in the cup and he was so amazed that he took Himelin into his house and cared for him until he died.

St John Ogilvie.
1579-1615. ~ John was born in Scotland, son of the baron of Drum-na-Keith. He was brought up a Calvinist (doctrine of John Calvin) and when thirteen, he went to study in Louvain. At nineteen, he became a Catholic and continued his studies, becoming a Jesuit in Paris. He was asked to go to Scotland to help the Catholics there. As not to rouse suspicion, he called himself John Watson and pretended he was a soldier. He was successful in both Glasgow and Edinburgh, winning back the numerous people to the faith. A man named Adam Boyd betrayed him by pretending he was interested in becoming a Catholic. John was arrested and put in prison for several months and was tortured, but he refused to give up his faith. He also refused to accept the king’s spiritual supremacy. John was hanged in Glasgow and he was canonised in 1976 by Pope Paul VI.

St Kessog.
Died 560. ~ Born in Ireland in the town of Cashel, Kessog was the son of the local king. He travelled to Scotland on missionary work and while there, he was consecrated a bishop. He then set up residence on an island in Loch Lomond called Monk’s Island and began converting the locals with great success, but he was captured and martyred for his actions.

St Macarius.
Died 335. ~ Known to have been the bishop of Jerusalem in 314, he is said to have accompanied St Helena when she found the true cross of Christ. Helena’s son, the Emperor Constantine asked Macarius to build a church on the site of Jesus’ tomb and take charge of the building of a basilica.

St Simplicius.
Died 483. ~ Simplicius was born in Tivloi in Italy. He succeeded as pope on the death of Pope Hilarus and worked extremely hard to eradicate heresies, which were rife at that time and also protected his people against the invading barbarians. During his lifetime, he saw the end of the Roman Empire in 476.

Please join with us in our prayer for today...