Saints’ of the Week

S. Peter Damian – 21st February

Peter Damian was born at Ravenna in 1007 and was one of the most celebrated, universally loved and zealous reforming monks in the circle of Hildebrand of the 11th century. He became a hermit at Fonte Avellana and strove to remove the abuses which had overcome the church in feudal times by his writings and his personal example of austere living. In 1057 he was made Cardinal and Bishop of Ostia and went as Papal Legate to France and Germany as well as Italy on the work of reform. He died in 1072.

The Chair of S. Peter – 22nd February

This feast has been kept in Rome since the 4th Century and is a symbol of the unity of the church.

S. Polycarp – 23rd February.

S. Polycarp of Smyrna was a Christian bishop of Smyrna (now İzmir in Turkey) in the second century. He died a martyr when he was stabbed after an attempt to burn him at the stake failed. His sole surviving work is his Letter to the Philippians, a mosaic of references to the Greek Scriptures. It, and an account of The Martyrdom of Polycarp that takes the form of a circular letter from the church of Smyrna to the churches of Pontus, form part of the collection of writings termed “The Apostolic Fathers” to emphasize their particular closeness to the apostles in Church traditions. The Martyrdom is considered one of the earliest genuine accounts of a Christian martyrdom, and one of the very few genuine accounts from the actual age of the persecutions.

S. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows – 27th February

Born Francesco Possenti at Assisi, Italy on March 1, 1838, Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was a Passionist clerical student known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary. As a child and young man Possenti was well liked by his peers and had a reputation for great charity and piety. At his canonization Pope Benedict XV declared him a patron of Catholic youth of students and of those studying for the priesthood. In 1959, Pope John XXIII named him the patron of the Abruzzi region, where he spent the last two years of his life. Millions of pilgrims visit St. Gabriel’s shrine in Teramo, Abruzzi each year to see the burial place of the Saint and the monastic house in which he lived out his final years.

S. Oswald of Worcester – 28th February

Of Danish parentage, Oswald was brought up by his uncle Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury. For some time he was dean of the house of the secular canons at Winchester, but led by the desire of a stricter life he was sent by his uncle to France and entered the Monastery of Fleury about 950. Oswald returned to England in 958 and was consecrated as Bishop of Worcester in 961. Oswald was an ardent supporter of Dunstan and Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in their efforts to purify the Church from secularism. Aided by King Edgar, he took a prominent part in the revival of monastic discipline along the precepts of Benedictine Rule. In 972 he was made Archbishop of York, and journeyed to Rome to receive the pallium from Pope John XIII. Oswald died on February 29, 992 in the act of washing the feet of the poor at Worcester, as was his daily custom during Lent, and was buried in the Church of Saint Mary at Worcester.