Saints’ of the Week

S. John Bosco – 31st January

Giovanni Bosco was born in 1815, in Cascina Biglione, a frazione of Castelnuovo d’Asti, in Piedmont (then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia), to Francesco Bosco and his second wife Margherita Occhiena of Capriglio. He was brought up in poverty and devoted his life to the education of working youth. He founded religious congregations – the Salesian Order, and the Helpers of Mary – to carry out his ideals. Don Bosco died on January 31, 1888. His funeral was attended by thousands, and very soon after there were popular demands to have him canonized. Pope Pius XI had known Don Bosco, and pushed the cause forward. Bosco was declared Blessed in 1929, and a Saint on Easter Sunday of 1934 and was given the title of “Father and Teacher of Youth.”

S. Blaise – 3rd February

S. Blaise was a physician and Bishop of Sivas in Armenia. Blaise is traditionally believed to intercede in cases of throat illnesses, especially for fish-bones stuck in the throat. He was tortured for his beliefs but did not give up faith and died in the year 316.

S. Ansgar – 3rd February

Ansgar was born in France in 801 at Amiens. After his mother’s early death he was brought up in nearby Corbie Abbey, and made rapid progress in the learning of the time. In 826 he set out to preach the Gospel in Denmark and then in Sweden. In 831 he was appointed Bishop of Hamburg and papal legate to Denmark and Sweden by Gregory IV. Although he met with many difficulties in his work he never lost heart. He died in 865 at Bremen.

S. Gilbert of Sempringham – 4th February

Gilbert was born c. 1083 at Sempringham, Lincolnshire, the son of Jocelin, an Anglo-Norman Lord of the Manor. He studied theology at the University in Paris and on his return to England in 1120 became clerk in the household of Bishop Robert Bloet of Lincoln. He was finally ordained by Robert’s successor, Alexander. On the death of his father in 1130, he became Lord of the Manor of Sempringham and immediately began using his inherited wealth to fund expansion of the Gilbertines – his new order – eventually having a chain of twenty-six convents, monasteries and missions. He was the first Englishman to found a convent. He resigned his office late in life because of blindness, and died at Sempringham in about 1190 at the age of 106. He was canonised in 1202.

S. Agatha – 5th February

Agatha was born at Catania and she was martyred in approximately AD 250, probably during the persecution of Decius. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. She is considered as patron saint of Malta since her intercession is reported to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551.

S. Paul Miki and his Companions – 6th February

Paul Miki was born in Japan about 1565 and entered the Society of Jesus, becoming a successful preacher of the Gospel. He, along with twenty-five companions, was tortured and crucified at Nagasaki on 5th February 1597. The Martyrs of Japan were canonized by the Catholic Church in 1862