Saints’ of the Week

S.Benedict – 11th July

Saint Benedict was born at Norcia in Umbria in 480. He was an Italian Saint and the founder of the Bendictine Order. He was the son of an Roman Noble and, having studied in Rome, turned his back on the world and lived in solitude in Subiaco. He founded twelve monasteries, the most famous of which is that at Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy. He wrote his Rule which established the spirituality and way of life of monastic communities ever since. He died in 547 and was canonised in 1220.

S. John Jones – 12th July

John Jones is one of the Forty Matryrs of England and Wales. He came from a good Welsh family and entered the Franciscan convent at Greenwich and, after its dissolution in 1559, went to the continent to profess his vows. He became imbued with the ideas of the ‘Stricter Observance’ and, after pleading with his superiors, was allowed to go on the English mission. He reached London in 1592 and then laboured in different parts of the country. However, the notorious ‘priest catcher’ Topcliffe had him arrested, tortured and then imprisoned for two years. In 1598 he was tried and convicted of High Treason and then hung, drawn and
quartered.

S. Henry – 13th July

He was born in 973 and became Duke of Bavaria when his father died in 995. In 1014 he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor (the last of the Saxon Dynasty) and worked hard for the reform of the Church, taking part in synods, founding monasteries and appointing bishops of integrity. Henry and his wife, Cunigunde of Luxemburg, had no children, reportedly because they had taken a mutual vow of chastity. The Church canonised Henry (1146) and Cunigunde (1200) after their deaths.

S. Camillus de Lellis – 14th July

He was born in 1550 in the Kingdom of Naples and, as a soldier, led a dissolute life for some years. After his regiment was disbanded he worked in a hospital for incurables and established the Order of Clerks Regular Ministers to the Sick, better known as Camillians. It is said that he possessed the gifts of healing and prophecy and, in later life, still crawled to visit the sick when unable to stand and walk. He died in 1614 and was canonised in 1746.

S. Bonaventure – 15th July

He was born in 1218 and spent his early years studying in Paris where he became a professor. He joined the Franciscan Order in 1243 and became its Minister General in 1257. He strove to reconcile the Franciscan spirit with the administrative demands of a world-wide order and his writings reveal a profound spirituality. He became Bishop of Albano and attended the Council of Lyons which attempted to reconcile the Churches of the East and West. He died in 1274.