ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS AND MARTYRS MAY 9-15

Bl. Thomas Pickering
1679A.D.
Feastday May 9
Benedictine martyr. Born in Westmoreland, England, he entered the Benedictines as a lay brother at Douai, France, and there took his vows in 1660. Going home to England, he became attached to the Benedictines in the service of the Chapel Royal of Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II (r. 1660-1685). Arrested as part of the "Popish Plot," he was condemned and hanged at Tyburn.

St. Beatus
Feastday: May 9
112 A.D.
A monk and hermit, called Beatus of Lungern and earlier designated as the Apostle of Switzerland. Baptized in England by St. Barnabas and ordained by St. Peter, Beatus went to Switzerland. He lived and died on Mount Beatenburg above Lake Thun. The cave became a popular pilgrim's destination, the famed site of Beatus' fight with a dragon.

St. Sanctan
Feastday: May 9
6th century
Irish bishop. He governed two sees, at Kill-da-Les and Kill-na-Sanctan (modern Dublin). It is possible that he was British by birth.

St. Gorfor
Feastday: May 9
A saint of Wales, patron of Llanover, in Gwent, Wales.

St. William of Pontoise
Feastday: May 10
1192 A.D.
English hermit. He resided at Pontoise, in France, having gone there to take up the eremetical life. His hermitage became popular in the region. He may have been a Benedictine at St. Martin's Abbey.

St. Comgall
Feastday: May 10
b.516 A.D. d.601 A.D.
Abbot and teacher of St. Columbanus and the monks who evangelized France and central Europe. He was born about 516 in Ylster, Ireland, and studied under St. Fintan at Cluain Eidnech Monastery. After living under a harsh rule as a hermit, Comgall founded a monastery in Bangor. He was abbot for eight thousand monks. Comgall also accompanied St. Columba on a mission to Inverness, Scotland, and founded a monastery at Heth. He died at Bangor.

Bl. Damien de Veuster
Feastday: May 10
1889 A.D.
The Leper Priest, the Hero of Molokai. Born in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840, he joined the Sacred Hearts Fathers in 1860. He was bom Joseph and received the name Damien in religious life. In 1864, he was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he Was ordained. For the next nine years he worked in missions on the big island, Hawaii. In 1873, he went to the leper colony on Molokai, after volunteering for the assignment. Damien cared for lepers of all ages, but was particularly concerned about the children segregated in the colony. He announced he was a leper in 1885 and continued to build hospitals, clinics, and churches, and some six hundred coffins. He died on April 15 , on Molokai. Slandered by a Protestant minister, Mr. Hyde, Damien was defended by Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote an impassioned defense of Damien in 1905. He was declared venerable in 1977. Pope John Paul II declared him beatified on June 4, 1995.

Bl. John of Rochester
1537 A.D.
Feastday: May 11
Carthusian martyr of England who died with Blessed James Walworth. He was born in Terling, Essex, and became a monk in the London Charterhouse. John was implicated in Blessed James Walworth’s correspondence with the duke of Norfolk. He and James refused to take the Oath of Supremacy and were martyred at York and beatified in 1886.

St. Tudy
Feastday: May 11
5th century
Abbot, also called Tegwin and Tudinus. A native of Brittany, France, he became a disciple of St. Brioc and embraced the erernetical life. Eventually, he served as abbot of a community of monks near Landevennec, Brittany. Later, he journeyed to England and preached in Cornwall.

Saint Pancras (Pancratius)
Feastday: May 12
We have no reliable historical information about this martyr. Legend tells us he was born at the end of the third century and brought up by an uncle in Rome after the death of his parents. Both he and his uncle became Christians. Pancras was beheaded in 304 during Diocletian's persecution. He was only 14 years old.
Pancras is especially venerated in England because Augustine of Canterbury dedicated his first church to Pancras and his relics were presented as a gift to the king of Northumberland. A district in London is named St. Pancras after him.

St. Diomma
Feastday: May 12
5th century
Patron saint of Kildimo County, Limerick, in Ireland. He taught St. Declan of Ardmore and other Irish evangelists.

St. Dionysius
Feastday: May 12
304 A.D.
Martyr and uncle of St. Pancras. An Asiatic by birth, Dionysius brought St. Pancras to Rome, where they became Christians. Dionysius died in a Roman prison.

St. Etheihard
Feastday: May 12
Archbishop of Canterbury, England, after Pope Leo III restored the primacy of that see, also called Aethelhard. He had to go into exile until Lichfield was abolished as a metropolitan see.

Bl. Juliana of Norwich
1423 A.D.
Feastday: May 13
Benedictine English mystic, sometimes called Julian. She was a recluse of Norwich, living outside the walls of St. Julian’s Church. In 1373, she experienced sixteen revelations. Her book, Revelations of Divine Love - a work on the love of God, the Incarnation, redemption, and divine consolation - made her one of the most important writers of England. She wrote on sin, penance, and other aspects of the spiritual life, attracting people from all across Europe. She is called Blessed, although she was never formally beatified

St. Mael
Feastday: May 13
A hermit of Wales, sometimes called Mabel. He was a disciple of St. Cadfan, whom he accompanied from Brittany, France, to Wales and then to the island of Bardsey.

St. Abban
Feastday: May 13
Irish hermit whose life is largely undocumented. Born in Ireland, Abban resided in Abingdon, England before the era of St. Patrick. Abban is part of the great panorama of early Irish Christians who served as models for European monasticism and faith. He is especially revered in Abingdon, England.

St. Merewenna
970 A.D.
Feastday: May 13
Abbess of Romsey, in Hampshire, England. She is also called Merwenna and Merwinna. King Edgar the Peaceful of England restored Merewenna’s abbey.

St. Carthach the Younger
Feastday: May 14
637 A.D.
Irish hermit and bishop, also called Carthage, Cuda, or Mochuda. Originally a swineherd, Carthach was ordained and then became a hermit about 590 in Kiltulagh and then in Bangor, under St. Comgall. Carthach traveled to Offaly, where he founded a monastery, ruling more than eight hundred monks. He wrote a rule for the monastery in metrical verse, a document that is extant. He is believed to have served as the bishop of Fircall until he and his monks were expelled by some local lord. Carthach founded another monastery at Lismore on the banks of the Blackwater, and lived in a nearby cave. He died on May 14.

St. Engelmund
Feastday: May 14
739 A.D.
Benedictine abbot, companion of St. Willibrord. He was born in England where he ruled an abbey. Then he went to Friesland.

St. Britwin
Feastday: May 15
733 A.D.
Benedictine abbot of Beverley, England, and friend of St. John of Beverley, who became the bishop of York. Britwin did much to foster monasticism and culture in England.

St. Gerebrand
Feastday: May 15
7th century
Martyred Irish priest, companion of St. Dymphna. He was quite elderly when he went with St. Dymphna to Belgium, where they were slain by pagans. Gerebrand, sometimes called Gerebern, is patron of a Rhineland area.