ENGLISH SAINTS AND MARTYRS AUGUST 1-6

August 1

St. Elined. Welsh virgin and martyr, also called Ellyw and Almedha. She is honored in Lianelly and Llanelieu.

St. Almedha, sixth century. Virgin and martyr also called Aled or Filuned. The Welsh tradition reports that Almedha was the daughter of King Brychan. Having taken a vow of virginity and dedicated to Christ, Almedha fled from her father's royal residence to escape marriage to the prince of a neighboring kingdom. She went to three Welsh villages - Llandrew, Llanfillo, and Llechfaen - but the people turned her away, despite her promise warning that dreadful thing calamities would befall anyone who denied her sanctuary. Almedha reached Brecon, where she took up residence in a small hut, but the king arrived and demanded her return. When she refused him, he beheaded her. Tradition states that a spring of water appeared on the site of her murder. The three villages that refused her were visited by disasters.

Bl. Thomas Welbourne, 1605 A.D. English martyr. Born in Hutton Bushel, Yorkshire, he worked as a schoolmaster until his arrest for preaching the Catholic faith. He was arrested and condemned with Blesseds John Fuithering and William Brown. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at York.

St. Ethelwold. Bishop of Winchester, England, called “the Father of Monks.” Born in that city, he was ordained by St. Alphege the Bald. In 943, he joined the Benedictines at Glastonbury under St. Dunstan. He became the abbot of Abingdon in 955 and bishop in 963. Ethelwold worked with Sts. Dunstan and Oswald of York in bringing about a monastic revival after the Danish invasions. He also expelled the canons of Winchester, replacing them with monks. Ethelwold founded or restored the abbeys of Ely, Chertsey, Milton Abbas, Newminster, Peterborough, and Thorney. He authored Regularis Concordia, a monastic decree based on the Benedictine Rule, and his school of illumination at Winchester was famed.

St. Peregrinus, 643 A.D. Irish or Scottish hermit. Peregrinus was originally a pilgrim who, on his way home from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the holy places, chose to become a hermit in the area around Modena, Italy. He remained there for the rest of his life.

St. Rioch, 480 A.D. Bishop Abbot of lnisboffin, Ireland. He was a nephew of St. Patrick and the brother of Sts. Mel and two others, Melchu and Muinis. They were the sons of Conis and St. Darerca. Rioch was a missionary bishop.

August 2

St. Alfreda, 795 A.D. Virgin and hermit, also known as Afreda, Alfritha, Aelfnryth, and Etheldreda. She was the daughter of King Offa of Mercia, in England, and was either betrothed to or loved by St. Ethelbert, the king of the East Angles. Ethelbert went to Offa's court to ask for Alfreda but was murdered by Offa's queen, Cynethritha. Horrified by the deed, Alfreda departed the court and retired to the marshes of Crowland. There she lived as a hermitess until her death. Her sister, Aelfreda, also lost a husband to the political intrigue of Offa and his queen.

St. Thomas of Dover, 1295 A.D. Benedictine monk and martyr. Also called Thomas Hales, he served as a Benedictine monk at St. Martin's Priory in Dover, England. In 1295, the priory was overrun by a French raiding party which was assailing Dover, and Thomas, being old and infirm, could not escape with the rest of the community. The French raiders demanded that he tell them the whereabouts of the church treasures. When he refused, they murdered him. Miracles were soon reported at his tomb, and an altar was dedicated to him in the priory church in 1500. King Richard II of England (r. 1379-1399) requested that his cause be opened in 1382.

St. Plegmund, 914 A.D. Benedictine Archbishop of Canterbury and the tutor of King Alfred the Great. Plegmund was born in Mercia, England, and was a hermit near Chester. He was appointed archbishop by Pope Stephen V at the request of Alfred, proving a capable prelate, scholar, and dedicated reformer. He went to Rome in 908 to see Pope Sergius III and later died at Canterbury.

August 3

St. Trea, 5th century. Irish hermitess. A convert to Christianity through the efforts of St. Patrick, she embraced the eremitical life and lived out her days as a recluse at Ardtree, Derry, Ireland.

Bl. Waltheof, 1160 A.D. Cistercian abbot, also known as Walthen and Waldef. The son of Simon, earl of lluntingdon, England, he was born circa 1100, and was raised at the court of the Scottish king alter his mother, Maud, wed King David I of Scotland (r. 1124-1153) following the death of her first husband. While at court, Waltheof came under the influence of St. Adred, who was master of the royal household. Drawn toward the religious life, he entered the Augustinian Canons in Yorkshire and was elected abbot of Kirkham after a vision of the Christ Child. Waltheof desired a more austere life and so joined the Cistercians at Wardon, Bedfordshire, and then became abbot of Melrose which had been rebuilt recently by his stepfather. In later years, he declined the office of archbishop of St. Andrews. He was renowned for his immense charity to the poor, personal holiness, and deep austerity.

August 4

Bl. William Horne, 1540 A.D. Carthusian lay brother and martyr. A member of the London Charterhouse of the Carthusians, he was arrested for opposing the religious policies of King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547), which included the imprisonment of Catholics and the destruction of monasteries. William was executed at Tyburn with two companions.

St. Lua, 609 A.D. Abbot and disciple of St. Comgall, sometimes listed as Lugud or Molua. He was born in Limerick, Ireland, where he aided St. Comgall and reportedly founded 120 monasteries. He was also a hermit for a few years.

August 5

St. Abel, 751 A.D. Archbishop and Benedictine abbot. Abel was probably born in Ireland, and was a noted churchman, accompanying St. Boniface on his missions to the European Continent. He was chosen as archbishop of Reims by Pope St. Zachary, a nomination ratified by the Council of Soissons in 744. However, a usurper named Milo occupied the see and would not relinquish it. Abel retired to a monastery at Lobbes, and was installed as abbot. He died there in the "odor of sanctity."

St. Gormcal, 1016 A.D. An Irish abbot of Ardoilen Abbey, in Galway, Ireland. He participated in the monastic renaissance of that era.

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