ENGLISH SAINTS AND MARTYRS AUGUST 29-SEPI. 4
August 29
St. Velleicus, 8th century. Anglo-Saxon abbot also listed as Willeic. He journeyed to Germany to assist in the evangelization of the region as a disciple of St. Swithbert and served as abbot of Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine.
St. Sebbi, 694 A.D. Also listed as Sebbe, he became the king of Essex (or the East Saxons) following the conversion of the kingdom by St. Cedd in 664. He ruled at a time when there was relative peace and the realm was under the domination of Mercia, a nearby kingdom. Sebbi abdicated after ruling thirty years and became a monk in London. He died there and was buried in the old St. Paul’s.
St. Edwold, 9th century. A hermit who was the brother of St. Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, England. Edwold lived as a recluse in Cerne, Dorsetshire.
Bl. Richard Herst, 1628 A.D. English martyr, also called Hurst. Born near Preston, Lancashire, England, he was well known as a farmer until being arrested on the charge of murder. He fought with three men who tried to arrest him, and one of them, named Dewhurst, died. In point of fact, he was hanged at Lancaster on August 29 because of his refusal to deny Catholicism. He was offered his freedom if he took the Oath of Supremacy but declined. He was beatified in 1929.
August 30
St. Rumon. Rumon, also known as Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of Bishop St. Tudwal of Trequier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he was probably an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in England were named after him. Some authorities believed he is the same as the St. Ronan (June 1) venerated in Brittany and believed consecrated bishop by St. Patrick, but others believe that he and St. Kea were British monks who founded a monastery at Street Somerset.
Bl. Edward Shelley, 1588 A.D. English martyr of Warminghurst. He sheltered priests and was hung at Tyburn. Edward was beatified in 1929.
St. Loaran, 5th century. Irish disciple of St. Patrick. He is sometimes listed as the bishop of Downpatrick, Ireland.
Bl. Richard Leigh, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in London, circa 1561, he studied at Reims and Rome and was ordained a priest in 1586. Returning to England, he was arrested and banished. He returned and was again arrested for being a priest and, with Blesseds Richard Martin, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward, was executed at Tybum. Richard was beatified in 1929.
St. Richard Martin, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in Shropshire, he studied at Oxford and was a devout Catholic. Arrested for giving shelter to priests, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward. He was beatified in 1929.
August 31
St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, 651 A.D. Aidan of Lindisfarne, born in Ireland, may have studied under St. Senan before becoming a monk at Iona. At the request of King Oswald of Northumbria, Aidan went to Lindisfarne as bishop and was known throughout the kingdom for his knowledge of the Bible, his learning, his eloquent preaching, his holiness, his distaste for pomp, his kindness to the poor, and the miracles attributed to him. He founded a monastery at Lindisfarne that became known as the English Iona and was a center of learning and missionary activity for all of northern England. He died in 651 at the royal castle at Bamburgh.
Bl. Richard Bere, 1537 A.D. English martyr. Born at Glastonbury, he studied at Oxford and the Inns of Court before entering the Carthusians in London. When he and his fellow monks voiced their opposition to the planned divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon, they were starved to death in Newgate Prison.
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September 1
St. Fiacre. Patron of Gardeners and Cab-drivers St. Fiacre (Fiachra) is not mentioned in the earlier Irish calendars, but it is said that he was born in Ireland and that he sailed over into France in quest of closer solitude, in which he might devote himself to God, unknown to the world. He arrived at Meaux, where Saint Faro, who was the bishop of that city, gave him a solitary dwelling in a forest which was his own patrimony, called Breuil, in the province of Brie. There is a legend that St. Faro offered him as much land as he could turn up in a day, and that St. Fiacre, instead of driving his furrow with a plough, turned the top of the soil with the point of his staff. The anchorite cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell with a garden, built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and made a hospice for travelers which developed into the village of Saint-Fiacre in Seine-et-Marne. Many resorted to him for advice, and the poor, for relief. His charity moved him to attend cheerfully those that came to consult him; and in his hospice he entertained all comers, serving them with his own hands, and sometimes miraculously restored to health those that were sick. He never allowed any woman to enter the enclosure of his hermitage, and Saint Fiacre extended the prohibition even to his chapel; several rather ill-natured legends profess to account for it. Others tell us that those who attempted to transgress, were punished by visible judgements, and that, for example, in 1620 a lady of Paris, who claimed to be above this rule, going into the oratory, became distracted upon the spot and never recovered her senses; whereas Anne of Austria, Queen of France, was content to offer up her prayers outside the door, amongst the other pilgrims.
St. Lythan. Titular saint of two churches in Wales. He is sometimes listed as Llythaothaw and Thaw.
September 3
St. Angus MacNisse. According to legends, Angus MacNisse was baptized by St. Patrick, who years later consecrated him, bishop. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Rome, he founded a church and monastery at Kells, which developed into Connor, of which he is considered the first bishop. His story is filled with extravagant miracles, such as changing the course of a river for the convenience of his monks and rescuing a child about to be executed for his father's crime by causing him to be carried by the wind from his executioners to his arms.
St. Balin, 7th century. Confessor and disciple of St. Colman of Lindisfarne. Balm was the son of an Anglo-Saxon king. He accompanied St. Colman to lona, in Scotland, and then took up residence in Connaught, Ireland.
St. Hereswitha, 690 A.D. Benedictine princess of Northumbria, England, sister of St. Hilda and mother of Sts. Sexburga, Withburga, and Ethelburga. A widow, Hereswitha spent the last years of her life as Benedictine in Chelles, France.
St. Macanisius, 514 A.D. Bishop and probable founder of Kells Monastery. Ireland, which became the diocese of Connor. Tradition states that St. Patrick baptized Macanisius as an infant and then consecrated him later as a bishop. He is also listed as Aengus McNisse in some documents, and many spectacular miracles are attributed to him.
September 4
St. Ultan, 657 A.D. Bishop of Ardbraccan, Ireland. He was noted for his care of the poor, orphans, and the sick, and is the reputed collector of the writings of St. Brigid. Ultan illustrated his own manuscripts.
St. Rhuddlad, 7th century. Welsh virgin, patroness of Llanrhyddlad in Anglesey, Wales.
St. Monessa, 456 A.D. Virgin convert of St. Patrick in Ireland. Reportedly the daughter of an Irish chieftain, Monessa died in the instant that she was baptized.
St. Velleicus, 8th century. Anglo-Saxon abbot also listed as Willeic. He journeyed to Germany to assist in the evangelization of the region as a disciple of St. Swithbert and served as abbot of Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine.
St. Sebbi, 694 A.D. Also listed as Sebbe, he became the king of Essex (or the East Saxons) following the conversion of the kingdom by St. Cedd in 664. He ruled at a time when there was relative peace and the realm was under the domination of Mercia, a nearby kingdom. Sebbi abdicated after ruling thirty years and became a monk in London. He died there and was buried in the old St. Paul’s.
St. Edwold, 9th century. A hermit who was the brother of St. Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, England. Edwold lived as a recluse in Cerne, Dorsetshire.
Bl. Richard Herst, 1628 A.D. English martyr, also called Hurst. Born near Preston, Lancashire, England, he was well known as a farmer until being arrested on the charge of murder. He fought with three men who tried to arrest him, and one of them, named Dewhurst, died. In point of fact, he was hanged at Lancaster on August 29 because of his refusal to deny Catholicism. He was offered his freedom if he took the Oath of Supremacy but declined. He was beatified in 1929.
August 30
St. Rumon. Rumon, also known as Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of Bishop St. Tudwal of Trequier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he was probably an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in England were named after him. Some authorities believed he is the same as the St. Ronan (June 1) venerated in Brittany and believed consecrated bishop by St. Patrick, but others believe that he and St. Kea were British monks who founded a monastery at Street Somerset.
Bl. Edward Shelley, 1588 A.D. English martyr of Warminghurst. He sheltered priests and was hung at Tyburn. Edward was beatified in 1929.
St. Loaran, 5th century. Irish disciple of St. Patrick. He is sometimes listed as the bishop of Downpatrick, Ireland.
Bl. Richard Leigh, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in London, circa 1561, he studied at Reims and Rome and was ordained a priest in 1586. Returning to England, he was arrested and banished. He returned and was again arrested for being a priest and, with Blesseds Richard Martin, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward, was executed at Tybum. Richard was beatified in 1929.
St. Richard Martin, 1588 A.D. English martyr. Born in Shropshire, he studied at Oxford and was a devout Catholic. Arrested for giving shelter to priests, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward. He was beatified in 1929.
August 31
St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, 651 A.D. Aidan of Lindisfarne, born in Ireland, may have studied under St. Senan before becoming a monk at Iona. At the request of King Oswald of Northumbria, Aidan went to Lindisfarne as bishop and was known throughout the kingdom for his knowledge of the Bible, his learning, his eloquent preaching, his holiness, his distaste for pomp, his kindness to the poor, and the miracles attributed to him. He founded a monastery at Lindisfarne that became known as the English Iona and was a center of learning and missionary activity for all of northern England. He died in 651 at the royal castle at Bamburgh.
Bl. Richard Bere, 1537 A.D. English martyr. Born at Glastonbury, he studied at Oxford and the Inns of Court before entering the Carthusians in London. When he and his fellow monks voiced their opposition to the planned divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon, they were starved to death in Newgate Prison.
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September 1
St. Fiacre. Patron of Gardeners and Cab-drivers St. Fiacre (Fiachra) is not mentioned in the earlier Irish calendars, but it is said that he was born in Ireland and that he sailed over into France in quest of closer solitude, in which he might devote himself to God, unknown to the world. He arrived at Meaux, where Saint Faro, who was the bishop of that city, gave him a solitary dwelling in a forest which was his own patrimony, called Breuil, in the province of Brie. There is a legend that St. Faro offered him as much land as he could turn up in a day, and that St. Fiacre, instead of driving his furrow with a plough, turned the top of the soil with the point of his staff. The anchorite cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell with a garden, built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and made a hospice for travelers which developed into the village of Saint-Fiacre in Seine-et-Marne. Many resorted to him for advice, and the poor, for relief. His charity moved him to attend cheerfully those that came to consult him; and in his hospice he entertained all comers, serving them with his own hands, and sometimes miraculously restored to health those that were sick. He never allowed any woman to enter the enclosure of his hermitage, and Saint Fiacre extended the prohibition even to his chapel; several rather ill-natured legends profess to account for it. Others tell us that those who attempted to transgress, were punished by visible judgements, and that, for example, in 1620 a lady of Paris, who claimed to be above this rule, going into the oratory, became distracted upon the spot and never recovered her senses; whereas Anne of Austria, Queen of France, was content to offer up her prayers outside the door, amongst the other pilgrims.
St. Lythan. Titular saint of two churches in Wales. He is sometimes listed as Llythaothaw and Thaw.
September 3
St. Angus MacNisse. According to legends, Angus MacNisse was baptized by St. Patrick, who years later consecrated him, bishop. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Rome, he founded a church and monastery at Kells, which developed into Connor, of which he is considered the first bishop. His story is filled with extravagant miracles, such as changing the course of a river for the convenience of his monks and rescuing a child about to be executed for his father's crime by causing him to be carried by the wind from his executioners to his arms.
St. Balin, 7th century. Confessor and disciple of St. Colman of Lindisfarne. Balm was the son of an Anglo-Saxon king. He accompanied St. Colman to lona, in Scotland, and then took up residence in Connaught, Ireland.
St. Hereswitha, 690 A.D. Benedictine princess of Northumbria, England, sister of St. Hilda and mother of Sts. Sexburga, Withburga, and Ethelburga. A widow, Hereswitha spent the last years of her life as Benedictine in Chelles, France.
St. Macanisius, 514 A.D. Bishop and probable founder of Kells Monastery. Ireland, which became the diocese of Connor. Tradition states that St. Patrick baptized Macanisius as an infant and then consecrated him later as a bishop. He is also listed as Aengus McNisse in some documents, and many spectacular miracles are attributed to him.
September 4
St. Ultan, 657 A.D. Bishop of Ardbraccan, Ireland. He was noted for his care of the poor, orphans, and the sick, and is the reputed collector of the writings of St. Brigid. Ultan illustrated his own manuscripts.
St. Rhuddlad, 7th century. Welsh virgin, patroness of Llanrhyddlad in Anglesey, Wales.
St. Monessa, 456 A.D. Virgin convert of St. Patrick in Ireland. Reportedly the daughter of an Irish chieftain, Monessa died in the instant that she was baptized.
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