MEMORIAL OF SAINT BERNARDINO REALINO, PRIEST; SAINTS PROCESSUS AND MARTINIAN, MARTYRS; SAINT SWITHIN (SWITHUN), BISHOP AND SAINT OTTO OF BAMBERG, BISHOP: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Bernardino Realino, Priest; Saints Processus & Martinian, Martyrs; Saint Swithin (Swithun), Bishop and Saint Otto of Bamberg, Bishop. Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for justice, peace and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏🏽
SAINT BERNARDINO REALINO, PRIEST: St. Bernardino Realino (1530–1616) was born in Capri, Italy to a noble family in 1530. After receiving a thorough and devout Christian education at the hands of his mother, he went on to study medicine at the University of Bologna, but after three years he switched to law and received his doctorate in 1563. He grew into an accomplished “Renaissance Man” of his day. He had a successful career as an attorney and judge, and served as the mayor of three cities. Word of his learning, dedication, and legal brilliance spread rapidly, and in 1554 he was summoned to Naples to assume the position of auditor and lieutenant general.
At the age of 34 he completed an eight-day retreat with Jesuit priests, and during this time he discerned a call to the religious life. He entered the Jesuit order and was ordained a priest in 1567. As a priest he preached, taught, and visited the sick and poor in the areas of Naples and Lecce. He was much loved and venerated by the people he ministered to, especially because of the miracles he performed. It was commonly believed among the people that he was a living saint. Even public scandal and civil strife were calmed due to his holy influence. While he was on his death bed, the city leaders of Lecce came to request of him that he become the official patron saint of their city once he entered heaven. He is often referred to as the “Apostle of Lecce” for his commitment to the poor, the sick and for his preaching abilities. He died in 1616 with the names of Jesus and Mary on his lips. After St. Bernardino’s death, vials of his blood were kept for veneration, which were observed to liquefy and exhibit unusual phenomena for more than a century. St. Bernardino Realino’s feast day is July 2nd.
Saint Bernardino Realino, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽
SAINTS PROCESSUS AND MARTINIAN, MARTYRS: Sts. Processus and Martinian were imperial soldiers, pagans and they served as guards at the Mamertine prison in Rome. State criminals were held in this prison, among them some Christians. Watching the Christian prisoners and listening to their preaching, Sts. Processus and Martinian gradually came to the knowledge of the Savior. According to legend, the Holy Martyrs Processus and Martinian, having been assigned the task of guarding St. Peter and St. Paul in the Mamertine prison in Rome, when they were arrested by the Romans, fell under the spell of his preaching and were converted. The apostles converted their jailers after a spring flowed miraculously in the prison. St. Peter then baptized them in the miraculous waters. After they accepted holy Baptism from the apostle, they released the Apostle from prison.
After being baptized, the jailer Paulinus learned about this, and he demanded that Sts. Processus and Martinian renounce Christ. But they fearlessly confessed Christ, and they spat at the golden statue of Jupiter. Paulinus ordered that they be slapped on the face, and then seeing the resolute stance of the holy martyrs, he subjected them to torture. The martyrs were beaten with iron rods, scorched with fire, and finally, thrown into prison. A certain illustrious and pious woman by the name of Lucina visited them in prison and gave them help and encouragement. The torturer Paulinus was soon punished by God. He fell blind and died three days later. The son of Paulinus went to the city ruler demanding that the martyrs be put to death. Saints Processus and Martinian were finally beheaded by order of the emperor Nero (+ ca. 67). After their martyrdom with St. Paul, a sympathizer called Lucina buried them in her own cemetery. Their bodies were buried in the catacombs of St. Agatha, on the Via Aurelia, where they remained until Paschal I (817-824) removed them for safekeeping to the Vatican basilica. Transplanted to St. Peter’s, the cult of Processus and Martinian flourished. Today their tomb is in the south transept of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Reflection: Wherever you find yourself, even at the end of your life, you can still convert and save a soul. May God’s grace sustain us. Amen.
Sts. Processus and Martinian, Martyrs ~ Pray for us. Amen🙏🏽
SAINT SWITHIN (SWITHUN), BISHOP: St. Swithin (also known as St. Swithun) was born in Wessex, England and was educated at the old monastery, Winchester, where he was ordained. St Swithun died in 862 as bishop of Winchester. He was a secular clerk with something of a reputation for virtue and learning. He was attached to the West Saxon court and was one of King Egbert’s principal advisers. He became Chaplain to King Egbert of the West Saxons, who appointed him tutor of his son, Ethelwulf, the father of Alfred the Great, to educate; and to him must go some of the credit for the strongly religious tone of the West Saxon court under Ethelwulf and his sons.
St. Swithun was consecrated bishop of Winchester, England in 852, when Ethelwulf succeeded his father as king. As bishop was something of a builder, Swithun built several churches and was known for his humility and his aid to the poor and needy. He may also have been one of the first contributors to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A number of agreeably humble miracles were attributed to him – he was said to have restored a basket of eggs dropped by an old market woman when crossing a bridge. His great reputation for sanctity is, however, largely owing to the cult which sprang up at Winchester a hundred years after his death, in the time of St Ethelwold and the monastic reformation, when his body was translated. His shrine was splendid, but when it was looted by Henry VIII in 1538 its gold and jewels were found to be false. When he died he was buried at his own request in the churchyard, in order that the passers-by would walk over his grave and the rain fall upon it. It is always said that if it rains on his feast day, it will rain for forty days after, but it is not known how St. Swithun came to be associated with the weather. Similar stories are told of SS Medard, Gervase and Protase in France.
His holiness was made known by miracles. He died on July 2, but “St. Swithin’s Day” is held on July 15 in England, the day his relics were transferred. He is another of the “weather saints” — if it rains on July 15, it will rain forty more days. If no rain, it will be fair for forty more days, as the old rhyme says: St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain, St. Swithin’s day if thou be fair, For forty days ‘twill rain nae mair. This weather patronage traces back to July 15, 871 when the monks were translating his body (relics) from the outdoor grave to an indoor shrine in the Cathedral. The saint apparently did not approve, as it rained for 40 days afterward. St. Swithin is the Patron Saint of drought relief; Stavenger, England; Winchester, England.
St. Swithin (St. Swithun), Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽
SAINT OTTO OF BAMBERG, BISHOP: St. Otto of Bamberg (1060 – 1139) was German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death, an indefatigable evengelizer, and the apostle of the Pomeranians. He was born in 1060 in Swabia, Mistelbach, Germany of noble rank and ordained a priest sometime before the age of 30. He joined the service of Emperor Henry IV in 1090 and became his chancellor in 1101. He served Henry IV and his successor, Henry V, loyally, but he disaproved of the latter’s disgraceful treatment of Pope Paschal.
Otto was consecrated a bishop on May 13, 1106, and set to work founding new monasteries, reforming existing ones, building schools and churches, and completing the construction of the cathedral. He lived a poor and simple life, and was called the “Father of the monks” for the concern he showed toward religious orders. In 1122 Otto was commissioned by the Polish Duke Boleslaw III to convert Pomerania to Christianity, and he set about this mission in 1124. He traveled across Pomerania twice, and won over the people with his holiness, quiet generosity, and gentle, inspiring sermons. The conversion of Pomerania was his greatest apostolic work. He baptized over 22,000 people and established 11 churches. Many miracles were attributed to him throughout his two journeys, and many more after his death. He died on June 30, 1139, Bamberg, Germany and was Canonized in 1189, Rome by Pope Clement III.
Saint Otto of Bamberg, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽