MEMORIAL OF SAINT CELESTINE I, POPE; SAINTS NATHALIA, AURELIUS, LILIOSA, FELIX, AND GEORGE, MARTYRS AND SAINT PANTALEON OF NICOMEDIA, PHYSICIAN AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY – JULY 27TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Celestine I, Pope; Saints Nathalia, Aurelius, Liliosa, Felix, and George, Martyrs and Saint Pantaleon of Nicomedia, Physician and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for physicians and all Healthcare workers, for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for those going through difficulties especially during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy, for peace, love 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 CELESTINE I, POPE: Pope St. Celestine I (d. 432 A.D.) was a Roman deacon who was elected Supreme Pontiff in 422 A.D. He also lived with St. Ambrose in Milan prior to serving in Rome. Pope St. Celestine lead the Church for nine years during a troubled time of social upheaval. Within the Church there were multiple dangerous heresies spreading and corrupting the faith of the people, especially Nestorianism and Pelagianism, which he staunchly fought against, and for this he is known as a defender of orthodox doctrine. A major campaign of his pontificate was his vigorous attack on Nestorianism, the unorthodox teaching of Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople, which stressed that Christ’s human and divine natures were independent and which denounced the Virgin’s title Theotokos (God-bearer).⁵ Pope Celestine also challenged the doctrine of Pelagius, which minimized the role of divine grace in man’s salvation. In 429, Pope Celestine sent the French bishops Sts. Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to combat Pelagianism in England. It was Pope Celestine who sent St. Palladius as the first bishop to Ireland in 431. The Holy Father also sent St. Patrick, who would be Palladius’ successor to evangelize Ireland. Also, during his papacy, Pope Celestine assigned Archbishop St. Cyril of Alexandria with Nestorius’ recantation at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Pope Celestine approved the council’s decision to condemn, depose and banish Nestorius, which caused a schism that remained unresolved for more than a century.
Outside the Church, barbarian hordes were invading the West, leading to the collapse of the Roman Empire. Pope St. Celestine I worked to restore the churches that were attacked when Alaric the Goth sacked Rome. He also established the papal diplomatic service to send ambassadors, known as nuncios, from the Vatican to other governments around the world. Pope Celestine was the one who introduced the responsorial psalm into the papal Mass at Rome. His feast day is July 27th.
Saint Celestine I, Pope ~ Pray for us 🙏🏾
SAINTS NATHALIA, AURELIUS, LILIOSA, FELIX, AND GEORGE, MARTYRS: Saints Natalie & Aurelius were Christian martyrs who were put to death in AD 852 for practicing Christianity under Muslim rule, and are counted among the Martyrs of Córdoba. During the 8th century, Mohammedans ruled Cordoba, Spain, and initiated a persecution of the Chrisitans. St. Aurelius was the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. He was also secretly a follower of Christianity, as was his wife Natalie, who was also the child of a Muslim father. They decided to practice the faith openly. After setting aside enough money to take care of their daughter’s future, poor and practiced penance and devotion. One of Aurelius’s cousins, Felix, accepted Islam for a short time, but later converted back to Christianity and married a Christian woman, Liliosa. Sts. Aurelius and Natalie’s example proved to be an inspiration for the relative of Aurelius Felix and his wife Liliosa, who had been practicing her faith in secret. They joined Nathalia and Aurelius in visiting and ministering to the Christians in prison.
Under Sharia Law, all four of them were required to profess Islam. In time all four began to openly profess their Christianity, with the two women going about in public with their faces unveiled. They were all swiftly arrested as apostates from Islam. They were given four days to recant, but they refused and were beheaded. They were martyred with a local monk, George, who had openly spoken out against the Islamic prophet Mohamed. George, belonged to the monastery of St. Sabas in Jerusalem and had toured Egypt and Europe in search of alms for his house. He had been offered a pardon as a foreigner but chose instead to denounce Islam again and die with the others. They were all condemned to death—the first four giving up the Moslem religion and George for insulting Mohammed. On July 27, 852, these saintly followers of Christ achieved the martyrdom when Muslims ruled Spain, they so avidly sought.
PRAYER: Almighty, ever-living God, You conferred on Sts. Nathalia, Aurelius, Liliosa, Felix, and George the grace to suffer for Christ. Extend Your Divine help also to our weakness, so that just as they never shrank from dying for You we may remain steadfast in our confession of You. Amen 🙏🏾
SAINT PANTALEON OF NICOMEDIA, PHYSICIAN AND MARTYR: Saint Pantaleon, (c. 275-305) whose name in Greek means “mercy for everyone,” or “all-compassionate one” was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is one of the patron saints of physicians. He was born near the Black Sea in Asia to a wealthy pagan father and Christian mother. His father, Eustorgius of Nicomedia, and had been instructed in Christianity by his Christian mother, Eubula, who taught him the faith. He was a celebrated “fee-less physician” from Nicomedia who placed his skill in the service of God’s kingdom! As a physician to Emperor Maximianus, St. Pantaleon became estranged from Christianity through the influences of being in his service. With the help of a holy priest named Hermolaus, St. Pantaleon reverted back to the faith and gave his fortune and services to the poor, he distributed his goods among the poor and devoted his talents for healing to the most wretched and poor among the sick. Upon the death of his father he came into possession of a large fortune. Envious colleagues denounced him to the emperor during the Diocletian persecution. The emperor wished to save him and sought to persuade him to apostasy. Pantaleon, however, openly confessed his faith, and as proof that Christ is the true God, he healed a paralytic. Notwithstanding this, he was condemned to death by the emperor, who regarded the miracle as an exhibition of magic. He was martyred during the Diocletian persecution after he implored heaven to forgive his persecutors.
According to legend, Pantaleon’s flesh was first burned with torches; upon this Christ appeared to all in the form of Hermolaus to strengthen and heal Pantaleon. The torches were extinguished. After this, when a bath of liquid lead was prepared, Christ in the same form stepped into the cauldron with him, the fire went out and the lead became cold. He was now thrown into the sea, but the stone with which he was loaded floated. He was thrown to the wild beasts but these fawned upon him and could not be forced away until he had blessed them. He was bound on the wheel, but the ropes snapped, and the wheel broke. An attempt was made to behead him, but the sword bent, and the executioners were converted. Pantaleon implored heaven to forgive them, for which reason he also received the name of Panteleemon (the all- compassionate). It was not until he himself desired it that it was possible to behead him. St. Pantaleon is known as the “Great Martyr”, a “Wonder-Worker” and “Pantaleon the Healer”. In the Middle Ages he came to be regarded as the patron saint of physicians and midwives, and became one of the fourteen guardian martyrs. From early times a phial containing some of his blood has been preserved at Constantinople. On the feast day of the saint the blood is said to become fluid and to bubble. Relics of the saint are to be found at St. Denis at Paris; his head is venerated at Lyons. St. Pantaleon is the Patron Saint of physicians; bachelors; consumption; doctors; midwives; torture victims; tuberculosis; protection of domestic animals; Apothecaries, lottery winners and victories, invoked against headaches, consumption, locusts, witchcraft, accidents and loneliness; helper for crying children. His feast day is July 27th, alsoJuly 28th, and February 18th.
Saint Pantaleon of Nicomedia, Physician and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏🏾