SAINT(S) OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT ELPHEGE, BISHOP AND MARTYR; SAINT EXPEDITUS, MARTYR; AND SAINT TIMON, BISHOP AND MARTYR – FEAST DAY: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Elphege (Alphege, Aelfheah, also called Godwine ), Bishop and Martyr; Saint Expeditus, Martyr (He is considered the Patron Saint of emergencies; expeditious solutions; against procrastination; merchants and navigators) and Saint Timon, Bishop and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners and for Christians all over the world. We also pray for the poor and the needy and God’s grace in times of urgent need. 🙏
SAINT ELPHEGE, BISHOP AND MARTYR: St. Elphege (Alphege, Aelfheah, also called Godwine ), Bishop and Martyr, who was venerated as a martyr after his murder by the Danes. St. Elphege, born of noble and virtuous parents, abandoned the world at an early age and entered the monastery of Derherste in Gloucestershire. After some years he began to lead the life of a recluse in a cell in the neighborhood of the Abbey of Bath, of which he was appointed Abbot until 984, when, through the instrumentality of Dt. Dunstan, he was elected Bishop of Winchester. In 1006, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope John XVIII in Rome. This period in English history was greatly disturbed by the incursions of the Danes, who sacked and pillaged the country that was then governed by the weak King Ethelred. The Archbishop hurried to the scenes of blood and endeavored to turn the cruelty of the pagans from his people to himself.
Consequently, his cathedral was burned, he was made to endure great tortures, and for several months he was kept in prison. Refusing to use the goods of his Church for his ransom, he was put to death while he prayed for his enemies. His martyrdom occurred April 19, 1012. He eliminated poverty in his diocese through his aid to the poor.
PRAYER: God, You gave splendor to Your Church by granting St. Elphege the victory of martyrdom. Grant that, as he imitated the Lord’s Passion, so we may follow in his footsteps and attain everlasting joys. Amen🙏
SAINT EXPEDITUS, MARTYR St. Expeditus (died 303) also known as Expedite, was said to have been a Roman centurion in Armenia who was martyred around April 303 in what is now Turkey, for converting to Christianity. He is considered the Patron Saint of emergencies; expeditious solutions; against procrastination; merchants and navigators. At one time there was much talk of a Saint Expeditus, and some good people were led to believe that, when there was need of haste, petitioning Saint Expeditus was likely to meet with prompt settlement. However, there is no adequate reason to think that any such saint was ever invoked in the early Christian centuries; in fact it is more than doubtful whether the saint ever existed. In the “Hieronymianum” the name Expeditus occurs among a group of martyrs both on the 18th and 19th of April, being assigned in the one case to Rome, and in the other to Melitene in Armenia; but there is no vestige of any tradition which would corroborate either mention, whereas there is much to suggest that in both lists the introduction of the name is merely a copyist’s blunder. Hundreds of similar blunders have been quite definitely proved to exist in the same document.
There is also a story which pretends to explain the origin of this “devotion” by an incident of modern date. A packing case, we are told, containing a body of a saint from the catacombs, was sent to a community of nuns in Paris. The date of its dispatch was indicated by the use of the word “spedito”, but the recipients mistook this for the name of the martyr and set to work with great energy to propagate his cult. From these simple beginnings, it is asserted, a devotion to St. Expeditus spread rapidly through many Catholic countries. It should be pointed out that though the recognition of St. Expeditus as the patron of dispatch depends beyond doubt upon a play upon words – still the particular story about the Paris nuns falls to pieces, because as far back as 1781 this supposed martyr, St. Expeditus, was chosen patron of the town of Acireale in Sicily, and because pictures of him were in existence in Germany in the eighteenth century which plainly depicted him as a saint to be invoked against procrastination.
PRAYER: My Saint Expeditus of urgent and just causes, please intercede for me with Our Lord Jesus Christ. Succor me in this hour of affliction and despair, my Saint Expeditus. … My Saint Expeditus, help me to prevail through these difficult hours, protect me from all those who want to harm me, respond to my plea with urgency….Amen🙏
SAINT TIMON, BISHOP AND MARTYR St. Timon (1st c.) is mentioned by name in the Acts of the Apostles. He belonged to the group of seventy disciples who followed Jesus during his earthly ministry. After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, St. Timon was one of the original seven deacons, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, chosen by the Apostles to help with the work of ministering to the growing Christian community. Timon was later ordained a bishop by the Apostles.
He baptized many Greeks and Jews into the Christian faith. He also had the supernatural ability to heal the sick and to cast out devils. St. Timon suffered martyrdom for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. According to tradition he was thrown into a furnace, but by the power of God he came out of it unharmed, and later died by crucifixion. His feast day is April 19.
Saint Timon, Bishop and Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏