SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ FEBRUARY 24TH

MEMORIAL OF SAINT ETHELBERT, KING OF KENT AND BLESSED THOMAS MARIA FUSCO, PRIEST – FEAST DAY ~ FEBRUARY 24TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Ethelbert, King of Kent and Blessed Thomas Maria Fusco, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the conversion of sinners and we pray for God’s grace and mercy upon us all…Amen🙏

“O blood and water, which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I/we trust in You”

Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful Saviour of the world, we humbly beseech You, by Your most Sacred Heart, that all the sheep who stray out of Your fold may in one day be converted to You, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls, who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end….Amen 🙏🏽

Lord God, You alone are holy and no one is good without You. Through the intercession of St. Ethelbert help us to live in such a way that we may not be deprived of a share in Your glory… Amen 🙏🏽

SAINT ETHELBERT, KING OF KENT: St. Ethelbert was a descendent of Hengist, the legendary ancestor of the Jutish House of Kent. He became King in 560 and extended his power to all England south of the Humber. He married a Christian princess, Bertha, who was the daughter of the Frankish King Charibert. This resulted in the first introduction of Christianity into Anglo-Saxon England, since her father insisted that his daughter should be free to practice her Faith in England.

When St. Augustine of Canterbury arrived in England in 597 with his Roman mission, he was accorded a pleasant welcome by Ethelbert who was himself still a heathen. Inspired by the example of his wife’s Faith as well as St. Augustine’s zeal, Ethelbert was converted and baptized on Pentecost in 597. He thus became the first Christian English King and thereafter gave his full support to the cause of Christ in his realm.

St. Ethelbert was constantly concerned to promote the welfare of his people. He enacted wholesome laws that were held in esteem in succeeding ages in England. He abolished the worship of idols throughout his kingdom and turned their temples into churches or shut them down. He was also instrumental in converting Sebert, King of the East Saxons, with his people, and Redwald, King of the East Angles. St. Ethelbert was the first Anglo-Saxon king to leave a code of laws, which included a law protecting the clergy and churches by exacting very high compensation for damage done to them.  He died on February 24, 616 and was buried beside Bertha in the side chapel of Saint Martin in the church of the monastery of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which he earlier had built outside the walls of Canterbury.

PRAYER: God our ruler and guide, we honor you for Queen Bertha and King Ethelbert of Kent who, gently persuaded by the truth of your Gospel, encouraged others by their godly example to follow freely the path of discipleship; and we pray that we, like them, may show the goodness of your Word not only by our words but in our lives; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen🙏

BLESSED THOMAS MARIA FUSCO, PRIEST: St. Thomas (1831 – 1891) was born to a noble family in 1831 in Pagani, Italy. He was the seventh of eight children. When he was only six years old, his mother died of cholera. A few years later, his father also died. He became orphaned at a very young age. His uncle, a primary school teacher, took charge of Thomas’ education. The canonization of St. Alphonsus Liguori in 1839 stirred aspirations for the priesthood in Thomas’ heart. He entered the seminary in 1847 and was ordained a priest in 1855 at the age of 24. Immediately Thomas opened a morning school for the formation of boys and organized evening prayers for youth and adults. During these years, Thomas nurtured a deep devotion to the crucified Christ and to his Blessed Sorrowful Mother because of the deaths of his uncle and younger brother.

In 1862 he opened a school of moral theology in his home to train priests for the ministry of confession. That same year he also founded the priestly Society of the Catholic Apostolate for missions among the faithful. In 1873, Thomas was deeply moved by the plight of an orphaned street girl. After careful discernment, he founded the Congregation of the “Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood”. In addition to all of this, Fusco was also a parish priest, a confessor to a group of cloistered nuns, and a spiritual father to a lay group at the nearby Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For the remainder of his years, he was completely dedicated to his priestly ministry, preaching spiritual retreats and missions, teaching catechism to youth and organizing prayer for young people and adults at his parish. He worked to build a strong devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus among the people he served. In 1891, Bl. Thomas died of liver disease at the age of 59.

The cause for his beatification was opened in 1955 and the decree of his heroic Christian virtues was published in 2001. He was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 2001. At Thomas’ beatification, Pope St. John Paul II presented him as “an example and a guide to holiness for priests, for the people of God and for his spiritual daughters, the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood.”

Blessed Thomas Maria Fusco, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏