SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ JANUARY 18TH

MEMORIAL OF SAINT PRISCA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR; SAINTS VOLUSIAN, BISHOP AND DEICOLUS, ABBOT AND SAINT MARGARET OF HUNGARY, RELIGIOUS – FEAST DAY ~ JANUARY 18TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Prisca, Virgin and Martyr; Saints Volusian, Bishop and Deicolus, Abbot and Saint Margaret of Hungary, Religious.

SAINT PRISCA, VIRGIN, AND MARTYR: St. Prisca, who is also known as Priscilla, was a child martyr of the early Roman Church. The Roman Martyrology reads: “In the City of Rome, the holy Virgin and Martyr Prisca; after many tortures, she gained the Crown of Martyrdom under Emperor Claudius II (about 270).”

Born to Imperial Roman Christian parents of a noble family, Prisca was raised during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius. While Claudius did not persecute Christians with the same fervor as other Roman emperors, Christians still did not practice their faith openly. In fact, Prisca’s parents went to great lengths to conceal their faith, and thus, they were not suspected of being Christians. Prisca, however, did not feel the need to take precautions. The young girl openly professed her dedication to Christ, and eventually, she was reported to the emperor. Claudius had her arrested and commanded her to make a sacrifice to Apollo, the pagan god of the sun. According to the legend, Prisca refused and was tortured for disobeying. Then, suddenly, a bright, yellow light shone about her, and she appeared to be a little star. Claudius ordered that Prisca be taken away to prison in the hopes that she would abandon Christ. When all efforts to change her mind were unsuccessful, she was taken to an amphitheatre and thrown in with a lion. As the crowd watched, Prisca stood fearless. According to legend, the lion walked toward the barefoot girl and then gently licked her feet. Disgusted by his thwarted efforts to dissuade Prisca, Claudius had her beheaded. Seventh-century accounts of the grave sites of Roman martyrs refer to the discovery of an epitaph of a Roman Christian named Priscilla in a large catacomb and identifies her place of interment on the Via Salaria as the Catacomb of Priscilla.

PRAYER: Let us pray for the single-hearted devotion and courage of Saint Prisca towards our faith that we too may live and die for Christ and share her crown of glory… Amen🙏

SAINTS VOLUSIAN, BISHOP, AND DEICOLUS, ABBOT: According to tradition, SAINT VOLUSIAN was of senatorial rank He served as Bishop of Tours from 488 to 496. What little information exists about concerns the last years of his life. As a result of his rank, he was continually involved with the politics of his day and finally he was driven from episcopate by the Goths who believed that Bishop was planning to form an alliance with the Franks against them. St. Volusian made good his escape from Tours and traveled to Spain where he went into exile. He died about the year 498. According to some historians, St. Volusian was fallowed into Spain by the Goths, who captured him and cut off his head. This possible martyrdom was probably the basis for his canonization as a Saint.

SAINT DEICOLUS, also known as St. Desle, left his native land of Ireland in the company of St. Columban, and both men settled at Luxeuil. He established the Abbey of Lure, where he remained for the rest of his life as a hermit. Despite his hardships, his contentment was always evident. When St. Columban once asked him, “Deicolus, why are you always smiling?” this saintly soul simply replied: “Because no one can take God from me.” He died about 625.

PRAYER: Lord, may the intercession of Sts. Volusian and Deicolus comment us to You, so that by their patronage we may obtain what we do not deserve by any merits of ours. Amen🙏

SAINT MARGARET OF HUNGARY, RELIGIOUS: St. Margaret of Hungary (1242–1271) was the daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary, a granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor and niece of the famed St. Elizabeth of Hungary. She was the eighth daughter of ten children to the Ruler of Croatia. Her royal parents made a vow to God that if Hungary was saved from the Mongol invasion they would dedicate Margaret to religion. God heard their prayer and the country was saved. The king and queen then entrusted four-year-old Margaret to be raised and educated in a Dominican convent. At the age of ten Margaret was transferred to the Convent of the Blessed Virgin founded by her parents, built on an island her parents named after her. She spent the rest of her life there, dedicating herself to prayer and severe penances. She opposed her father’s attempts to arrange her political marriage with the King of Bohemia, even though her suitor obtained a dispensation from the pope to release her from her religious vows so that she could enter into matrimony. Margaret made her solemn vows as a Dominican nun at the age of eighteen. Although a beautiful princess, she took the most menial tasks in the convent and dedicated her life to serving the poor and sick. She was considered a saint during her life and after her death. Many miracles, especially the curing of illnesses, were attributed to her intercession. St. Margaret died at the age of 28 on January 18, 1271. Honored as a powerful intercessor and miracle worker, she was Beatified on July 28, 1789 by Pope Pius VI and Canonized on November 19, 1943 by Pope Pius XII.

PRAYER: God, who called your handmaid blessed Margaret of Hungary to seek you before all else, grant that, serving you, through her example and intercession, with a pure and humble heart, we may come at last to your eternal glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen🙏