SAINT(S) OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ MARCH 13TH

MEMORIAL OF SAINTS RODERICK, PRIEST, AND SOLOMON, MARTYRS AND SAINT EUPHRASIA OF CONSTANTINOPLE, VIRGIN: FEAST DAY ~ MARCH 13TH: Today, we honor the Memorial of Saints Roderick, Priest, and Solomon, Martyrs (faithful witnesses who endured persecution and martyrdom for their steadfast love of Christ), and Saint Euphrasia of Constantinople, Virgin (a devoted servant of God who embraced asceticism and a life of humility and prayer).

Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary and these holy Saints, we offer prayers for all who suffer persecution for their faith, for those unjustly accused or imprisoned, and for those striving to live a life of holiness amidst trials. May the witness of these saints inspire us to remain faithful to Christ, bear our sufferings with courage, and trust in God’s divine providence.

“O God of all the nations, the One God who is and was and always will be, in your providence you willed that your Church be united to the suffering of your Son. Look with mercy on your servants who are persecuted for their faith in you. Grant them perseverance and courage to be worthy imitators of Christ. Bring your wisdom upon leaders of nations to work for peace among all peoples. May your Spirit open conversion for those who contradict your will, that we may live in harmony. Give us the grace to be united in truth and freedom, and to always seek your will in our lives. Through Christ our Lord”… Amen 🙏🏽

Saints Roderick and Solomon ~ Pray for us.
Saint Euphrasia ~ Pray for us. 🙏🏽

SAINTS RODERICK, PRIEST, AND SOLOMON, MARTYRS: Sts. Roderick and Solomon were Martyrs of Spain who died on March 13, 857 AD. St. Roderick, also called Rodriquez, Rudericus and Rodrigo, was a  Mozarab Catholic priest from Córdoba in Cabra, Andalusia, a region that had been part of the kingdom of the Visigoths of Spain. Living in 9th century Spain at the time of the Moorish dominion and persecution. He was venerated as one of the Martyrs of Córdoba. He had two brothers—one had become a Muslim and the other was irreligious, had practically abandoned the Catholic Faith. St. Roderick became the victim of family and fraternal disagreements and violence. The Muslim brother reproached the third brother for his “obstinacy” in remaining a Christian. St. Roderick tried to make peace between the two but without success.

One day, while trying to break up a violent quarrel between the two, they turned on St. Roderick and he was beaten senseless by both of his brothers until he became unconscious. His Muslim brother then carried him in a cart through the streets, publicly proclaiming that St. Roderick had renounced Christ and converted to Islam and wished to die a Muslim. St. Roderick, too ill to speak out, suffered in silence, but as soon as he got well he escaped from his brother’s hands. His brother sought out St. Roderick and had him brought before the kadi or judge on the charge of having returned to the Christian Faith after embracing Islam. St. Roderick protested fiercely, declaring that he had never himself denied the Faith, he proclaimed that he had always been a Christian, when St. Roderick maintained his loyalty to the Catholic religion, he was accused of apostasy from Islam under Sharia law. The judge refused to believe him and relegated him to one of the worst dungeons in the city of Cordova. While he was denounced by the Muslim brother and imprisoned for falling away from the Islamic faith, in prison he met and befriended Salomon (Solomon) another Christian charged with the same offense. The two dedicated followers of Christ encouraged one another during the lengthy imprisonment, which had been designed to shake their constancy. Seeing that his original stratagem did not work, the judge had them set apart for a time; but when this also failed to achieve the desired retractions, the reluctant judge, then sentenced him to death, at the insistence of that Muslim brother. This was fratricide, more than persecution, not a question of the unusal form of persecution in this case. At the time, the region saw Muslims, Christians and Jews co-exist quite peacefully. Eventually, the judge condemned both of them to be beheaded, in 857 at Córdoba.

St. Eulogius (who was eventually martyred during that same persecution: see March 11) witnessed their bodies lying near a river, and saw the soldiers throwing the stones reddened by the Saints’ blood into the river to make sure that the Christians could not make relics of them. Thrown into the Guadalquivir river, the bodies were recovered by the Christians, who buried Roderick in the Basilica of San Genesio, near Cordova and Solomon, in the nearby Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. St. Roderick’s Convent and Hospital in Cabra, established in the 16th century, bears his name.

PRAYER: Almighty, ever-living God, You enabled Sts. Roderick and Solomon to fight to the death for justice. Through their intercession enable us to bear all adversity and with all our strength hasten to You Who alone are life. Amen🙏
 
SAINT EUPHRASIA OF CONSTANTINOPLE, VIRGIN: Saint Euphrasia also known as Eupraxia (380 – March 13, 410) was a Constantinopolitan nun who was venerated after her death as a saint for her piety and example of charity. St. Euphrasia was born in 380 at Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey). St. Euphrasia was a daughter of noble and pious parents, honored by the pious Emperor Theodosius and the Empress of that city. She was the only daughter of Antigonus—a nobleman of the court of Emperor Theodosius I, to whom he was related—and of Euphrasia, his wife. When Antigonus died, his widow and young daughter withdrew together to Egypt, near a monastery of one hundred and thirty nuns. This was less than a century since St. Anthony had established his first monastery, but monasticism in that time had spread with incredible speed. At the age of seven,  the little girl, St. Euphrasia begged that she might be permitted to take vows and become a nun and serve God in this monastery, the pious mother wept for joy. When her mother presented the child to the abbess, St. Euphrasia took up an image of Christ and kissed it, saying, “By vow I consecrate myself to Christ.” Her mother replied, “Lord Jesus Christ, receive this child under your special protection. You alone doth she love and seek: to you doth she recommend herself.” 

When St. Euphrasia’s mother left her in the hands of the abbess, she went out of the monastery weeping. She continued her life of prayer and mortification, and a few years later, when this good mother fell sick, she slept in peace. Soon after, on hearing of St. Euphrasia’s mother death, the Emperor Theodosius I sent for St.  Euphrasia, as he considered himself her protector, and already during her childhood had arranged for her to be married to a young senator of Constantinople, when she would reach a suitable age. St. Euphrasia responded with a letter to the Emperor declining the offer to marry; instead, she requested that her estate be sold and divided among the poor, and that all her slaves be manumitted. The emperor did as she requested shortly before his death in 395. Saint Euphrasia was known for and a perfect pattern of humility, meekness, and charity. If she found herself assaulted by any temptation, she immediately sought the advice of the abbess, who often on such occasions assigned to her some humbling and painful penitential labor, which she would execute to perfection. Once she moved a pile of great rocks from one place to another, continuing for thirty days with wonderful simplicity, until the devil, vanquished by her humble obedience, left her in peace. She became powerful over the demons, and delivered many possessed persons. She cured a child who was paralyzed, deaf and dumb, making the sign of the cross over him and saying, May He who created you, heal you!  She delivered a woman from possession by the devil. Moreover, before she died, the abbess of St. Euphrasia’s monastery reported having had a vision of St. Euphrasia transported to God’s throne, surrounded by angels. St. Euphrasia was favored with other miracles also and said to perform miracles before and after her death. St. Euphrasia died on March 13, 410 at the age of 30 in The Thebaid, Egypt. After her death, she was venerated as a saint.

PRAYER: Hear us, O God, our Saviour: that as we rejoice in the feast of blessed Euphrasia, Thy Virgin: so we may be taught by its devotion towards Thee. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son who lives and reigns with Thee in they unity of the Holy Ghost God world without end…Amen🙏