SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 18TH

MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOHN I, POPE AND MARTYR, SAINT VENANTIUS OF CAMERINO, MARTYR AND SAINT FELIX OF CANTALICE, RELIGIOUS ~ MAY 18TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint John I, Pope and Martyr, Saint Venantius of Camerino, Martyr and Saint Felix of Cantalice, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from terminal diseases. We also pray for the safety and well-being of the poor and the needy all over the world. We continue to pray for for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world 🙏

SAINT JOHN I, POPE AND MARTYR: Pope John I (died May 18, 526) was the bishop of Rome from August 13, 523 to his death. St. John I was a martyr for the faith, imprisoned and starved to death by a heretical Germanic king during the sixth century. He was a friend of the renowned Christian philosopher Boethius, who died in a similar manner. He was a native of Siena (or the “Castello di Serena”, near Chiusdino), in Italy. The future Pope John I was born in Tuscany, and served as an archdeacon in the Church for several years. He was chosen to become the Bishop of Rome in 523, succeeding Pope St. Hormisdas. He was sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople by the Ostrogoth King Theoderic to negotiate better treatment for Arians. Although St. John was relatively successful, upon his return to Ravenna, Theoderic had him imprisoned for allegedly conspiring with Constantinople. The frail pope died of neglect and ill-treatment.

During his papal reign Italy was ruled by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric. Like many of his fellow tribesmen, the king adhered to the Arian heresy, holding that Christ was a created being rather than the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Arianism had originated in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire during the fourth century, and subsequently spread among the Western Goths. By the sixth century the heresy was weak in the East, but not dead. In 523, the Byzantine Emperor Justin I ordered Arian clergy to surrender their churches into orthodox Catholic hands. In the West, meanwhile, Theodoric was angered by the emperor’s move, and responded by trying to use the Pope’s authority for his own ends. Pope John was thus placed in an extremely awkward position. Despite the Pope’s own solid orthodoxy, the Arian king seems to have expected him to intercede with the Eastern emperor on behalf of the heretics. St. John’s refusal to satisfy King Theodoric would eventually lead to his martyrdom.

St. John did travel to Constantinople, where he was honored as St. Peter’s successor by the people, the Byzantine Emperor, and the Church’s legitimate Eastern patriarchs. (The Church of Alexandria had already separated by this point.) The Pope crowned the emperor, and celebrated the Easter liturgy at the Hagia Sophia Church in April of 526. But while St. John could urge Justin to treat the Arians somewhat more mercifully, he could not make the kind of demands on their behalf that Theodoric expected. The gothic king, who had recently killed St. John’s intellectually accomplished friend Boethius (honored by the Church as St. Severinus Boethius, on Oct. 23), was furious with the Pope when he learned of his refusal to support the Arians in Constantinople. Already exhausted by his travels, the Pope was imprisoned in Ravenna and deprived of food. The death of St. John I came on or around May 18, 526 which became his feast day in the Byzantine Catholic tradition and in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, he is celebrated on May 27, the date on which his exhumed body was returned to Rome for veneration in St. Peter’s Basilica.

PRAYER: God, the rewarder of those faithful to You, on this day You consecrated the martyrdom of Pope St. John. Hear the prayers of Your people and grant that we who venerate his merits may imitate the constancy of his Faith… Amen🙏

SAINT VENANTIUS OF CAMERINO, MARTYR: Saint Venantius was a 15-year old who was tortured, and martyred by decapitation at Camerino during the persecutions of Decius. Martyred with him were 10 other Christians, including the priest Porphyrius, Venantius’ tutor; and Leontius, bishop of Camerino. St. Venantius (died in 250) was born at Camerino in Italy, during the persecution of Decius. He was taken into custody at the age of fifteen years as a Christian who was preaching Christ to others. His history is one of the most miraculous in the annals of the early martyrs. Having learned that he was about to be arrested, he presented himself to the governor of Camerino, Antiochus, at the city gates, and said to him that the lives of the gods were filled with every kind of crime, that there was only one God, whose unique Son had become a man to deliver his fellow humans from the tyranny of sin. When it was found impossible to shake his constancy either by threats or promises, he was condemned to be scourged, but was miraculously saved by an Angel. He was then burnt with torches and suspended over a low fire that he might be suffocated by the smoke. The judge’s secretary, while admiring the steadfastness of the Saint, saw an Angel robed in white, who stamped out the fire and again set free the youthful martyr. This man proclaimed his faith in Christ and was baptized with his whole family. Shortly afterwards he won the martyr’s crown. Venantius was summoned to appear before Antiochus. Unable to make him renounce his faith, the governor cast him into prison with an apostate soldier, who strove in vain to tempt him. Antiochus, furious, then ordered his teeth and jaws to be broken and had him thrown into a furnace, from which the Angel once more delivered him. The Saint was sent to a city magistrate to be condemned, but this judge after hearing his defense of Christianity, fell headlong from his seat and expired, saying, The God of Venantius is the true God; let us destroy our idols.

When this circumstance was told to Antiochus, he ordered Venantius to be thrown to the lions. These brutes, however, forgetting their natural ferocity, crouched at the feet of the Saint. Then, by order of the tyrant, the young martyr was dragged through a heap of brambles and thorns and retired half-dead, but the next day he was cured; God had manifested the glory of His servant once more. On behalf of soldiers who had dragged him outside the city over stones and rocks, and were suffering from thirst, the Saint knelt on a rock and signed it with a cross; immediately a jet of clear, cool water welled up from the spot. This miracle converted many of those who beheld it. The rock remained imprinted by his knees and was placed in a church in Camerino, where it still remains. The governor finally had Venantius and his converts beheaded on the same day, in the year 250. The bodies of these martyrs are kept in the same church at Camerino. The Acts of Saint Venantius’ martyrdom have been carefully studied and declared authentic by the Church

Saint Venantius of Camerino, Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT FELIX  OF CANTALICE, RELIGIOUS: St. Felix (May 18, 1515 – May 18, 1587) was an Italian Capuchin friar of the 16th century. He was the first Capuchin friar to be named a saint. St. Felix was the third of four sons born in Italy in a small village at the foot of Mount Appenine named Cantalice, to a pious but poor parents , whose names were Santi and Sainta Porri. It was not long before the little boy, when he approached the other children, was hailed by them: Here comes Felix, the Saint! He showed a predilection for solitary prayer from his earliest youth, and as a little shepherd used to retire to a quiet place to kneel there and meditate on the Passion of Jesus. At about the age of ten, St. Felix was hired out first as a shepherd to a family at Cittàducale, where he later worked as a farm hand. Until the age of twenty-eight he worked as a farm laborer and shepherd. He developed the habit of praying while he worked. Toward the end of autumn 1543, Felix entered the newly founded Capuchin friars as a lay brother at the Citta Ducale friary in the municipality of Anticoli Corrado and pronounced his vows in 1545. It is said that he was well noted for his piety. In 1547 he was sent to Rome as quaestor of the Capuchin Friary of St. Bonaventure, where he spent his remaining 40 years begging alms for the  community to help in the friars’ work of aiding the sick and the poor. His characteristic words to his companion were: Let us go, my Brother, with rosary in hand, our eyes to the ground and our spirit in heaven. He was of an exquisite politeness, extreme gentleness and great simplicity. The sick persons he visited at night became attached to him, and for his part, he sought them out everywhere in Rome, insofar as obedience permitted.

One day on the street he met two duelists with sword in hand. He begged them to repeat after him, Deo gratias! which finally they did, and after taking him as arbiter of their quarrel, they separated as good friends. Saint Felix met Saint Philip Neri in Rome, and they became friends who wished one another all possible torments for the love of Jesus Christ. They sometimes remained together without speaking for considerable periods, seemingly transported with joy. Saint Felix had a great devotion to the most Blessed Virgin, reciting Her rosary with such tenderness that he could not continue at times. He loved the Holy Name of Jesus, and invited the children he would meet to say it with him. He slept only for about two hours, going afterwards to the church and remaining there in prayer until the office of Prime; then he would serve the first Mass and receive Communion every day.

When he was sick and was given the last Sacraments, he saw the Blessed Virgin and a beautiful troop of Angels coming to fortify him in this last journey. He cried out in joy, and gave up his soul peacefully to his Creator in 1587. Saint Felix died in Rome, Italy on May 18, 1587 on his 72nd birthday and was buried in the crypt of the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. He was canonized by Pope Clement XI in 1712. His body is in the Capuchin Church of Rome; a plenary indulgence is granted to those who, fulfilling the ordinary conditions, visit a church of his Order on his feast day, May 18th.

Saint Felix of Cantalice, Religious ~ Pray for us🙏