MEMORIAL OF SAINT FELIX OF VALOIS, CO-FOUNDER; SAINT BERNWARD, BISHOP; SAINT EDMUND THE MARTYR AND BLESSED MARIA FORTUNATA VITI, RELIGIOUS – FEAST DAY ~ NOVEMBER 20TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Felix of Valois, Co-Founder; Saint Bernward, Bishop; Saint Edmund the Martyr and Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mental and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and we pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for torture victims, the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable in our communities and around the world.
SAINT FELIX OF VALOIS, CO-FOUNDER OF THE TRINITARIAN ORDER: St. Felix of Valois, the companion of St. John of Matha in founding the Trinitarian Order for the redemption of Muslim captives. St. Felix died in 1212, in Cerfroid. The Trinitarian Order’s motto inscribed in the heart of Trinitarians is, “Gloria Tibi Trinitas et captivis libertas.” (Glory to you O Trinity and liberty to the captives.). Saint Felix of Valois was born on April 16, 1127, a hermit and a co-founder (with Saint John of Matha) of the Trinitarian Order. St. Felix together with John of Matha founded the Order of Trinitarians for liberating captured Christians from Saracen (Muslim) slavery. He belonged to the royal family of Valois. The breviary recounts several marvelous events from his life. As a boy he frequently gave away his clothes to clothe the naked. He pleaded for the life of a murderer condemned to death and foretold that he would reform and lead a highly edifying life-which prophecy proved true. With St. John of Matha he journeyed to Rome at the bidding of an angel and requested permission from Pope Innocent III to found a religious Order (1198). During holy Mass the Pope was granted a revelation regarding the proposed foundation; an angel appeared to him clothed in white with a red and blue cross. At Innocent’s bidding the Order took the name of the Blessed Trinity. Margaret of Blois granted the order 20 acres of the wood where Felix had built his first hermitage, and on almost the same spot he erected the famous Monastery of Cerfroid, the mother-house of the institute. Within forty years the order possessed six hundred monasteries in every part of Europe. St Felix remained in France and founded a house in Paris.
In the newly-founded monastery at Cerfroi, Felix was favored with a visit by the Blessed Virgin. During the night preceding the feast of Mary’s Nativity all the brethren slept through Matins by a special divine dispensation. Felix alone appeared at choir, where he found the Blessed Virgin clothed in the habit of the Trinitarians, accompanied by a great throng of angels similarly dressed. United with them, with Mary as choir leader, Felix recited the Office as usual. When he was about to leave the earthly choirs to join those of heaven, an angel foretold to him the day of his departure; he admonished his brethren to persevere in love toward captives and the poor. St. Felix died amongst his fellow Trinitarians at their motherhouse in Cerfroid on November 4, 1212, mature in age and merit and was canonized by Pope Urban IV on May 1, 1262.
Saint Felix of Valois, Co-Founder of the Trinitarian Order ~ Pray for us 🙏
SAINT BERNWARD, BISHOP: Saint Bernward served as the thirteenth Bishop of Hildesheim, Germany during the middle of the tenth century. His grandfather was Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. After having lost his parents, Bernward was sent to live with his uncle Volkmar, Bishop of Utrecht. His uncle enlisted the assistance of Thangmar, the pious and learned director of the cathedral school at Heidelberg, for the boy’s education. Under the instruction of Thangmar, Bernward made rapid progress in Christian piety as well as in the sciences. He became very proficient in mathematics, painting, architecture, and particularly in the manufacture of ecclesiastical vessels and ornaments of silver and gold.
Saint Bernward completed his studies at Mainz, where he was then ordained a priest. In leiu of being placed in the diocese of his uncle, Bishop Volkmar, he chose to remain near his grandfather, Athelbero, to comfort him in his old age. Upon his grandfather’s death in 987, he became chaplain in the imperial court, and the Empress-Regent Theophano quickly appointed him to be tutor of her son Otto III, who was only six years old at the time. Bernward remained at the imperial court until 993, when he was elected Bishop of Hildesheim. His knowledge and practice of the arts were entirely employed in the service of the Church. A man of extraordinary piety, he was devoted to prayer as well as the practice of mortification. Shortly before his death in 1022 he was vested in the Benedictine habit. He was canonized by Pope Celestine III in 1193.
PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Bernward as Bishop in Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the Faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen. Saint Bernward, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏
SAINT EDMUND THE MARTYR: Saint Edmund was born in 841 and died on November 20, 869, Martyred king of the East Angles. He was elected king in 855 at the age of fourteen and began ruling Suffolk, England, the following year. Of his life little is known. In the year 869 the Danes, who had been wintering at York, marched through Mercia into East Anglia and took up their quarters at Thetford. The Danes invaded Edmund’s realm, Edmund engaged them fiercely in battle, but the Danes under their leaders Ubba and Inguar were victorious and remained in possession of the field of battle. He was captured at Hone, in Suffolk. After extreme torture, Edmund was beheaded and died calling upon Jesus. He was ultimately buried at Beadoricesworth (now Bury St. Edmund’s, West Suffolk), where his shrine became famous. His shrine brought about the town of Bury St. Edmund’s. He is depicted as crowned and robed as a monarch, holding a scepter, orb, arrows, or a quiver. He’s Patron Saint against plague; pandemics; torture victims, wolves, various kings, the Roman Catholic diocese of East Anglia, England, English county of Suffolk, Douai Abbey, Toulouse.
Saint Edmund the Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏
BLESSED MARIA FORTUNATA VITI, RELIGIOUS: Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti (1827–1922) was born in Italy, the eldest daughter of nine children. Her father had a gambling and alcohol addiction, and her mother died when she was 14 years old. Maria then cared for her younger siblings and worked as a housekeeper to earn money for the family as her father sunk deeper into his addiction. Maria rejected an offer for marriage, deciding instead to become a Benedictine nun at the age of 24. Sr. Maria Fortunata, illiterate her entire life, spent more than seventy years in the monastery as a housekeeper attending to the washing, sewing, and other simple tasks, which was her path to holiness. She was admired for her great simplicity of heart, and her confessor testified that she was often accosted by the devil with threats, physical attacks, and vile insults in attempts to break her virtue. She had great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and made frequent visits to the chapel tabernacle as she carried out her daily tasks. She died at the age of 95, and after her death miracles were reported at her grave. She is a patron saint against poverty, temptations, loss of parents, and mental illness. Her feast day is November 20th.
Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti, Religious ~ Pray for us 🙏