Saints of the Week: Candlemas, Blaise, Dallan, Catherine de Ricci, J.Bosco, Brigid, Martina, Takayama Ukon, Marcella, &More

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Happy Sunday! The Christmas season ended this week, and we are now approaching the penitential season of Lent. Our society is currently under attack by demonic forces, but we know that Christ told us demons can be cast out by prayer and fasting (Matt.17:21)—advice the saints we celebrated this past week took to heart.

The feast of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple, also called Candlemas or the Purification of Mary (Feb. 2), commemorates the passage of Luke where Joseph and Mary, to fulfill the Mosaic Law, presented Christ in the Temple, where He was hailed by Sts. Simeon and Anna (Feb. 3).

The second Marian feast this week was Our Lady of Suyapa(Feb. 3), an image of Mary under which she is honored and through which miracles are performed in Honduras.

St. Blaise (Feb. 3) was an Armenian physician and bishop particularly kind to animals, arrested after Romans seeking wild animals for the public execution of Christians found a host of the animals gathered around Blaise’s cave. Blaise ministered to his fellow prisoners and healed a child choking on a fishbone, hence the traditional blessing of throats on his feast. Blaise was supposed to be drowned, but he simply stood on the surface of the water, walking back to land after the pagans failed to accomplish the same feat. He was then beaten, his flesh torn with wool combs, and beheaded. Hugely popular in the past, one of the 14 Holy Helpers.

St. Dallan Forgaill (Jan. 29) was a 6th century Irish royal who went blind but still became the chief bard and poet of Ireland. He preserved Gaelic language and literature, and penned works including the Eulogy of Saint Columba and, most famously, the hymn we know as “Be Thou My Vision.” He was martyred by pirates.

St. Catherine de Ricci (Feb. 2) was born 1522 in Italy. A pious child, she became a Dominican tertiary and always experienced visions and ecstasies—and bad health. She could bilocate (be in two places at once), received a diamond ring from Jesus, and also had the stigmata (wounds of Christ). For 12 years she received weekly ecstasies of the Passion of Christ, with Jesus’s wounds appearing on her body. She reformed her religious house. Crowds flocked to her, and three popes were among those who sought her prayers.

St. John Bosco (Jan. 31) used to evangelize from a young age by performing carnival and circus tricks for his fellow children before repeating to them the homily he heard that day in church. He worked various jobs while attending seminary, and, after his ordination, became a tireless and loving educator and mentor for many young people. John founded the Salesians of Don Bosco to educate boys, and two other organizations. Son of Ven. Margaret Bosco and mentor of St. Dominic Savio.

St. Brigid of Ireland (Feb. 1) was born to a Pictish slave and a Scottish king of Leinster, Ireland. She was freed after her excessive generosity proved too much for her pagan father. She obtained her mother’s freedom, refused marriage, and took religious vows. When St. Patrick was told that he had accidentally used the form for ordaining priests when receiving Brigid’s vows, he said, “So be it, my son, she is destined for great things.” Brigid founded convents across Ireland, was a tireless traveler, and died in 523.

St. Martina of Rome (Jan. 30) was a wealthy Roman virgin who gave away her riches to the poor and dedicated herself to God.

Bl. Iustus Takayama Ukon (Feb. 3): “Born to a family of wealthy land owners in feudal Japan. After learning of Christianity from Jesuit missionaries, he converted at age 12. Married, layman, and a samurai.”