The
Complete Roman Martyrology for Daily Reflection
The Complete Martyrology in
English
for Daily Reflection
The
following is the complete text of the Roman Martyrology circa 1900 A.D.
Many more Saints and Martyrs have since been entered into this calendar
commemorating the heroic Faith, the holy deeds, the exemplary lives,
and in many cases the glorious deaths of these Milites Christi,
or Soldiers of Christ, who gave every fiber of their being to God, for
His glory, for the sanctification of His Holy Catholic Church, for the
conversion of sinners both at home and in partibus infidelium
1, for the salvation of souls, and for the culmination of
the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even as He had last
commanded His holy Apostles:
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"Euntes
ergo docete omnes gentes: baptizantes eos in nomine Patris,
et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.
Docentes eos servare omnia quæcumque mandavi vobis."
"Going therefore, teach all nations: baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you." (St. Matthew 28.19-20)
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While the the Martyrology presented
is itself complete, it nevertheless does not present us with great detail
concerning the lives of those whose names are forever indited therein,
still less the complete circumstances surrounding and leading up to
their martyrdom. For greater detail of their lives, the sources now
available on the Internet are extensive and we encourage you to explore
them.2 As it stands, the Martyrology is eminently suited
to a brief daily reflection, that will inspire us to greater fervor,
even to imitate these conspicuously holy men and women in whatever measure
our state in life affords us through the grace and providence of Almighty
God. What more salutary and beneficial way to begin ones day, every
day, than by the reading of, and asking intercession from, "the Martyrs
whose blood is the seed of the Church"? 3
Beginning January 1st 2012 -
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - we began presenting the
Daily Martyrology on our home page. We hope that you will make new and
holy acquaintances and be inspired by their example to lead lives of
heroic sanctity ... the vocation to which all of us are called
by our Holy Mother the Church, the Bride of Christ.
Omnes
sancti Mártyres, oráte pro nobis. ("All
ye Holy Martyrs, pray for us", from the Litaniae Sanctorum, the
Litany of the Saints)
Geoffrey K. Mondello
for the Boston Catholic Journal
Roman Martyrology by Month
INTRODUCTION TO THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY
by
J. Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Baltimore
THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY is an official and accredited record,
on the pages of which are set forth in simple and brief, but impressive
words, the glorious deeds of the Soldiers of Christ in all ages of the
Church; of the illustrious Heroes and Heroines of the Cross, whom her
solemn verdict has beatified or canonized. In making up this long roll
of honor, the Church has been actuated by that instinctive wisdom with
which the Spirit of God, who abides in her and teaches her all truth,
has endowed her, and which permeates through and guides all her actions.
She is the Spouse of Christ, without spot or wrinkle or blemish, wholly
glorious and undefiled, whom He loved, for whom He died, and to whom
He promised the Spirit of Truth, to comfort her in her dreary pilgrimage
through this valley of tears, and to abide with her forever. She is
one with Him in Spirit and in love, she is subject to Him in all things;
she loves what He loves, she teaches and practices what He commands.
If the world has its "Legions
of Honor," why should not also the Church of the Living God, the pillar
and the ground of the truth? If men who have been stained with blood,
and women who have been tainted with vice, have had their memory consecrated
in prose and in verse, and monuments erected to their memory, because
they exhibited extraordinary talents, achieved great success, or were,
to a greater or less extent, benefactors of their race in the temporal
order, which passeth away, why should not the true Heroes and Heroines
of Jesus, who, imitating His example, have overcome themselves, risen
superior to and trampled upon the world, have aspired, in all their
thoughts, words, and actions, to a heavenly crown, and have moreover
labored with disinterested zeal and self-forgetting love for the good
of their fellow-men, have their memories likewise consecrated and embalmed
in the minds and hearts of the people of God? If time have its heroes,
why should not eternity; if man, why should not God? "Thy friends, O
Lord, are exceedingly honored; their principality is exceedingly exalted."
Whom His Father so dearly loved, the world crucified; whom the world
neglects, despises, and crucifies, God, through His Church, exceedingly
honors and exalts. Their praises are sung forth, with jubilation of
heart, in the Church of God for ages on ages.
The wisdom of the Church of God
in honoring her Saints is equaled only by the great utility of the practice
thus consecrated. The Saints are not merely heroes; they are models.
Christ lived in them, and Christ yet speaks through them. They were
the living temples of the Holy Ghost, in whose mortal bodies dwelt all
the riches of His wisdom and grace. They were in life consecrated human
exemplars of divine excellence and perfection. Their example still appeals
to our minds and to our hearts, more eloquently even than did their
words to the men of their own generation, while they were in the tabernacle
of the flesh. Though dead, they still speak. Their relics are instinct
with sanctity, and through them they continue to breathe forth the sweet
odor of Christ. The immortality into which they have entered still lingers
in their bones, and seems to breathe in their mortal remains. As many
an ardent, spirit has been induced to rush to the cannon's mouth by
reading the exploits of earthly heroes, so many a generous Christian
soul has been fired with heavenly ardor, and been impelled to rush to
the crown of martyrdom, by reading the lives and heroic achievements
of the Saints and Martyrs of Christ. Example, in its silent appeal,
is more potent in its influence on the human heart and conduct than
are words in their most eloquent utterances.
The Church knows and feels all
this, in the Spirit of God with whom she is replenished ; and hence
she sets forth, with holy joy and exultant hope, her bright and ever-increasing
Calendar of Sanctity of just men and women made perfect and rendered
glorious, under her unearthly and sublime teachings. In reading this
roll of consecrated holiness, our instinctive conclusion is, precisely
that which the great soul of St. Augustine reached at the very crisis
of his life, the moment of his conversion "If other men like me have
attained to such sanctity, why not I? Shall the poor, the afflicted,
the despised of the World, bear away the palm of victory, the crown
of immortality, while I lie buried in my sloth and dead in my sins,
and thus lose the brilliant and glorious mansion already prepared for
me in heaven? Shall all the gifts, which God has lavished upon me, be
ingloriously spent and foolishly wasted, in the petty contest for this
world's evanescent honors and riches, while the poor and contemned lay
up treasures in heaven, and secure the prize of immortal glory? Shall
others be the friends of God, whom He delights to honor, while I alone
remain His enemy, and an alien from His blessed Kingdom?"
It is a consoling evidence of
progress in the spiritual life in this country to find the Martyrology
here published, for the first time, in English, and thereby made accessible,
in its rich treasures of Sanctity, to all classes of our population.
It will prove highly edifying and useful, not only to the members of
our numerous religious Communities of both sexes, but also to the laity
generally. Every day has here its record of Sanctity; and there is scarcely
a Christian, no matter how lowly or how much occupied, who may not be
able to daily peruse, with faith and with great profit, the brief page
of each day's models of Holiness. These belong to all classes and callings
of life; from the throne to the hovel, from the Pontiff to the lowest
cleric, from the philosopher to the peasant, from the busy walks of
life to the dreary wastes of the desert.
Let all, then, procure and read
daily the appropriate portions of this Martyrology. Its daily and pious
perusal will console us in affliction, will animate us in despondency,
will make our souls glow with the love of God in coldness, and will
lift up our minds and hearts from this dull and ever-changing earth
to the bright and everlasting mansions prepared for us in Heaven!
Imprimatur, J.
Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Baltimore, Maryland 1916
Printable PDF Version
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1 "in the lands
of the unbelievers"
2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_martyr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Catholic_martyrs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Catholic_martyrs_of_the_English_Reformation
3 Tertullian (160-240
A.D.) Apologeticus, Chapter 50
ROMAN MARTROLOGY
JANUARY 1st
The First Day of January
The Circumcision of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Octave of His Nativity.
At Rome, St. Almachius, martyr,
who, by the command of Alipius, governor of the city, was
killed by the gladiators for saying, "Today is the Octave
of our Lord's birth; put an end to theworship of idols,
and abstain from unclean sacrifices."
In the same city, on the Appian way, the crowning with martyrdom
of thirty holy soldiers, under
the emperor Diocletian.
Also at Rome, under the emperor Alexander,
St. Martina, virgin, who endured
various kinds of torments, and being beheaded, received
the palm of martyrdom. Her feast is kept on the 30th of
this month.
At Spoleto, in the time of the emperor Antoninus,
St. Concordius, priest and
martyr, who was beaten with
clubs, and then put to the torture. After a long confinement
in prison, where he was visited by an angel, he lost his
life by the sword.
The same day, St. Magnus,
martyr.
At Caesarea, in Cappadocia, the demise of
St. Basil, bishop, whose festival
is kept on the 14th of June, the date of his consecration
as bishop.
In Africa, St. Fulgentius,
bishop of Buspoe, who suffered much from the Arians during
the persecution of the Vandals, for holding the Catholic
faith and teaching its excellent doctrine. After being banished
to Sardinia, he was permitted to return to his diocese,
where he ended his life by a holy death, leaving a reputation
for sanctity and eloquence.
At Chieti, in Abruzzo, the birthday* of
St. Justin, bishop of that
city, illustrious for holiness of life and miracles.
In the diocese of Lyons, in the monastery of St. Claude,
St. Eugendus,
abbot, whose life was eminent for virtues and miracles.
At Souvigny, St. Odilo, abbot
of Cluny, who was the first to prescribe that the commemoration
of all the
faithful departed should be made in his monasteries the
day after the feast of All Saints. This practice was afterwards
received and approved by the universal Church.
In Tuscany, on Mount Senario blessed
Bonfilius, confessor, one of the seven founders of
the Order of the Servites of the blessed Virgin Mary, who,
herself, suddenly called her devout servant to heaven.
At Alexandria, the departure from this world of
St. Euphrosyna, virgin, who
was renowned in her monastery for the virtue of abstinence,
and the gift of miracles. And in other
places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and virgins.
Omnes sancti Mártyres, oráte
pro nobis. ("All ye Holy Martyrs, pray for us", from
the Litaniae Sanctorum, the Litany of the Saints)
Answer. Thanks be to God.
N. B. The reading of the Martyrology is always terminated
in this manner.
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