THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY

The Seventeenth Day of September

  1. At Mount Alvernia in Tuscany, the commemoration of the imprinting of the holy Stigmata with which St. Francis, the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, was marked in his hands, feet and side by the wondrous favour of God.
  2. At Rome, the birthday of St. Robert Bellarmine, Confessor, of the Society of Jesus, and Cardinal and also one time Bishop of Capua. He is very famous for his holiness, learning and the many great tasks he performed for the defence of the Catholic faith and of the Apostolic See. Pope Pius XI bestowed on him the honours of the Saints, declared him to be a Doctor of the Universal Church, and appointed May 13 as his festival day.
  3. At Rome, on the Via Tiburtina, the birthday of St. Justin, Priest and Martyr, who was famed for his glorious confession in the per-secution of Valerian and Gallienus. He buried the bodies of blessed Pope Sixtus II, Laurence, Hippolytus and many other saints, and at length consummated martyrdom under Claudius.
  4. Likewise at Rome, the holy martyrs Narcissus and Crescentio.
  5. At Liege in Belgium, blessed Lambert, Bishop of Maastricht, who, in his zeal for religion inveighed against the royal house, was slain in his innocence by the ungodly, and so entered the court of the heavenly kingdom as a victor for ever.
  6. At Saragossa in Spain, St. Peter de Arbues, first Inquisitor of the faith of the Kingdom of Aragon, who was cruelly butchered by relapsed Jews for the sake of that Catholic faith which he had zealously protected by virtue of his office. Pope Pius IX added him to the list of Martyr Saints.
  7. In Britain, the holy martyrs Socrates and Stephen.
  8. At Noyon in France, the holy martyrs Valerian, Macrinus and Gordian.
  9. At Autun, St. Flocellus, a boy, who suffered much under Antoninus the emperor and Valerian the governor, and at last, being torn to pieces by wild beasts, obtained the crown of martyrdom.
  10. At Cordova, St. Columba, Virgin and Martyr.
  11. In Phrygia, St. Ariadne, Martyr, under the Emperor Hadrian.
  12. On the same day, St. Agathoclia, the handmaid of a certain infidel woman, who for a long time afflicted her with stripes and other torments to make her deny Christ. She was last of all brought before the judge and treated with even greater cruelty, and as she persisted in the confession of the faith, her tongue was cut out and she was cast into the fire.
  13. At Milan, the death of St. Satyr, Confessor, whose illustrious merits are commemorated by his brother St. Ambrose.
  14. Near Bingen in the diocese of Mainz, St. Hildegarde, Virgin.
  15. At Rome, St. Theodora, a matron, who zealously ministered to the holy martyrs in the persecution of Diocletian.

And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors and holy virgins. Thanks be to God.

Sep. 16 | Sep. 18
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