ST FINA, VIRGIN - 12 MARCH

SAINT FINA, VIRGIN

[She is the patron saint of those suffering from pressure sores.] Saint Fina [Seraphina, Serafina] was the daughter of poor but noble parents in Hetruria, and a humble, chaste virgin, dead to "self". Though poor herself, she did all she could in charity to the poor, depriving herself of some of her meal daily to feed a starving man.

HER ILLNESS

During a most tedious and protracted illness she showed wonderful patience, during which she once saw the devil in the form of a huge serpent. She drove him away by the Sign of the Cross.

[In those days the bedridden used to be nursed on a wooden board, due to the problems associated with the amount of labour-intensive laundry caused by a person being completely bedbound. St Lidwina, too, was nursed on a board.] Fina could no longer get up from the hard board on which she was lying, she was plagued by pressure sores, her rotting body clung firmly to it.

ST GREGORY THE GREAT APPEARED TO HER

In one apparition St Gregory the Great assured her that she would die on March 12. On the date announced by the Saint, in 1253, Fina passed away. The bells announced the event by beginning to ring of their own accord; the foul odour of her body turned into the most delicious fragrance; everywhere the most beautiful flowers sprouted from the rotten board and formed a bed for her corpse.

MIRACLES

At her grave many sick people were healed, the mute began to speak, demoniacs freed from the devil and a boy raised from the dead.

Some mistook St Fina for a nun according to the Rule of St Benedict, while she only led as monastic a life as possible in her father's house, which even before her illness she never left except to hear the Holy Mass, or when otherwise the greatest necessity pressed. She is particularly venerated in Sangeminiano, a town in Tuscany.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 371)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Fina may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

WELCOME

Please pick your saints: January - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 February - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ...

BL. LUKE KIRBY, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED LUKE KIRBY, PRIEST AND MARTYR 16th century houses, painted by Auguste Mayer He was born in the bishopric of Durham, according to Raissius ; others say at Richmond, in Yorkshire. He was master of arts in one of our universities; but going abroad to Douay, in Flanders, was received into the English college there, 1576, and made priest in 1577; and the year following sent upon the mission. Where he had not been long before he again went abroad, and travelled to Rome, partly for devotion, and partly for further improvement in learning. Here he remained in the English college till 1580, when he returned into England, and was not long after apprehended: for I find by a printed diary of things transacted in the Tower of London from 1580 till 1585, that on the 5th of December, 1580, Luke Kirby, Thomas Cottam , and other priests, were brought to the Tower from other prisons; and that these two, on the 10th...

BL. RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR Richard Newport, alias Smith , was born in Northamptonshire and performed his studies abroad, partly in the college of Rheims (if he be the Richard Smith whom I find in the Douay diary sent to Rome in 1586) and partly in that of Rome, where he was made priest. From thence he was sent upon the English mission, and behaved himself in such a manner as justly to acquire the character of a laborious missionary; being withal remarkably successful in bringing home many strayed sheep to the fold of Christ, to which his apostolical way of living did not a little contribute. He was several times apprehended and cast into prison, and twice banished. His name occurs amongst those who were transported in 1606; at which time, we are told, he took that opportunity of making a pilgrimage to Rome, there to pour forth his prayers at the tombs of the apostles, in behalf of thi...

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

Search This Blog