Skip to main content

MARTYRS OF BULGARIA - 23 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 23rd of July

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

THE MARTYRS OF BULGARIA 

The Bulgarian state was founded in the Balkans in 680 by the proto-Bulgarians, a militant Turkic tribe. However, the country was mainly populated by local Slavic tribes that had established themselves much earlier in the region. 

THE CHRISTIAN POPULATION

To a large extent these tribes were already Christians. This Christian population was further increased when the great Bulgarian Khan Krum the Terrible (802-14) captured many Byzantine Christians and brought them back with him as slaves.

THEY ARE CONSIDERED MARTYRS

During the war between Khan Krum and his Bulgarians, who were not yet Christians, and the Greek Emperor Nikephoros I (802-11), many Christians were killed for their faith, in addition to those who fell in battle. There is much uncertainty about the exact circumstances, but they have always been considered martyrs. Their memorial day is July 23.

(Source: Fr Per Einar Odden -

http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/martbulg)

***

THE MARTYRS' ENTRY IN THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY

In Bulgaria, many holy martyrs whom the impious emperor Nicephorus, whilst he was devastating the churches of God, put to death in various ways: by the sword, the halter, arrows, long imprisonment, and starvation.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

JACQUES HAMEL, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 26 JULY

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY Saints celebrated on the 26th of July WELCOME! SERVANT OF GOD JACQUES HAMEL, PRIEST AND MARTYR "Jacques Hamel (30 November 1930 - 26 July 2016) was a French Catholic priest who served in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. On July 26, 2016, Hamel was murdered during the 2016 Normandy church attack by two Muslim men pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant while he celebrated Mass in his church." (From Wikipedia) Father Hamel, 85, still officiated regularly as auxiliary at the church in St Étienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, Normandy, France, and in neighbouring Elbeuf, local media reported, stepping in when the parish’s regular priest, Father Auguste Moanda-Phuati, was busy. Father Hamel  was killed by two men armed with knives during Weekday Mass. They who took five people, Fr Hamel, two nuns and two other worshippers, hostage in the church. The two men were later shot by police. Three hostages were freed unharmed but one was in a cri...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more