ST BERARD OF CARBIO AND COMPANIONS, RELIGIOUS AND MARTYRS

ST BERARD OF CARBIO AND COMPANIONS, RELIGIOUS AND MARTYRS - 16 JANUARY

SAINT BERARD OF CARBIO AND COMPANIONS, RELIGIOUS AND MARTYRS

Saint Berard (Berardus, also called Beraldus or Gerardus), a native of Carbio in Umbria, and his companions Otto (Otho), a priest, Peter, of the city S. Geminiano in Florentine, Adjutus (Adjutor), and Accursius (Accurtius) were disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1219 he sent them to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in Mauretania for the benefit the of souls of the Mohammedans who lived there.

When the holy friars arrived at Mesquita and began to preach, they were taken to Morocco. There they continued to announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ and even performed miracles in His name for the edification of the amazed crowd that thronged the square where they preached. The authorities, for fear of these holy friars winning people over, had them inhumanly scourged, and doused with boiling oil and vinegar. The martyrs, while being tortured in this way, experienced heavenly consolations. Finally, their heads were split, their bodies hacked to pieces, and thrown into the fields, from where, by another heavenly miracle, no Muslims, but only followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, could move them. Their mortal remains were duly taken away by Christians and honourably buried in Coimbra, Portugal. To this day they can be visited there in the Church of the Holy Cross. The time of their martyrdom falls in the year 1220. These men were the first fruits of the martyrs of the Order of St Francis. Their names are written both in the general Roman Martyrology* and in the special ones for the three orders, then for the Conventuals and Capuchins. Pope Sixtus IV confirmed their public veneration in 1481.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 1, Augsburg, 1858, pp. 445-46)

*A hagiography source used by the authors

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who know how courageously your holy martyrs Berard and Companions confessed the faith, may experience their goodness as they intercede for us with you. 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 ...

FATIMA APPARITION - 13 AUGUST

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 13th of August Marian Feast Days WELCOME! FATIMA APPARITION - AUGUST 13 The Fatima Children “BUT IN THE END MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH.” But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me; it will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world. THE AUGUST 13 EVENTS On August 13, the children were in jail at Ourem. The civil administrator threatened to boil them in oil if they did not tell the Lady’s secret. Though badly frightened, they could not think of disobeying our Lady. In disgust, the administrator finally freed them. A large number of people, not knowing that the children had been kidnapped, went to the Cova for the scheduled appearance of the Lady. At noon, there was a loud clap of thunder. Then, according to an eyewitness: “Right after the thunder came a flash, and immediately we all noticed a little cloud, very white, beautiful and bright,...

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...

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

Search This Blog