June Saints

Feast of St. Justin, 2nd-century martyr and Father of the Church

St. Justin was an avid lover of the truth and one of the greatest apologists in the early Church. He was sentenced to death under the persecution of Marcus Aurelius in 165 A.D.

"We are slain with the sword, but we increase and multiply; the more we are persecuted and destroyed, the more are deaf to our numbers. As a vine, by being pruned and cut close, shoots forth new suckers, and bears a greater abundance of fruit; so is it with us." ~ St. Justin

St. Justin, please pray for us! 

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The Feast of St. Charles Lwanga

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions were martyrs for the faith that died in Namugongo, Uganda from 1885-1887. St. Charles and his companions were beatified in 1920 and canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

When the corrupt Ugandan King Mwanga began persecuting Christians, he questioned several of his pages if they were insisting on keeping their faith. 15 Christians, between the ages of 13 and 25, stepped forward and answered in unison, “Until death!”

On June 3, 1886, St. Charles Lwanga and the others were burnt at the stake. There were 22 protomartyrs in all from 1885-1887, with 100 Christians being tortured and killed during King Mwanga’s reign.

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, please pray for us! 

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The Feast of St. Boniface

​​​​​​​The Church celebrates the feast of St. Boniface, a seventh-century monk known for his remarkable ability to understand and use the local customs and culture of the day to bring people to Christ.

Sent as a missionary to Germany in 719, he destroyed idols and pagan temples and built churches in their place. As archbishop of Mainz, he continued to reform and develop churches. One story about St. Boniface tells of his encounter with a tribe in Saxony that was worshipping a Norse deity in the form of a huge oak tree. He walked up to the tree with an axe, and without speaking a word, he chopped it down. Then he stood on the trunk and asked, "How stands your mighty god? My God is stronger than he.”

He was martyred on June 5, 754, while on mission in Holland. A group of pagans attacked and killed St. Boniface and his 52 companions. It is said that he held up his Bible as the attackers approached, and a sword pierced through his Bible and fatally wounded him. This is why he is often pictured with a book pierced by a sword.

St. Boniface, thank you for your courage and determination! Please, pray for us! 

The Feast of St. Barnabas the Apostle

The Church celebrates the memory of St. Barnabas the Apostle, a missionary among Christ's earliest followers. He was responsible for welcoming St. Paul into the Church. While St. Barnabas is not one of the 12 apostles chosen by the Lord, he is traditionally regarded as one of the 72 disciples of Christ and one of the most respected men in the first century Church.

Barnabas radically committed himself to the teachings of Jesus. He sold the large estate he had inherited, gave the funds to the Church and joined the other apostles in shepherding the Church and spreading the gospel. Both Paul and Barnabas received a calling from God to become the “Apostles of the Gentiles.” St. Luke describes Barnabas as "a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith" (Acts 11:24).

St. Barnabas, please pray for us! 

The Feast of St. Anthony of Padua

We honor St. Anthony of Padua, a 13th-century Franciscan priest. While today he is most commonly known as the patron saint of lost items, in his own day he was known as the “Hammer of Heretics” for the powerful witness of his life and his preaching.

St. Anthony was born as Ferdinand in Lisbon, Portugal. When he joined a Franciscan monastery in 1221, he took the name Anthony, after the fourth-century desert monk St. Anthony of Egypt. He fully dedicated himself to preaching boldly as a missionary in France, Italy and Spain.

He also had a reputation as a worker of miracles. He became the patron saint of lost things because of his own experience losing an item. He prayed that God would return his missing psalter, containing years of notes that he referenced in his teaching. God answered his prayer and the thief who stole his Psalter returned it to him.

St. Anthony, please pray for us, that we may be brought back to God when we lose our way.

The Feast of St. Romuald, eleventh-century founder of the Camaldolese monastic order

​​​​​​​Working within the Western Church’s Benedictine tradition, he revived the practice of hermit life, striving for greater solitude from within a communal environment.
At a young age, St. Romuald was shocked by an act of murder committed by his father. He journeyed to the Monastery of St. Apollinaris to do 40 days of penance for his father. These 40 days became a foundation for St. Romuald's continued life of penance, confirming his monastic calling.

“Realize above all that you are in God’s presence, and stand there with the attitude of one who stands before the emperor. Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what his mother brings him.” ~ St. Romuald

St. Romuald, please pray for us! 

The Feast of St. Aloysius

We remember St. Aloysius, a 16th-century Italian noble. He had a great desire to know and serve God, even from a young age. He described the nobility of Florence as a society "of fraud, dagger, poison and lust of the most hideous kind."

St. Aloysius renounced his nobility, signed away his inheritance and was received into the Jesuit novitiate. In 1591, a plague struck Rome. The Jesuits opened a hospital of their own where St. Aloysius nursed patients, washing them and making their beds, at great risk to his own health.

At the age of 23, Aloysius was infected with the plague and died shortly thereafter.

St. Aloysius, thank you for your sacrifice. Please pray for us! 

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The Feast of St. Paulinus of Nola and Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More, Martyrs

St. Paulinus gave up a life in politics to become a monk, a bishop and a revered Christian poet in the 5th century. Pope Benedict XVI described St. Paulinus as being "distinguished by special attention to the poor" and "a bishop with a great heart who knew how to make himself close to his people in the sorrowful trials of the barbarian invasion."

St. John Fisher was a highly reputed preacher, intellectual, author and tutor to Prince Henry VIII. He was elected Chancellor of Cambridge University in 1504, the same year he became the Bishop of Rochester. He was known for his simple lifestyle and his zeal for true and proper theology.

St. Thomas More was a lawyer, author and statesman. Highly educated, St. Thomas knew several ancient and modern languages and was well-versed in mathematics, music and literature. He became the protege of Archbishop John Morton and eventually assumed the position of Lord Chancellor himself, despite never joining the clergy. As a part of King Henry VIII's inner circle, More even authored a book published in the king's name, defending Catholic doctrine against Martin Luther. St. Thomas More is also a patron saint of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee.

The martyrdom of Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More came as a result of the king's tragic downfall. Pope Clement VII declared Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon as valid and indissoluble. In defiance, the king declared that all under his rule must swear an oath affirming the validity of his new marriage to Anne Boleyn and the supremacy of his authority over the Pope, under threat of treason.

Refusing to comply with the king's "Act of Supremacy," Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More were martyred.

Sts. Paulinus, John Fisher, and Thomas More, pray for us! 

The Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

​​​​​​​On June 24, we celebrate the birth and life of St. John the Baptist. Jesus called John the greatest of all those who had preceded him: “I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John.” (Luke 7:28a)

And yet, St. John would have agreed completely with what Jesus added: “Yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:28b) John spent his time in the desert, an ascetic. He prepared the way of Christ by announcing the coming of the Kingdom, calling everyone to repentance. John was remarkably humble, considering himself not worthy even to untie the sandals of Jesus. “He must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

St. John the Baptist, please pray for us! 

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The Feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria

St. Cyril of Alexandria was an Egyptian bishop, theologian, Church Father and Doctor of the Church. He is known for his role in the Council of Ephesus which confirmed that Christ is both God and man in one person.

Most likely born in Alexandria between 370 and 380, St. Cyril was well educated and may have been a monk, according to some evidence that we have. In 412, St. Cyril was chosen to succeed Theophilus as the leader of the Egyptian church. Despite much opposition, St. Cyril remained steadfast in defending Catholic orthodoxy.

St. Cyril of Alexandria, please pray for us! 

The feast of St. Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

Irenaus was born in one of the maritime provinces of Asia Minor where the memory of the apostles was still cherished. His biggest influence was St. Polycarp, who had known the apostles or their immediate disciples.

The writings of St. Irenaeus have placed him in a high place among the fathers of the Church. His writings not only laid the foundations of Christian theology but, also exposed the errors of the gnostics.

St. Irenaeus, please pray for us! 

The Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles

Together, they are the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, ministry and martyrdom.

St. Peter, who was named Simon, was a fisherman of Galilee. Jesus gave him the name Cephas, which means rock, because he was to become the rock upon which Christ would build His Church. Peter was a bold follower, the first to recognize Jesus as "the Messiah, the Son of the living God." After Christ's death, resurrection and ascension, Peter lead the Apostles and the early Church as the first Pope. He was martyred in the year 64, crucified upside-down at his own request, claiming to be unworthy to die as his Lord died.

St. Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles. His letters make up a large portion of the New Testament, through which we learn much about his life and the early Church. Before receiving the name Paul, he was Saul, a Jewish Pharisee who zealously persecuted Christians in Jerusalem. Scripture records that Saul was present at the martyrdom of St. Stephen. Jesus encountered him on the road to Damascus, asking him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He was baptized, took the name Paul and spent the rest of his life spreading the gospels to the Gentiles. He was imprisoned and beheaded in the year 67.

Sts. Peter and Paul, thank you for your leadership and sacrifice for the early the Church. Please, pray for us!