Martyrs — (d. ca. 250)
Their story
+ What we know of these Egyptian martyrs comes from a letter written by Saint Dionysius of Alexandria.
+ The martyrs suffered for their faith in Christ during a persecution of the emperor Decius. Many of the martyrs were driven from their homes or fled into the desert where they died of hunger, thirst or exposure.
+ Many of the Christians were also sold into slavery, although Dionysius relates that a few of them had been ransomed at the time he wrote the letter.
+ Among the martyrs mentioned by name was the elderly bishopof Nilopolis, Chaerymon, who was taken with his wife into the mounts of Arabia and never heard from again.
+ Also mentioned was Ischyrion, a procurator of a magistrate, possibly from Alexandria. The magistrate ordered Ischyrion to offer sacrifice to the gods, but he refused and was subsequently tortured and killed.
Spiritual bonus
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the first American citizen to be declared a saint. Honored as the patron saint of immigrants, she was canonized in 1946.
Quote
“Many are the trials of the just, but from them all the Lord will rescue them. The Lord will keep guard over all their bones; not one of their bones shall be broken.”—Psalm 34:20-21
Prayer
Almighty ever-living God, who gave Saints Chaerymon and Ischyrion the grace of suffering for Christ, come, in your divine mercy, we pray, to the help of our own weakness, that, as your Saints did not hesitate to die for your sake, we, too, may live bravely in confessing you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Martyrs—For Several Martyrs
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...