Capuchin Friars and Martyrs (d. 1638)
Their story
+ Agathangelo Noury was born in France in 1598. He entered the Capuchin Franciscans in 1619.
+ Beginning in 1629, he began serving as a missionary and was eventually appointed superior of the friars’ mission in Cairo, Egypt. There he worked to bring Coptic Christians into union with Rome.
+ In 1637 he was sent to establish a new mission in Ethiopia. He chose Father Cassian Lopes-Netto as his assistant.
+ Cassian was was born in Nantes, France, in 1607, and professed vows as a Capuchin in 1623.
+ After a few months of missionary activity, the two friars were captured and subsequently martyred in the city of Gondar in 1638. According to one account, they were hanged with the cords of their religious habit.
+ Blessed Agathanagelo and Blessed Cassian were beatified in 1905.
Spiritual Bonus
On November 18, 2017, Father Solanus Casey, a member of the same Order to which Blesseds Agathangelo and Cassian belonged, will be beatified in Detroit, Michigan. Father Solanus spent the majority his life serving the poor in Indiana and Michigan and was celebrated for his humility and hospitality. To learn more, vist www.solanuscasey.org.
Quote
“Holy men shed their glorious blood for the Lord; they loved Christ in their life, they imitated him in their death, and therefore were crowned in triumph.”—Entrance Antiphon for the Mass from the “Common of Several Martyrs Outside the Easter Season”
Prayer
God our Father, you made your holy martyrs Agathangelo and Cassian outstanding defenders of the Catholic Faith. Through their prayers grant that all nations may be united in the one true faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Prayer found at www.capuchin.org)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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