Commemoration of Saints (March 28)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Guntramnus
• Tutilo [1]
• Hesychius of Jerusalem, priest [3]

St. Guntramnus (d. ca. 592 A.D.) was the King of Burgundy and part of Aquitaine in 561 A.D. A record of his life was according to St. Gregory of Tours. St. Guntramnus endowed churches and monasteries and was a just ruler who supported three synods and worked to improve clerical discipline. Even if in his personal life he divorced his wife and had the doctor of another's wife killed, he spent the later years of his life doing penance for his misdeeds [2].

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [March 28]

• Hilary, Monk and St. Stephen, wonderworker
• St. Jonas and his brother, St. Barachisius of Bethasa, Martyrs [2]

St. Hilary or St. Hilarion, spent many years as a hermit and then was ordained to the priesthood. He was then made hegumen of Pelekete monastery near the Dardanelles in the 8th century A.D. St. Hilary had the gifts of clairvoyance and was a wonderworker. St. Stephen or St. Stephen the Confessor, was the hegumen of Triglia monastery in Constantinople, who suffered under the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Armenian. Since he did not want to obey the Emperor's iconoclastic policies and adhered to the orthodoxy of the Christian faith, he was denounced and sent to prison in 815 A.D. St. Stephen was weakened and got sick because of imprisonment and died in prison as a result of his sufferings [4].

References: Books, Websites & AI Search Results

• [1] Pocket Catholic Dictionary, John A. Hardon
• [2] Dictionary of Saints, John J. Delaney
• [3] Lives of the Saints, Richard P. McBrien
• [4] Mar. 28 Our Venerable Father Hilary the Younger & The Holy Stephen the Wonder-worker, by Byzantinela.com

Commemoration of Saints (March 27)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• John of Egypt
• Rupert of Salzburg [1]

St. John of Egypt (ca. 304-394 A.D.) became a carpenter and then a hermit at the age of 25. He was under the spiritual direction of an old anchorite for the next ten years. After the death of his spiritual director, St. John visited several monasteries and then built a hermitage on a hill near Lycopolis. His hermitage was well enclosed with only one window. Soon, he drew huge crowds with his miracles, wisdom & prophecies. He also had the ability to read men's minds and look into their souls. St. John of Egypt became one of the most well-known of the desert hermits. He died in his hermitage which was discovered in 1925 A.D. [2].

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [March 27]

• Matrona of Seluna, Martyr [2]

St. Matrona of Seluna (3rd or 4th century A.D.) or Matrona of Thessalonica, was the servant of Pantilla, a Jewish woman and wife of the governor of Thessalonica. The story of her martyrdom began when Matrona refused to follow Pantilla into the synagogue. As a result, Pantilla beat Matrona so severely that caused Matrona's death a few days later.

References: Books, Websites & AI Search Results

• [1] Pocket Catholic Dictionary, John A. Hardon
• [2] Dictionary of Saints, John J. Delaney
• [3] Matrona of Thessalonica, Orthodoxwiki.org

Commemoration of Saints (March 26)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Castulus, martyr
• Felix of Trier, bishop
• Macartan, bishop
• Braulio, bishop
• Ludger, bishop
• Basil the Younger, hermit [1]

The Catholic Church commemorates 1 martyr, 4 bishops and 1 hermit on March 26. This list is not exhaustive because there are new beati and canonized persons not yet in this list, as in the other previous lists of this Blog.

Featured today is St. Castulus as he is the only martyr in the list. The intercession of martyrs are commonly known as effective and strong. This may be due to the fact that the manner of their death is most configured to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ - a martyrdom for the cause of building the Church.

St. Castulus of Rome (d. ca. 286 A.D.) was the Emperor's chamberlain who sheltered Christians in his home. Before 286 A.D., the edict of Milan was not yet decreed, and so Christians were terribly tortured and sentenced to death. Since St. Castulus worked for the Christian faith by arranging Christian services in the palace and in so doing produced many converts, he was called to answer for this evangelical work for God. A Christian apostate, named Torquatus, denounced Castulus to Fabian, the prefect of the city. St. Castulus was therefore tortured and sentenced to death by being smothered in a pit - dying to receive the eternal crown of life for his martyrdom.

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [March 26]

• Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel [2]

References: Books, Websites & AI Search Results

• [1] Pocket Catholic Dictionary, John A. Hardon
• [2] Dictionary of Saints, John J. Delaney