Memorial of Saints (November 23)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Clement I, pope and martyr
• Columbanus, abbot
• Felicity, martyr
• Amphilochius, bishop
• Gregory, bishop
• Trudo
• Miguel Pro

St. Clement I: (died c. 100 A.D.); under Trajan; fourth bishop of Rome from St. Peter; wrote famous letter to the Corinthians commanding them to seek peace and unity; mentioned in the Roman Canon.

St. Clement I succeeded St. Peter as his third successor. His letter to the Corinthians is the earliest proof that other churches accepted without questioning the authority of the bishop of Rome.

St. Columban or Columbanus: (died 615 A.D.); Irish monk and missionary to France; wrote a strict monastic rule and Penitential; founded monasteries at Luxeuil, Bobbio, and elsewhere; exiled to Italy for denouncing court immortality and lax bishops; died at Bobbio.

St. Columban's Foreign Missionary Society, popularly known as the Columbans, originated in Ireland in 1916 A.D. and chose St. Columban as their patron saint.

In the Byzantine Calender St. Ampilochius and St. Gregory also have their feast days commemorated every November 23. In the Byzantine Churches, St. Ampilochius is known as the Bishop of Iconium, while St. Gregory is known as bishop of Agrigentum.

The Byzantine and Roman Catholic calendars of Saints share a common origin in the early Christian Church but have diverged over time due to historical, theological, and cultural factors.

• Calendar Systems: The Byzantine Church traditionally uses the Julian calendar, while the Roman Catholic Church adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century. This difference can lead to discrepancies in the dates of certain feast days.
• Selection of Saints: The two churches have different criteria for including saints in their calendars. The Byzantine Church tends to include a wider range of saints, including local and regional figures, while the Roman Catholic Church has a more centralized process for canonization.
• Present day Byzantine Churches: Byzantine Churches are represented by the Eastern Orthodox Church, which includes various autocephalous churches such as the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Serbian Orthodox Church. These churches continue to use the Byzantine liturgical calendar and traditions.
• Citations from Google Gemini:
  • Byzantine Architecture
  • Eastern Orthodox Churches
  • Definition of the Byzantine Rite

Blessed Miguel Pro (1891-1927 A.D.) was a Mexican Jesuit priest who was executed by a firing squad on November 23, 1927 A.D., at the order of the violently anticlerical government. He became one of the best known martyrs of the 20th century. He was beatified in 1988 A.D. Many Mexicans were martyred in the 1920s and 1930s during the civil war in Mexico. Most of these martyrs were priests.

(note: It is known that the intercession of the Martyrs, especially against temptation and evil, is an effective prayer. Of all the Saints, the Martyrs' lives, and especially their deaths, are closest in their witnessing to God's saving power in Christ. In the Litany of the Saints, the Martyrs are grouped after the Apostles, and placed before the group of Bishops and Doctors of the Church, signifying their nearness to Christ's sacrifice after the Apostles.)

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