Memorial of Saints (September 5)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints on September 5

• Justinian, bishop and confessor;
• Bertinus, abbot
• Teresa of Calcutta

St. Bertinus (d. 700 A.D.) is a native of Contances, France, together with St. Mommolinus and St. Bertrand. They were sent to assist St. Omer, bishop of Therouanne, to evangelize the Morini around Pade-Calais. They built monasteries where Mommolinus became abbot in one monastery. When St. Mommolinus was appointed bishop of Noyon, St. Bertinus was made an abbot in one of the monasteries.

St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997 A.D.) a.k.a. Mother Teresa, was born in Albania and entered the Sisters of Loreto in 1928 A.D. She taught for seventeen years at the Order's school in Calcutta. When she looked out of the window of the school, she suddenly noticed the poor in the streets of Calcutta. This inspired her to have a "second vocation" - to leave the Sisters of Loreto and found an Order dedicated to the sick, the poor and the dying in Calcutta. The Order of the Missionaries of Charity, which she founded, became a pontifical congregation in 1965 A.D. Because of Mother Teresa's commitment to caring for the people in the slums of Calcutta, the Order she founded grew and exapanded to many countries in the world.

Learn more from "Something Beautiful for God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta". A book on Mother Teresa by Malcolm Muggeridge featured at Librarything.com

Memorial of Saints (September 4)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials on September 4:

• Marcellus and Valerian, martyrs;
• Marinus;
• Boniface I, pope;
• Ultan of Ardbraccan, bishop;
• Ida of Herzfeld, widow;
• Rosalia, virgin;
• Rose of Viterbo, virgin

St. Marcellus (d. ca. 178 A.D.) was a priest at Lyons when the persecutions of Christians was launched in 177 A.D. He was imprisoned but managed to escape together with a fellow prisoner named Valerian. He sheltered in a home of a pagan whom he converted to the faith. Marcellus then met Priscus, a governor, who invited him to his home. But when Priscus began preparing for the rituals to their pagan gods, Marcellus refused to join. Priscus thus had him buried to his waist near Chalon-sur-Saone and he died three days later. Valerian was recaptured and beheaded at Tournus.

St. Marinus (4th century A.D.) was born in Dalmatia and became a stonemason together with St. Leo, a fellow stonemason. They converted many who were sentenced to labor in the quarries in which they worked. Leo soon became a priest and Marinus a deacon. When Marinus was accused by a Dalmatian woman of being the husband who deserted her, Marinus fled into the mountains and became a hermit. A monastery grew up around his hermitage. This area grew to what is now San Marino - a tiny republic in Europe.

Memorial of Saints (September 3)

Gregory (died 12 March 604 A.D.): prefect of Rome; O.S.B.; patron saint of music. (Learn more)

also on September 3:

• Phoebe;
• Macanisius, bishop;
• Simeon Stylites the Younger;
• Remaclus, bishop;
• Aigulf, martyr;
• Hildelitha, virgin;
• Cuthburga, widow

St. Phoebe (1st century A.D.) was a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae, the port of Corinth. She is mentioned in Romans 16:1-2 where she was praised by St. Paul for her assistance to him and to many others. St. Paul recommended her to the Christian congregation at Rome.

St. Remaclus (d. ca. 960 A.D.) was born in Aquitaine. He studied under St. Sulpicius and was ordained. He was appointed by St. Eligius as the first bishop of Solignac and then he later served as the abbot of Cugnon in Luxembourg. In about 684 A.D., at the court of King Sigebert III, he was persuaded to found the double monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy in Ardennes. Widely venerated for his austerities and holiness, he also became abbot of that double monastery.