Memorial of Saints (October 16)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Martinian and Companions and Maxima;
• Gall;
• Mommolinus, bishop;
• Bercharius, abbot;
• Lull, bishop;
• Anastasius of Cluny;
• Bertrand of Comminges, bishop;
• Gerard Majella

St. Anastasius of Cluny (ca. 1020-1085) was born in Venice, became a monk at Mont St. Michel, then left to live as a hermit on an island off the coast of Normandy. About 1066 A.D. St. Hugh convinced him to be a monk at Cluny. After seven years, Pope St. Gregory VII sent him on a mission in Spain. He spent the last years of his life as a hermit near Toulouse.

St. Gerard Majella (1726-1755 A.D.) was born in Muro in southern Italy. He joined the Redemptorists as a lay brother in 1748 A.D. and was professed by its founder, St. Alphonsus Liguori, in 1752 A.D. As a tailor and infirmarian in the Redemptorist community, he was known for his spiritual gifts of bilocation, prophecy, ecstasies, visions and infused knowledge. In the last few months of his life, he raised funds for new buildings at Caposele, where he died from consumption. Canonized in 1904, he is the patron of childbirth.

More on Saints: October 16

Memorial of Saints (October 15)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Teresa of Avila, virgin and doctor of the Church;
• Leonard of Vandoeuvre, abbot;
• Thecla of Kitzingen, virgin;
• Euthymius the Younger, abbot

A popular prayer of St. Teresa of Avila

Let nothing disturb thee,
Nothing affright thee;
All things are passing;
God never changeth;
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth
In nothing is wanting;
Alone God sufficeth.

This prayer of St. Teresa of Avila is found in her breviary. Learn more

On the Life, Writings and Spirituality of St. Teresa of Avila, virgin and Doctor Learn more

St. Teresa of Avila was also one of the leaders of the Counter-Reformation together with St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and the leaders of the French School of Spirituality.

Related blog posts:

• The Reformation and Counter-Reformation, Learn more
• Saints and Leaders of the Counter-Reformation, Learn more

Memorial of Saints (October 14)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Justus of Lyons, bishop;
• Manechildis, virgin;
• Angadrisma or Angadrême, virgin;
• Burchard, bishop;
• Dominic Lauricatus

Callixtus I (died 222 A.D.): incurred ire of Tertullian and Hippolytus (13 Aug) over lapsi controversy; organized the first official Christian cemetery in Rome and instituted Ember day fasts.