Commemoration of Saints (February 21)

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

• Peter Damian, bishop and doctor
• Severian, bishop and martyr
• Germanus of Granfel, martyr
• George of Amastris, bishop
• Robert Southwell, priest and martyr

St. Peter Damian (1007-1072 A.D.) was a major reformer of the papacy, episcopate, clergy and monasteries. He entered at first the Camaldolese Benedictine monastery at Fonte Avellana which was founded by St. Romuald. He soon rose to a position in the Church - appointed bishop of Ostia, and then the cardinalate. However, Peter remained a monk at heart and persuaded Pope Alexander II to relieve him of his episcopal duties to return to Fonte Avellana. He died on February 22, 1072 A.D.

The feast for St. Peter Damian today, February 21, is an Optional Memorial.

Related blog posts:

• Learn more on the life, work, and writings of St. Peter Damian
• St. Romuald, founder of the monastery at Fonte Avellana, and refounded by St. Peter Damian, Learn more
• Monastic Reform in the 10th Century, Learn more

St. Robert Southwell (ca. 1561-1595 A.D.) was a Jesuit priest, poet and martyr. According to writer Phyllis McGinley, of the inspiring book Saint-Watching, she observed that the Jesuit Order produced two literary geniuses: St. Robert Southwell in the late 16th century A.D., and Gerard Manley Hopkins in the 19th century A.D.

St. Robert, like Edmund Campion, SJ, was one of the Jesuits canonized among the "Forty Martyrs of England and Wales" by Pope Paul VI in 1970 A.D.

You can read his poem The Burning Babe, an example of sacred poetry, Learn more

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 21]

• Timothy, Hermit
• Eustacius, Archbishop of Antioch

St. Timothy of Symbola became a monk at a young age in the monastery called Symbola in Asia Minor near Mount Olympus. At Symbola he was the disciple of Theoctistus, and then the disciple of St. Platon at the Studion Monastery. He then spent many years as a hermit, offering prayers to the Lord God in the wilderness, the mountains, and the forests. He died in the year 795 A.D. Learn more from Byzantinela.com

Commemoration of Saints (February 20)

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

• Sadoth, bishop
• Tyrannio, Cenobius and Companions, martyrs
• Eleutherius of Tournai, bishop
• Eucherius of Orleans, bishop
• Wulfric, also Ulfric or Ulric
• Elizabeth of Mantua

Elisabetta Picenardi, also known as St. Elizabeth of Mantua, (ca. 1428 – 19 February 1468 A.D.) was an Italian tertiary of the Servite Order. Elisabetta Picenardi was born in Mantua into a noble family and, despite pressure to wed a nobleman, insisted instead on pursuing the religious path alongside her sister. Elizabeth and that sister entered the Third Order of the Servites after their mother's death. Elizabeth was known to have the gift of making predictions - with one prediction accurately made about her death, before it happened a year after. Many miracles were reported to have happened at her tomb (died ca. 1468 A.D.).

Her beatification received formal confirmation on 20 November 1804 A.D. when Pope Pius VII affirmed her popular devotion in the Servite Order and the dioceseses of Mantua and Cremona. Learn more from Wikipedia.org

More on Saints for February 20

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 20]

• Leo, bishop of Catania
• St. Sadok, Priest-Martyr
• St. Agatho, Venerable, Pope of Rome

Commemoration of Saints (February 19)

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

• Mesrop, bishop
• Barbatus, bishop
• Beatus of Liebana
• Boniface of Lausanne, bishop
• Conrad of Piacenza

St. Conrad of Piacenza (1290-1351 A.D.) was born of a noble family, got married, and took up residence in Piacenza. He got into a bind because of a hunting venture and had to sell all his possessions to pay for the damages. The event caused his conversion and made him decide to be a Franciscan tertiary while his wife became a Poor Clare nun. Because large crowds were attracted by his reputation, he moved to Noto in Sicily, where he lived for thirty more years. When he died, numerous miracles were reported at his tomb. Learn more

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 19]

• St. Archippus, Apostle & co-worker with St. Paul the Apostle
• Sts. Maxim, Theodot, Isychus and Asklepiodotus, Martyrs