The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome are honored on June 30. The feast day has been celebrated beginning in 1969.
More than half of Rome was destroyed by fire in July of 64. The unpopular Emperor Nero was blamed for the fire but he accused the Christians to cover his own crimes. The martyrs were executed in many different ways. Some were burned alive at night to be used as living torches. Others were crucified and still others were fed to wild animals. The crime they were charged with was “their hatred of the human race”.
There was a large Jewish population in Rome at the time of the persecution. Paul had not yet visited Rome, however there were Christians living there.
The Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of St. Paul and St. Peter on June 29.
Both saints were martyred for their faith during the persecution of Nero. St. Peter was crucified upside down by his own request. He did not consider himself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Our Lord. St. Paul was beheaded. It is possible they were both martyred on the same day.
St. Peter was one of the original Apostles. He was a fisherman before he was called to follow Jesus. He was the brother to the Apostle Andrew. St. Peter was clearly the leader of the apostles. With James and John he witnessed the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden. His mother-in-law was cured by Jesus. Originally, Peter’s name was Simon. Jesus asked the apostles, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon said, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” Jesus then said:
“Blessed are you Simon, Son of Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
During the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus also told Peter three times…
“Feed my sheep”.
St. Peter is the patron saint of fishermen.
St. Paul was not one of the original apostles. While persecuting Christians after the death of Jesus, he was thrown to the ground by a bright light. He heard a voice asking him,
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
He responded with “Who are you, Lord?” Jesus answered him:
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do.”
Paul was blinded by the light for three days after which scales fell from his eyes. He then joined the apostles, becoming known as “The Apostle of the Gentiles”. He wrote many of the epistles in the Bible. He is the patron saint of writers, the press, and missionaries.
Prayer to St. Peter and St. Paul
Grant, we pray, O Lord our God, that we may be sustained by the intercession of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, that as through them you gave your Church the foundations of her heavenly office, so through them you may help her to eternal salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The feast of St. Irenaeus of Lyons is celebrated on June 28.
St. Irenaeus of Lyons is considered a martyr and Church Father. St. Irenaeus was born around 125 in Asia Minor. He was raised in a Christian family, becoming a student of St. Polycarp of Smyrna.
St. Irenaeus was ordained a priest in 177 and became the Bishop of Lyons after the martyrdom of St. Pothinus. He is considered one of the first great Christian theologians. The most well known of his books is titled “Against Heresies”. He defended the holiness of the body and preached to the Gnostics.
St. Irenaeus was martyred in 202 in Lyons, France under the Emperor Septimus Severus.
The feast day of St. Eurosia is celebrated on June 25. St. Eurosia is considered the patron saint against bad weather.
St. Eurosia was a French martyr. She was born in Bayonne, France into a noble family. Betrothed against her will to a Moore, she escaped through the mountains and hid in a cave. Eurosia was pursued and captured. Her captures dragged her out of the cave by her hair. She was then martyred. Her limbs were amputated and then she was beheaded. At the moment of her death a violent storm came which terrorized her captures.
St. Eurosia’s remains were discovered by a shepherd. Her head remained at the original shrine, but her body was taken to Jaca for burial. Miracles were reported at the original shrine which became a site of pilgrimage.
St. Eurosia was canonized by Pope Leo XIII.
Where the sign of the cross is erected,
the wickedness of the devil is immediately repelled.
The Nativity of St. John the Baptist is celebrated on June 24.
John the Baptist is the last prophet proclaiming the coming of the Lord. We actually meet John when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry,
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.”( Luke1: 39)
John was actually about six months older than his cousin Jesus.
The next time we hear of John the Baptist he comes out of the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. John proclaimed:
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”(Matthew 3: 11)
St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Public Domain Image
In Matthew 3: 13, Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
After Jesus had been baptized, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and a voice from heaven said,
“This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We learn in Mark 1:14 that it is after the arrest of John the Baptist by King Herod, that Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near, repent, and believe in the good news.”
Why was John arrested? The story is told in Mark 6: 17-29. John was arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so because Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. On Herod’s birthday Herodias’ own daughter came in and performed a dance that so delighted Herod and his guests that Herod promised her whatever she requested. She went to her mother asking “What shall I ask for?” Herodias replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried back to King
St. John the Baptist Public Domain Image
Herod saying “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” King Herod was distressed at the request, but because of his oaths in front of guest he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back John the Baptists’ head. The head, on a silver platter, was given to the girl. In turn the girl gave it to her mother.
When the disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
John the Baptist is most remembered for his call to repentance and baptism. The following is one of his last statements before his death.
The feast day of St. Thomas More is celebrated on June 22. St. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers.
St. Thomas More was born in London, England in 1478. He wrote the famous book Utopia which was a work of fiction which depicted a pagan and communist island which was ruled by reason. It touched on many controversial issues and established him as a humanist.
St. Thomas More attended St. Anthony’s School in London and served as a page for the archbishop of Canterbury. He continued his studies at Oxford University eventually becoming a lawyer. He was tempted to become a monk and moved near to a Cathusian monastery near London. He participated as much as possible. Torn becoming a monk or working as a civil servant his desire to become a civil servant won. In 1504, he entered Parliament.
Life began to change in 1527 when King Henry tried to use the Bible to prove to Thomas More that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who failed to produce a male child, was void. St. Thomas More could not agree with King Henry’s plan to divorce Catherine.
In 1532, Thomas More resigned from the House of Commons because of his health. When More refused to swear to King Henry’s Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy he was refusing allegiance to the King.
St. Thomas More was sent to the Tower of London on April 17, 1534 and found guilty of treason. He was beheaded on July 6, 1535. His last words were:
“The king’s good servant, but God’s first.”
St. Thomas More is considered a martyr of the faith.
St. Thomas More was canonized in 1935 by Pope Pius XI.
