The Dialog

Nazarius and Celsus

Feast Day: July 28

The story of Nazarius and Celsus, like that of other early martyrs, is rooted in legend.

Ss. Nazarius and Celsus (Wikimedia Commons)

One legend says Nazarius was born in Rome, the son of a pagan army officer and Christian mother, who was taught by St. Peter himself.

Because he was preaching Christianity in Milan during the first persecution of Emperor Nero, he was beheaded there with his young companion, Celsus.

However, all that is factually known about them is that St. Ambrose discovered their bodies in Milan about 395 and had their relics enshrined there.

The blood of Nazarius reportedly was still liquid and red in color when the remains were found.

Catholic News Service

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle A Readings

1) 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12

Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130

2) Romans 8:28-30

Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52 or 13:44-46

God desires our friendship. So much so that Jesus, the Son of God, willingly accepted suffering and death on a cross to reconcile the world to God.

I know this is the central belief of Christian faith. But do I really believe God wants to be “my” friend? Do I desire God’s friendship as much as God desires “my” love? Read more »

St. Pantaleon

Feast Day: July 27

The cult of this martyr spread in Asia Minor, where Emperor Justinian rebuilt his church in the sixth century, but no actual facts have survived. According to legend, he was a court physician to Emperor Galerius, but rejected a life of self-indulgence because of a Christian friend. After being arrested during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian, he was repeatedly tortured, then beheaded. Many marvels were attributed to his intercession and he became a popular patron of physicians. Reputed relics of his blood kept in Ravello, Italy, are said to liquefy on his feast day.

Sts. Joachim and Ann

Feast Day: July 26

Not mentioned in the Bible, Joachim and Anne are first named as the parents of Mary in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James,

“The Meeting of Joachim and Anne outside the Golden Gate of Jerusalem” by Filippino Lippi

which may date from the second century.

In this story, they are old and childless, like the Old Testament Hannah, mother of Samuel, when angels deliver the news that Anne will conceive a child.

Anne was an especially popular saint in medieval England, and her feast was celebrated in the West by 1350; Joachim’s feast was authorized or suppressed by various popes, but was joined with Anne’s in 1969.

They are the patrons of married couples; Anne is also the patron of childless women, expectant mothers and miners.

St. Sharbel Makhluf

Feast Day: July 24

Born in a Lebanese mountain village, Youssef was drawn to the life of his uncles, monks of the Maronite rite, but his peasant mother

St. Sharbel (Wikimedia Commons)

wanted her youngest child to work in the fields.

At age 23, he left home for the monastery, taking the name Sharbel, after an early martyr. He was ordained a priest in 1859 and spend the next 16 years in the monastery at Annaya, working, fasting and praying.

From 1875 he lived as a hermit, praying ceaselessly, regarded as a saint by those who knew him. He is the first Maronite saint included in the Latin-rite calendar.

St. Bridget of Sweden

Feast Day: July 23

Bridget, or Birgitta, married a Swedish nobleman and they had eight children, including St. Katherine of Vadstena.

St. Bridget of Sweden (CNS)

About 1335 Bridget was appointed chief lady-in-waiting at the Swedish court.

After she was widowed in 1344, she founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, known as Brigittines.

Bridget spent much time in Rome, living austerely and caring for the poor and sick. She died there after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Bridget claimed to have visions and inspirations throughout her life, prompting both influence and controversy. She was canonized in 1391.

St. Mary Magdalene

Feast Day: July 22

Mary, from Magdala in Galilee, was a disciple of Jesus who used her resources, or wealth, to help support him and his followers.

“Appearance of Jesus Christ to Maria Magdalena” by Alexander Ivanov

The Gospel of Luke also says Mary was the woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons and that she was present at his crucifixion and burial.

In all four Gospels, Mary was the first witness to the Resurrection and carried that news to the others; because of this, St. Augustine called her “apostola apostolorum” the apostle to the apostles.

Traditions that identified Mary as a prostitute or penitent sinner are now discounted.

Catholic News Service

In the great creeds of the Catholic faith, we profess our belief in the “life of the world to come” and “life everlasting.” This is not something merely passively believed in; rather, it is a profound hope in the truest sense of the word: the blessed trust in God’s mercy and providence.

Why is this “world to come” something that we should look forward to? What do we learn from sacred Scripture? Read more »

Saint of the Day: St. Margaret of Antioch

Feast Day: July 20

This virgin and martyr, the patron saint for a difficult childbirth, is associated with a series of stories about Pelagia of Antioch, who may have been

St. Margaret of Antioch (CNS)

martyred when Emperor Diocletian ordered the last persecution of Christians in 303.

St. John Chrysostom in the sixth century and later St. Ambrose knew of a Margaret or Pelagia in Antioch (Marina in the Eastern church) who jumped off a building to save her chastity.

Margaret had a strong following as one of the 14 helper saints in the Middle Ages, and was one of the “voices” that St. Joan of Arc heard, urging her to save France.

St. Camillus de Lellis

Feast Day: July 18

Though this tall, young Italian was restricted by an ulcerated leg, he worked as a hospital servant and Venetian soldier. After gambling away all his

“Ecstasy of Saint Camillus de Lellis” by Cristóbal Lozano (Wikimedia Commons)

property, he became a laborer at the Manfredonia Capuchin monastery and in 1575 tried to join the Capuchins. But his leg wound returned, and he was in and out of the hospital, eventually deciding to devote his life to caring for the sick. Camillus was ordained in 1584 and founded the Order of the Servants of the Sick, more generally known as the Camillians. He is a patron of the sick, of hospitals and of nurses.