This Week's Feasts and Saints

9th July ~ Optional memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs of China.

Died 1648–1930, Qing dynasty and Republic of China

Beatified November 24, 1946, by Pope Pius XII

Canonized October 1, 2000, by Pope John Paul II

St Augustine Zhao Rong, was a Chinese diocesan priest and one of the Martyrs of China (traditional Chinese: 中華殉道聖人; simplified Chinese: 中华殉道圣人; pinyin: Zhōnghuá xùndào shèngrén). Having first been one of the soldiers who had escorted Bishop Dufresse from Chengdu to Beijing, he was moved by his patience and had then asked to be numbered among the neophytes. Once baptized, he was sent to the seminary and then ordained a priest. Arrested, he had to suffer the most cruel tortures and then died in 1815.

Christianity arrived in China by way of Syria in the 600s. Depending on China's relations with the outside world, Christianity over the centuries was free to grow or was forced to operate secretly. The 120 martyrs in this group died between 1648 and 1930. Most of them (87) were born in China and were children, parents, catechists or labourers, ranging from nine years of age to 72. This group includes four Chinese diocesan priests. The 33 foreign-born martyrs were mostly priests or women religious, especially from the Order of Preachers, the Paris Foreign Mission Society, the Friars Minor, Jesuits, Salesians and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who accompanied Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Paris Foreign Mission Society) to his martyrdom in Beijing. Augustine was baptized and not long after was ordained as a diocesan priest. He was martyred in 1815. Beatified in groups at various times, these 120 martyrs were canonized in Rome on by St. Pope John Paul II on the 1st October 2000.

Almighty and ever living God, in your wonderful providence you have strengthened the Church through the confession of its glorious Martyrs Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and his Companions, grant that your people may remain faithful to the mission entrusted to it and may enjoy even greater freedom and witness to your truth before the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyr_Saints_of_China

https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20001001_zhao-rong-compagni_en.html

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=3159

11th July ~ Feast of St. Benedict, Abbot. Patron of Europe.

Born - 2 March 480, Norcia, Umbria, Odoacer's Kingdom

Died - 21 March 547 (aged 67), Monte Cassino, Eastern Roman Empire

Venerated in - All Christian denominations which venerate saints

Canonized - 1220, Rome, Papal States by Pope Honorius III

Major shrine - Monte Cassino Abbey, with his burial, Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, near Orléans, France, Sacro Speco, at Subiaco, Italy

Feast - 11 July (General Roman Calendar), (Anglican Communion), 14 March (Eastern Orthodox Church), 21 March (pre-1970 General Roman Calendar)

Attributes – Bell, Broken tray, Broken cup and serpent representing poison, Broken utensil, Bush

Crosier, Man in a Benedictine cowl holding Benedict's rule or a rod of discipline, Raven

Patronage - Against poison, Against witchcraft, Agricultural workers, Cavers, Civil engineers, Coppersmiths, Dying people, Erysipelas, Europe, Farmers, Fever, Gall stones, Heerdt, Germany, Heraldry and Officers of arms, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, Inflammatory diseases, Italian architects, Kidney disease, Monks, Nettle rash, Norcia, Italy, People in religious orders, San Beda University, Schoolchildren and students, Servants who have broken their master's belongings, Speleologists, Spelunkers, Temptations

The Patron of Western Monasticism, Patron of Europe and the author of the Rule that bears his name, little is known on Benedict’s early life, Book II of St. Gregory’s Dialogues being the only source. He was born in c. 488 at Nursia and studied in Rome but left before completing his studies to become a hermit at Subiaco. Others joined him whom he organised into twelve deaneries. He is said to have encountered acute local jealousy which resulted in a probable attempt on his life in c. 525. Whatever the reason he moved to Monte Cassino where he completed the final version of his Rule. This included much older traditional monastic teaching from St. Cassian, St. Basil and others and was characterised by prudence and moderation realised within a framework of authority, obedience, stability and community life. Benedict was not a priest nor did he intend to found a religious order. His achievement was his Rule and its intrinsic qualities caused it to be recognised as the fundamental and almost the only monastic code of western Europe in the Middle Ages. Its flexibility enabled it to be adapted to the needs of society so that monasteries became centres of learning, agriculture, hospitality and medicine in a way that Benedict himself could never have foreseen. He died in c. 550.

Almighty and ever living God, you made the Abbot Saint Benedict an outstanding master in the school of divine science, grant, we pray, that, putting nothing before the love of you, we may hasten with a loving heart in the way of your commands.

Saints and Feast Days this week.

Beginning Sunday, 6th July 2025, the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.