CALENDAR FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL

APRIL

10, APRIL Blessed Anthony Neyrot

At Tunis, Africa, Blessed Anthony Neyrot,  friar and priest of the Order of Preachers; martyr.

Blessed Anthony was born at Rivoli in Piedmont, Italy in 1425 and entered the Order at San Marco in Florence where he lived under the direction of Saint Antoninus. Having asked to be transferred to the Province of Sicily, he set sail for there and was captured enroute by Turkish pirates who took him to Tunis. Subjected to hardship and imprisonment, he publicly renounced his faith to buy back his freedom.  The news of the death of Saint Antoninus (1459) brought him to his senses and, touched by the grace of God, he sincerely repented. Six months later, on Holy Thursday 1460, he publicly proclaimed his Christian faith before the king and gloriously suffered martyrdom by stoning. His body was transferred to Rivoli where his tomb became a place of pilgrimage and popular devotion. He was beatified by Pope Clement XIII in 1767.

13, APRIL Blessed Margaret of Castello

At Città di Castello, Blessed Margaret, lay person and virgin of the Order of Preachers.

Blessed Margaret was born at Citta de Castello, Italy in 1287. Blind from birth and horribly deformed, she abandoned by her parents at an early age, and sought refuge among the homes of the poor. Despite her tragedies, she faithfully placed her trust in God and was welcomed into the Third Order of Penance with open arms.  Through her radiant charity, she became a source of hope and consolation for the poor, the outcast, the sick and the imprisoned, to whom she served tirelessly. She was deeply devoted to the mystery of the Incarnation. At last her heavenly Spouse called her to the eternal nuptials in April 13, 1320 at the age of thirty-three.  Her body so miserably deformed in life, remained perfectly intact in death and is still preserved in the Church of San Domenico in Citta di Castello.  Blessed Margaret was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609.  She is named as the heavenly patron of the physically and mentally challenged as well as those who are abandoned due to deformities.

14, APRIL Blessed Peter González

At Tuy, Spain, Blessed Peter González, also known as San Telmo, friar and priest of the Order of Preachers.

Blessed Peter was born of noble and wealthy parents in Frómista, Palencia, Spain, towards the end of the twelfth century. He pursued an ecclesiastical career and became dean of the Cathedral of Palencia, living a life of worldliness and dissipation.  The public humiliation of being tossed from his horse into a refuse heap changed all this. Moved by the grace of God, he began to realize the emptiness of worldly glory and resigned from his rich benefice to ask for the habit of the Order. He became renowned for his humility as he had previously been renowned for his greed for glory.

Thereafter, he became a famous preacher, first at court where he was confessor to King St. Fernando III, then among the poor dwellers of the mountainous regions of the kingdom.  He was notable for his life of prayer and for his service to his neighbor, especially those who were in peril on the sea. Sailors have invoked his intercession under the name “Saint Elmo.” He died at Tuy, Spain on April 14, 1246 and was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741. He is the heavenly patron of sailors and seafarers.

17, APRIL Blessed Clare Gambacorta

At Pisa, in Italy, Blessed Clare Gambacorta, nun and widow of the Order of Preachers.

Tora Gambacorta was born in Pisa in 1362, the only daughter of one of the noblest families in Pisa. married at the age of twelve and widowed at the age of fifteen. She longed to join a religious order, she fled to a Poor Clare monastery where she received the habit and the name of Clare. But her family objected and her brothers removed her forcibly and locked her up in her own home. When at last they relented and released her some months later.  Upon the advice of Saint Catherine of Siena, Clare received the Dominican habit at the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Pisa.

In 1385 along with Blessed Maria Mancini she founded the Monastery of Saint Dominic in Pisa where regular observance was strictly maintained from the beginning.  In this they anticipated the reform movement initiated by Blessed Raymond of Capua and their monastery became a center from which the restoration of regular observance spread to many other Dominicans monasteries in Italy. She was noted for her great prudence, humility and charity, especially in pardoning the assassin of her father and brothers and receiving his widow and daughters into the monastery. She gave great importance to study and urged her sisters to do likewise. Blessed Clare died on April 17, 1419. Pope Pius VIII confirmed her cult in 1830.

17, APRIL Blessed Maria Mancini

At Pisa, Italy, Blessed Maria Mancini,  nun and widow of the Order of Preachers.

Catherine Mancini was born at Pisa around the middle of the fourteenth century. By the time she was twenty-five she had been widowed twice and left bereft of all her children. She devoted herself to a life of simplicity, prayer and service of the poor.

When St. Catherine of Siena came to Pisa in 1375, she and the young widow struck a close friendship. At the saint’s urging, she joined as a Sister of Penance and then entered a monastery of Dominican Nuns, taking the name of Maria. There she devoted herself to contemplation and penance. Some years later, she and Blessed Chiara Gambacorta founded the monastery of St Dominic where strict observance was restored and maintained. On the death of Blessed Chiara, Blessed Maria became prioress which office she exercised with great humility and prudence. She died there on January 22, 1431 and Pope Pius IX confirmed her cult in 1855.

19, APRIL Blessed Isnard of Chiampo

At Pavia, in Italy, Blessed Isnard of Chiampo, friar and priest of the Order of Preachers.

Blessed Isnard was born in Chiampo, near Vicenza, Italy, toward the end of the twelfth century. While studying in Bologna in 1219, he was attracted to the Order by the preaching of St. Dominic and received the habit from his hands.  Known as “a fervent religious, a grace-filled preacher, and a virgin in body and mind,”  Blessed Isnard, was also well known as miracle worker. He was sent to found the house of Order in Pavia where he distinguished himself by the fervor of his preaching and in close cooperation with the local bishop, help to re-establish peace in that strife torn city.  According to tradition blessed Isnard was “corpore obesus sed sanctitate obsesior” (Weighty in body but weightier in holiness). He died on March 19, 1244. Pope Benedict XV confirmed his cult in 1920.

19, APRIL Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi

At Pavia in Italy, Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi, lay person and virgin of the Order of Preachers.

Blessed Sibyllina, born at Pavia, Italy, about 1287, was left an orphan when quite young and at the age of twelve was afflicted with total blindness. As a result, she was better able to contemplate the mysteries of Christ’s passion and to embrace of way of the cross in her life. The local chapter of the Sisters of Penance befriended her and clothed her in the habit of the Order.

At age fifteen Sibyllina became a recluse, sealed into a tiny cell next to the Dominican Church.  Here she lived for 67 years.  To the little window that was her only communication with the outside world came the troubled, the sinful and the sick, begging her prayers.  She had a special devotion to the Holy Spirit and considered Pentecost as one of the greatest feasts in the Church year.  Blessed Sybillina died on March 19, 1367. Pius IX confirmed her cult in 1854.

20, APRIL Saint Agnes of Montepulciano

At Montepulciano in Italy, Saint Agnes Segni, nun and virgin of the Order of Preachers.

Saint Agnes was born at Gracciano-Vecchio, Tuscany, Italy in 1268 and embraced religious life at the tender age of nine. Because of her precocious wisdom and holiness, she was soon raised to position of responsibility within her community. With a special indult from the Holy See she was appointed superior of a Monastery at Viterbo.  In response to the entreaties of the people of Montepulciano and by divine revelation, she returned to found a Monastery of Dominican Nuns of which she became the first prioress where she sought evangelical perfection according to the way of Saint Dominic.

Saint Agnes was illustrious for her great virtues and merited to be adorned with many divine gifts by Christ her Spouse. Especially devoted to the Infant Jesus and the Virgin Mary, she not only manifested the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit, but was also a model of contemplative prayer and apostolic charity. She also worked for the promotion of civil peace and unity. She passed to her eternal reward on April 20, 1317 at age 49. . Saint Catherine of Siena regarded her as her “glorious mother”, and learned in a vision that she and Agnes would share equal glory in heaven. Benedict XIII canonized her in 1726. 

Liturgical note: “Memoria” for the Dominican Family; “Festum” for the Nuns.

27, APRIL Blessed Osanna of Kotor

At Kotor, in Montenegro, Blessed Osanna, lay person and virgin of the Order of Preachers.

Kata Kosic was born of Orthodox parents in Kuman, a village near Kotor, Montenegro in 1493. As a young girl she was a shepherdess, and later moved to Kotor where a devout Roman Catholic woman took her in as a servant.

At age 21, Kata took the habit of a Dominican Tertiary and took the name Osanna, in honor of Blessed Osanna of Mantua. Shortly thereafter she embraced the life of a recluse living in a cell built next to the Church of St. Paul. She spent her life in contemplation, arduous penance and prayer for the salvation of the world and became a counselor for many people.  She died on April 27, 1565. Blessed Osanna is invoked especially for the unity of the Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome.

28, APRIL Saint Louis de Montfort

At St. Laurent sur Sèvre, in France, Saint Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort, member of the priestly fraternity of St. Dominic

Saint Louis was born in France at Montfort in 1673. After his ordination to the priesthood, he became a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was a zealous propagator of the devotion of the holy rosary. He founded the Congregation of the Missionary Priests of Mary and the Sisters of Divine Wisdom. He died in April 28, 1716. Pius XII added his name to the roll of Saints in July 20, 1947.

Liturgical note: “Memoria optativa”

29, APRIL Saint Catherine of Siena

At Rome in Italy, Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and lay person, of the Order of Preachers. Doctor of the Church.

The greatest light of the Dominican laity, Saint Catherine Benincasa was born at Siena, Italy in 1347, on the feast of the Annunciation, the youngest of twenty-five children of Giacomo and Lapa Benincasa. Inspired by divine grace she vowed her virginity to God while still a small girl and after overcoming the objections of her family pursued a life of prayer and penance as a Sister of Penance of Saint Dominic. She continued in this way of life until 1370 when in a vision God asked her to undertake an active apostolate and become involved in the affairs of her age. She was famous for her great virtue and remarkable innocence of life. Strengthened by Christ her Spouse in frequent sweet conversation, she merited to become a sharer in His sufferings and wounds. This sharing was culminated in her reception of the stigmata at Pisa in 1375.

At once humble and great, Catherine brought peace to hearts, to cities to the Republics of Italy and to the Church. As ambassadress of the Florentines she went to Avignon while there she persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. At the time of the Great Schism, she journeyed to Rome to pray, to give counsel and to immolate herself for the Church, Her love for the papacy and for the Pope, whom she called the “Sweet Christ on Earth” was unbounded. Consumed by love and suffering.

Her principal work, The Dialogues (1378), which she bequeathed to her large family of disciples, is a masterpiece of spiritual and theological doctrine and has become a source of spiritual riches for the entire Dominican family.

She died in Rome on April 29, 1380, and was buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. In 1970 Pope Paul VI declared her a Doctor of the Church. She is also one of the secondary patroness of Europe.

Liturgical note: “Festum” for the Dominican Family; “Solemnitas” for the Sisters.

30, APRIL Saint Pius V

At Rome, in Italy, Saint Pius V, friar and pope of the Order of Preachers.

Michael Ghislieri was born in 1504 of noble but impoverished parents at Bosco, in Piedmont, Italy. At the age of fourteen he entered the Dominican Order and took the name Michele. He taught theology and held several positions of responsibility, first as prior of several communities, then as Commissary General of the Roman Inquisition. In 1556 he was named bishop of Nepi and Sutri and was created cardinal in 1557. In 1566 he was elected pope and took the name Pius. He implemented the decrees of the Council of Trent; published the revised Breviary (1568) and Missal (1570); reformed the Roman Curia; issued the Roman Catechism (1566); and defended Catholic doctrine against the reformers. His love and devotion to the Virgin Mary was manifest when he entreated her through the rosary to spare the Christian forces in the Battle of Lepanto. Moved by this victory he instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory. He died May 1, 1572.

Liturgical note: “Memoria”