#Church of Saint Margaret of Antioch

[theodoreangelos]

Church of Saint Margaret of Antioch, Kopčany, Skalica District, Region Trnava, Slovakia The oldest church of Slovakia was built probably in the 9th or 10th century and was first mentioned in 1329. Kostol svätej Margity Antiochijskej, Kopčany, okr. Skalica, Trnavský kraj, Slovensko Kirche St. Margareta von Antiochia, Koptschan (Gopschein), Bezirk Skalitz, Region Tyrnau, Slowakei Antiokheiai Szent Margit-templom, Kopcsány, Szakolcai járás, Nagyszombati kerület, Szlovákia Церковь Святой Маргариты, Копчаны, Район Скалица, Регион Трнавский, Словакия

[polkadotmotmot]

Joan later testified that when she was thirteen, around 1425, a figure she identified as Saint Michael surrounded by angels appeared to her in the garden.[44] After this vision, she said she wept because she wanted them to take her with them.[45] Throughout her life, she had visions of St. Michael,[46] a patron saint of the Domrémy area who was seen as a defender of France.[47] She stated that she had these visions frequently and that she often had them when the church bells were rung.[48] Her visions also included St. Margaret and St. Catherine; although Joan never specified, they were probably Margaret of Antioch and Catherine of Alexandria—those most known in the area.[49] Both were known as virgin saints who strove against powerful enemies, were tortured and martyred for their beliefs, and preserved their virtue to the death.[50] Joan testified that she swore a vow of virginity to these voices.[51] When a young man from her village alleged that she had broken a promise of marriage, Joan stated that she had made him no promises,[52] and his case was dismissed by an ecclesiastical court.[53]

An outright dawg girl. Rad attitude and nothing to fuck with

[fabien-euskadi]

This humble chapel is the Hermitage of Saint Margaret, a temple located on the hamlet of Santa Margarida (outskirts of Tavira). Local historians presumed this church was built in the end of the XVII Century, but my doctoral research has managed to prove that this chapel already existed (at least) a century earlier - actually, there is a parochial registration that proves that, in this very church, a wedding took place on the 2nd of January 1594.

Until the mid-1990s, this hermitage was the centre of a popular festivity in honour of its patron saint - Margaret of Antioch -, a celebration that used to take place during the last weekend of July. With the end of the festivities and religious pilgrimages, the church was somehow forgotten, abandoned.

During my last visit to this place, I managed to sneak my phone through the window bars (my Canon was way too large for that) to capture some images of the interior of this temple as it is nowadays... and I have to say it broke my heart to see how this piece of historical heritage so neglected.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Thursday, August 22, 2024

august 9_august 22

THE HOLY APOSTLE MATTHIAS (63)

The Holy Apostle Matthias was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah. From his early childhood he studied the Law of God under the guidance of Saint Simeon the God-Receiver (February 3).

When the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to the world, Saint Matthias believed in Him as the Messiah, followed constantly after Him and was numbered among the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord “sent them two by two before His face” (Luke 10:1).

After the Ascension of the Savior, Saint Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve Apostles (Acts 1:15-26). After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Matthias preached the Gospel at Jerusalem and in Judea together with the other Apostles (Acts 6:2, 8:14). From Jerusalem he went with the Apostles Peter and Andrew to Syrian Antioch, and was in the Cappadocian city of Tianum and Sinope. Here the Apostle Matthias was locked into prison, from which he was miraculously freed by Saint Andrew the First-Called.

The Apostle Matthias journeyed after this to Amasea, a city on the shore of the sea. During a three year journey of the Apostle Andrew, Saint Matthias was with him at Edessa and Sebaste. According to Church Tradition, he was preaching at Pontine Ethiopia (presently Western Georgia) and Macedonia. He was frequently subjected to deadly peril, but the Lord preserved him to preach the Gospel.

Once, pagans forced the saint to drink a poison potion. He drank it, and not only did he himself remain unharmed, but he also healed other prisoners who had been blinded by the potion. When Saint Matthias left the prison, the pagans searched for him in vain, for he had become invisible to them. Another time, when the pagans had become enraged intending to kill the Apostle, the earth opened up and engulfed them.

The Apostle Matthias returned to Judea and did not cease to enlighten his countrymen with the light of Christ’s teachings. He worked great miracles in the Name of the Lord Jesus and he converted a great many to faith in Christ.

The Jewish High Priest Ananias hated Christ and earlier had commanded the Apostle James, Brother of the Lord, to be flung down from the heights of the Temple, and now he ordered that the Apostle Matthias be arrested and brought for judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem.

The impious Ananias uttered a speech in which he blasphemously slandered the Lord. Using the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Apostle Matthias demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the True God, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, Consubstantial and Coeternal with God the Father. After these words the Apostle Matthias was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin and stoned.

When Saint Matthias was already dead, the Jews, to hide their malefaction, cut off his head as an enemy of Caesar. (According to several historians, the Apostle Matthias was crucified, and indicate that he instead died at Colchis.) The Apostle Matthias received the martyr’s crown of glory in the year 63.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

NEW MARTYR MARGARET (1918)

Abbess Margaret, in the world Maria Mikhailovna Gunarodnoulo, was born in 1865 or 1866 in a family of Greek origin. Before becoming a nun she lived in Kiev. Her spiritual father was Protopriest Alexander Korsakovsky, the rector of the St. George church, in whose parish she lived. In his memoirs Prince N.D. Zhevakov, who knew matushka long before she became a nun, writes: “I saw in Maria Mikhailovna the incarnation of fiery faith and ardent love for God. Small, frail, almost an old woman, she burned like a candle before God: everyone who knew her knew that she had been born precisely in order to warm others with her love.” Shortly after receiving the monastic tonsure with the name Margaret, she went to live in the “Joy and Consolation” community of the Orlov-Davydovs near Moscow, where the abbess was the very elderly Countess Orlova-Davydova. This period in her life was a heavy trial that demanded great courage, patience and humility.

     On January 18, 1917 the Holy Synod appointed her superior of the Menzelinsk women’s monastery of the Prophet Elijah in Ufa province with elevation to the rank of abbess. This appointment took place thanks to the efforts of Prince N.D. Zhevakov, the assistant over-procurator of the Holy Synod. And her ordination as abbess took place in the presence of Great Princess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, who was exceptionally fond of Matushka Margaret.

     The move to Menzelinsk was long and difficult. At the end of 1917 she arrived in the monastery, which was one of the biggest women’s communities in the Ufa diocese. It had three churches, a church-parish school, a monastic economy with fruit trees, kitchen-gardens and apiaries. The nuns worked in the guest-house for pilgrims, in workshops devoted to iconography, gold-weaving, carpentry, dress-making and book-binding, and also baking bread and prosphoras and preparing food. The monastery even had its own photographic studio – an extreme rarity at that time. In 1917 there were fifty nuns and 248 novices. The intelligent and educated abbess was renowned for her strict ascetic life and the good order she introduced into the monastery in the old Russian spirit.

     In April, 1917 the revolutionary wave also hit the Prophet Elijah monastery. By decree of the Provisional Government, the church-parish schools had to be transferred into the administration of the Ministry of popular enlightenment, but the abbess tried to defend the monastery’s school from this transfer on the grounds that the property and buildings of the school belonged to the monastery and that the pupils were its novices. She declared that the upkeep of the school would from now on be the responsibility of the monastery (under the Tsars the State had paid the teachers). The unshakeable will of the abbess to keep the school’s education in the Orthodox faith had an unexpected result: the city left the school in her hands. Moreover, since city girls were studying in it, the city decided to pay the teachers and provide the necessary equipment.

     On April 18, 1918 Abbess Margaret was elected a member of the diocesan council.

     In May, 1918 the Czech legion rebelled, and by July the whole province had been liberated from the Bolsheviks. However, battles still continued on the western boundaries of the province, and Menzelinsk changed hands between the combatants several times. In the late summer the Whites abandoned Kazan; and according to Nun Alevtina, a previous inhabitant of the monastery, Abbess Margaret at one time decided to leave with the Whites and not remain under the authority of the Bolsheviks. She was at the wharf preparing to leave when St. Nicholas appeared to her and said:

     “Why are you running from your crown?”

     Stunned by the vision, Abbess Margaret returned to the monastery and told the monastery priest about what had happened. And sensing that she would soon have to suffer for the faith, she asked for her coffin to be prepared in advance, and that she should be buried on the very day of her death, after the burial service.

     During the night of August 11–12 the Bolsheviks suddenly left Menzelinsk. The citizens created a voluntary unit to guard the city and established links with units of the White army. On August 21 the Bolsheviks renewed their attack on Menzelinsk. The Whites held out for four hours, but finally the Bolsheviks burst into the city and began to take revenge… On August 21 and 22, they shot 150-200 people in the city. Mother Margaret was one of their victims. Another was Priest Vozdvizhensky of the Trinity church.

     According to the witness of the Red Army soldier Ya.F. Ostroumov, the excuse for killing the abbess was the fact that the nuns were trying to defend some White officers (probably wounded) in the monastery. “Several White officers who had been left in the monastery were hidden in the cells of the women’s monastery and were… shot in the monastery courtyard. The abbess of the monastery was also shot… for hiding White officers in the cells of the monastery.”

     According to another account that reached Prince Zhevakov across the front line, the Bolsheviks, having burst into the territory of the monastery, wanted to defile the church, but the abbess did not let them in there. Matushka fearlessly went out to the crowd of drunk and heavily armed Bolsheviks and meekly said to them: ‘I do not fear death, for only after death will I appear before the Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom I have striven all my life. You will only bring forward my meeting with the Lord… But I wish to suffer and endure endlessly in this life if only you would save your souls… In killing my body, you kill your own souls… Think about that.”

     In reply to this they hurled insults and curses at her and demanded that she open the church. The abbess refused outright, and the Bolsheviks said to her: “Look to it: early tomorrow we will kill you…” With these words they left.

     After their departure, having locked the monastery gates, Abbess Margaret went together with the sisters into the church, where they spent the whole night in prayer and communed at the early liturgy. The abbess had not succeeded in leaving the church when the Bolsheviks, seeing her coming down from the ambon, took aim at her and fired point-blank. “Glory to Thee, O God!” cried the abbess loudly when she saw the Bolsheviks taking aim at her, and… fell dead to the floor.

     Nun Alevtina has a slightly different account: “The following day [after the Whites left Menzelinsk], Abbess Margaret was arrested as a supposed ‘counter-revolutionary’ during a service. She was taken out onto the porch, and having refused her request to partake of the Holy Mysteries, shot her.”

     Immediately after the burial service, the sisters of the monastery buried her behind the altar of the Ascension church where she had been shot.

     It was only the next day that the abbess’s request to be buried on the very day of her death, which had at first seemed strange to the priest, became comprehensible. For the same chekists who had shot Abbess Margaret brought out a Muslim mullah to be shot, wishing to bury him in one grave with the Orthodox superior of the monastery. However, since she was already buried, they could not do this and took the mullah somewhere else.

     According to M.V. Mikhailova, the daughter of a priest of Menzelinsk, in the 1970s, near the main church of the Menzelinsk monastery, which was closed at that time, they decided to dig a hole behind the very altar. Suddenly they came on a coffin. In it were the incorrupt relics of Abbess Margaret with a cross on her breast. They did not disturb the coffin, but filled in the grave and found another place for the hole…

     A great Russian elder – St. Ambrose of Optina, it seems – prophesied about this monastery that under one superior they would build a church, another would be a martyr, and under a third – the bells would fall. The prophecy was fulfilled. Abbess Margaret became a martyr, and under the last superior they removed the bells from the church and closed the monastery.

ACTS 1:12-17, 21-26

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. 13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, 16 Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.

21 Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection. 23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen 25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place 26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

LUKE 9:1-6

1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them. 6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (July 20)

Saint Margaret, whose feast is celebrated on July 20, is a virgin and martyr.

She is also called "Marina." Margaret belonged to Pisidian Antioch in Asia Minor, where her father was a pagan priest.

Her mother died soon after Margaret's birth, so she was nursed by a pious woman who lived about five or six leagues from Antioch.

Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, she was disowned by her father and adopted by her nurse.

One day, while she was engaged in watching the flocks of her mistress, a lustful Roman prefect named Olybrius caught sight of her, and attracted by her great beauty, sought to make her his concubine or wife.

When neither cajolery nor threats of punishment could succeed in moving her to yield to his desires, he had her brought before him in public trial at Antioch.

Threatened with death unless she renounced the Christian faith, the holy virgin refused to adore the gods of the empire.

An attempt was made to burn her, but the flames, we are told in her Acts, left her unharmed.

She was then bound hand and foot and thrown into a cauldron of boiling water, but at her prayer, her bonds were broken and she stood up uninjured.

Finally, the prefect ordered her to be beheaded.

The Greek Church honors her under the name Marine on July 13, and the Latin as Margaret on July 20.

Her Acts place her death in the persecution of Diocletian (A.D. 303-5). In fact, even the century to which she belonged is uncertain.

St. Margaret is represented in art sometimes as a shepherdess, or as leading a chained dragon, again carrying a little cross or a girdle in her hand, or standing by a large vessel, which recalls the cauldron into which she was plunged.

Relics said to belong to the saint are venerated in very many parts of Europe; at Rome, Montefiascone, Brusels, Bruges, Paris, Froidmont, Troyes, and various other places.

Curiously enough, this virgin has been widely venerated for many centuries as a special patron of women who are pregnant.

[maypoleman1]

20th July

St Margaret’s and St Uncumber’s Day

Saint Margaret by Joan Reixach. Source: St Bride’s, Liverpool

Today is St Margaret of Antioch’s Day. Margaret, a very early Christian lady in in third century Syria, resisted the amorous advances of the pagan Roman governor, Olybrius. He tried bribery, charm, even torture to get the virginal Margaret into his bed but was met with steadfast refusal. Eventually, wearying of serial rejection, Olybrius had Margaret chained to a stake and fed to a local dragon. The virtuous woman was swallowed whole and once in the beast’s belly, made the sign of the cross, causing the dragon’s abdomen to split open, killing the creature. Margaret stepped out unscathed. As can probably be imagined, Margaret never actually existed and as early as 494, the Church declared her a fabrication, This cancellation however, did not stop Margaret becoming the patron saint of women in labour.

Saint Uncumber. Source: John Rylands Library blog

Today is also St Uncumber’s Day. In a similar tale of brave virginity, the Christian Italian noblewoman, Wilgefortis, had taken vows of chastity and therefore was outraged to be forcibly married to the King of Sicily. She prayed her husband would find her unattractive and the following morning found she had sprouted a full beard. The King immediately divorced her. Uncumber’s father was so ashamed at his daughter’s alarming appearance that he had her crucified. Almost as fictitious as St Margaret, Wilgefortis/ Uncumber nonetheless stuck up for harassed women. If a wife was troubled by an unpleasant husband and she offered oats to the saint’s shrine or statue, Uncumber would send a satanic horse to the marital home who would carry the annoying spouse off to Hell.

[catholic-saint-tournament]

Some saint suggestions:

Saint Margaret of Antioch (cut her way out of a dragon's stomach)

Saint Joan of arc (does she count? Also, cue "the Catholic church: just bc we killed her doesn't mean we can't miss her")

Both of these count!!! Adding a vote for each of them now!

[brookston]

Holidays 7.20

Holidays

The Binding of the Wreaths (Lithuania)

Cleat Dancing Day

Common Mullein Day (French Republic)

Deepfake Awareness Day

Dia del Amigo (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay)

Engineer’s Day (Costa Rica)

Falun Gong Persecution Anniversary Day (China)

Frantz Fanon Day

Friend's Day (a.k.a. Dia del Amigo; Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay)

International Ambigram Day

International Chess Day

International Ride MTB Day

July Plot Anniversary Day

Liam Payne Appreciation Day

Lempira Day (Honduras)

Mammal Day

Man on the Moon Day (a.k.a. Moon Day)

Nap Day

National Biplane Day

National Dental BIller’s Day

National Heroes Day

National Megan Day

National Moon Day

National Natalie Day

National Pennsylvania Day

National POW-MIA Recognition Day

National Secretary Day (Mexico)

National Tell A Girl She's Beautiful Day

Peace and Freedom Day (North Cyprus)

Space Exploration Day

Special Olympics Day

Sumarauki (Iceland)

Sun’s Rest Festival (Elder Scrolls)

Tree Planting Day (Central African Republic)

Ugly Truck Day

Vigil for Peace, Justice and Respect for Human Rights (Colombia)

Women’s Union Day (Laos)

World Jump Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Fortune Cookie Day

International Cake Day

National Ice Cream Soda Day

National Lasagne Day

National Lollipop Day

National Milkshake Day (Australia)

National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day

3rd Thursday in July

Get To Know Your Customers Day [3rd Thursday of each Quarter]

Latitude Festival (Suffolk, UK) [3rd Thursday thru Sunday]

Independence Days

British Columbia Province Day (Canada; 1871)

Colombia (from Spain, 1810)

Libernesia (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Republic of Plymouth (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Samana Cay (Declared; 2008) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Ansegisus (Christian; Saint)

Apollinaris of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage (Christian; Saint)

Barsabas (Christian; Saint)

Ceslas (Christian; Saint)

Ealhswith (a.k.a. Elswith; Christian; Saint)

Editha (Christian; Saint)

Elias (Christian; Prophet)

Elijah (Christian; Saint)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman (Episcopal Church (USA))

Feralia: Day of Purification(Pagan)

Greater Bajram (Feast of Sacrifice; Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Interstellar Lasagne Day Day (Pastafarian)

Jerom Aemiliani (Christian; Saint)

John Baptist Yi (Christian; One of The Korean Martyrs)

Justa and Rufina (Christian; Martyrs)

La Fontain (Positivist; Saint)

Larry the Fish (Muppetism)

Margaret the Virgin (a.k.a. Margaret of Antioch; Christian; Saint)

Max Liebermann (Artology)

Perun’s Day (Asatru/Slavic Pagan God of Thunder)

Pope John XII Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Synoika (Ancient Greece)

Thorlac (Christian; Relic Translation)

Turkish Invasion Day (Cyprus)

Uncumber (Christian; Saint)

Ulmer (a.k.a. Wulmar; Christian; Saint)

Wilgefortis (cult suppressed)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Batman: Hush (WB Animated Film; 2019)

Breaking Away (Film; 1979)

The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder (Novel; 1927)

Buddy Steps Out (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Christmas in Connecticut (Film; 1945)

The Dark Knight Rises (Film; 2012)

Do You Believe in Magic?, by The Lovin’ Spoonful (Song; 1965)

Ghost World (Film; 2001)

Hairspray (Film; 2007)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Film; 2001)

Like a Rolling Stone, by Bob Dylan (Song; 1965)

Lucky Number (Disney Cartoon; 1951)

Mama Mia!: Here We Go Again (Film; 2018)

The NeverEnding Story (Film; 1984)

Revenge of the Nerds (Film; 1984)

Sid and Nancy (Film; 1986)

Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2001)

Stop the World — I Want To Get Off (Musical Play; 1961)

Tabasco Road (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

Train to Busan (Film; 2016)

The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2013)

Today’s Name Days

Apollinaris, Bernhard, Margareta (Austria)

Ilina, Iliya, Iliyana, Ilko (Bulgaria)

Apolinar, Bernard, Ilija, Margareta, Marina (Croatia)

Ilja (Czech Republic)

Elias (Denmark)

Elias, Erland, Liias (Estonia)

Maaret, Maarit, Margareeta, Marketta, Reeta, Reetta (Finland)

Élie, Marina (France)

Elias, Greta, Margarete (Germany)

Elias, Ilias (Greece)

Illés (Hungary)

Elia, Simmaco (Italy)

Namejs, Ramona, Ritma (Latvia)

Alvydas, Česlovas, Jeronimas, Vismantė (Lithuania)

Margareta, Margit, Marit (Norway)

Czech, Czechasz, Czechoń, Czesław, Eliasz, Heliasz, Hieronim, Leon, Małgorzata, Paweł, Sewera (Poland)

Ilie (Romania)

Eliáš, Iľja (Slovakia)

Apolinar, Aurelio, Elías (Spain)

Greta, Margareta (Sweden)

Elio, Eliot, Eliott, Elliot, Elliott, Marine (Universal)

Edna, Edwin, Edwina, Elias, Elijah, Ellice, Elliot, Elliott, Ellis, Ellison, Neal, Neala, Neil, Neila, Nelson, Niall, Nigel, Niles (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 201 of 2024; 164 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 29 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 3 (Ji-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 2 Av 5783

Islamic: 2 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 21 Lux; Sevenday [21 of 30]

Julian: 7 July 2023

Moon: 8%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 5 Dante (8th Month) [La Fontain]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 30 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 30 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.20

Holidays

The Binding of the Wreaths (Lithuania)

Cleat Dancing Day

Common Mullein Day (French Republic)

Deepfake Awareness Day

Dia del Amigo (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay)

Engineer’s Day (Costa Rica)

Falun Gong Persecution Anniversary Day (China)

Frantz Fanon Day

Friend's Day (a.k.a. Dia del Amigo; Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay)

International Ambigram Day

International Chess Day

International Ride MTB Day

July Plot Anniversary Day

Liam Payne Appreciation Day

Lempira Day (Honduras)

Mammal Day

Man on the Moon Day (a.k.a. Moon Day)

Nap Day

National Biplane Day

National Dental BIller’s Day

National Heroes Day

National Megan Day

National Moon Day

National Natalie Day

National Pennsylvania Day

National POW-MIA Recognition Day

National Secretary Day (Mexico)

National Tell A Girl She's Beautiful Day

Peace and Freedom Day (North Cyprus)

Space Exploration Day

Special Olympics Day

Sumarauki (Iceland)

Sun’s Rest Festival (Elder Scrolls)

Tree Planting Day (Central African Republic)

Ugly Truck Day

Vigil for Peace, Justice and Respect for Human Rights (Colombia)

Women’s Union Day (Laos)

World Jump Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Fortune Cookie Day

International Cake Day

National Ice Cream Soda Day

National Lasagne Day

National Lollipop Day

National Milkshake Day (Australia)

National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day

3rd Thursday in July

Get To Know Your Customers Day [3rd Thursday of each Quarter]

Latitude Festival (Suffolk, UK) [3rd Thursday thru Sunday]

Independence Days

British Columbia Province Day (Canada; 1871)

Colombia (from Spain, 1810)

Libernesia (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Republic of Plymouth (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Samana Cay (Declared; 2008) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Ansegisus (Christian; Saint)

Apollinaris of Ravenna (Christian; Saint)

Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage (Christian; Saint)

Barsabas (Christian; Saint)

Ceslas (Christian; Saint)

Ealhswith (a.k.a. Elswith; Christian; Saint)

Editha (Christian; Saint)

Elias (Christian; Prophet)

Elijah (Christian; Saint)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman (Episcopal Church (USA))

Feralia: Day of Purification(Pagan)

Greater Bajram (Feast of Sacrifice; Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Interstellar Lasagne Day Day (Pastafarian)

Jerom Aemiliani (Christian; Saint)

John Baptist Yi (Christian; One of The Korean Martyrs)

Justa and Rufina (Christian; Martyrs)

La Fontain (Positivist; Saint)

Larry the Fish (Muppetism)

Margaret the Virgin (a.k.a. Margaret of Antioch; Christian; Saint)

Max Liebermann (Artology)

Perun’s Day (Asatru/Slavic Pagan God of Thunder)

Pope John XII Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Synoika (Ancient Greece)

Thorlac (Christian; Relic Translation)

Turkish Invasion Day (Cyprus)

Uncumber (Christian; Saint)

Ulmer (a.k.a. Wulmar; Christian; Saint)

Wilgefortis (cult suppressed)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Batman: Hush (WB Animated Film; 2019)

Breaking Away (Film; 1979)

The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder (Novel; 1927)

Buddy Steps Out (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Christmas in Connecticut (Film; 1945)

The Dark Knight Rises (Film; 2012)

Do You Believe in Magic?, by The Lovin’ Spoonful (Song; 1965)

Ghost World (Film; 2001)

Hairspray (Film; 2007)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Film; 2001)

Like a Rolling Stone, by Bob Dylan (Song; 1965)

Lucky Number (Disney Cartoon; 1951)

Mama Mia!: Here We Go Again (Film; 2018)

The NeverEnding Story (Film; 1984)

Revenge of the Nerds (Film; 1984)

Sid and Nancy (Film; 1986)

Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2001)

Stop the World — I Want To Get Off (Musical Play; 1961)

Tabasco Road (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

Train to Busan (Film; 2016)

The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2013)

Today’s Name Days

Apollinaris, Bernhard, Margareta (Austria)

Ilina, Iliya, Iliyana, Ilko (Bulgaria)

Apolinar, Bernard, Ilija, Margareta, Marina (Croatia)

Ilja (Czech Republic)

Elias (Denmark)

Elias, Erland, Liias (Estonia)

Maaret, Maarit, Margareeta, Marketta, Reeta, Reetta (Finland)

Élie, Marina (France)

Elias, Greta, Margarete (Germany)

Elias, Ilias (Greece)

Illés (Hungary)

Elia, Simmaco (Italy)

Namejs, Ramona, Ritma (Latvia)

Alvydas, Česlovas, Jeronimas, Vismantė (Lithuania)

Margareta, Margit, Marit (Norway)

Czech, Czechasz, Czechoń, Czesław, Eliasz, Heliasz, Hieronim, Leon, Małgorzata, Paweł, Sewera (Poland)

Ilie (Romania)

Eliáš, Iľja (Slovakia)

Apolinar, Aurelio, Elías (Spain)

Greta, Margareta (Sweden)

Elio, Eliot, Eliott, Elliot, Elliott, Marine (Universal)

Edna, Edwin, Edwina, Elias, Elijah, Ellice, Elliot, Elliott, Ellis, Ellison, Neal, Neala, Neil, Neila, Nelson, Niall, Nigel, Niles (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 201 of 2024; 164 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 29 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 3 (Ji-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 2 Av 5783

Islamic: 2 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 21 Lux; Sevenday [21 of 30]

Julian: 7 July 2023

Moon: 8%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 5 Dante (8th Month) [La Fontain]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 30 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 30 of 31)

[momentsbeforemass]

Beat down

Today is Ash Wednesday.

And – like everything else during the pandemic – it’s going to be different this year.

When it comes to Ash Wednesday, and to all of Lent, we’ve all got our go-to’s. The things that we do, because they speak to us, because they help us to keep a Holy Lent.

Whether it’s a fish fry, a holy hour, Stations of the Cross, or something else. All of it is going to be different this year. In one way or another.

Knowing this, there are basically two ways we can handle it. We can waste our time worrying about how it’s different, how it’s not like we usually do it. So we can complain about it.

Or we can embrace it. And instead of trying to make it like our usual, choose to make it different.

Make it different by getting some help.

By adopting a patron saint for Lent. And not just in name only.

Spend time with that saint. Learn how they nurtured their relationship with God. Use their struggle with holiness to see your own struggles through new eyes.

Ask for their support, their intercession, in repairing your relationship with God. After all, repairing your relationship with God is the whole point of Lent.

My patron saint for Lent? Margaret of Antioch.

Let me tell you why. In the Orthodox tradition, there’s a classic image of her.

Margaret has the devil by the horns with one hand, holding him down as he flails helplessly. In her other hand? A five-pound hammer with a cut-down handle. And Margaret is playing for keeps.

As the story goes, the devil was tempting Margaret to renounce the Faith.

Margaret’s answer? A sledgehammer beat down. 

That is the Lent that I want to have.

Taking up the hammer of fasting.  Taking up the hammer of abstinence. Taking up the hammer of prayer. Taking up the hammer of works of mercy.

Holding down everything that wants to come between me and God. And giving it the sledgehammer beat down it so richly deserves.

That is why Margaret is my hero and my holy helper for these 40 days.

Because Lent’s not just going to be different this year. With God’s help and the intercession of St. Margaret of Antioch, it’s going to be great.

Which leaves me with just one question, who’s your patron saint for Lent?

Readings for Ash Wednesday

If you’re not sure what patron saint to choose for Lent, here’s a link that will choose a patron saint for you at random.

[sun-intheseoul]

Drawing Margaret the Virgin

[theodoreangelos]

Roman Catholic Parish Church of St Margaret of Antioch Römisch-katholische Pfarrkirche zur Hl. Margareta von Antiochia Римско-католическая приходская церковь Святой Маргариты Антиохийской Église paroissiale catholique romaine de Sainte-Marguerite d'Antioche

[apocrypals]

What’s up, gang. We are back and we brought with us a couple of ladies exploding dragons with the power of Christ’s love

[practicingcatholic]

St. Joan of Arc, Pray for Us!

Throughout history, God has repeatedly surprised us by the means through which he carried out His will.

Think of the cross. That, which many consider as foolishness, is the instrument by which God saves.

Think of St. Peter who denied the Lord thrice nevertheless, he was the rock upon which the Church was built.

Consider St. Paul who once was the most zealous persecutor of the Church, became the most ardent evangelist.

God sees and judges things differently from us and so, we are often shocked by the things that happen which are irreconcilable with our expectations.

St. Joan of Arc surely exceeded everyone’s expectations. 

She challenged the prejudices of society by being the chosen instrument of God despite being a poor and uneducated, teenage girl.

The maid of Orleans was born to a peasant family in France.

When she was 12, she received her mission from Saints Michael the Archangel, Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch. She was to help Charles VII be officially crowned king of France.

At first, everyone was doubtful of her intentions and authenticity. But, through several examinations and severe scrutiny, she was finally able to convince the future king.

She led a series of victorious battles against the English and Burgundians. She eventually was able to liberate Reims which led to the coronation of Charles VII.

However, a year later, she was captured by the enemies. 

Having received no help from the new king, she was put on a politically motivated trial. She was condemned and then burned at the stake.

Our mission may not be as clearly revealed to us as that of St. Joan, but we can be assured of this: we are all called to be holy. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (I Thes. 4:3).

Her determination in accomplishing her mission should inspire us to pursue sanctity with the same degree of persistence.

Sin is the enemy and our lives should be daily spiritual warfare against it.

May the intercession of St. Joan of Arc avail us the grace to defeat sin!

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (July 20)

Saint Margaret, whose feast is celebrated on July 20, is a virgin and martyr.

She is also called "Marina."

Margaret belonged to Pisidian Antioch in Asia Minor, where her father was a pagan priest.

Her mother died soon after Margaret's birth, so she was nursed by a pious woman who lived about five or six leagues from Antioch.

Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, she was disowned by her father and adopted by her nurse.

One day, while she was engaged in watching the flocks of her mistress, a lustful Roman prefect named Olybrius caught sight of her.

Attracted by her great beauty, he sought to make her his concubine or wife.

When neither cajolery nor threats of punishment could succeed in moving her to yield to his desires, he had her brought before him in public trial at Antioch.

Threatened with death unless she renounced the Christian faith, the holy virgin refused to adore the gods of the empire.

An attempt was made to burn her, but the flames left her unharmed, as we are told in her Acts.

She was then bound hand and foot and thrown into a cauldron of boiling water, but at her prayer, her bonds were broken and she stood up uninjured.

Finally, the prefect ordered her to be beheaded.

The Greek Church honors her under the name Marine on July 13 and the Latin as Margaret on July 20.

Her Acts place her death in the persecution of Diocletian (A.D. 303-5), but in fact, even the century to which she belonged is uncertain.

St. Margaret is represented in art sometimes as a shepherdess, or as leading a chained dragon, again carrying a little cross or a girdle in her hand, or standing by a large vessel, which recalls the cauldron into which she was plunged.

Relics said to belong to the saint are venerated in very many parts of Europe — Rome, Montefiascone, Brusels, Bruges, Paris, Froidmont, Troyes, and various other places.

Curiously enough, this virgin has been widely venerated for many centuries as a special patron of women who are pregnant.

[cruger2984]

A3! and its Saints: Summer Troupe

Like the old summer troupe, they decided to focus on comedy plays and give the audience the feeling that the summer has only begun after they have seen one of the refreshing summer troupe acts. Here is the Summer Troupe with their corresponding feast days!

June 6 - Misumi Ikaruga

St. Marcellin Champagnat: French priest who is known as the founder of the Marist Brothers of the Schools (Marist Brothers), a religious congregation of brothers in the Catholic Church devoted to Mary and dedicated to education. Born in the year of the storming of the Bastille, the start of the French Revolution. The religious, political, economic and social unrest of the times he lived influenced his priorities and life path. Beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1955 and canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1999, he is the patron saint of education, teachers and simplicity.

June 21 - Tenma Sumeragi

St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Italian confessor from the Jesuit order. Born into the noble Gonzaga clan in 1568, and in order to satisfy his father's ambitions, he was trained in the art of war and was obliged to attend royal banquets and military parades. Not with standing his father's furious opposition, Aloysius renounced his inheritance and join the Jesuits in Rome. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epidemic. Canonized on New Year's Eve in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII, he is the patron saint of the Christian youth, Jesuit scholastics, the blind, AIDS patients, AIDS care-givers.

July 8 - Yuki Rurikawa

St. Kilian: Irish missionary bishop and is known as the 'Apostle of Franconia', where he began his labors towards the end of the 7th century. There are several biographies of him. The oldest texts which refer to him are an 8th-century necrology at Würzburg and the notice by Hrabanus Maurus in his martyrology. He is usually portrayed wearing a bishop's mitre and holding a sword, which was the instrument of his martyrdom.

July 20 - Kumon Hyodo

St. Margaret of Antioch: She was a native of Antioch and the daughter of a pagan priest named Aedesius. Her mother having died soon after her birth, Margaret was nursed by a Christian woman from Antioch. Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, Margaret was disowned by her father, adopted by her nurse, and lived in the country keeping sheep with her foster mother.  Olybrius asked to marry her, but with the demand that she renounce Christianity. Upon her refusal, she was cruelly tortured, during which various miraculous incidents occurred. One of these involved being swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, from which she escaped alive when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards. Margaret is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, being listed as such in the Roman Martyrology, and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, in which she is the patron of women in childbirth, invoked against backache, and invoked for escape from devils.

August 1 - Kazunari Miyoshi

St. Alphonsus Liguori: Italian spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, theologian and bishop of Sant' Agata de Goti, who is known as the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer aka the Redemptorist order. His best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions. Canonized as a saint by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839, he is proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. He is the patron of confessors and moralists.

August 30 - Muku Sakisaka

St. Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán: Ecuadorian laywoman who was known for her charitable giving and strict devotion to Jesus Christ while becoming somewhat of a hermit dedicated to discerning his will. The death of her parents prompted her to relocate in order to work as a seamstress while doubling as a catechist and educator to some of her siblings who needed caring. But her devotion to God was strong and it led her to live amongst the Dominican religious in Peru where she spent time before her death. Beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992 and canonized sixteen years later by Pope Benedict XVI, her major shrine can be found in Nobol, Ecuador.