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Saint Joseph, adoptive father of Jesus and husband of Mary, is a key figure in Christian tradition, both because of his role in the economy of salvation and because he was a model of virtue. Joseph is not mentioned in detail in the Bible. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are the ones which reveal the most about him.
Cyril was born around 315 in Jerusalem or close to it and was well educated in literature, which became the basis for his ecclesiastical knowledge, centred on the study of the Bible.
Saint Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat. Born around 385 in Scotland, he was the son of a Roman centurion from Great Britain.
When Maewyn was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave to a Druid in what is now Ulster, Ireland. During his six years of slavery, he worked as a shepherd for an Irish clan leader and discovered Christianity, becoming a practicing Christian.
Francesca Bussa in Ponziani was known to people as “Ceccolella”. She was born into a noble family and was recognized for her charity and for her lack of shame in begging for alms for the poor.
Born in Rome in 1384 to Paolo Bussa di Leoni and Giacobella di Roffredeschi, she loved to read the biographies of the saints as a young child, and was attracted to spiritual matters. Her spiritual guide was Fr. Antonio di Monte Savello, an Olivetan Benedictine who served at the Church of Santa Maria Nuova al Foro. She wished to consecrate herself to God, but by the time she was 12, her father had already made plans to marry her off to Lorenzo Ponziani, who hailed from a very wealthy family.
Saint John of God’s name was Juan Ciudad. He was born in 1495 in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, where he spent his early years, before moving to Oropesa, Spain, when he was eight years old. He took part in two wars, one in Fuenterrabía in the Pyrenees and one in Vienna against the Turks. Following these events, he returned to Spain and embarked on a long spiritual journey that took him to various cities, including Seville, Ceuta, Gibraltar and Granada, where he worked as a book seller. After hearing a sermon by John of Avila, he underwent a profound spiritual transformation that led him to declare his “folly” for God, to the point that he was committed to the Royal Hospital of Granada. When he was discharged, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to serving the Lord.
The Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle commemorates the moment when the Lord said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church”. On the day in which Romans traditionally honoured their deceased, we honour the See of Saint Peter’s birth in Heaven, which draws glory from victory on the Vatican Hill and presides over the universal communion of charity, states the Roman Martyrology.
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