Saint of the day

Saint of the day

October 30: Saint Germanus of Capua, Bishop

A Shepherd in the Service of Unity

Germanus was appointed Bishop of Capua around the year 519, but before that date, his life remains largely shrouded in obscurity. The only information about his origins comes from a hagiographic source of the ninth century, considered late and unreliable. According to this account, Germanus was born in the city of Capua between 470 and 480, to parents of high social rank, Amanzio and Giuliana. After his father’s death, and with his mother’s consent, he decided to sell the family’s possessions in order to devote himself entirely to an ascetic life and the study of the Scriptures. Upon the death of Bishop Alexander, the Capuan community elected him as successor, and only after much insistence did he accept the office.

October 29: Saint Honoratus of Vercelli, Bishop

A faithful witness to the legacy of Ambrose

Saint Honoratus stands as a central figure in the history of the Church of Vercelli, Italy, remembered for his deep spirituality, his dedication to ecclesial service, and his special bond with two great saints: Eusebius and Ambrose. A member of the monastic community founded by Saint Eusebius in Vercelli, Honoratus was his disciple and companion in exile during the Arian persecutions. This ascetic and formative environment prepared him for a leading role in the life of the Church.

28 October: Apostles Saint Simon and Saint Jude (Thaddeus)

Proclaiming the Gospel together

The two Apostles, Simon and Jude Thaddeus, are celebrated on the same day, possibly because of their shared apostolate in Mesopotamia and Persia, where they went to proclaim the Gospel. Not much is known about them. The little we know is what is in the New Testament.

October 27: Saint Evaristus, Pope

The Fifth Bishop of Rome

Evaristus is traditionally regarded as the fifth Bishop of Rome, the direct successor of Saint Clement I, according to the episcopal lists handed down by Irenaeus of  Lyons and Eusebius of Caesarea. In some variants of these lists, where Anacletus/Cletus is placed after Clement, Evaristus appears as his immediate successor.

October 26: Saint Folco Scotti, Bishop

A Man of Peace and Mediation

He is remembered as “the great peacemaker”, a symbol of an age marked by civil strife but also by churchmen capable of acting as bridges between opposing sides. This was Folco Scotti, probably from a modest branch of the noble Scotti family, which at the time was emerging as a dominant force on the political scene of the northern city of Piacenza, Italy.

October 25: Blessed Father Carlo Gnocchi

A life given to the “mutilatini”

Carlo Gnocchi was born on October 25, 1902, in San Colombano al Lambro, a small town in the province of Lodi. The third son of Enrico, a marble craftsman, and Clementina, a seamstress, he grew up in a modest family marked by early suffering: his father died when Carlo was only five years old and not long afterward his two brothers, Mario and Andrea, also succumbed to tuberculosis. His mother, left alone, moved with young Carlo to Milan, where she tried to rebuild a future for them both.