Saint Adventor
Commemorated on 20 November
Martyred withSaint Octavius andSaint Solutor.Their original story lost, the three later became associated with the Theban Legion.
Died: marytred at Turin, Italy in 297 Canonised: Pre-Congregation
Saint Berward
(also known as Berward;Bernward of Hildesheim)
Commemorated on 20 November
Member of a noble Saxon family.Grandson of Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. Orphaned at an early ageRaised by his uncle Volkmar, bishop of Utrecht, and educated at the cathedral school at Heidelberg and at Mainz. Ordained at Mainz.Imperial chaplain and tutor to the future Emperor Otto III beginning in 987. Bishop of Hildesheim from 993 till 1020.Encouraged the arts; commissioned religious paintings and sculpture, refurbished existing buildings, built new ones (thus his patronage of the builder s arts), and made altar vessels of gold and silver by hand, and dabbled in architecture and ornamental ironwork.His rule was marked with peace, and around 1020 he retired to a Benedictine monastary to spend his remaining days in prayer.
Born: c. 960 at Utrecht, Netherlands Died: 20 November 1022 Canonised: 1193 by Pope Celestine III
Saint Edmund of East Anglia
(also known as Edumund the Martyr)
Commemorated on 20 November;formerly 2 November
King of East Anglia at age 14 on Christmas Day 855.A model ruler, concerned with justice for his people.Spent a year sequestered at Hunstanton learning the Psalter by heart.Following one of a series of armed engagement with invading Danes, he was captured.He was ordered to give his Christian people to the pagan invaders; he refused. Martyr.
Born: c. 841 probably at Nuremburg, Germany Died: beaten, whipped, shot with arrows and beheaded at Hoxne, Suffolk, England 20 November 870;buried at Hoxne; relics moved to Beodricsworth (modern Saint Edmundsbury) in the 10th century Canonised: Pre-Congregation
Saint Eustachius
(also known as Placidus;Eustace)
Commemorated on 20 September (Western Church); 2 November ( Eastern Church)
Pagan Roman general in the army of the emperor Trajan. Converted to Christianity following a hunting trip during which he saw a glowing cross between the antlers of a stag, after which he received a prophecy that he would suffer for Christ.He was baptized with his wife and two sons, and given the name Eustachius.Denounced as a Christian, he lost his property, was reduced to abject poverty, and Roman authorities took his wife and children.However, being a capable general, he was recalled to duty by Trajan to help repel barbarians from Rome, which he did.He and his family were reunited with the expectation they would sacrifice to idols in thanks for a military victory.When they refused, an enraged Trajan ordered them thrown to the lions; the big cats played like kittens around them, so they were martyred together by being burned in a bronze bull.Eustachius is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Born: as Placidas Died: cooked to death in a bronze bull in 188
Saint Felix of Valois
Commemorated on 20 November
Son of Count Raoul de Vermandois et de Valois and Alienor de Champagne.As a child he received the blessings of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and Pope Innocent II.Educated at the abbey of Clairvaux.As a young man, following his parents extremely disruptive divorce, he renounced his wealth and took the name Felix. Cistercian monk at Clairvaux. Hermit in the Italian Alps. Priest. Hermit in the forest of Galeresse, diocese of Meaux.Friend and spiritual teacher of Saint John of Matha.The two of the founded the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives ( Trinitarians; Redemptionists) in order to ransom Christians held as slaves by Moors in Spain and Northern Africa.The Order received papal approval on 17 December 1198, and within 40 years there were over 600 houses worldwide.Today there are around 600 members of the Order working in prison ministries in over twenty countries, and they recently celebrated their 800 year anniversary.
Born: April 1127 in the province of Valois, France as Hugh Died: 4 November 1212 at the Cerfroi monastery, Picardy, France of natural causes;buried in the church in Cerfroi, which became a pilgrimage destination Canonised: 1 May 1262 by Pope Urban IV; confirmed on 21 October 1666 by Pope Alexander VII; feast day fixed in 1679 by Pope Innocent XI
Saint Gregory Decapolites
Commemorated on 20 November
Ninth century opponent of the iconoclasts, at whose hands he suffered.
Born: at the Decapolis, Asia Minor
Blessed José María Díaz Sanjurjo
(also known as Joseph Diaz Sanjurjo)
Commemorated on 20 July; 24 November as one of the Martyrs of Viet Nam
Dominican. Ordained on 23 March 1844. Missionary to Manila, and then to Viet Nam.Coadjutor vicar apostolic of Central Tonking, Viet Nam and titular bishop of Plataea on 5 September 1848.One of the Martyrs of Viet Nam.
Born: 26 October 1818 at Santa Eulalia, Spain Died: martyred on 20 July 1857 in Viet Nam Beatified: 29 April 1951 by Pope Pius XII Canonised: 19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti
(also known as Anna Felice Viti)
Commemorated on 20 November
Raised her siblings after her mother s early death, then became a Benedictine nun.Had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
Born: 10 February 1827 in Veroli, Italy as Anna Felice Viti Died: 20 November 1922 in Veroli, Italy of natural causes Beatified: 8 October 1967 by Pope Paul VI Canonised: pending