ENGLISH SPEAKING SAINTS AND MARTYRS HONOURED IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER

November 1 

St. Cadfan, 6th century. Missionary to Wales venerated in Owynedd and Bardsey Island as a companion of Towyn. He was a native of Brittany, France, and founded monasteries in Wales.  

St. Ceitho, 6th century. Welsh saint, one of five brothers of Cunedda. A church at Pumpsant was dedicated to the brothers. Ceitho founded a church in Liangeith, in Dyfed.  

St. Dingad, 5th century. Reportedly the hermit son of Chieftain Brychan of Brecknock. He lived in Llangingad, Llangovery, in Dyfed, Wales.  

St. Pabiali, 5th and 6th century. Welsh patron saint. He is believed to have been one of the saintly descendant of a local Welsh king. A chapel in Wales is dedicated in his honor.  

November 2 

St. Maura. Maura, the Irish sister of St. Brigid. There legend is that they were Scottish princesses who were murdered by pagan outlaws while on a pilgrimage to Rome. Their bodies are enshrined there. They are believed to be the same St. Maura and St. Britt who were 5th century soldiers per St. Euphronius and St. Martin of Tours. Also there is another legend of them by St. Baya.

Bl. John Bodey, 1583 A.D. English martyr and schoolmaster. He was born at Wells, Somerset, and educated at Oxford. Converting to the faith, John studied law at Douai in 1557 and returned to England to become a schoolmaster and to marry. When he repudiated King Henry VIII’s claim of supremacy in spiritual matters, he was arrested in 1550. John was imprisoned at Winchester until 1583, when he was taken on November 2 to Andover where he was hanged. He was beatified in 1929.  

November 3 

St. Winifred. According to legend, she was the daughter of a wealthy resident of Tegeingl, Flintshire, Wales, and the sister of St. Beuno. She was most impressed by Beuno, was supposedly beheaded on June 22 by one Caradog when she refused to submit to him, had her head restored by Beuno, and sometime later, became a nun of the convent of a double monastery at Gwytherin in Denbigshire. She succeeded an Abbess Tenoy, as Abbess and died there fifteen years after her miraculous restoration to life. A spring supposedly springing up where Winifred's head fell is called Holy Well or St. Winifred's Well and became a great pilgrimage center where many cures have been reported over the centuries. She is also known as Gwenfrewi. 

St. Vulganius, 704 A.D. Irish or Welsh missionary and hermit. After working to evangelize the tribes of the Atrebati in France, he became a hermit at Arras. 

St. Cristiolus, 7th century. Welsh confessor, the brother of St. Sulian. Cristiolus founded Christian churches, including the parish in Anglesey.  

St. Elerius, 6th century. Welsh saint who was a companion of St. Winefred. He was an abbot in a monastery in the north of Wales.  

St. Englatius, 966 A.D. A Scottish bishop also called Englat and Tanglen. He lived at Tarves, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 

St. Malachy O' More, Bishop famous for writing prophecies of the popes. Also listed as Mael Maedoc ua Morgair or Maolrnhaodhog ua Morgair, Malachy was born in Armagh, Ireland, in 1095. He was ordained by St. Cellach or Celsus of Armagh in 1132 and studied under Bishop St. Maichius of Lismore. Malachy reformed ecclesiastical discipline and replaced the Celtic liturgy with the Roman when he served as abbot of Bangor. In 1125 he was made bishop of Connor, using Bangor as his seat. He also established a monastery at Iveragh, Kerry. He was named archbishop of Armagh in 1129. In 1138, he resigned and made a pilgrimage to Rome. He visited St. Bernard at Clairvaux, France, wanting to be a monk there, but returned to Ireland to found Mellifont Abbey, also serving as papal legate to Ireland. He returned to Clairvaux and died on November 2 in St. Bernard’s arms. St. Bernard declared him a saint, an action confirmed in 1190 by Pope Clement III. Malachy is known for many miracles, including healing the son of King David I of Scotland. Malachy’s prophecies did not appear until 1597. Tradition states that Malachy wrote them while in Rome and that they were buried in papal archives until 1597, when Dom Arnold de Wyon discovered them. Serious doubts remain as to the true authorship of the prophecies.  

November 4 

St. Clarus. A priest, probably born at Rochester, England, Clarus went to Normandy, became a Benedictine monk, lived as a hermit, and settled at Naqueville, near Rouen. When he repulsed the advances of a noblewoman, she had him killed and beheaded near Saint-Calir-sur-Eph. 

St. Birrstan, 934 A.D. Benedictine bishop, also called Birnstan and Brynstan. He was a disciple of St. Grimbold and the successor of St. Frithestan in Winchester, England.  

November 5 

St. Kea, 6th century. British saint honored in Devon, France, as St. Quary. He is sometimes listed as Kay or Kenan. Kea was a bishop.  

November 6 

St. Edwen, 7th century. Patroness of Llanedwen, Anglesey, Wales. She is reported to have been the daughter of King Edwin of Northumbria, the first Christian ruler there.  

St. Leonard of Reresby, 13th century. Crusader prisoner of the Saracens set free in a miraculous fashion. He was a native of Yorkshire, England.  

St. Pinnock. Welsh saint, honored by a church in Cornwall, England. As there is no historical evidence for St. Pinnock’s existence, it is assumed by some scholars that Pinnock is a derivation of St. Winnow.  

November 7 

St. Cumgar, 6th or 8th century. Monastic founder possibly identified with St. Docuinus. A native of Devon, he founded monasteries at Budgworth, Somerset, England, and at West Glamorgan, Wales. He was buried at Somerset. 

St. Florentius of Strasbourg, 693 A.D. Irish bishop of Strasbourg, France. He went to Alsace and there he became a hermit on Mount Ringelberg. After curing the blind and deaf daughter of St. King Dagobert II, he had the king’s patronage in founding a monastery. He was appointed the bishop of Strasbourg and founded St. Thomas Monastery, mostly staffed by Irish.  

November 8 

St. Tysilio, mid 7th century. Welsh abbot. The son of a Welsh prince, Brochwel Ysgythrog, he left home at a young age to become a monk at Meifod in Powys, Wales, later serving as abbot. He departed Wales for Brittany, France, about 617, supposedly in an effort to escape the relentless attentions of the widow of his deceased brother and his father’s demands that he return home. In Brittany he settled on the site that became known as St. Suliac (his name in the region), although it is possible that the name may refer to some other person. 

St. Cybi, 6th century. Welsh abbot, one of the most venerated saints in Anglesey, also called Cuby and Kabius. Born in Cornwall, England, and a cousin of St. David of Wales, he refused the throne of his area. Cybi went to Monmouthshire and then to Avanmore, in Ireland, to study under St. Anda. On Anglesey, an island near Holyhead, Wales, Cybi founded a monastery called Caer Cybi. He is the patron of Llangebby and Llangybi, as well as Cornwall, Tregony, Landulf, and Cuby.  

St. Moroc, 9th century. Scottish bishop of Dunblane who originally served as abbot of Dunkeld. He was venerated especially in the old Scottish rite, and several churches bear his name.  

St. Willehad, 789 A.D. Benedictine missionary and bishop. A native of Northumbria, England, he studied at York, was a friend of Blessed Alcuin, and became a monk in York or Ripon. About 766, he embarked upon a journey to preach among the Frisians of the Netherlands. He preached at Dokkum and Overyssel, but was forced to flee with his companions because of the violent pagan reaction. In 780, at the request of Charlemagne (r. 768-814), he became a missionary among the Saxons, but again he was forced to flee, owing to the Saxon uprising against the Franks. He went to Rome to make a report of his activities to Pope Adrian I (r. 772-795) and spent two years at Echternach monastery in Luxembourg. Wufrid gathered together missionary resources, and after Charlemagne's reconquest of Saxony, he received an appointment as bishop of Worms, Germany, in 787, with his seat at Bremen and ruissionary authority over the Saxons. He died at Bremen a few days after dedicating the cathedral of St. Peter.  

November 9 

St. Benignus, 466 A.D. Bishop of Ireland, the son of Sechnaa, the psalm singer of St, Patrick. Sechnan was a chief in Meath, Ireland, converted by St. Patrick. Benignus became a disciple of St. Patrick and succeeded him as the chief bishop of Ireland. He converted the Irish in Clare, Kerry, and Connaught. Benignus served as the superior of an abbey at Drumlease, erected by St. Patrick. 

St. Pabo, 510 A.D. Early Scottish founder of a monastery on the island of Anglesey. He was originally a warrior and perhaps the son of a Scottish or Pictish chieftain who gave up his life of combat and embarked on a spiritual life.  

November 10 

St. Aedh MacBricc, 589 A.D. Miracle worker and founder who reputedly cured St. Brigid of a headache. Aedh was the son of Bricc, or Breece, of the Hy Neill. He was robbed of his inheritance by his brother and came under the influence of bishop Illathan of Rathlihen, Offay. Admitted into the monastic life, Aedh founded a religious community in Westmeath. He is listed in some records as a bishop.

St. Elaeth, 1084 A.D. British king driven by locals into Wales. He became a monk there under St. Seiriol. Elaeth’s poems have survived.  

St. John of Ratzeburg, 1066 A.D. Martyred Scottish bishop. Born in Scotland, John became a missionary in Germany. Named the bishop of Ratzeburg, he labored on the coast of the Baltic Sea where he was martyred for the faith by local pagans.

St. Justus of Canterbury, 627 A.D. Benedictine archbishop of Canterbury. Justus was a Roman sent by Pope St. Gregory I the Great in 601 to England, to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. Justus and others were sent as aides to St. Augustine. In 604, Justus was consecrated the first bishop of Rochester. The death of King Ethelbert in 616 caused a rise in paganism, and Justus returned to Rome. In the following year he went back to England and became archbishop of Canterbury in 624. He consecrated St. Paulinus.  

November 11 

St. Cynfran, 5th century. A Welsh saint, founder, and confessor. He was the son of a local Welsh king. Cynfran founded a church in Gwynedd, and a local well was named for him.  

St. Rhediw. Welsh saint. He is known principally because of the church dedicated to him in Gwynedd, Wales.  

November 12 

St. Ymar, 830 A.D. Benedictine martyr of England. A monk in Reculver Abbey, Kent, England, he was put to death by marauding Danes. Feast day: November 12.  

St. Cadwallader, 689 A.D. A king of the Saxon peoples. He is also called Cadwalla and Ceadwalla. Born circa 659, Cadwallader became king of the West Saxons in 685 or 686. He expanded his kingdom to Sussex, Surrey, as well as Kent, In 668, he resigned and went to Rome, where he was baptized on Easter eve, by Pope Sergius I. He died a few days later and was entombed in St. Peter's.

St. Cummian Fada, 662 A.D. Irish monastic founder and defender of Roman liturgical customs. The son of the king of West Munster, Ireland, he entered Clonfert Monastery and headed the school there. He later became abbot of Kilcummin Monastery, which he founded. Cummian was a stout defender of the Roman liturgy against the Celtic school. His Paschal Epistle is still extant. Called “Fada,” Cummian received the name “tall” because of his height. 

St. Lebuin, 773 A.D. Benedictine called Leaf Wine in his native England who worked with St. Boniface. He was a monk at Ripon, England, who went to Germany in 754. There he worked with St. Marchelm among the Frisians. Lebuin went to a pagan gathering at Marklo, where he won the respect of the Westphalian Saxons. 

St. Livinus, 650 A.D. Martyred Irish bishop, ordained by St. Augustine of Canterbury, England. He was the son of a Scottish noble and an Irish princess. Livinus and three companions went to Flanders, Belgium, where they evangelized the area. He was martyred near Clost, in Brabant. Also called Lebwin, he is identified by some scholars with St. Lebuinus. 

St. Machar. Founder of Aberdeen, Scotland, and companion of St. Columba. Also called Macharius and Mochuemna, he was baptized by St. Colman and joined Columba on lona. Machar evangelized the island of Mull. Consecrated a bishop, he became the Apostle to the Picts in the Aberdeenshire region.  

November 13 

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, 1917 A.D. Patron of immigrants. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin. Frances was born in Lombardi, Italy in 1850, one of thirteen children. At eighteen, she desired to become a Nun, but poor health stood in her way. She helped her parents until their death, and then worked on a farm with her brothers and sisters. One day a priest asked her to teach in a girls' school and she stayed for six years. At the request of her Bishop, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. Then at the urging of Pope Leo XIII she came to the United States with six nuns in 1889 to work among the Italian immigrants.  

Filled with a deep trust in God and endowed with a wonderful administrative ability, this remarkable woman soon founded schools, hospitals, and orphanages in this strange land and saw them flourish in the aid of Italian immigrants and children. At the time of her death, at Chicago, Illinois on December 22, 1917, her institute numbered houses in England, France, Spain, the United States, and South America. In 1946, she became the first American citizen to be canonized when she was elevated to sainthood by Pope Pius XII.

St. Caillin, 7th century. A bishop associated with St. Aidan of Ferns, Ireland. Legends claim that Caillin turned Druids into stone when they refused to embrace the Christian faith. 

St. Chillien, 7th century. An Irish missionary, a relative of St. Fiacre. Chillien worked in Artois, France, to spread the faith. He is buried in Aubigny. 

St. Columba. The patroness of two parishes in Cornwall, England. The heather king there put her to death. 

St. Devinicus, 6th century. Scottish missionary and bishop also called Denick or Teavneck. He was a companion of Sts. Columba and Machar in evangelizing Caithness. Other details of his life no longer exist. 

St. Gredifael, 7th century. Welsh or Breton abbot of Whitland, in Dyfed, Wales. He accompanied St. Paternus from Brittany to Wales.  

November 14 

St. Dubricus, 545 A.D. One of the founders of monastic life in Wales also called Dubric, Dyfrig, or Devereux. He was born in Madley, Wales, and he founded monasteries at Henllan and Moccas. These served as motherhouses for other abbeys in Herefordshire, Gwent, and the Wye Valley. Dubricus also ruled Caldrey Island. He appointed St. Samson abbot and ordained him as a bishop. Dubricus spent the last years of his life at Ynys Enlli. He is believed to have been the arch-bishop of Caerleon. He died and was buried on the island of Bardsey. 

St. Lawrence O'Toole, 1180 A.D. Augustinian archbishop of Dublin, Ireland. He was born at Leinster, the Son of Murtagh, chief of the Murrays, in Castledermot, Kildare. Taken hostage by King Dermot McMurrogh of Leinster in a raid, Lawrence was surrendered to the bishop of Glendalough. Lawrence became a monk, and in 1161 was named archbishop of Dublin. He was involved in negotiating with the English following their invasion of Ireland, and in 1172 convened a synod at Cashel. He also attended the General Lateran Council in Rome in 1179, and was named papal legate to Ireland. While on a mission to King Henry II of England, Lawrence died at Eu, Normandy, France. He was canonized in 1225.  

St. Modanic, 8th century. Scottish bishop traditionally venerated in Aberdeen. He was an avid scholar and reformer in a troubled era.  

November 15 

St. Findan, 879 A.D. Benedictine hermit, also called Fintan. He was born in Leinster, Ireland, and was made a slave by Norse raiders in the Orkney Islands. Escaping to Scotland, he went on a pilgrimage to Rome and became Benedictine in Sabina. Findan was a hermit at the Rheinan Abbey in Switzerland for more than twenty years.

Bl. Hugh Faringdon, 1539 A.D. Benedictine abbot of Reading, once a friend of King Henry VIII. When he refused to allow the king to dissolve Reading Abbey, he was martyred with two companions.

St. Hugh Green, Blessed, 1642 A.D. Martyr of England. He was educated at Cambridge, converted to Catholicism, and went to Douai, France. There he was ordained in 1612. Returning to England, Hugh labored in Dorset until his arrest. He was hanged at Dorchester.  

Bl. John Eynon, 1539 A.D. Martyred Benedictine of St. Giles, Reading. John served as the pastor of the local parish in St. Giles. He refused to surrender the parish to the authorities and was taken to Reading Abbey. He was executed at the abbey gateway with Blessed Hugh Farington and Blessed John Rugg. They were beatified in 1895.

Bl. John Rugg, 1539 A.D. Martyred monk of Chichester, England. In residence at Reading Abbey, he was martyred by King Henry VIII at Reading, with Blessed Hugh Farington and John Eynon for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. They were beatified in 1895. 

Bl. John Thorne, 1539 A.D. Benedictine martyr of England. Treasurer of Glastonbury Abbey, he was martyred with Blessed Richard Whiting and Blessed Roger James for protecting various treasures of Glastonbury from seizure by the rapacious minions of King Henry VIII of England Who were implementing the Dissolution of the Monasteries. They were beatified in 1895.

Bl. Richard Whiting, 1539 A.D. Benedictine abbot and martyr. Born at Wrington, Somerset, England, he entered the Benedictines at Glastonbury and studied at Cambridge. Elected abbot of Glastonbury in 1525, he had the difficult task of ruling at the launch of the infamous Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII of England. Arrested for refusing to surrender his celebrated abbey into the hands of the crown, he was condemned as a traitor and hanged on Tor Hill, overlooking Glastonbury, with Blesseds Roger James and John Thorne. 

Bl. Roger James, 1539 A.D. English martyr and monk at Glastonbury Benedictine monastery. The youngest member of the monastic community of Glastonbury, he served as sacrist until the seizure of the community by the troops of King Henry VIII during the infamous Dissolution of the Monasteries of England. Arrested and condemned as a traitor when the monks opposed the royal decree, Roger was hanged, drawn, and quartered on Tor Hill, over looking Glastonbury, with his abbot, Blessed Richard Whiting, and with Blessed John Thome. They were beatified in 1895. 

St. Kanten, 8th century. Welsh founder, also listed as Cannen. He started Llangeanten Abbey in Powya, Wales. 

St. Machudd. The abbot and founder of Llanfechell Abbey, Anglesey, Wales.  

St. Malo. Welsh bishop and missionary to Brittany, France. He is also called Machutis and Maclou. Malo was born near Llancarfan, Wales, and became a monk under St. Brendan, going with him to Brittany. He founded a center at Aleth, now called Saint-Malo. Pagan opposition forced him and his fellow monks to move to Saintes, France, where he is regarded as a bishop. Malo was recalled to Aleth but died on the way. 

November 16 

St. Margaret of Scotland, 1093 A.D. Margaret was an English princess. She and her mother sailed to Scotland to escape from the king who had conquered their land. King Malcolm of Scotland welcomed them and fell in love with the beautiful princess. Margaret and Malcolm were married before too long.  

As Queen, Margaret changed her husband and the country for the better. Malcolm was good, but he and his court were very rough. When he saw how wise his beloved wife was, he listened to her good advice. She softened his temper and led him to practice great virtue. She made the court beautiful and civilized. Soon all the princes had better manners, and the ladies copied her purity and devotion. The king and queen gave wonderful example to everyone by the way they prayed together and fed crowds of poor people with their own hands. They seemed to have only one desire: to make everyone happy and good.  

Margaret was a blessing for all the people of Scotland. Before she came, there was great ignorance and many bad habits among them. Margaret worked hard to obtain good teachers, to correct the evil practices, and to have new churches built. She loved to make these churches beautiful for God's glory, and she embroidered the priest's vestments herself. God sent this holy Queen six sons and two daughters. She loved them dearly and raised them well. The youngest boy became St. David. But Margaret had sorrows, too. In her last illness, she learned that both her husband and her son, Edward, had been killed in battle. Yet she prayed: "I thank You, Almighty God, for sending me so great a sorrow to purify me from my sins." Let us take this saintly Queen for our example. While we do our duties, let us keep in mind the joys that God will give us in Heaven.  

St. Alfrick, 1105 A.D. Archbishop of Canterbury who faced the Norse invasion of England. Alfrick was a monk in the Benedictine Abbey of Abingdon, England, noted for his holiness. He was appointed the bishop of Wilton, England, in 990 A.D., worked in the area, and was known for his charity. In 995 A.D. he became the archbishop of Canterbury and faced the devastating results of one of the invasions of England.  

November 17 

St. Hugh of Lincoln. Hugh of Lincoln was the son of William, Lord of Avalon. He was born at Avalon Castle in Burgundy and was raised and educated at a convent at Villard-Benoit after his mother died when he was eight. He was professed at fifteen, ordained a deacon at nineteen, and was made prior of a monastery at Saint-Maxim. While visiting the Grande Chartreuse with his prior in 1160 A, D, It was then he decided to become a Carthusian there and was ordained. After ten years, he was named procurator and in 1175 A.D. became Abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England. This had been built by King Henry II as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket. His reputation for holiness and sanctity spread all over England and attracted many to the monastery. He admonished Henry for keeping Sees vacant to enrich the royal coffers. Income from the vacant Sees went to the royal treasury. He was then named bishop of the eighteen year old vacant See of Lincoln in 1186 A.D. - a post he accepted only when ordered to do so by the prior of the Grande Chartreuse. Hugh quickly restored clerical discipline, labored to restore religion to the diocese, and became known for his wisdom and justice.  

He was one of the leaders in denouncing the persecution of the Jews that swept England, 1190-91A.D., repeatedly facing down armed mobs and making them release their victims. He went on a diplomatic mission to France for King John in 1199 A.D., visiting the Grande Chartreuse, Cluny, and Citeaux, and returned from the trip in poor health. A few months later, while attending a national council in London, he was stricken and died two months later at the Old Temple in London on November 16. He was canonized twenty years later, in 1220 A.D., the first Carthusian to be so honored. 

St. Hilda, 614-680 A.D. Benedictine abbess, baptized by St. Paulinus. She was the daughter of a king of Northumbria, England, and is considered one of England’s greatest women. At age thirty three Hilda entered Chelles Monastery in France, where her sister was a nun. At the request of St. Aidan, she returned to Northumbria and became abbess of Hartlepool. In time she became the head of the double monastery of Streaneschalch, at Whitby. She trained five bishops, convened the Council of Whitby, and encouraged the poet Caedmon. 

November 18 

St. Rose Phillipine Duchesne, Virgin (Fea Born in Grenoble, France, in 1769, Rose joined the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 1818, when she was forty-nine years old, Rose was sent to the United States. She founded a boarding school for daughters of pioneers near St. Louis and opened the first free school west of the Missouri. At the age of seventy-one, she began a school for Indians, who soon came to call her "the woman who is always praying". Her biographers have also stressed her courage in frontier conditions, her single mindedness in pursuing her dream of serving Native Americans, and her selfacceptance. This holy servant of God was beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1940 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

St. Keverne, 6th century. Saint of Cornwall, England. A friend of St. Kieran. 

St. Mawes, 6th century. Welsh hermit and abbot, also called Maudetus and Maudez. He lived as a solitary near Falmouth, in Cornwall, England, where his name is still venerated. He then went to an island off the coast of Brittany, France, where he is revered as St. Maudez. He is believed to have founded monasteries and churches in Cornwall and Brittany.  

November 19 

St. Ermenberga, 700 A.D. Wife of Merewald, a king of Mercia, England, and the mother of Sts. Mildred, Milburga, Ermengytha, and Mildgytha. She is also known as Domna Ebba or Domneva. Ermenberga founded the convent of Minster, on Thanet Isle, on land donated by her uncle King Egbert of Kent. Egbert had murdered Ermenberga’s two brothers and provided the land as atonement for his crimes.  

St. Medana, 8th century. Irish virgin who went to live in Galloway, Scotland. She may be the same as St. Midnat.  

November 20 

St. Autbodus, 690 A.D. Irish missionary and hermit. Autbodus preached in Hainault, Belgium, and Artois and Picardy, France. He retired to a hermitage near Laon where he died. 

St. Edmund Rich, 1242 A.D. Archbishop of Canterbury England, who baffled for discipline and justice, also called Edmund of Abingdon. Born in Abingdon, on November 30, 1180. he studied at Oxford, England, and in Paris, France. He taught art and mathematics at Oxford and was ordained. lie spent eight years teaching theology and became Canon and treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral. An eloquent speaker, Edmund preached a crusade for Pope Gregory IX and was named archbishop of Canterbury. He became an advisor to King Henry Ill and presided in 1237 at Henry’s ratification of the Great Charter. When Cardinal Olt became a papal legate with the patronage of King Henry, Edmund protested. A long-lasting feud between Edmund, the king, and his legate led him to resigning his see in 1240. He went to Pontigny, France, where he became a Cistercian. He died at Soissons, on November 16. Edmund was canonized in 1246 or 1247. A hall in Oxford bears his name.

St. Edmund the Martyr, 869 A.D. Martyred king of the East Angles. He was elected king in 855 at the age of fourteen and began ruling Suffolk, England, the following year. In 869 or 870, the Danes invaded Edmund’s realm, and he was captured at Hone, in Suffolk. After extreme torture, Edmund was beheaded and died calling upon Jesus. His shrine brought about the town of Bury St. Edmund's. He is depicted as crowned and robed as a monarch, holding a scepter, orb, arrows, or a quiver. 

St. Eval, 6th century. Bishop of Cornwall, England, also called Uval or Urfol. A village in that county bears his name.  

St. Maxentia of Beauvais. Irish or Scottish virgin and martyr. She fled to France to escape marriage to a pagan chieftain and lived as a hermitess on the banks of the Qise River near Senlis. The chieftain she had spurned hunted her down and beheaded her at Pont-Sainte-Maxence when she refused to return with him to Ireland.  

November 21 

St. Digain, 5th century. Prince of Cornwall, England, and confessor. He was the son of Constantine, chieftain of Cornwall. Llangerew, in Clwyd, Wales, honors Digain.  

November 22 

St. Devniolin, 621 A.D. Abbot, also called Deiniol or Daniel the Younger. He ruled Bangor Monastery in Wales, when King Aethelfrith of Northumbria slaughtered the two thousand monk residents.  

November 23 

St. Columban, 615 A.D. Columban was a native of Leinster, and seems to have been of a respectable family. Of the precise date of his birth we are not informed. According to some accounts it was about 559 A.D., but according to others it was several years earlier. He received a good classical education, and resolved early to embrace an ascetic life. But the good looks and winning ways of the Irish girls was a snare to him. He tried to forget their bright eyes by toiling (desudavit) at grammar, rhetoric, and geometry, but found that at least syntax and the problems of Euclid were a less attractive study than pretty faces, and that the dry rules of rhetoric failed altogether before the winsome prattle of light- hearted maidens. He consulted an old woman who lived as a recluse. She warned him that if he wished to maintain his purpose of self-conquest he must fly to a region where girls are less beautiful and seductive than Ireland. "Save thyself, young man, and fly!" His resolution was formed; he decided on going away.  

St. Paulhen, 6th century. Welsh abbot, also known as Paulinus, Polin, and Pewlin. A student of St.Illtyd, Paulhen probably founded the monastery of Whitland. Among his most remarkable pupils were Sts. David and Teilo.  

November 24 

St. Colman of Cloyne. He was born in Munster, Ireland, son of Lenin. He became a poet and later, royal bard at Cashel. He was baptized by St. Brendan when he was fifty years old with the name Colman. He was ordained, and was reputed to be St. Columba's teacher. He became the first bishop of Cloyne, of which he is patron, in eastern Cork. 

St. Eanfleda, 700 A.D. Daughter of King St. Edwin and St. Ethelberga of Kent. St. Paulinus baptized her as an infant. A supporter of St. Wilfrid, Eanfleda became a Benedictine nun at Whitby as a widow. Her daughter, St. Elfieda, was abbess there.  

St. Kenan, 500 A.D. Irish bishop, a disciple of St. Martin of Tours, France. He built the first stone cathedral at Danberg, or Duleek, in Meath, Ireland.  

November 25 

St. Alnoth, 700 A.D. Herder and hermit, mentioned in the life of St. Werburga. Alnoth tended cows on the lands of St. Werburga's monastery at Weedon, in Northhampton, England. He was badly used by a local official, earning a reputation for holiness and patience. Alnoth retired from active life and became a hermit. Two robbers accosted him in his hermitage, slaying him. He is honored locally as a martyr, and his tomb at Stowe, near Bubrook in Northhampton, became a popular shrine for pilgrims.  

November 27 

St. Secundinus. Secundinus is also known as Sechnall and Seachnall. He was sent from Gaul in 439 to assist St. Patrick in Ireland together with Auxilius and Iserninus. He became the first bishop of Dunslaughlin in Meath, and then auxiliary bishop of Armagh. He wrote several hymns, notably Audites, omnes amantes Deum in honor of St. Patrick and the earliest Latin hymn written in Ireland, and, Sancti, venite, Christi corpus sumite.

St. Fergus, 721 A.D. An Irish bishop called "the Pict." He evangelized Scotland, where he was called Fergustian or Fergus of Scotland. He preached in Perthshire, Caithness, Buchan, and Forfarshire. Fergus was part of the Roman Council in 721. 

St. Gallgo, 6th century. Welsh abbot, the founder of Llanalgo Abbey in Anglesey, Wales.  

November 28 

St. Fionnchu, 6th century. Abbot of Bangor Abbey, in Ireland, the successor of St. Comgall.

St. James Thompson, Blessed, 1582 A.D. English martyr. A native of York, he studied for the priesthood at Reims and was ordained there in 1581. Arrested soon after his return to England, he was hanged at York. He used the name Hudson in his mission work. James was beatified in 1895.  

November 29 

St. Cuthbert Mayne, 1577 A.D. An English martyr, born near Barnstable, in Devonshire, as a Protestant. He converted to Catholicism at St. John’s, Oxford. Cuthbert was ordained at Douai, France, and sent home to England about 1575. Working in Cornwall, he was captured after a year. Condemned for celebrating a Mass, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered on November 25. Cuthbert was a friend of Edmund Campion, and he was aided by Francis Tregian in Cornwall. He was the first Englishman trained for the priesthood at Douai and was the Protomartyr of English seminaries. Cuthbert was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. 

St. Brendan of Birr, 573 A.D. Friend of St. Brendan the Voyager. Brendan was a monk at Clonard, Ireland. He became the abbot of Birr, near Offaly, and he also advised St. Columba. Columba had a vision of Brendan of Birr's soul being carried heavenward by angels.  

St. Sadwen, 6th century. Confessor, also known as Saturninus, brother of St. IIltyd. He was a disciple of St. Cadfan and had churches dedicated to him in parts of Wales.

St. Egelwine, 7th century. Confessor and a prince of the house of Wessex. He lived at Athelney, in Somersetshire, England.  

November 30 

St. Tudwal, 564 A.D. Welsh monk and bishop, called Pabu (Father) among the Bretons and sometimes listed as Tugdual. Originally a monk in Wales, he journeyed to Brittany, France, with his mother, sisters, and other relatives. The Celtic language of Brittany was easily understood by Welsh speakers. Tudwal’s cousin, Deroc, was a king of Dumnonia and he worked to promote the faith in his cousin’s domain, founding Lan Paku at Leon, Spain. He eventually became bishop of Treher (Treguier) with King Childebert I (r. 511 -558) as his patron. He is remembered in Wales in several sites in the Leyn Peninsula.