Daily Martyrology for February 22

In Rome, the feast of St. Peter’s Chair, which commemorates St. Peter’s years as bishop of Rome. Romans visited the graves of their dead on this day, and the origins of the feast are connected with veneration of a memorial monument to Peter.

In the second century, St. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis. Fragments of his book, The Sayings of the Lord Explained are preserved in the writings of St. Irenaeus. It is said that he listened to the teaching of Christians who had been disciples of the apostles. He says that Mark wrote down the teachings of Peter in his Gospel, and that Matthew recorded Jesus’ sayings in Aramaic. He opposed the teachings of Marcion, who rejected the Old Testament.

At the monastery of Longchamp, in 1270, Blessed Isabel of France. She was the sister of the king, St. Louis IX. Like him, she was very devoted to the poor, and from an early age she adopted an ascetical way of life.

In 1297, St. Margaret of Cortona. After becoming the mistress of a young nobleman when she was about twelve years old, she underwent a deep conversion at the age of twenty-one when her lover was murdered. Some Franciscans took her under their wing, and she supported herself and her son by nursing. Eventually she became a member of the Franciscan Third Order of Penitents.

Previous Day   |   Next Day   |   Pick a Day...

Our daily martyrology was written by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB. Copyright © 2008 by the Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, ID 83338.