Daily Martyrology for May 20

In 1444, St. Bernardino of Siena. He became a Franciscan and developed a deep commitment to poverty and to study. He became a traveling preacher. One of his favorite themes was devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. He was also a theological writer of note. He taught moderation in the pursuit of wealth and ethical behavior in business.

In 1501, Blessed Columba of Rieti. She became a Dominican tertiary at nineteen. She settled in Perugia, where she served as a peacemaker. Lucretia Borgia became her bitter enemy.

In 1912, Blessed Arcangelo Tadini. He was a parish priest in the diocese of Bresica who sought to gather his parish around the Eucharist. He became a social reformer, inspired by his own experience of the evils of industrial capitalism and by Leo's XIII's encyclical, Rerum novarum. He set up a credit union, a cloth factory, and a boarding house and school for young women. He founded a religious order of women who worked in the factories with the women they ministered to. He was sustained in all these endeavors by a devout prayer life.

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