Daily Martyrology for July 15

At Lyons, in 1274, St. Bonaventure, bishop and doctor of the church. He was born near Orvieto in 1221 and joined the Franciscans. He studied in Paris and became a professor there. He was elected minister general of the order in 1257. He worked to bring unity in the order and wrote the definitive life of St. Francis. He was made a cardinal in 1273, and in 1274 played a major part in the council of Lyons, which aimed to bring union between the Eastern and Western churches. He left to posterity a large number of writings in which theology and spirituality are inseparable.

In 1015, St. Vladimir of Kiev. He was educated under the supervision of his grandmother, St. Olga. With the help of Viking adventurers he captured Kiev. He launched a war against the Poles, which brought him into contact with the West and Christianity. He converted to Christianity and invited missionaries from Constantinople to convert his people.

In 1570, near the Canary Islands, Blessed Ignatius Azevedo and thirty-nine companions. This band of Jesuits was sailing to Brazil to serve in the missions. Their ship was captured by French Huguenot privateers who killed all the Jesuits, but spared the rest of the passengers and crew.

In 1851, in Paris, Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey. As a girl she helped Catholics escape the anticlerical revolutionaries. When religious orders were re-established she tried several religious orders before establishing her own order dedicated to education, the Congregation of St. Joseph of Cluny. The order grew rapidly both in France and in the French colonies, which eventually became their primary focus. They were particularly devoted to serving the black population.

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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.