Daily Martyrology for July 20

The commemoration of the prophet Elijah.

In 430, St. Aurelius, bishop of Carthage. Aurelius was the leader of the church of North Africa and presided over a number of synods dealing with the Donatist and Pelagian heresies. He introduced the chanting of psalms during Mass to encourage greater lay involvement. He was a friend of St. Augustine who held him in high esteem.

In 1857, in Vietnam, St. Joseph Díaz Samjuro. He was born in Spain and became a Dominican priest. He spent the rest of his life as a missionary in Vietnam. He became a bishop there and during a persecution was arrested and executed. He founded a center to look after abandoned children which is still in operation.

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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.