Daily Martyrology for October 10

In 1572, in Rome, St. Francis Borgia. He was born in Spain in 1510, the great-grandson of both Pope Alexander VI and King Ferdinand of Aragon, and cousin of Emperor Charles V. He went into imperial service when he was 18 and married the next year. The death of Empress Isabella in 1539 brought home to him the vanity of earthly honor. He was appointed viceroy of Catalonia and proved to be efficient and honest. He came under the influence of St. Peter of Alcántara (October 19) and Blessed Peter Favre (August 11), and his spiritual life deepened. When his wife died in 1546, he made provision for his eight children and then joined the Jesuits. For the rest of his life he felt a strong tension between his demanding administrative duties and his desire for seclusion. He was elected general of the Society of Jesus in 1565. He developed Gregorian University, began the building of Gesù church, established the Jesuits in several countries, and inaugurated their missionary work in America. He wrote many spiritual books both for lay people and for his fellow Jesuits.

In 644, St. Paulinus of York, bishop. He was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to England to help St. Augustine. He was instrumental in the conversion of the king and people of Northumbria. He died as bishop of Rochester.

In 1881, in Khartoum, St. Daniel Comboni. He was born in Brescia, in 1831, the only surviving child of a poor family. He studied theology in order to become a missionary priest in Africa. He went to the Sudan in 1857. He believed that Africa should be converted by drawing on the best aspects of indigenous culture. He shuttled back and forth between Africa and Italy and founded missionary institutes for both men and women. He was appointed bishop of central Africa in 1872, and bishop of Khartoum in 1877. He wrote learned studies on central Africa, lobbied on behalf of the African people and missions, and kept up a voluminous correspondence.

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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.