Daily Martyrology for November 21

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The inspiration for the feast was a story in the Protoevangelium of James.

In 496, at Rome, Pope Gelasius I. He was of African descent. During his four-year papacy he had to deal with the Arian barbarians, especially Theodoric the Ostrogoth. He was inflexible in dealing with the repercussions of the Acacian schism over Monophysitism. He insisted on papal prerogatives and the independence of the church. Dionysius Exiguus reports that he was humble, prayerful, and very generous to the poor.

In 1902, Blessed Mary Siedliska. As a young girl in Poland, she received religious instruction and guidance from a Capuchin friar. Under his direction she founded in Rome a religious order, the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth, which worked for the welfare of families. In 1943, eleven members of the order (August 1) were shot by the Nazis when they offered their lives in place of a group of married men who had been arrested and condemned to death.

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.