Daily Martyrology for December 11

In Rome, in 384, Pope Damasus I. He was elected in a contested election; some said that Damasus was responsible for the ensuing violence. He lived in great splendor. He promoted devotion to the martyrs, provided inscriptions for their tombs, and made the catacombs more accessible to pilgrims. He legislated for the wider church through decretals. He commissioned Jerome to prepare a new Latin translation of the Bible.

In 493, in Syria, St. Daniel the Sylite. He joined a monastery when he was twelve. Later, he accompanied his abbot to another monastery, where they had a discussion about whether St. Simeon the Stylite’s witness was self-promotion, or genuine asceticism and witness. About ten years later Simeon died, and Daniel himself took up residence on a pillar. There he was ordained by Gennadius, patriarch of Constantinople. He became a great celebrity, and many people, including Emperor Leo I, came to see him. Daniel died at the age of 84, after spending 33 years on his pillar.

In 1632, the martyrdom of Blesseds Martin Lumberas and Melchior Sånchez. The two Spanish Augustinian friars were among the 100,000 missionaries sent by Philip II of Spain to convert the Philippines. After a few weeks in Japan preaching the gospel there, they were arrested; when they would not renounce their faith, they were executed.

In 1974, St. María Maravillas de Jesús Pidal. Her father was a prominent Catholic politician. She became a Discalced Carmelite and was instrumental in founding communities in Spain and India. Near her convent at Cerro de los Angeles, in the geographical center of Spain, she built a housing estate for two hundred working families and a school for their children. She lived a very austere life, and remained cheerful and energetic, in spite of interior sufferings.

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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.