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Saints Cyril, monk and Methodius, bishop (February 14th)

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Of the various Saints and Feast Days commemorated during this week: February 10th -- Saint Scholastica, Virgin   February 11th -- Our Lady of Lourdes February 14th -- Saints Cyril, Monk and Methodius, Bishop  February 14th -- St. Valentine, Priest or Bishop and Martyr February 15th – 6th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A) I’ve decided to write this week about Saints Cyril and Methodius . The two brothers, originally named Constantine and Michael, but later taking on religious names of Cyril and Methodius, were born in the early 800s AD in  Thessalonica in the Macedonian region of Greece during the time of the Byzantine Empire .  First some words about the historical-cultural context into which the two future saints were born:  There remains a question, relevant even today, whether the two were of Slavic or Greek descent or both.    Macedonia as a kingdom existed in antiquity since _before_ the time of Alexander the Great , who was, famously, Macedo...
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Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr (February 5th)

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Of the Saints and Feast Days celebrated this week: February 2nd - Feast of the Presentation of the Lord February 3rd - Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr February 3rd - Saint Ansgar, Bishop  February 3rd - Bl. Joachim of Siena, OSM February 5th - Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr  February 6th - Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs  February 8th - 5th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A) February 8th - Saint Jerome Emiliani February 8th - Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin I’ve chosen to write about Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr Like many other other women martyrs of the early Church – St. Agnes of Rome  (Jan. 21st) , St. Cecilia (Nov. 22nd) , St. Barbara (Dec. 4th) , St. Lucy (Dec. 13th) – the future St. Agatha , born in 231 AD in Catania in the Roman Province of Sicily to Christian parents, was pressured by a powerful man, a Roman (pagan) prefect named Quintianus, to marry him.  She refused. Quintianus threatened her with torture, then had her tortured and brutally mu...
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