Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola

Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, Spanish knight, hermit, priest, theologian & founder, the Society of Jesus, 1st Superior General of the Jesuits in 1541. Wrote the Spiritual Exercises in 1548.  Patron of spiritual retreats, soldiers, Society of Jesus, the Diocese of Buenos Aires.

Feast of St. Olaf

Feast of St. Olaf (Olaf II Haraldsson), Norse pirate, King, and Martyr. Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae who unified and converted Norway.  Canonized at Nidaros one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad. Patron of carvers, difficult marriages, kings, Faroe Islands and Norway.

Feast of St. Pantaleon

Feast of St. Pantaleon, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletianic Persecution. Patron of Physicians, midwives, livestock, lottery, lottery winners, invoked against headaches, locusts, witchcraft, accidents and loneliness.

Feast of St. Cucuphas

Feast of St. Cucuphas (Cucufate, Cugat, Guinefort, or Qaqophas). Martyred during the Diocletianic Persecutions. Benedictine abbey of St. Cugat de Valles stands on the site of his martyrdom. Patron of Hunchbacks and petty thieves.

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion & resurrection, mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels. Patron of Apothecaries, contemplative life, converts, glove makers, hairdressers, penitent sinners, pharmacists, sexual temptation, tanners & women.

Feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, O.F.M. Cap., priest, theologian, Doctor of the Church, vicar general of the Capuchins, imperial chaplain for the army of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, & led the army during the liberation of Székesfehérvár, Hungary armed only with a crucifix.  Patron of Brindisi.

Feast of St. Margaret of Antioch

Feast of St. Margaret of Antioch, Martyr, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Patron of childbirth, pregnant women, dying people, kidney disease, peasants, exiles, falsely accused people, Lowestoft, England, Queens’ College, Cambridge, nurses, Sannat and Bormla, Malta.