FEASTS OF THE WEEK
Friday 7th November : St. Willibrord
Born in Northumbria in 658. He entered the Benedictine order and was sent to study, including spending twelve years at the monastery of Rath Melsigi, near Milford, Co. Carlow before going with eleven companions to evangelise Frisia. He established a mission at Utrecht and in the year 695 was ordained archbishop of Utrecht by Pope Sergius I. He founded a monastery at Echternach in Luxembourg in 700, where he died in the year 739.
Sunday 9th November : Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
The Church of St. John on the Lateran in Rome is "Mother and Head of all the churches of the City and the World". It is the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome, and was called "St. John" after the two monasteries once attached, dedicated to St. John the divine and St. John the Baptist. It is, however, dedicated to the Most Holy Saviour.
Monday 10th November : St. Leo the Great
Pope Leo I - Leo the Great. He taught the two natures, human and divine, of Christ at the Council of Chalcedon, 451 and the primacy of the See of Peter. Died in 461.
Tuesday 11th November : St. Martin of Tours
Bishop of Tours, apostle of rural Gaul, founder of monasteries. Patron of France, soldiers, beggars and inn-keepers.
Wednesday 12th November : St. Josaphat
Bishop of Polotz, worked for the reunion of Ukranian Catholics; his murder by those who opposed it brought about many conversion.
Friday 14th November : St. Laurence O'Toole
He was born in Castledermot, Co. Kildare in 1123. He studied at Glendalough, becoming a monk there and later its abbot in 1148. In 1162 he was chosen as the first native Archbishop of Dublin. He attended the Third Lateran Council in 1179 and returning as Papal Legate, he held synods to extend reform. He worked for peace and reconciliation and died on a mission of mediation with King Henry II and the Irish rulers at Eu in Normandy in 1180.
Saturday 15th November : St. Albert the Great
Dominican theologian who taught in Cologne, was called the "Universal Teacher" for the vast range of his interests. Patron of scientists.