Monday 22nd, St. Rita of Cascia, 1386-1457, was married for eighteen years. Her husband, an ill-tempered and abusive man, was murdered. Later Rita entered the Augustinian convent in Cascia and spent forty years in prayer and charity, and working for peace in the region.
Thursday 25th, St. Bede the Venerable, 673-735, monk of Jarrow, historian and biblical commentator. Patron of scholars and doctor of the Church. Pope St. Gregory VII, c.1025-1085, Hildebrand of Tuscany was a Cluniac monk in Rome, who, on becoming pope, worked for reform and died in exile at Salerno. St. Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, 1566-1607, a Carmelite in Florence, offered her life for the spiritual renewal of the Church.
Friday 26th, St. Philip Neri, 1515-1595, founded the Congregation of the Oratory to foster good preaching and to promote holiness of priestly life.
Saturday 27th, St Augustine of Canterbury was a monk in Rome when sent by Pope Gregory the Great to preach to the English. He set up his see at Canterbury and had much success in converting the south of England.