Calendar Saints - The Month of July Quiz

Answer: Leo II

Pope Leo II was born in Sicily, probably in 611. His pre-pontifical life is rather undocumented.
During the Seventh Century, the Byzantine Empire ruled Rome. Several Roman and Byzantine Emperors exerted their influence on the papal election directly or indirectly. It was common practice that the Pope was chosen by the Roman inhabitants, but needed an explicit permission by the Byzantine Emperor. Also the Emperor levied a tax on the papal election.
Previous Popes had entered negotiations with the Byzantine Emperor to decrease or even abolish the tax on papal election. By the time Pope Leo II was chosen as successor to Pope Agatho, the Emperor had finally promised to do something about this.
Leo II finally obtained the Byzantine approval of his consecration and was installed as Pope on August 17, 682. He died of natural causes on June 28th, 683. Some sources state June 28 as his feast day, others mention July 3 (for no obvious reasons), while yet other sources mention Leo's feast was abandoned.
The red herrings I introduced might be inspired by some animal or another, but have never been used as a papal name.
Apicius (Latin for "the bee keeper") was the surname of a notorious Roman gourmet, and also the title of a Roman recipe book.
Mansa Musa (with the word Musa related to Mus, mouse) was the name of two Emperors of Mali.
And "Porky's Revenge" is the title of a movie which would certainly not get papal approbation.

Answer: King Denis of Portugal

Elisabeth of Portugal had the habit of going to church every day to celebrate Mass. Her example was followed by several of her pages.
Elisabeth was married to King Denis of Portugal, who didn't spend as much time on religion. Denis' behaviour was quite sinful, up till a dramatic event in the Portuguese court. One of Elisabeth's pages told some lies about another page, and Denis believed the liar. King Denis was very enraged and sent the accused page on an errand to a lime burner, who had been instructed to kill the first page sent to him. But the accused page halted to attend Mass, and King Denis sent the liar to the lime burner in order to find out what had happened. Because the accused page had halted to attend Mass, it was the liar who arrived first at the lime burner and was killed by him.
The outcome of this very dramatic episode convinced King Denis to repent from his sins and to partake in Elisabeth's exemplary life.
The red herrings introduced in this question, all were married to a certain Elisabeth. King Ludwig IV of Thuringia married Elisabeth of Hungary in 1221. Emperor Charles V married Isabella of Portugal in 1526. (By the way, Isabella is a Spanish variant of the name Elizabeth. To avoid confusion with the canonised Elizabeth of Portugal, Charles' wife is known as Isabella.) And Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria married Elisabeth of Bavaria (commonly known as Sissi) in 1854.

Answer: Youth

Saint Maria Goretti was born in 1890 in Ancona, Italy. Her father died of malaria in 1899.
When she was twelve years old, her neighbour, Alessandro, tried to rape her. She said she would rather die than to submit, so Alessandro stabbed her many times. Before she died, Maria told Alessandro that she forgave him.
When Alessandro was in prison, he had a vision of Maria picking lilies of the field and handing them over to him. As soon as he received the lilies, they magically ignited. This vision made Alessandro repent. His testimony was helpful in the canonization process.
Saint Maria Goretti is patron saint of girls, children, rape victims, poor people, and young people in general. She is also patron saint of the diocese of Albano, Italy and is called upon to protect against the death of parents.
The most famous patron saint of carpenters is Saint Joseph. One of the patron saints of bakers is Saint Honoré. And Isidore of Madrid is patron saint of farmers.

Answer: Benedict

Benedict of Nursia was born around 480 in Umbria. When he was about twenty years old, he declined the life of a nobleman and chose to live in a valley near Subiaco (some 42 km east of Rome). He founded several monasteries, of which the monastery of Monte Cassino (about 100 km southeast of Rome) is probably the best known.
In one of the first monasteries over which he presided, he had a quarrel with some of the monks. These rebels tried to poison his drink, but at the blessing Benedict's cup shattered. When the rebels tried to poison Benedict's bread, it was stolen by a raven after the blessing.
Saint Benedict founded the Benedictine order, one of the first western monastic orders.
He has a large number of patronages. I'll give only a few examples: Benedict is patron saint of Europe and of people in religious orders (which seems quite logical), but also patron saint of coppersmiths and spelunkers. For these latter two patronages, I found no explanation. Benedict also protects against poison and against fever.
Barbatus, Blinlivet and Burkard are also Catholic Saints, but there is very little known about them. Burkard was an English priest elected to bishop of Würzburg (Germany) in 732. He founded some monasteries under the Benedictine rule. His feast day is October 14. Blinlivet (feast day November 7) was a bishop of Vannes, Brittany (France). Barbatus (feast day February 19th) was a bishop of Benevento, Italy.

Answer: Buonaventura

Born in 1221 in Bagnoregio, Lazio (Italy), Giovanni became very ill in his childhood. Saint Francis cured him by the power of his prayers, upon which Francis exclaimed "Che buona ventura" ("What a good fortune"). The name stuck and so he is known as Bonaventure of Bagnoregio.
Bonaventure became a Franciscan monk in 1243 and went to Paris to study philosophy and theology. Later on, he taught theology at the same university.
Bonaventure was a close friend and colleague of Thomas of Aquinas. However, their points of view differed significantly. Thomas stressed the pure intellect, while Bonaventure accented empathy.
"Doctor of the Church" is a title bestowed upon people with a deep insight in theological issues, and whose writings have contributed significantly to the Christian doctrine. Up till 2000, this title has been awarded to 33 people (of whom all have been canonized).
Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great, and also St. John Chrysostom, all were decreed Doctor of the Church in 1568 by Pope Pius V. Thomas of Aquinas was given this title in 1567 (also by Pope Pius V), and Bonaventure was awarded this title in 1588 by Pope Sixtus VI.

Answer: Carmelites

The order of the Carmelites was founded around 1209 by Saint Bertold. It consists of three branches: the first order (monks), the second order (nuns) and the third order (lay people).
The French Revolution tried to abolish every reminder of the Ancient Regime: nobility and clergy were two groups that suffered great losses under the republican regime. One of the famous incidents is that of a Carmelite convent in Compiegne (north of Paris). When the police ordered the nuns to leave the convent and integrate in an egalitarian lay society, the nuns refused unanimously - even if this would lead to their execution .
Poulenc's opera "Dialogue des Carmelites" ends with the nuns singing "Salve Regina" when going to the scaffold. One by one the nuns leave the waiting room singing, only to be silent after a swishing sound (the guillotine).
The Poor Clares is a congregation of nuns founded by Saint Clare in 1212.
The Sisters of Saint Dorothy is a congregation founded in 1834 by Paula Frassinetti.
The Congregation of Our Lady of Fidelity was founded in 1831 by Henriette le Forestier d'Osseville.

Answer: Bridget of Sweden

Bridget of Sweden was born in 1303 in Uppland, in a wealthy family. When she turned 13, she married a nobleman and later gave birth to eight children.
In 1341, Bridget and her husband Ulf went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. A few months after their return, Ulf died and Bridget dedicated her further life to serving God. She founded the first abbey of the congregation officially known as the Order of the Holy Saviour, commonly known as the Brigittine order.
In 1350, Bridget went to Rome, where she would die in 1373. She was canonized in 1391.
Patron saints of Europe include Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, and Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (born Edith Stein).
Saint Teresa de los Andes was born in Chili in 1900. She died as a Carmelite nun in 1920 and was canonized in 1993.
Saint Agatha Kwon Chin-I was born in Korea in 1819. She was raised as a Catholic. In 1840, she was beheaded. Agatha was canonized in 1840.
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was a Native Indian woman born in the state of New York in 1656. She died in Quebec in 1680. Kateri was beatified in 1980.

Answer: His relics are in the church of Compostela

Saint James the Greater was the son of Zebedee and Salome. He was born and lived (probably his entire life) in Judea. He was a humble fisher, chosen by Jesus as one of the apostles.
Several passages in the Gospels show the presence of James the Greater at various miracles performed by Jesus. James was also present when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane.
The Bible mentions explicitly that James died by the sword, by order of King Herod. James was thus executed in Judea.
A legend from the sixth or seventh century states that James left Judea after the death of Jesus, and that he went to preach in Spain. This legend is not documented by early Christian authors, and contradicts several passages in the New Testament.
Another legend states that people were not allowed to give James a proper burial. So they took his body and his head, put it in a boat and entrusted it to the sea. The boat stranded in the region of Galicia (Spain), where local shepherds transported it to the place where the eponymous cathedral can nowadays be visited.
Whereas there is no documentation on the transportation of James' body to Spain, Pope Leo XIII explicitly confirmed that the relics of Saint James the Greater are in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Compostela, the original name of the Spanish city, has no certain etymology. The word Compostela probably refers to a burial place. Nowadays the Spanish city is named Santiago de Compostela, and Santiago is the literal translation into Spanish of Saint James.

Answer: Lazarus

Martha and her sister Mary had a brother called Lazarus. When Lazarus fell ill, Mary and Martha sent out for Jesus. Jesus came several days later, when Lazarus was already dead and buried in a cave for four days. Jesus then asked servants to open the cave, upon which Martha famously replied "Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days." (John 11:39, KJV). Jesus then bellowed into the cave: "Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:43). And so Lazarus did: he was raised from the dead.
Martha is also mentioned in the Gospel of Luke: when Jesus visited their house, Martha ran off to go and cook dinner, and Mary sat down and listened to what Jesus said. Jesus kindly rebuked Martha, saying that an attentive attitude was more important than making a fuss over things to do. By the way: Martha is patron saint of cooks, perhaps because of this passage in the Gospel of Luke.
Most sources are quite vague about Martha's fate. She would have died around 80 AD, so about 45 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. One source indicates that Martha might have been member of a missionary expedition into France after Jesus' death.
Malchus is the servant whose ear was cut off by Saint Peter when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:49-51 mentions this incident, and the fact that Jesus cured the servant. The Bible doesn't give the servant's name though.
Bartimaeus is the name of a blind man cured by Jesus (Mark 10:46-52).
Jairus was not miraculously cured himself. Jesus resurrected Jairus' daughter.

Answer: Sermon

Saint Peter Chrysologus was born in Imola, Italy, in 406. In 433 he was appointed Bishop of Ravenna. He is known for his sermons, of which 176 are conserved. In fact, the simplicity and clarity in his preaching has gained him the epithet "Chrysologus", meaning "the one with a golden reasoning". A homily is a sermon or preaching, more specifically the one spoken out in the Eucharist directly after the reading of the Gospel. During the homily, the priest reflects on the passage of the Gospels read prior to the homily, and uses this passage to explain how this text has a bearing on everyday life.