Calendar Saints - The Month of May Quiz

Answer: Tongue

The Gospel of Matthew states that James (son of Alphaeus) was one of the last disciples called by Christ. James (son of Zebedee) was one of the first disciples. This explains the epithets James the Greater (son of Zebedee) and James the Lesser (son of Alphaeus). These epithets are feeble translations of the terms "senior (in office)" and "junior (in office)".
James the Lesser is identified as the son of Alphaeus and probably Mary Cleophas. Whilst Matthew 13:55 names a certain James (probably James the Lesser) as a brother of Jesus Christ, this is not to be taken in the most literal sense. The term "brother" in the New Testament frequently refers to relatives in general, or even to the whole Christian community.
James the Lesser was the leader of the Christian community in Jerusalem shortly after Jesus' death and resurrection. In 62 AD, James fell as a martyr. The Pharisees heartily disapproved of James' preaching, so they resorted to violence. They threw James off the Temple and started stoning him. A fuller then gave him the coup de grace with his club.
The Epistle of James contains the famous verse about the tongue being held under control: "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless." (James 1:26).
Here are some quotes regarding the other body parts: "If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away." (Matthew 5:29); "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (Psalms 119:105); "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:62).

Answer: St. Florian

Florian was a Roman soldier at the end of the Third Century. He was garrisoned in the region of Noricum, a region which nowadays counts Salzburg as its most important city. Besides his military duties, he was also entrusted with organising the fire brigade.
One of the miracles ascribed to St. Florian is that he would extinguish a fire threatening a church (or even an entire city) with only one barrel of water. This miracle is frequently shown in paintings depicting St. Florian: a (miniature) church is on fire, and St. Florian pours water from one single watering can over it.
St. Florian served under Emperor Diocletian. However, when Diocletian pursued the Christians, Florian turned himself in. After cruel torture, Florian was thrown in the river Enns with a millstone around his neck.
I chose some other saints as red herrings because their first names remind me of famous Austrian people: a composer (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), a writer (Franz Kafka - who lived in the Austrian Empire) and a painter - architect (Friedrich Loos).

Answer: France

St. Peter of Tarantaise was born in 1102 in Vienne, France (not to be confused with the better known Vienna, Austria). He joined the Cistercian Order and became abbot of Tamie, in the Tarantaise mountains. Here he ordered the construction of a hospice for travellers. After being elected as Archbishop of Tarantaise, he started distributing bread and soup for the poor - a practice that was continued by his successors until the French Revolution. He also opposed corruption in the clergy.
St. Peter of Tarantaise died in 1175 and was canonised in 1191.
The Tarantaise bishopric is now joint with Chambery and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to form a diocese in the French Alps. Some of the more famous French skiing resorts are situated in this diocese: Albertville, Les Trois Vallées, La Plagne...
The other countries listed in the options have only one archbishopric that was worth mentioning: the archbishoprics Wellington (New Zealand), Asuncion (Paraguay) and Ispahan (Iran).

Answer: St. Pancras

The Ice Saints are the saints venerated on May 11th until May 13th (in some countries May 14th or even May 15th), a period in which the chance on night frost on the ground was said to be significantly higher than on the previous or following days. This theory finds its origin in popular belief. I'm unaware of statistical analyses of meteorological data for the month of May.
These Saints are Mamertus (May 11th), Pancras (May 12th), Servatus (May 13th), Boniface (May 14th) and in some countries also Saint Sophia (May 15th).
St. Pancras is, in the English speaking countries, the most famous of these five saints. He was born in 290 and beheaded in 304 on the orders of Emperor Diocletian. St. Augustine of Canterbury named the first church he founded after St. Pancras. St. Pancras is the patron saint of young teenagers.
One of the most important railway stations in London was named after St. Pancras. This inspired me for the red herrings to this question. The other options are also railway stations in the United Kingdom: St. Albans in Hertfordshire, St. Helens in Merseyside and St. Ives in Cornwall.

Answer: St. John Nepomucene

St. John Nepomucene was born around 1345. Written sources from the end of the XIVth Century state that St. John Nepomucene studied canon law at the University of Prague from 1383 until 1387, and that he was arrested and killed in 1393. Sources differ as to the reason for his arrest. Maybe it was because he took sides against King Wenceslaus IV when a new abbot had to be elected. Other sources state St. John Nepomucene took the confession of Wenceslaus' wife. When Wenceslaus suspected his wife of adultery, he tried to convince John Nepomucene to break the confidentiality of confession. When John didn't give away what Wenceslaus' wife had confessed, Wenceslaus had him tortured and drowned in the river Moldau.
St. Jan Sarkander (1576-1620) was a Polish priest. He too was tortured to reveal confessions, but to no avail. His name day is March 17th.
St. Wenceslaus (also known as Good King Wenceslas or King Wenceslas I) was King of Bohemia from 922 until 929. His feast day is September 28th.
St. Adalbert (locally known as Saint Wojciech) was a Czech bishop, martyred by pagan Baltic Prussians in 997. His name day is April 23rd.

Answer: John

Pope John I was born in Tuscany (perhaps in or near Siena) about 470. He was only an archdeacon (so was never a Bishop or Archbishop) when he was elected to the highest clerical position in 523.
Hagiographies of Pope John I reveal almost no details of his life before the papal election. Soon after the start of his pontificate, Pope John negotiated between the Gothic King Theodoric (ruling the northern part of Italy) and the Byzantine Emperor Justin I. John's intervention helped to prevent a war about the fate of Aryans (a Christian cult to which Theodoric adhered).
Alas, Theodoric was quite ungrateful. Because he suspected some kind of conspiracy, he had Pope John arrested as soon as he returned from Constantinople. Soon after his arrest, John died in prison.
Up till the end of the Twentieth Century, there have been twenty-two Popes who chose the papal name John, as well as two having chosen the name John Paul. Remarkably, history has skipped Pope John XX, while the papal name John XXIII was used by an official Pope as well as an antipope.
Benedict, Gregory and Clement are also quite popular papal names: up till 2000, there have been sixteen Popes Gregory, fifteen Popes Benedict, and fourteen Popes Clement.

Answer: He was elected Pope at age 84

Saint Celestine (the Fifth, to be precise) has his name day on May 19th, the day after another canonised Pope.
He was born Pietro Angelario, in a family of twelve living on Sicily. Pietro lost his father at a young age and started working in the fields to help support the family.
At the age of 17, Pietro joined the Benedictine order. Some years later, he decided to live as a hermit in the Abruzzi region. Soon he had some acolytes and he founded the order of the Celestines.
In 1292 Pope Nicholas IV died. The cardinals didn't agree on Nicholas' successor, and so the papacy was vacant for two years. But finally Saint Peter appeared to the conclave and insisted that they choose immediately a new Pope. And so the cardinals did: they chose the hermit Pietro Angelario, who was at that time 84 years old. Pietro took the papal name Celestine V and retired after five months, when he felt the cardinals would appoint his successor quite swiftly.
The Pope who called for the First Crusade was Urban II, born Odo de Lagery (Pope from 1088 until 1099).
Pope Clement V (born Raymond Bertrand de Got) was the Pope who moved the Papacy to France. He was Pope from 1305 until 1314.
John Paul II (born Karol Wojtyla) was Pope from 1978 until 2005. He will be remembered for his multiple voyages and for the several canonization ceremonies he led. I've counted 52 canonization ceremonies led by Pope John Paul II, while many Popes have canonized only half a dozen people.

Answer: Franciscans

Saint Bernardino was born about 1380. In 1400, he went to Siena to help comforting the victims of the plague. Many young people followed his example, even if there was a great risk of contamination.
In 1404, Bernardino joined the Franciscan Order. At that time, Franciscans roamed Italy to give thunderous preaching. But Bernardino had too weak a voice to share this destiny. So he dedicated the next twelve years to praying and studying the Word of God.
Then in 1416 Bernardino started preaching in Milan. Soon he travelled all over Italy, preaching every day for one to four hours. He found this job so rewarding that he declined to be elected as bishop of Siena, Ferrara and Urbino.
Saint Bernardino is the patron saint against respiratory problems, as well as the patron saint of the advertising sector.
The Jesuit Order was formed in 1534. So Bernardino could be no member of this order. Famous Jesuits are the founder St. Ignacio of Loyola, and the missionary St. Francis Xavier.
Famous Dominicans include the founder St. Dominic, as well as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great. There is also a related order of Dominican nuns, with St. Rosa of Lima and St. Catherine of Siena as famous examples.
The Cistercians form an order that was derived from the Benedictines. Robert of Molesme felt the Benedictine abbey of Cluny became too wealthy, and so he founded a separate order, named after the Latin name for the French town of Cîteaux. Famous Cistercians are Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Stephen Harding.

Answer: Saint Rita of Cascia

Several people have been cited as patron saint to help with desperate causes: Saint Eustace, Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Saint Jude and Saint Rita of Cascia.
Saint Rita was born in Umbria in 1381. Her parents gave her in marriage when she was twelve years old - not unusual in that time. But her husband was a very violent man, and the two sons she gave him were equally hot-tempered. In 1411, her husband was stabbed to death and her two sons died of natural causes before they could take any steps to avenge their father.
Rita's first attempt to join the Augustine convent at Cascia, Italy, was unsuccessful. Sometimes the reason given for her refusal was that the violent character of her late husband would cause some rumours; another source stated that this convent accepted only virgins, not widows.
Rita finally entered the convent, after praying to her patron saints Augustine, John the Baptist and Nicholas of Tolentino. An uncorroborated source states that these three saints transported her into the convent at night, while all doors were locked and all nuns were fast asleep.
She was once wounded by a thorn falling from the cross into her forehead, and the wound allegedly didn't heal for 15 years.
The other patron saints against desperate causes were venerated on September 20th (St. Eustace), October 28th (St. Jude) and November 17th (St. Gregory). As the hagiography of Saint Eustace is quite contested, his name day was removed from the calendar.
Saint Agnes of Rome (name day January 21st) was a virgin executed in 304. She is patron saint of chastity. A disputed part of her hagiography states that she was put to work in a brothel, but nevertheless she conserved her virginity.
Saint Margaret of Antioch (name day July 20th) is another saint whose life is not adequately documented. According to legend, she survived burning at the stake and being drowned, only to be beheaded instead.
Saint Therese of Lisieux (name day October 1st) was a Carmelite nun and a Doctor of the Church.

Answer: Bavaria, Germany

There is only a little information on the life of Saint Mechtildis. She was born about 1125 and was entrusted to a convent when she was only five years old. At age 28, she became abbess of this convent in Edelstetten, Bavaria. She miraculously cured several ill people, and she was said to have predicted her own death at age 35.
The other regions I've mentioned are known for their production of (mainly red) wine. People in these other regions mostly speak some Romance language, whereas Edelstetten is a place name more or less typical for predominantly German-speaking regions.