Calendar Saints - The Month of February Quiz

Answer: Cornelius Centurion

The story of Cornelius the Centurion is told in Acts 10:1 - 11:18. Saint Peter had a vision in which God explained that whatever He sent, was clean - even if the Mosaic law told otherwise. So when the Roman centurion Cornelius came to Peter and asked to be baptised, Peter acted accordingly.
This came as a shock to the early Christians at that time: everyone but Saint Paul was convinced that only Jews could be baptised. By the way, the Roman authorities thought that Christianity was just a sect of Judaism.
Cornelius then left the army and became the first bishop in Caesarea (or, as some sources state, Scepsis in Mysia).
The Roman Catholic church venerates Cornelius on February 2nd, while the Episcopal Church in the United States of America has chosen February 7nd.
Petronius Fortunatus was a Roman centurion active in Brittania (nowadays England and Wales). He served in the army for fifty years.
Scipio Africanus (full name: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, 236-183 BC) was a very famous Roman general. He earned his moniker when his army defeated the Carthaginians near Zama, Africa.
Cato Uticensis (full name Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, 95-46 BC) was one of the political opponents of Caesar's. When Cato realised Caesar had taken sole control of the Roman Republic, Cato committed suicide.

Answer: A platter with two breasts

Saint Agatha is one of the early Christian martyrs. The first extant biography of her life was written over six hundred years after her death, so don't take the following summary too literally.
Agatha was born on Sicily into a wealthy family, probably around 231 AD. At an early age, she decided to dedicate her life to Jesus, and vowed to maintain her virginity.
Quintian, one of the magistrates in Sicily, became infatuated with her when he first saw her face. So he tried to convince her to put aside her vow of virginity, and to marry him. When she refused, he had her accused of Christianity (more specifically: of showing no respect to the Roman deities) and sent her to a brothel. After a month, Quintian ordered that Agatha should be imprisoned and tortured until she would renounce her Christian beliefs and make a sacrifice to the Roman deities. One of the torturers decided to cut off Agatha's breasts. But when Agatha had a vision of Saint Peter, she was instantaneously healed. At last, Quintian had Agatha executed by rolling over live coals.
Many Renaissance and Baroque painters were inspired by the method of torture that didn't kill Agatha. So she is frequently depicted either with someone tearing off her breasts, or with a platter on which her amputated breasts are exposed. Prudish painters sometimes replaced the two breasts with two loafs of bread or with two little bells.
Saint Agatha is patron saint of Sicily, martyrs and rape victims. She also patronises bell founders and bakers.
The platter with the two eyes (or eyeballs) refers to Saint Lucy, patron saint of blind people.
John the Baptist was decapitated. Many painters have depicted his head on a silver platter.
Saint Martin of Porres is sometimes depicted with a platter out of which a mouse and/or a bird eat, as well as a cat and a dog, probably because of his great love for animals. He founded a hospital for cats and dogs.

Answer: Nagasaki

During the Sixteenth Century, a small number of European missionaries came to Japan and started making conversions. At first, the Japanese daimyo tolerated such missionary work, perhaps to counterbalance the influence of Buddhist monks.
At the end of the Sixteenth Century, the Japanese political leaders forbade the Christian religion. In 1597, the principal daimyo, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, ordered the execution of 26 Christians. These people were tied upon a cross near Nagasaki, and then run through with spears and lances.
These 26 martyrs of Nagasaki included Saint Paul Miki (the first Japanese Jesuit), Saint Philip of Jesus (the first saint born in Mexico) and Saint Francis of Nagasaki (a Franciscan tertiary and physician).
Saint Francis de Morales was born near Madrid and was executed near Nagasaki in 1622.
Saint Francis of Pesaro lived near the Italian city Pesaro around 1350.
Blessed Francis of Siena was a priest in Siena and died there in 1328.

Answer: Dionysius

Saint Dionysius was an Armenian monk during the Fourth Century. Together with Saint Emilian and Saint Sebastian (not the most famous one) he was martyred in 362 under the Empire of Julian the Apostate.
As with many early martyrs, information is very scarce.
There have been several other saints with the name Dionysius (later sometimes shortened to Denis or Dennis).
The drunken deity to whom I refer in the question, is the Greek god Dionysus - god of wine and known for orgies.
Not a single saint has been named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and lust, nor after Asclepius, Greek god of medicine.
The Areopagus is a hill near Athens, where the supreme court resided. The only saint whose name refers to this place is Dionysius the Areopagite (also known as Dionysius of Athens). He lived in the First Century and probably was the first bishop of Athens.

Answer: Paschal I

Pascale Massimi, who chose the pontifical name Paschal, is a Pope of whom we don't know many details. Prior to his election as Pope, Pascale was a Benedictine monk and abbot of Saint Stephen's monastery near the Vatican.
Paschal I was elected Pope in 817, as successor to Pope Stephen IV. Pope Paschal I considered the iconoclast ideas of Emperor Leo V as heretic, but didn't succeed in banning these practices. Paschal did offer several Greek iconodules shelter from persecution by Leo V.
In 823, two ecclesiastical officials were murdered. The Frankish Emperor Lothair accused Paschal of being an accomplice to this brutal murder, for the suspects were members of the Pope's household. As a result of the ensuing trial, the papal jurisdiction was subject to serious restrictions.
Paschal I died in 824, on February 11th. He is mentioned in the Roman martyrology and in the calendar of saints, although he never was officially canonised.
Peter is considered the first Pope (from about 33 until about 64), and has his principal feast day on June 29th.
Sylvester I was Pope from 314 until 335. His name day is December 31st.
Leo I was Pope from 440 until 461. His feast is on November 10th.

Answer: Eastern Europe

The best known saint venerated on February 14th is evidently Saint Valentine. But some other noteworthy saints have their feast on this day too.
Saint Methodius and his brother Saint Cyril were born into a wealthy Greek family. Methodius was born between 815 and 820, and Constantine (who later changed his name to Cyril) between 826 and 828. Methodius first made a career into civil administration, and when he became weary of worldly occupations, he joined a monastery and became an abbot. Meanwhile Cyril was a famous language professor.
Both brothers were well versed in Slavic languages. So when the Byzantine Emperor Michael III decided in 860 to send some missionaries to the Slavic speaking regions, he evidently chose the two brothers. Cyril and Methodius preferred to use the vernacular tongues instead of Latin and Greek to convert pagans. Cyril even got credit for developing a new alphabet for use by the Slavs; the alphabet is still in use in Russia and Bulgaria. Although the Cyrillic alphabet was named after Cyril only, it is quite probable Methodius helped his brother.
Both Cyril and Methodius worked on translating the Bible into Slavic. There is no doubt they didn't finish this job, but it's hard to find out which parts were translated by the saintly brothers and which parts were only translated in later years.
Methodius became Bishop of Sirmium (near Belgrade) and later Archbishop of Nitra, Slovakia (some 50 km from Bratislava and 80 km from Vienna).
Cyril died in 869 and Methodius in 885.
One of the most famous saints living and working in Northern Africa was Augustine of Hippo.
While Dominic de Guzman, Rosa of Lima, Saint Christopher and Saint Joseph are cited as various patron saints of the West Indies and other Caribbean places, they never actually lived and worked over there.
Saint Peter Chanel was active in the South Pacific and Oceania in general.

Answer: Messenger

Onesimus was a slave in the household of Philemon and Apphia. His name means "useful". When Onesimus was accused of theft, he fled to Rome and visited Saint Paul in prison. Saint Paul then converted him to Christianity.
Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon, carrying the aforesaid Epistle. So we're entitled to say Onesimus was useful as a messenger.
The murderer, rapist and thief are not mentioned anywhere in the Epistle to Philemon. Nevertheless, each one of these sinners is mentioned somewhere in the Bible. Some examples: Cain, who murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8); Shechem, who raped Dinah (Genesis 34:2); and the two thieves crucified with Jesus (Luke 23:39-43 shows us that one of them repented and was redeemed by the Lord).

Answer: Fra Angelico

Fra Angelico (1395-1455) was born Guido di Pietro. He entered the monastic life at an early age, and became a Dominican friar about 1423. At first he was occupied as illustrator of textbooks and missals, and soon he painted decorous frescoes and altarpieces.
During his lifetime he was already called "Il Beato" and "Il Angelico", for the religious inspiration that seems to come from his artworks. Pope John Paul II had Fra Angelico beatified in 1982.
Some of Fra Angelico's masterpieces include the "Annunciation", the "San Marco Altarpiece" and "The Life of Saint Lawrence". Giorgio Vasari, an artist who wrote a biography of Italian early Renaissance artists, has spread the rumour that Fra Angelico was assisted by one or more angels in painting "The Deposition of Christ".
Rita Monaldi (born 1966) and her husband Francesco Sorti are no painters, but authors. They have published the books "Imprimatur", "Secretum" and "Veritas", which combine detective techniques with religious-historic contexts.
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652) was a gifted Italian Baroque painter. Her best known works are "Susanna and the Elders" and "Judith Beheading Holofernes".
Giovanni da Bologna (1529-1608), better known as Giambologna, was a Flemish sculptor active in Italy. His masterpieces include "The Rape of the Sabine Women", "Hercules and Nessus", and "Samson Slaying a Philistine".

Answer: King

Saint Walburga was born about 710. In those times, only noble families could afford formal education. Walburga was the daughter of King Richard the Pilgrim, a local chief in Wessex. She entered Wimborne Monastery at an early age and became a nun.
In 748, Walburga and her two brothers Willibald and Winibald went to Francia on a mission to convert the pagans, and to help their uncle Boniface. All four of them would eventually be canonised.
Winibald became abbot of a monastery for men near Eichstätt, Bavaria, and Walburga was named abbess of the convent for women next to the monastery. At Winibald's death, Walburga succeeded to her brother, and so she was the superior of both cloisters.
Walburga authored a biography of both her brothers. This gave her the reputation of being the first female author in Great Britain (her place of origin) and Germany (the country she worked in).
Walburga died on February 25th, 779. This day was chosen to commemorate her name. But she is also venerated on April 30th, a day that German pagans traditionally celebrated to pray for a good harvest. The Catholic Church explains her celebration on April 30th with the fact that her relics were transported on that day to her final resting place near Eichstätt, and some oil exuded from her relics was used as a medicine.
The most renowned saint who was born into the family of a cloth merchant was Saint Francis of Assisi. His name day is October 4th.
Saint Isidore the Farmer was the son of farming slaves. He is venerated on May 15th.
Saint Tychon of Cyprus was born to an unknown baker. Tychon made it to bishop of Amathus, Cyprus, and is patron saint of vine growers. His feast is June 16th.

Answer: False

This question was written in the leap year 2012, so I was tempted to ask which Saint has his name day on February 29th. But different sources contradict each other. One specialised web site states there is not one single saint to be venerated on a leap day, while another web site puts forward the name of Saint Aubin (also known as Saint Albinus).
Saint Aubin has his feast normally on March 1st, but in leap years he can be venerated on February 29th. He was born in 469 or 470, in a small community in Brittany. He entered a monastery around 490 and became its abbot in 504. About 529, he was promoted to Bishop of Angers. He campaigned against consanguinary marriages, released hostages from pirates, and converted inmates in the prison of Angers.
Information on Saint Aubin is very scarce. One of his patronages is protection against pirates.