Calendar Saints - The Month of January Quiz

Answer: Paris, France

Saint Genevieve was born about 422 in Nanterre, near Paris. When she was fifteen, she entered a convent in Paris.
When Attila the Hun came marching towards Paris in 451, Genevieve convinced the inhabitants of the city to join her in praying and fasting. The Huns miraculously were detoured. Later they suffered a sounding defeat near Chalons-sur-Marne (about 100 km from Paris).
Saint Genevieve died in 522 and was buried in Paris, in a church that soon was named after her.
In 1129 her relics were carried in a large public procession. This miraculously halted an epidemic growth of fungi on the cereals harvested near Paris.
Saint Ambrose, former bishop of the city, is the patron saint of Milan.
Lima is the place where Saint Francis Solano died. He is the patron saint of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay.
Our Lady appeared at Knock in 1879. This Marian apparition led to several miraculous healings. The city of Knock is a famous pilgrimage since this vision.

Answer: He dwelled on a pillar

Simeon was born in Turkey about 390. He entered a monastery in 406 and dedicated himself to prayer and severe fasting. As he felt the monastery too crowded, he decided to adopt a hermit's life - but not in a cave or shack nearby, rather on top of an ancient pillar. Here he remained for almost forty years - until his death in 459.
His example was soon followed by other ascetic Christians. Most of his acolytes also were called "Stylites".
Mirovlitis (translated as "The Myrrh Gusher") is the Greek epithet given to Demetrius of Thessaloniki. For reasons unexplained, people witnessed a continuous flow of aromatic liquids (interpreted as myrrh) during the Seventh Century - about four hundred years after his death.
Saint Denis is one of the most famous cephalophores, this is a saint who picked up his head after being beheaded and walked away from the scene, his head firmly clutched under his arm.
Saint George was tortured on the wheel. Hence he has the Greek moniker "O Zanton" ("The Wheel").

Answer: Canterbury

Saint Peter of Canterbury was one of the forty-odd Italian priests and monks sent by Pope Gregory I (the Great) to Christianise England. Leader of the expedition was Saint Augustine.
King Aethelbert of Kent donated a strip of land to Saint Augustine, and the missionaries founded the Abbey of Canterbury there. Saint Peter was chosen as the first abbot.
Around 600, Saint Augustine demanded that Saint Peter report in person to the Pope about the success of the mission. Alas, Saint Peter drowned near Boulogne, France.
Neither the date of birth nor the date of death of Saint Peter are certain. Specialised websites state Saint Peter of Canterbury died in 602, while one other online source claims he attended a conference in 614.
Saint Peter of Luxembourg (1369-1387) was nominated Bishop of Metz and Cardinal, in spite of his very young age.
Saint Peter of Alexandria died in 311. He was probably the last martyr under a Roman Emperor.
Saint Peter of Perugia died in 1007. He founded the eponymous Benedictine abbey.

Answer: Raymond of Penyafort

Raymond of Penyafort was born in Catalonia (Spain) around 1175. He studied canonical law and was appointed professor of law at the University of Bologna. In 1230, Pope Gregory IX asked him to compile current canonical law: Popes from 1100 until then kept adding so much decrees that there was great need for a compendium.
Raymond was chosen General of the Dominican Order in 1238. He fulfilled this function only for two years, just long enough to rewrite the Order's Rule.
Raymond was a close friend and advisor of King Jaime I of Aragon. However, the King and the saint had different lifestyles. When King Jaime and Raymond visited Mallorca, they had an argument on the issue of chastity. King Jaime wasn't quite faithful to his wife, and Raymond rebuked him for his sin. Raymond left the mansion in fury, and was about to board the first ship home. Jaime forbade all captains to sail away with Raymond on board. But then Raymond ventured a miracle: he spread out his cloak on the sea, stepped on it and sailed off to Barcelona.
Raymond died in 1275, about one hundred years of age.
Raymond of Penyafort is patron saint of lawyers and medical librarians. I've found not a single mention of him as patron saint of windsurfers, though - only Saint Christopher (patron saint of travellers) and Saint Brendan the Navigator have been suggested as patron saint of windsurfers.
Godfrey of Bouillon (1060-1100), Raymond of Toulouse (1042-1105) and Bohemund of Tarentum (1058-1111) were three major leaders of the First Crusade.

Answer: Canada

Marguerite Bourgeoys was born in 1620. After her parents died, she took care of her younger siblings. When this task was fulfilled, she responded to a demand from the governor at Montreal for teachers. In 1653 Marguerite sailed for Canada and started building schools and hospitals over there.
Marguerite founded the Congregation of Notre Dame, and was the first Mother Superior of this congregation.
Marguerite Bourgeoys died in 1700 of natural causes.
During the Seventeenth Century, most missions to Argentina consisted of Spanish priests.
There is almost no information on missions to South Africa in the Seventeenth Century. However, as it was first a Dutch and later a British colony, I dare say that there were no organised Roman Catholic missions at the time.
It was Spanish and Portuguese Jesuits who started missionary work in China.

Answer: No

Saint Anthony the Abbot (251-356) inherited a large tract of land when both his parents died. Upon hearing the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 19:21), he sold everything and distributed the proceeds under the poor.
Saint Anthony then went to live in the desert and pray solitarily to God. There he was tempted by the devil, and some of the finest painters have interpreted this episode: Fra Angelico (1395-1455), Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528), Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) and Salvador Dali (1904-1989), to cite only the most famous.
Saint Anthony gained the moniker "the Abbot" when many people followed him into the desert and adopted his ascetic lifestyle. The most zealous acolytes formed what has been called the first monastery ever, and Saint Anthony (as their shining example) naturally acted as head of this congregation.
Saint Anthony the Abbot is one of the patron saints of animals in general, and the only patron saint of pigs. He is also one of the patron saints of gravediggers and monks, and the sole patron saint of basket weavers. Finally, he (with several colleagues) is supposed to protect believers from various ailments, especially eczema, pestilence and epilepsy.
If you want to retrieve lost items with the aid of a saint, you have to invoke the help of Saint Anthony of Padua (venerated on June 13th). This Doctor of the Church lived from 1195 until 1231 and was one of the first Franciscans.

Answer: He had no experience whatsoever

Fabian was born around 200 and was occupied as a farmer outside Rome. As such he was quite a stranger to the Roman people.
In 236 Pope Anteros died. A crowd gathered in Rome to attend the election of a new Pope. Suddenly a dove landed on Fabian's head. Although he had no ecclesiastical experience at all, the people acclaimed him to be the next Pope, as he was chosen by the Holy Spirit (symbolised by the dove).
Almost simultaneously with Fabian's election to the pontificate, the Christian persecutions by the authorities halted. This gave Fabian time to improve the organisation of the young Church, and to send seven missionaries to Gaul (including Saint Denis, the missionary to Paris).
Fabian also ordered the collection of hagiographies of all martyrs up till his time. Most of the sources preserved by Fabian were lost during the Middle Ages, though.
In 249 Trajan Decius became Emperor of Rome. Emperor Decius started new persecutions of the Christians. Pope Fabian was one of the victims of this persecution, and was executed in 250.
The most famous Bishop of Myra (Turkey) is Saint Nicholas, venerated on December 6th.
The first and most notable abbot of Monte Cassino was Saint Benedict of Nursia (480-547), celebrated July 11th in the Roman Catholic church.
Several Archbishops of Canterbury were canonized. The best known of these people is arguably Thomas Becket (1118-1170), murdered in the Cathedral of Canterbury. His feast day is December 29th.

Answer: Lamb

The following biography of Saint Agnes is based upon various old sources. The historical accuracy of her biography is dubious (as is the case with most hagiographies of saints from the Roman times).
Agnes was born probably in 291. When she was thirteen years (and thus legally an adult), the son of the local governor proposed to her. But Agnes refused, stating that she was already married to Jesus Christ.
The governor had her arrested and started interrogations, trying to convince her to make a sacrifice to the Roman deities. As a true Christian, Agnes refused. The governor then had her stripped and taken to a brothel. But her hair immediately grew very long, and covered her naked body.
In the brothel, several men recoiled when they saw some radiant glow surrounding Agnes. When the governor's son didn't fear this phenomenon and tried to rape her, he fell dead. Agnes started praying for her enemy, and he was miraculously restored to life.
The governor finally condemned Agnes to be burnt at the stake. But the flames dispersed, without touching Agnes' body. Eventually the executioner killed Agnes with the sword.
Saint Agnes is usually depicted with a lamb. Some sources explain this attribute by the similarity of Agnes' name with the Latin word for lamb (agnus), while other sources insist that Agnes and the lamb both stand for purity and chastity.
Saint Anthony the Abbot is frequently depicted with a pig at his side.
Saint Roch is usually depicted with a dog licking his leg.
The cow is the attribute of Saint Brigid of Ireland.

Answer: Ursulines

Angela Merici was born in 1474 in a small town near Lake Garda, Italy. She joined the Third Order of Saint Francis (the branch of Franciscans which consists of lay people) and dedicated her life to education of poor young girls (especially orphans). This was not the most obvious choice: among women, only nuns and the daughters of the upper class received some formal education in those days.
When Angela reached the age of fifty, she went on pilgrimage to the Holy Country. Legend has it that she was struck with blindness on Crete, but she persisted on her pilgrimage as if nothing had happened. Returning to Crete after her visit to Jerusalem, she regained her eyesight.
Pope Clement VII offered her the office of abbess of a nursing order. She declined the offer, and continued her teaching practices. Soon after the Pope's offer, she organised her educational efforts by founding the Sisters of Saint Ursula (also known as Ursulines), with twelve fellow teachers.
Angela died in 1540. She was canonised in 1807, originally with a feast day on May 31st. Her feast was later moved to June 1st and eventually to January 27th.
"Franciscans" is the general denomination for several religious orders, but indicates usually the First Order: the Franciscan monks, a congregation founded around 1209 by Saint Francis of Assisi.
The Augustinian Friars is a religious order arising from several groups united in 1243 or 1244. Their founder is unknown.
The Order of the Preachers (also known as the Dominican Order) was founded in 1215 by Saint Dominic de Guzman.

Answer: Italy

Giovanni Bosco (internationally known as Don John Bosco) was born in Castelnuovo d'Asti, Piedmont in August 1815. This region was at that time independent, but is now part of Italy.
Giovanni received the financial support of some benefactors to attend school. He was ordained a priest in 1841 and started catechism for adolescent boys.
In 1859, Giovanni Bosco founded the Society of Saint Francis de Sales, named after one of Giovanni's major examples. The Salesians (as they are commonly called) attached great importance to education. Because it was inconceivable that men would teach young girls, Giovanni sought the help of Mary Mazzarello (1837-1881) to found the Salesian Sisters (officially known as Daughters of Mary Help of Christians). Besides these two religious congregations (one for monks, one for nuns), Giovanni also founded a congregation for lay people: the Salesian Cooperators.
Giovanni Bosco died in 1888.