July Saints
Laura DeMaria
It is the first of July and as summer heats up we have a few saints’ feast days on the horizon. Who are they?
Catholic Culture’s got your overview of everything liturgical in July here.
July 1: Juniperro Serra. That’s today! I was at St. Juniperro Serra’s canonization in 2015, when Pope Francis visited the United States. He was the first, and only, saint ever canonized on American soil. A Californian by way of Spain, a missionary, the apostle to America’s western natives.
July 8: Aquila & Priscilla. This couple named in the Acts of the Apostles were Jewish tentmakers brought to the faith by St. Paul. They were early disciples instrumental in the early formation of the Church, opening their home as a place of worship and formation for the early Christians.
July 11: St. Benedict. Father of monastic life, savior of Western tradition. Work and prayer, hospitality, and groundedness in one geographic spot are signs of the Benedictine order.
July 26: Sts. Anne an Joachim. Parents of the Blessed Mother, blessed with her birth in their old age. They are the patron saints of grandparents, being the grandparents of Jesus.
July 29: St. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. This used to just be the feast of St. Martha, but in 2021 Pope Francis changed it to include all three holy siblings. Known for being close to Jesus, enduring the usual human trials of doubt tempered with faith, they are a model for our need to balance “doing” for Jesus vs. “being” with Jesus.
July 31: St. Ignatius of Loyola. Founder of the Jesuits and their beautiful, soul-searching contemplative form of prayer. Missionary, discerner of spirits.
May these and all of July’s holy friends pray for us!