The well-known Franciscan St. Bernardine of Siena, preacher and reformer, is celebrated on May 20 by the liturgy, together with St. Lydia of Thyatira, referred to in the Acts of the Apostles. The Church also celebrates on this day St. Protasius Chonk Kuk-bo of Korea, Crescencia Perez of Argentina, and one of the martyrs of World War II, Anastasius Pankiewitz of Poland, also a Franciscan.
Bernardino of Sienawho, as a young man, helped the plague patients where 30 years before she had been a saint, and who, as a young man, helped the plague patients where 30 years before she had been a saint. Catherine of Sienawas a preacher, missionary and Franciscan saint of the 15th century. He spread devotion to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and played an important role in the intellectual and spiritual promotion of his Order, according to the Franciscan Directory. Before his death in 1444, left founded more than 200 monasteries.
Saints Lidia and Maria Crescencia
The Apostle Paul met Lydia of Thyatira in Philippi of Macedonia, now Greece, according to the Acts of the Apostles: "On the Sabbath we went out of the gate to the bank of a river... We sat down and began to speak to the women who were present. One of them, named Lydia, a seller of purple, a native of the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to adhere to the words of Paul. When she and those of her household were baptized..." (Acts 16:13-15).
Blessed Maria Crescencia was born in San Martin, province of Buenos Aires, in 1897. Her parents came from Galicia (Spain) and were Christians. In 1918 she took the habit of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Most Holy of the Garden. Her life as a religious was marked by simplicity, prayer, care for the poor and the sick and devotion to the Virgin Mary. She died young in Chile in 1932.
Chong Kuk-bo confessed Christ to death
St. Protasius Chong Kuk-bo, Korean Christianwas born in 1799. At the age of thirty he became a Christian and years later he was baptized. He married a Christian woman. In 1839 the persecution against the Christians was unleashed. He was arrested and faced the tortures with firmness, but abandoned the faith when he was promised freedom. He repented, returned to the faith, was imprisoned, but confessed Christ until death, in Seoul in 1839.
