From Cathcon blog: (Not sure how the Muslims will take this!) When Pope Benedict XVI on 11 February before the cardinals gathered in ordinary consistory announced his resignation in Latin, another statement was missed completely. In the same context, he announced three canonisation and fixed the 12 May as the date for the solemn act which will be the first canonization of his successor Pope Francis. The first relates to canonization Antonio Primaldo and 800 companions , who suffered martyrdom together in 1480 in the southern Italian city of Otranto at the hands of Muslim troops after they refused to deny Jesus and convert to Islam. The second canonization is of Mother Laura Montoya Upegui from Colombia. Mother Laura (1874-1949) is the founder (1914) of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena. The Order has branches in many countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Italy and Angola. Mother Laura is now recognized as the first saint of Colombia after she was beatified in 2004 by Pope John Paul II. Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala (1878-1963) is also raised to the altars on May 12. The Mexican nun is known as Mother Lupita. In 1901 she founded the Congregation of the Servants of Saint Margaret Mary and the Poor. (SSMMP). The Order has some 150 sisters and is active in Mexico, Peru, Greece, Iceland and Italy in ministry to the poor. Mother Lupita was beatified in 2004 by Pope John Paul II.
The story of the Otranto Martyrs (to be canonised 12 May 2013): This is the account by Saverio de Marco in the “Compendiosa istoria degli ottocento martiri otrantini [A brief history of the eight hundred martyrs of Otranto]” published in 1905: “About one hundred men were presented to the pasha, who had at his side a miserable priest named Giovanni from Calabria, an apostate from the faith. He employed his satanic eloquence for the goal of persuading the Christians that they should abandon Christ and embrace Mohammedanism, sure of the good graces of Ahmed, who would grant them their lives, possessions, and all the benefits they enjoyed in their homeland: otherwise they would all be massacred. Among those heroes was a man named Antonio Primaldo, a tailor, advanced in age but full of religion and fervor. In the name of all, he replied: ‘Would that all believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and were ready to die a thousand times for him'." The first of the chroniclers, Giovanni Michele Laggetto, adds, in the “Historia della guerra di Otranto del 1480 [Story of the war of Otranto in 1480],” transcribed from an ancient manuscript and published in 1924: “And turning to the Christians, Primaldo spoke these words: ‘My brothers, until today we have fought in defense of our homeland, to save our lives, and for our earthly governors; now it is time for us to fight to save our souls for our Lord. And since he died on the cross for us, it is fitting that we should die for him, remaining firm and constant in the faith, and with this earthly death we will earn eternal life and the glory of martyrdom.’ At these words, all began to shout with one voice and with great fervor that they wanted to die a thousand times, by any sort of death, rather than renounce Christ.” * * * Ahmed condemned all the eight hundred prisoners to death. The following morning, they were led with ropes tied around their necks and their hands bound behind their backs to the Hill of Minerva, a few hundred meters outside of the city. De Marco writes: “All of them repeated their profession of the faith and the generous response they had given at first, so the tyrant commanded that the decapitation should proceed, and, before the others, the head of the elderly Primaldo should be cut off. Primaldo was hateful to him, because he never stopped acting as an apostle toward his fellows. And before placing his head upon the stone, he told his companions that he saw heaven opened and the comforting angels; that they should be strong in the faith and look to heaven, already open to receive them. He bowed his head and it was cut off, but his corpse stood back up on its feet, and despite the efforts of the butchers, it remained erect and unmoving, until all were decapitated. The marvelous and astonishing event would have been a lesson of salvation for those infidels, if they had not been rebels against the light that enlightens every man who lives in the world. Only one of the butchers, named Berlabei, believed courageously in the miracle and, declaring himself a Christian in a loud voice, was condemned to be impaled.” During the beatification process for the eight hundred, in 1539, four eyewitnesses spoke of the prodigy of Antonio Primaldo, who remained standing after being decapitated, and of the conversion and martyrdom of the executioner. This is the account of one of the four, Francesco Cerra, who in 1539 was 72 years old: “Antonio Primaldo was the first to be slaughtered, and without his head he remained upright on his feet, nor could any of the efforts of the enemy knock him down, until all were killed. The butcher, stunned by the miracle, confessed that the Catholic faith was the true one, and insisted on becoming a Christian, and for this the pasha condemned him to death by impaling.” * * * Five hundred years later, on October 5, 1980, John Paul II visited Otranto to remember the sacrifice of the eight hundred. It was a splendid, sunny morning on the plain below the Hill of Minerva, which was renamed the Hill of the Martyrs in 1480. The Polish pope took the occasion to issue an invitation as relevant today as it was then: “Let us not forget the martyrs of our times. Let us not behave as if they did not exist.” The pope exhorted his hearers to look overseas, and expressly recalled the sufferings of the people of Albania, subjected to one of the most ferocious realizations of communism, although no one was paying attention to them at the time. He emphasized that “the blessed martyrs of Otranto have left us two essential gifts: love for one’s earthly homeland and the authenticity of the Christian faith. The Christian loves his earthly homeland. Love of country is a Christian virtue.” * * * The sacrifice of the eight hundred men of Otranto was not important solely on the level of faith. The city’s two-week resistance permitted the army of the king of Naples to organize and to approach that area, blocking the eighteen thousand Ottomans from invading the entire region of Puglia. The chroniclers of the time do not exaggerate when they affirm that the safety of southern Italy was guaranteed by Otranto: and not only that, if it is true that news of the city’s fall initially induced the reigning pope, Sixtus IV, to plan to move to Avignon, in the fear that the Ottomans might draw nearer to Rome. The pope renounced this intention when king Ferrante of Naples charged his son Alfonso, the duke of Calabria, to move to Puglia, and entrusted to him the task of reconquering Otranto. This took place on September 13, 1481, after Ahmed had returned to Turkey and Mohammed II had died. * * * What makes this extraordinary episode so significant, even for today’s European, is that in the history of Christianity there has never been a lack of witnesses to the faith and to civic values, nor has there been a lack of men who have courageously confronted extreme trials. But there has never been an episode of such vast collective proportions: an entire city that at first battles as it is able and survives for a number of days under siege, and then firmly rejects the proposal to abjure the faith. On the Hill of Minerva, apart from the elderly Antonio Primaldo, no other individual personality emerged, if it is true that the names of the other eight hundred martyrs are unknown: proof of the fact that it was not individual heroes, but rather an entire population that faced the trial. * * * All of this also took place because of the indifference of the political leaders of Europe at the time, in the face of the Ottoman menace. In 1459, pope Pius II had convened a congress in Mantua to which he invited the heads of the Christian states, and in the introductory address had outlined their faults in the face of the Turkish onslaught. But although it was decided at that meeting that war should be waged to contain the onslaught, nothing happened afterward, because of the opposition of Venice and the disinterest of Germany and France.
I wish they'd do many, may many more lay people. Especially children. I dearly love to see a child saint.
