St. Maria Egipcíaca ran away from home as a young girl and lived in Alexandria in a dissolute manner, according to the Roman Martyrology. After more than fifteen years he traveled to Jerusalem. And when he tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, an invisible force prevented him, and looking at a statue of the Blessed Virgin, he asked God for forgiveness.
Then, St. Mary withdrew to the desert and lived several years in the decades of life penitent until she died (421). She is venerated by Copts, Orthodox and Anglicans. Her life has been recounted by St. Sophronius, a monk of Syrian origin who was Patriarch of Jerusalem (634 - 638).
St. Richard and the Lancaster Martyrs
St. Richard was born in Wych (Droitwich), county of Worcester (England), around 1197. He studied at Oxford, Paris and Bologna, and in 1235 he was appointed rector of Oxford. A priest, he was elected bishop of Chichester, took care of the formation and conduct of the clergy, and was sensitive to the sufferings of the clergy. sick and elderlyand devoted himself to works of charity for the poor. He died in Dover in 1253, while preaching the crusade. He was canonized by Urban IV in 1262.
The blessed priests Robert Middleton and Thurston Hunt were hanged in Lancaster in 1601, after being imprisoned in London for practicing the priesthood. Middleton had entered the Society of Jesus. When he was arrested, a group of Catholics, among them Thurston, wanted to free him, but they were both detained and martyred.
Mexican brothers martyred
Brothers José Luciano Ezequiel and José Salvador Huerta were murdered in Guadalajara (Mexico) in 1927. They were both married and parents lay Catholics, and had gone to pay homage to the martyred Blessed José Anacleto González. They were arrested, tortured and executed, forgave their persecutors and acclaimed Christ the King and the Virgin of Guadalupe.
