The Catholic calendar commemorates venerable figures of the Church, covering both saints and blesseds, assigning them a specific date for their memory. Among the approximately 10,000 personalities that the Catholic Church honors, each day is dedicated to the memory of a select group, with March 20 being the date on which, among others, Saint Martin of Braga is celebrated.
Martín de Braga, ob. (March 20). N. in Pannonia (Hungary) h. 510. He went to Palestine where he visited the Holy Places and studied the Greek and Roman philosophers. He arrives in Galicia h. 550 and founded the monastery of Dumio, of which he is abbot-bishop. He welcomed the Swabian king into the Catholic Church and the people who followed him, in whose conversion he himself had intervened with his preaching. In 570 he succeeded Lucretius as metropolitan of Braga, and according to Saint Isidore, he confirmed churches, founded monasteries, and gave saints and religious precepts to all. He left writings full of wisdom and ensured the discipline of the Church in various councils. He died on 3-20-579.
Given the extensive history of the Catholic Church, the number of saints is considerably high, resulting in multiple name day celebrations on the same day. These are just a few examples of the extensive list of venerables remembered that day:
The register of saints and beatles of March 20 includes Archippus, Cuthbert, Joseph Bilczewski, John Nepomuceno, Mary Josepha of the Heart of Jesus Sancho of War, Martyrs of the laura of St. Sabas under Constantine VI, Nicetes of Apollonia, Urbitius and Vulframnoa . . . .
© Library of Christian Authors (J.L. Repetto, All Saints. 2007)
