Memorial of Saints (February 20)

St. Ulric was an English hermit. He was converted to this state of life by a beggar he conversed with. But before he became a hermit, he was a parish priest. In his conversion to the eremitical life, Ulric's led a very penitential and holy life, which led kings Henry I and Stephen (successor to Henry) to make a pilgrimage to Ulric's hermit cell. Various miracles were reported at Ulric's tomb (died ca. 1154 A.D.).

Blessed Elizabeth of Mantua was an Italian of noble and wealthy ancestry. Elizabeth and one of her sisters entered the Third Order of the Servites after their mother's death. Elizabeth was known to have the gift of making predictions - with one prediction accurately made about her death, before it happened a year after. Many miracles were reported to have happened at her tomb (died ca. 1468 A.D.).

St. Eleutherius of Tournai became bishop of Tournai in Gaul in the year 486 A.D. At that time, the Arian heresy was influencing many Christians to their teaching. But St. Eleutherius was able to win back his people from the Arians. Because of his success, a group of Arians attacked him and beat him up as he left his church (died ca. 532 A.D.).

Sts. Tyrannio, Zenobius and Companions were martyrs of the early 4th century A.D. Tyrannio was bishop of Tyre, while Zenobius was a priest and physician of Sidon. Together with other Christians, they were martyred for their faith in Christ. St. Tyrannio was tortured, and then was drowned. St. Zenobius was put on the rack, and died later on from the torture (died ca. 310 A.D.).

St. Sadoth was a deacon who represented his bishop in the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. When Sadoth's bishop was martyred, Sadoth succeeded to the episcopate. But because of the intense persecutions of Christians at the time by Persian King Sapor II, Sadoth went into hiding. Sapor II eventually reached also the area where Sadoth was, and had him and many of his faithful imprisoned. All of them were tortured and St. Sadoth was beheaded (died ca. 342 A.D.).

St. Eucherius of Orleans became a Benedictine monk. Despite his vehement objections, he was elected bishop of Orleans in 721 A.D. When Eucherius opposed Charles Martel in the use of Church revenues to finance his wars, Martel exiled Eucherius to Cologne in Germany. In Cologne, Eucherius became popular, so Charles had him arrested but allowed Eucherius to retire to a monastery near Maastricht in the Netherlands (died ca. 743 A.D.).