Memorial of Saints (September 23)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 23

• Pio of Pietrelcina, priest
• Adamnan, abbot;
• Martha of Persia, virgin and martyr

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina was born in 1887 A.D. in the small Italian village in Pietrelcina. He joined the Capuchin Friars at the age of sixteen and was ordained a priest seven years later. For forty years at the monastery of San Stefano Rotundo he was a much sought after spiritual advisor, confessor and intercessor whose life was devoted to the Eucharist and prayer. Yet such notoriety, he would often say "I only want to be a poor friar who prays."

Learn more on the life of Padre Pio

St. Martha of Persia (ca. 260 A.D.) was the wife of St. Marius. St. Marius was a noble of Persia who became a Christian and gave away his wealth to the poor in Jerusalem. St. Martha went with her husband and two sons on a pilgrimage to Rome during a persecution of Christians by Emperor Claudius. She and her family were apprehended at Rome, tortured, and then put to death. Marius was beheaded with his two sons while Martha was drowned at Santa Ninfa near Rome.