Saints of 9 March

St Frances (Rome)

At Rome, St. Frances, a widow, renowned for her noble extraction, holiness of life, and the gift of miracles.

St Basil of Sebaste

At Sebaste, in Armenia, under the governor Agricolaus, in the time of the emperor Licinius, the birthday of forty holy soldiers of Cappadocia. After being loaded with chains and confined in foul dungeons, after having their faces bruised with stones, and being condemned to spend the night naked, during the coldest part of winter, on a frozen lake, where their bodies were benumbed and laid open by the frost, they ended their martyrdom by having their limbs crushed. The noblest of them were Cyrion and Candidus. Their glorious triumph has been celebrated by St. Basil and other Fathers in their writings. Their feast is kept on the tenth of this month.

St Gregory, bishop (Nyssa)

At Nyssa, the demise of St. Gregory, bishop, brother of blessed Basil the Great, whose life and erudition have rendered him illustrious. He was expelled from his own city for having defended the Catholic faith during the reign of the Arian emperor Valens.

St Pacian of Barcelona

At Barcelona, in Spain, the bishop St. Pacian, distinguished by his life and preaching. He ended his career in extreme old age, in the time of the emperor Theodosius.

Ss. Cyril and Methodius, bishops

In Moravia, the saintly bishops Cyril and Methodius,who brought to the faith of Christ many nations in those regions with their kings. Leo XIII. prescribed that their feast should be celebrated on the seventh of July.

St Catherine of Bologna

At Bologna, St. Catherine, virgin, of the Order of St. Clare, illustrious by the holiness of her life. Her body is greatly honored in that city.