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Stephen was born in the late tenth century, the son of the pagan Grand Prince of the Hungarians. He and his father were baptized by St. Adalbert of Prague, and the young prince married Bl. Gisela of Bavaria, sister of the future Holy Roman Emperor St. Henry II. After his father’s death, Stephen cemented his rule over the Hungarian lands, and sought to create a true Catholic kingdom. He gained the approval of Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II, and the pope sent Stephen a royal crown as a sign of his favor. Stephen was anointed and crowned King of Hungary, and immediately consecrated his new kingdom to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Stephen’s efforts to convert his people inspired the pope to title him “Apostolic King”, an honorific also borne by later Hungarian monarchs, including Emperor Bl. Karl of Austria. Stephen and Gisela’s only child, the pious Prince Emeric, tragically died young while hunting boar. He was canonized alongside his father less than fifty years after Stephen’s death, which came on the feast of the Assumption in the year of Our Lord 1038. King Stephen is also celebrated on August 16th in the modern calendar, and on August 20th in Hungary. The treasured relic of his incorrupt right hand is honored on May 30th.
AT Alba, in Hungary, St. Stephen, king of Hungary, who, being adorned with divine virtues, was the first to convert the Hungarians to the faith of Christ. He was received into heaven by the Virgin Mother of God, on the day of her Assumption. His feast, nevertheless, is commemorated on this day, according to the Constitution of pope Innocent XI, when the strong fortress of Buda was reconquered through the assistance of the holy king, by the brave Christian army.
At Rome, the holy martyr Maxima, who confessed Christ with St. Ansanus in the persecution of Diocletian, and yielded up her soul whilst she was beaten with rods.
At Pamiers, in France, St. Antoninus, martyr, whose relics are kept with great veneration in the church of Palencia.
Also, the holy martyrs Diomedes, Julian, Philip, Euthychian, Hesychius, Leonides, Philadelphus, Menalippus, and Pantagapas. They consummated their martyrdom, some by fire, some by water, others by the sword or by the cross.
At Nicomedia, the holy martyr Zeno, and his sons Concordius and Theodore.
The same day, the martyrdom of the Saints Evodius and Hermogenes, brothers, and Callista, their sister.
At Lyons, in France, St. Justus, bishop and confessor, who was endowed with extraordinary sanctity, and a prophetic spirit. He resigned his bishopric, and retired into a desert of Egypt, with his lector Viator. When he had for some years led an almost angelical life, and the end of his meritorious labors had come, he went to our Lord to receive the crown of justice, on the 14th day of October. His holy body, together with the relics of his blessed lector Viator, was afterwards taken to Lyons on this day.
In the same city, St. Elpidius, bishop and confessor.
In the March of Ancona, another St. Elpidius, an abbot. A town bearing his name glories in the possession of his sacred body.
On Mount Soractes, the abbot St. Nonnosus, who, by his prayers removed a rock of huge dimensions, and was renowned for other miracles.
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.