A few decades, even centuries ago, the ancestors used to name their children with the name of the saint of the day they were born, not in vain in the famous “Mañanitas” there is a stanza that says: “Today, because it is your saint’s day, we sing them to you here…”.
He onomastic alludes to the day on which a saint is celebrated, although it is common for many people to use it as a synonym for birthday, which is wrong, because when talking about it they only allude to the list of holy names.
As every day of the year, today also commemorates the women and men who stood out for having special connections with the divinities, who did good deeds for their neighbors and who had high ethics and morals, reasons that led them to be canonized or beatified and be part of the saints.
This is the saint’s day Monday February 13.
Celebration of the day: San Benigno de Todi
Benigno belongs to the innumerable multitude of victims of the last bloody anti-Christian persecution of Diocletian and Maximian, at the beginning of the 4th century. The data of this Saint are very scarce. It is known that he was born and lived in Todi (Italy), where he was ordained a priest due to his goodness and righteousness. He bravely endured torture and death and was buried by pious hands by the side of a road, where a Benedictine monastery was later built.
In 1904 his relics were placed on the main altar of the church of San Silvestre. The cult of this Saint has not spread much; he almost only remembers it in Todi, his hometown.
Along with this character is other saints and martyrs which are also celebrated this Monday, February 13 as the following:
Saint Castor of Aquitaine
Saint Stephen of Lyons
Saint Stephen of Rieti
Saint Fulcran
Saint Gilbert of Meaux
Saint Gosbert
Saint Guimera
San Martiniano, hermitage
Saint Paul Le-Van-Loc
Saint Paul Liu Hanzou
Blessed Christina Camozzi
Blessed Eustochia Bellini
The Catholic and Orthodox Church uses canonization to declare as a saint a deceased person who during his life made sacrifices or was related to a divine event in favor of the church.
This involves including the person’s name in the canon (list of recognized saints) and permission is granted from the Catholic Church to venerate her, acknowledging her power before God.
During Christianity, people were recognized as saints without the need for a formal process; however, this changed in the Middle Ages. In the case of Catholicism, the Church must make an exhaustive investigation of the life of the person to be sanctified.
For the Catholic Church there are four ways to achieve the appointment: the path of heroic virtues; the path of martyrdom; that of exceptional causes, confirmed by an ancient cult and written sources; and the offer of life.
Catholicism is one of the most widely practiced religions in the world. The most recent data from the Vatican -particularly from its Ecclesial Statistical Yearbook- indicates that there are more than 1,360 million Catholics in the world.
The American continent is where more Catholics prevail, with almost half of those registered by the Vatican, being more than a quarter located in South America.
In recent years, the Vatican has realized that the presence of Catholics has increased significantly on two continents: Asia -particularly the Middle East- and Africa.
In contrast, religious rates in Europe have been declining, while in Oceania they have remained stable.
