Saints with Funny Names

The feast of All Saints is exactly the same in the East as it is in the West; it’s just on the other side of the year. It always falls on the Sunday following Pentecost, which this year is June 16. On this day, the Eastern Church…

This is the tale of two holy lives and two ... not so holy ones. Sts. Theodulus and Agathopodes (died 303, feast day April 5) were members of the clergy in the church at Thessalonica (aka Salonica) in Greece. The bustling city was part of…

St. Malachi (Mal-a-kai) is a member of the minor prophets club of the Old Testament. Placed alongside Obadiah and Habakkuk, his name seems quite normal. Before I get started, this Malachi is not to be confused with the 12th century Irish…

Sunday of the Holy Forefathers and Feast of the Holy Fathers (Dec.16, 23 this year) If you ever wondered whether the holy men and women of the Old Testament are considered saints by the Church, December has your answer. It contains the…

Editor's Note: Each month, senior writer Susie Lloyd profiles Eastern-rite Catholic saints on CatholicDigest.com. This month in Saints with Funny Names learn about Sts. Eulampius the martyr, Charitina the martyr, and Stachys the Apostle. …

St. Cyprian the Sorcerer (died 304) Feast day: Oct. 2  Just in time for Halloween, this month’s saint was a real charmer. Literally. Don’t get him mixed up with the other, famous, respectable Cyprian who was once bishop of Carthage and is…

Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the stranger, bury the dead. September’s St. Phocas took the corporal works of mercy to new heights. Or should I say depths? Find the answer to that and several other bad puns in our story…

Most feast days of the saints celebrate the day the saint died, went to heaven, and stayed put. Lazarus Saturday celebrates the opposite. It is the day Our Lord summoned his friend back to this life, despite four days and several spools of…

From the nation of Armenia, in the darkest hours before the dawn, shines this tale of pure friendship. Polyeuctus (died 259) was a soldier in the service of Rome. Closer to him than a blood brother was his comrade in arms, Nearchus. In a…

John isn’t exactly a funny name to us but when St. John the Baptist was born, his relatives were scratching their heads over it. “Where did that come from? Nobody else in the family has that name.” “Elizabeth dear, shouldn’t the boy be…