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HagiaSophia
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Three years after finishing the massive project of updating and correcting the book-length calendar of Catholic saints, the Vatican has published an even bigger, more accurate version.
The “Martyrologium Romanum” (“Roman Martyrology”) was presented to the public Dec. 4 during a conference on holiness and the complicated task of separating fact from legend when dealing with martyrs and saints who lived and died thousands of years ago and whose lives gave rise to fervent devotion and, perhaps, fanciful stories.
Like the 2001 edition, the newest volume is available only in Latin; however, officials of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said Italian, French and German translations are under way.
The martyrology – with its 6,658 individual names and an additional 6,881 unnamed martyred “companions” – is organized as a calendar; it lists the saints and blesseds whose feast is celebrated each day and provides a small biography of each.
The 844-page martyrology is considered a liturgical book, not a catalogue or history, because it forms the basis for determining which saint is remembered at Mass each day.
The Italian newspaper Il Messaggero conducted a study of the names in the volume’s index.
The most common first name for a saint or blessed, it reported Dec. 5, is John (or one of its equivalents such as Giovanni or Johann) with more than 330 entries. Maria or Mary is second with more than 250 entries.
The top five is rounded out with Peter, Joseph and Francis.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said the revised martyrology includes 117 individuals who were not in the 2001 edition: 66 of those were beatified by Pope John Paul between the time the last volume went to press and April 2004, the deadline for the current volume.
The other 51 new names were those added after research proved that they, too, had authorized feast days.
catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0406661.htm
The “Martyrologium Romanum” (“Roman Martyrology”) was presented to the public Dec. 4 during a conference on holiness and the complicated task of separating fact from legend when dealing with martyrs and saints who lived and died thousands of years ago and whose lives gave rise to fervent devotion and, perhaps, fanciful stories.
Like the 2001 edition, the newest volume is available only in Latin; however, officials of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said Italian, French and German translations are under way.
The martyrology – with its 6,658 individual names and an additional 6,881 unnamed martyred “companions” – is organized as a calendar; it lists the saints and blesseds whose feast is celebrated each day and provides a small biography of each.
The 844-page martyrology is considered a liturgical book, not a catalogue or history, because it forms the basis for determining which saint is remembered at Mass each day.
The Italian newspaper Il Messaggero conducted a study of the names in the volume’s index.
The most common first name for a saint or blessed, it reported Dec. 5, is John (or one of its equivalents such as Giovanni or Johann) with more than 330 entries. Maria or Mary is second with more than 250 entries.
The top five is rounded out with Peter, Joseph and Francis.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said the revised martyrology includes 117 individuals who were not in the 2001 edition: 66 of those were beatified by Pope John Paul between the time the last volume went to press and April 2004, the deadline for the current volume.
The other 51 new names were those added after research proved that they, too, had authorized feast days.
catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0406661.htm
Woops! You and I posted the same info. Good stuff Hagia! 
