Which saint is celebrated today: the feast days of this Thursday, February 16

A few decades, even centuries ago, the ancestors used to name their children with the name of the saint of the day of their birth, not in vain in the famous “Mañanitas” there is a stanza that says: “Today, because it’s your birthday, we sing them to you here…”.

He onomastic alludes to the day when a saint is celebrated, although it is common for many people to use it as a synonym for birthday, which is wrong, because when they talk about it, they only allude to the list of holy names.

Like every day of the year, today also commemorates the women and men who stood out for having special connections with the deities, who did good deeds for their neighbors and who had high ethics and morals, reasons that led them to to be canonized or beatified and be among the saints.

It is the day of the saint Thursday February 16.

Feast of the day: Santa Juliana de Nicodemia

When Constantine’s peace came, Matron Sophronia took the relics from the body of the martyr Juliana, intending to take them with her to Rome. Due to a storm he had to disembark at Puzoli where he built a temple which was later destroyed by the Lombards. The relics were seen in danger and carefully moved to Naples where they rest and are venerated with great devotion.

In Nicomedia, the events unfolded, told in a thousand ways and with all sorts of nuances commented on, around this saint who made her life a project contrary to that wanted by her father. I will tell them briefly in advance because it was due to Maximiano’s persecution.

Juliana is the daughter of a well-known illustrious family but with a pagan father involved in the exercise of law – who when the time comes becomes a persecutor of Christians – and an agnostic mother. She, because of the situation of the family environment, not conducive to the Christian experience, was secretly baptized. Moreover, it has occurred to her to give herself entirely to Christ and marriage is not part of her plans for the future. It’s the frame.

The difficulty of the case begins when Eluzo, who is a young senator, wants to marry Juliana. Things get even more interesting because, knowing that Eluzo drinks the winds for his daughter, the father has already arranged the marriage between the senator and the young woman, compromising his honor.

The supposed girlfriend receives him with kindness and courtesy, displaying her careful upbringing. But, when the climax of marital details arrives, a condition is put on the table for the aspirant with the intention of disengaging from the engagement. He won’t accept it – he tells her – until he is judge and prefect of the city. Of course, it was like asking for the moon; but she was taken in her words since in a short time, thanks to influence, money and personal valor, Eluzo became judge and prefect of Nicomedia; Moreover, he continues to insist on his claims of marriage with Juliana. The girl maintains her dignity by giving him all kinds of congratulations and congratulations, while assuring him that she will not be able to accept the marriage until another essential condition is met to bridge the chasm between them: she must become a Christian.

Faced with such nonsense, it is Eluzo himself who will inform the father of what is happening and of the “novelty” presented. “If this is true, we will be judge and prosecutor for my daughter.” Juliana can only answer her furious father that she aspires to be the first lady of the town, but that without being a Christian, she values ​​everything else for nothing.

“By Apollo and Diana!” I want to see you dead more than Christian.

In conversation, she will treat her father with respect and the love of a daughter, but… “my Savior is Jesus Christ in whom I have all my trust.” The expected torments come when the reasons are not heard. Molten pewter and fire; moreover, prison to give him time to reflect and bring him to change his attitude. Finally, at the age of 18, his head was cut off on February 16, 308.

There are sometimes parents who “overtake” by forcing their children when they have to choose a state. This has more complications if deeper reasons, such as practical faith, make it difficult to understand the reasons for this distance. Wouldn’t Juliana’s father think that without a marriage and a Christian his daughter would be unhappy? Perhaps with a living Christian faith he would come to see that Jesus Christ fulfills more than money, power, dignity and fame.

With this character is other saints and martyrs which are also celebrated this Thursday, February 16 as follows:

San Maruta

Blessed Filipa Mareri

Blessed Joseph Allamano

The Catholic and Orthodox Church uses canonization to declare a deceased person a saint who during his life made sacrifices or was connected with 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 by 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 inquiry into the life of the person to be sanctified.

For the Catholic Church, there are four ways to achieve this: the way 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 practiced religions in the world. The most recent data from the Vatican – in particular from its Ecclesial Statistical Yearbook – indicate that there are more 1,360 million Catholics in the world.

The American continent is where the most Catholics predominate, with nearly 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 grown considerably on two continents: Asia -especially the Middle East- and Africa.

In contrast, religious rates in Europe declined, while in Oceania they remained stable.