January

January 4 – St. Kuriakos Elias of the Holy Family Chavara, Priest | Optional Memorial

St. Cyriac (Kuriakos)Elias Chavara co-founder and first prior general of the congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. Born at Kainakary in Kerala, India, on February 10, 1805; entered the seminary in 1818; ordained priest in 1829; foundation laid for the first monastery at Mannanam in 1831; made religious profession in 1855; vicar general of the Syro-Malabar Church from 1861; cofounder also of the sisters of the congregation of the Mother of Carmel in 1866; defender of ecclesial unity against the schism of Rochos; worked all his life for the spiritual renovation of the Church in Malabar; above all a man of prayer; zealous for the Eucharistic Lord; specially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate. Died at Koonammavu in 1871.

January 8 – St. Peter Thomas, Bishop | Optional Memorial

Born about 1305 in southern Périgord, France, Peter Thomas entered the Carmelite Order at the age of twenty. He was elected Procurator General of the Order to the Papal court at Avignon in 1345. In 1354 he was made Bishop of Patti and Lipari, and thereafter often acted as Papal Legate in the cause of peace and of union with the Eastern Churches. He was translated to the see of Corone in the Peleponnesus, and made Papal Legate for the East, in 1359; in 1363 he was made Archbishop of Crete; and in 1364 he became Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. In these offices he distinguished himself as an apostle of Christian unity. He died at Famagosta in Cyprus, in 1366.

January 9 – St. Andrew Corsini, Bishop | Optional Memorial

Andrew Corsini was born at the beginning of the fourteenth century in Florence, Italy, where he later became a Carmelite. He was elected Provincial of Tuscany at the General Chapter of Metz. On October 13 1349 he became Bishop of Fiesole, and in governing his diocese he showed outstanding charity, apostolic zeal and prudence, together with great love for the poor. He dies on January 6 1374.

January 27 – St. Henry de Ossó y Cervelló, Priest | Optional Memorial

Henry was born at Vinebre, Catalonia, Spain, on October 16, 1840 and was ordained priest on September 21, 1867. He was an apostle to young people in teaching them about their faith and inspired various movements for the teaching of the Gospel. As a spiritual director he was fascinated by St. Teresa of Jesus, the great teacher in the ways of prayer. In the light of her teaching, he founded the Company of St. Teresa (1876) dedicated to educating women in the school of the Gospel and following the example of St. Teresa. He gave himself to preaching and the apostolate through the printing press. He underwent many severe trials and sufferings. He died at Gilet, Valencia, Spain, on January 27, 1896. He was canonized on July 16, 1993, in Madrid, by Pope John Paul II.