Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr
Saint George, Martyr

Saint Adalbert of Prague was born around 956 at Libice in Bohemia, into the noble Slavník clan, and was given the name Vojtěch. After surviving a grave childhood illness, he was dedicated to God and sent to study in Magdeburg, where he took the name Adalbert at Confirmation. Ordained a priest, he became Bishop of Prague in 982. Though gentle by temperament, he lived with notable austerity and charity, and he bravely challenged the slave trade, polygamy, and lingering pagan practices—reforms that stirred fierce resistance and drove him more than once into exile in Rome among the Benedictines. Released from his episcopal duties, Adalbert embraced the life of a missionary, preaching among the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe and laboring for the conversion of those who had not yet heard the Gospel. In 997 he set out from Poland to evangelize the Baltic Prussians. There, after being rejected and threatened, he continued to preach and was stoned and killed, sealing his witness with martyrdom on April 23, 997. He is honored as a patron of Poland and the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest. His feast day is April 23.

Saint George was born in Cappadocia in Anatolia, to a family that cherished the Christian faith; tradition remembers his mother, Polychronia, as coming from Lydda in the Holy Land. Raised as a believer, George entered the Roman army and rose to serve as a soldier of notable courage. When the Emperor Diocletian unleashed persecution against Christians, George refused to deny Christ. For this steadfast witness he was arrested, cruelly tortured, and finally beheaded at Lydda (Diospolis) in Palestine on April 23, 303. His tomb there became a place of prayer, and devotion to him spread swiftly through the Church, honoring him as a great martyr and a model for all who must choose fidelity over fear. Through the centuries, Christian imagination also remembered him in the beloved legend of George and the dragon, a sign of Christ’s victory over evil and the saint’s fearless defense of the innocent. He is patron of many places, including Aragon. His feast day is April 23.

Saint Giorgio di Suelli was a presbyter from Cagliari who served the Church with quiet fidelity in the early twelfth century. Though little is known of the details of his life, his memory has endured in the places that still honor him as a patron—especially Suelli and Modica—where the faithful have long looked to his example and intercession. Giorgio’s priestly vocation, rooted in Sardinia, points to a life shaped by the sacraments and the care of souls, offered in humble service rather than public acclaim. He died in 1117, leaving behind a legacy preserved more by devotion than by written record. His feast is kept on April 23, inviting us to seek holiness in steadfast, hidden faithfulness.