Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Saint Gotthard of Hildesheim was born in 960 near Niederaltaich in the diocese of Passau. Formed in the humanities and theology at Niederaltaich Abbey and later at Salzburg and Passau, he grew into a wise administrator and devoted churchman. When the community at Niederaltaich embraced Benedictine life, Gotthard entered as a novice and became a monk in 990, was ordained a priest in 993, and in 996 was made abbot. He labored to renew monastic discipline through the Cluniac reforms, strengthening fidelity to the Rule of Saint Benedict and training other abbots to restore religious life across the region. In 1022 he succeeded Saint Bernward as bishop of Hildesheim. For fifteen years he shepherded his diocese with learning and zeal, founding schools for the formation of clergy and encouraging the building of many churches. He died on 5 May 1038 at a hospice for travelers he had founded. Miracles were later attributed to his relics, and he became beloved as a patron of traveling merchants and of several towns, especially in Italy. His feast day is May 4.

Saint Judas Cyriacus, also known as Cyriacus of Ancona, lived in the early centuries of the Church and died around AD 360. His birthplace is not known, but his name is closely linked with Ancona in Italy, where he is honored as bishop and martyr. Local tradition remembers him as a shepherd of souls who journeyed on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a devotion that ultimately led to his death. Over time, the Church’s memory of Judas Cyriacus became entwined with a beloved ancient legend: that a Jew named Judas helped Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, discover the True Cross at Golgotha, then embraced baptism and took the name Kyriakos, “belonging to the Lord.” Later accounts portray him as a courageous bishop who suffered under the persecutions associated with Julian the Apostate, enduring torments alongside his mother, Anna. His relics were long venerated, especially in Ancona, where the cathedral of San Ciriaco bears his name. He is patron saint of Ancona. His feast day is May 4.

Saint Florian was born around AD 250 in Aelium Cetium, in present-day Sankt Pölten, Austria. He entered the Roman Army and rose to command in the province of Noricum, where he also took special responsibility for organizing and training brigades to combat fires. In an age when Christians were hunted, Florian’s quiet fidelity became known: during the persecution under Emperor Diocletian, he was accused of failing to enforce anti-Christian orders. Summoned by the official Aquilinus and commanded to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods, Florian refused, choosing loyalty to Christ over rank and safety. Condemned first to be burned, he fearlessly confessed his faith; instead, he was executed by drowning in the Enns River with a millstone tied to his neck. Christians recovered his body and honored him in burial, and devotion to him spread widely through Central Europe. Saint Florian is venerated as patron of firefighters, chimney sweeps, and several towns, and is also a patron of Poland and Upper Austria. His feast day is May 4.