Saturday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time

Saint Baino of Thérouanne is remembered in the Church as a presbyter whose life of service left a quiet but lasting imprint on the faith of his region. Though little has been preserved about the details of his years—his birthplace, dates, and personal story are unknown—his name endures alongside the ancient Christian memory of Thérouanne, a place long associated with the life of the Church in northern France. Honored especially in Calais as a patron, Saint Baino stands as a humble witness to priestly fidelity, offering his ministry for the good of God’s people. On his feast day, June 20, the faithful invoke his intercession, asking for steadfast hearts and a renewed love for the sacraments and pastoral care.

Saint Gobain was born in Ireland and, drawn early to the life of prayer, became a monk and a spiritual student of Saint Fursey at Burgh Castle in Norfolk, England. He was the brother of Saint Wasnon, and together their family is remembered for its quiet holiness. Gobain later accompanied Fursey across the sea to France, where tradition places him for a time in monastic communities in Picardy or in Champagne. Yet his heart was set on a more hidden path, and he eventually withdrew to a hermitage in the forest of Voas, near the place that now bears his name, Saint-Gobain. There, God’s care was shown through him in a simple wonder: when he thrust his pilgrim’s staff into the earth, a spring of water flowed forth, a sign of refreshment for travelers and a symbol of the living grace found in solitude with Christ. In the year 670, Gobain was seized and beheaded by marauders, and he was buried in his small oratory, which soon became a place of pilgrimage. He is honored as patron of Burgh Castle and Saint-Gobain. His feast day is June 20.

Saint Silverius was born in Frosinone, in Lazio, Italy, sometime before his father, Pope Hormisdas, entered the priesthood. Though only a subdeacon, he was unexpectedly raised to the See of Rome and consecrated pope on June 8, 536, in a time of fierce political turmoil as the Gothic War loomed over Italy. His brief pontificate was marked by the struggle between Ostrogothic and Byzantine powers, and by pressure to bend the Church’s leadership to imperial aims. When the Byzantine general Belisarius entered Rome, the city soon endured siege and hunger. Silverius was accused of conspiring with the Goths and was deposed in 537. Sent into exile, he was ultimately confined to the bleak island of Palmarola in the Pontine Islands, where he died of starvation in 537, bearing his suffering with the quiet witness of a pastor wronged. Venerated by the faithful through popular devotion, he is honored as patron of Ponza and Valprato Soana. His feast day is June 20.