Thursday of the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time

Saint Eurosia, also called Orosia, is traditionally said to have been born in Bayonne, though another ancient tradition remembers her as Dobroslava, a Bohemian princess born in 864. Noble by birth and formed in the Christian faith, she set out for Spain in 880, according to legend, to enter a marriage meant to strengthen the Christian realms resisting Moorish incursions. Crossing the Pyrenees toward Jaca, she was pursued by a Moorish captain who sought to claim her for himself. Eurosia fled into the mountains and hid in a cave, but was discovered and seized. Refusing to surrender her freedom and faith, she endured a brutal martyrdom, remembered for her steadfast courage and her prayerful trust in God even at the moment of death. In the centuries that followed, devotion to her grew around Jaca in Aragón, where her relics were honored and many graces were reported through her intercession. She is venerated as patroness of Jaca and the Diocese of Jaca, and is also invoked by those afflicted by spiritual oppression. Her feast day is June 25.

Saint Maximus of Turin was born around 380, likely in Rhaetia in northern Italy. Formed in the faith as a disciple of Saints Ambrose of Milan and Eusebius of Vercelli, he became known as a profound student of Scripture and a gifted preacher. In his youth he witnessed the martyrdom of the missionaries Sisinnius, Martyrius, and Alexander in the Rhaetian Alps, a testimony that deepened his zeal for the Gospel. Around 398 Maximus was chosen as the first Bishop of Turin. His episcopate unfolded during the anxious years of barbarian incursions, when the city filled with soldiers and refugees seeking shelter. With a father’s courage he defended his flock, urging the wealthy to open their hands to the poor, to refuse profiteering in times of fear, and to use their resources to ransom prisoners of war. His many surviving sermons helped strengthen and spread Christian life throughout northern Italy. He is honored as patron of Marmora and Villanova Canavese, and also cherished as Turin’s patron saint. His feast day is June 25.

Saint Moluag was born in Ireland, likely in Ulster, sometime between 500 and 520, an Irish noble of the Dál nAraide who became a bishop and missionary in the great flowering of early Celtic Christianity. Ordained in the tradition associated with Saint Comgall, he left his homeland with twelve companions, seeking to bring the Gospel to the peoples of northern Britain. Around 562 he established his chief community on the Isle of Lismore in Argyll, a place long held sacred by the Picts, and from there patiently evangelized through teaching and monastic life rather than harsh confrontation. Moluag went on to found major centers at Rosemarkie and Mortlach, and he is especially remembered in Aberdeenshire for planting churches and monastic houses that shaped the faith of the region for generations. Honored as “the Sun of Lismore in Alba,” he is venerated as a pioneer evangelist of the Picts and the patron saint of Argyll. He died on June 25, 592, and his feast day is celebrated on June 25.

Prosper of Aquitaine was born around 390 in Aquitaine in Gaul, and may have received his education at Bordeaux. In the turmoil following the Gothic invasions, he fled to Marseille by 417, where his faith and learning drew him into the great theological struggles of his age. A devoted layman and ardent disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, Prosper defended Augustine’s teaching on grace and free will against Pelagian and semi-Pelagian errors, corresponding with Augustine in 429 and later appealing in Rome to Pope Celestine I for support of Augustine’s doctrine. By the time of Pope Leo I, Prosper was living in Rome and likely served the pope in a secretarial role, traditionally linked with Leo’s important letters against heresy. Prosper’s writings—especially The Call of All Nations and his clear summaries and maxims drawn from Augustine—helped shape medieval reflection on grace, prayer, and Christian life, often associated with the principle “lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.” He also continued Saint Jerome’s Chronicle, recording events up to 455. He is honored as patron of Saint-Prosper. His feast day is June 25.

Saint Prosper of Reggio was born in Italy, though the place and date of his birth are not known. He served the Church in the fifth century and, according to long-held tradition, was bishop of Reggio Emilia for twenty-two years, shepherding his people with a notable spirit of charity. While few details of his life survive, historical documents confirm his episcopate, and the faithful have remembered him as a devoted pastor who sought the good of his city. Local tradition also credits Prosper with a striking deliverance: when Attila the Hun threatened Reggio, the bishop is said to have miraculously called down a dense fog that concealed the city and turned danger away. Prosper himself built a church in Reggio, dedicating it to Saint Apollinaris; later generations honored Prosper there, and his relics were solemnly translated and preserved beneath the great altar. He is venerated as patron of Reggio Emilia and also of Carpineti, Cinquecerri, and Collecchio. Saint Prosper died in Reggio Emilia around 466. His feast day is June 25.