Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Saint Eve of Dreux is remembered as a French martyr whose witness to Christ shines from the early centuries of the Church. Little is known about the details of her life—her birthplace, family, and daily work have not come down to us—but her death around the year 300 places her among those who endured suffering for the faith when Christians were often threatened and persecuted. Venerated especially in the city of Dreux, she is honored as its patron, a sign of the lasting devotion her courage inspired in the local Church. Each year on September 6, the faithful commemorate Saint Eve, asking for the grace to remain steadfast in love for God even when the path of discipleship demands sacrifice.

Saint Magnus of Füssen, also known as Magnoald or Mang, was a missionary monk who labored in southern Germany in the eighth century, likely beginning around the year 746 in the Allgäu region under Bishop Wikterp of Augsburg. Though the details of his early life are uncertain, tradition remembers him as a companion of holy missionaries and a faithful servant of the Gospel, later honored as the Apostle of the Allgäu. Working first alongside Theodore and the priest Tozzo, Magnus helped establish an early abbey at Kempten. While Theodore remained there, Magnus pressed onward along the upper Lech, building a prayer house near Waltenhofen and then founding a humble cell and oratory at Füssen. From this quiet beginning a monastic community grew, eventually known as St. Mang’s Abbey, situated on the important road between Augsburg and northern Italy and supported in time by Pepin the Short. Venerated as patron of the Allgäu, Füssen, and Kempten, he is also invoked for protection of cattle and deliverance from eye ailments and various plagues. His feast day is September 6.