Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time

Saint Finbarr of Cork was born around 550 in Ireland and spent part of his early life at Templemartin near Bandon. He was the son of Amergin of Maigh Seóla, a skilled craftsman from the west. As a young man he studied in Ossory, and at his tonsure he received the name Fionnbharra, “Fairhead,” which became the name by which generations would know and love him. His zeal for the faith led him on pilgrimage to Rome, and on his return he visited Saint David in Wales. Back in Munster, Finbarr sought solitude on a small island in a lake now called Gougane Barra, and from that quiet place his missionary work spread as he founded churches and formed disciples. In the last years of his life he settled in the marshy place that became Cork, where he gathered monks and students and established a monastery and school that made the city a center of learning and prayer. He died on 25 September 623, and is venerated as patron of Cork and the Diocese of Cork and Ross. His feast day is September 25.

Isaac Jogues was born on January 10, 1607, in Orléans, France, into a devout bourgeois family. Educated in Jesuit schools, he entered the Society of Jesus as a young man and was ordained a priest in 1636. That same year he sailed for New France, longing to bring Christ to the peoples of North America. He labored among the Huron and Algonquian communities near Lake Huron, learning their language and sharing their hardships with patient charity. In these missions he also became the first European to name Lake George, calling it the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. In 1642, while traveling with fellow missionaries and Christian Hurons, he was captured by the Mohawk. He endured brutal torture and a long captivity, yet continued to pray, comfort the suffering, and minister as he could, even baptizing and hearing confessions. Returning again to the Mohawk, he was killed for the faith at Ossernenon near the Mohawk River on October 18, 1646. Venerated as one of the North American Martyrs, he is patron of the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues. His feast day is October 18.

Nicholas of Flüe was born in 1417 in Flüeli near Sachseln, in the canton of Unterwalden in Switzerland. Raised among prosperous peasants, he lived a vigorous public life: as a soldier he served in the conflicts of his day, rising to captain, and later became a respected councillor and judge, known for steady conscience and moral integrity. Yet God drew him deeper. After a striking vision that revealed how worldly cares were consuming his purity of heart, Nicholas—with his wife’s consent—left his home in 1467 and embraced a hidden life of prayer. He settled as a hermit in the Ranft gorge, arranging for daily Mass and becoming a sought-after spiritual guide. Tradition remembers his extraordinary fasting for more than twenty years, sustained by the grace he received in worship. Though unlearned, his wisdom helped avert civil war when his counsel to the Diet of Stans in 1481 preserved unity among the Swiss cantons. He died on 21 March 1487, surrounded by his family, and is venerated as patron of Switzerland, as well as of Borgiallo, the Pontifical Swiss Guard, and Vernante. His feast day is September 25.

Saint Pantaria is honored in the Church as a Christian saint and martyr, remembered for a witness to Christ that was sealed with the gift of her life. Though the details of her birth, homeland, and daily work have not been preserved, her name endures as a sign of steadfast faith and courageous love in the face of persecution. Devotion to Saint Pantaria remains especially strong in La Almunia de Doña Godina, where she is venerated as patroness and invoked with confidence by the faithful. Her feast is kept on September 25, a yearly invitation to contemplate the strength God gives to those who remain faithful, and to ask her intercession for perseverance, hope, and fidelity to the Gospel in every trial.

Saints Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers born in Arabia in the third century. Embracing the Christian faith, they became skilled physicians and surgeons and practiced in the seaport of Aegeae in Cilicia, serving the sick without accepting payment. Because they healed freely, they were called the “unmercenaries,” and their charity drew many hearts toward Christ. Christian tradition remembers them as compassionate healers, credited with remarkable cures and with bringing hope to those who suffered. During the persecutions under Emperor Diocletian, their fame and faith made them targets. Arrested by the governor Lysias, they were pressured to renounce Christ, yet they remained steadfast through severe torments. At last they were put to death, sealing their witness with martyrdom; tradition also associates their younger brothers with their suffering. Devotion to Cosmas and Damian spread rapidly across East and West, and churches were raised in their honor. They are venerated as patrons of physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, barbers, medical workers, and as protectors against plague. Their feast day is September 27.