June 3
in the Month of the Sacred Heart
This is the latest day on which Ascension Thursday can occur.
Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions (1886-1887).
These were twenty-two young men and boys, from thirteen to thirty years in age, who were martyred for the Catholic Faith in Uganda in Africa after undergoing cruel torments. Four had not yet received the sacrament of Baptism but these were baptized by Charles Lwanga after they were arrested. They were the first martyrs among the African negroes. They were canonized in 1964.
Saint Clotilde (545).
She was a queen, the wife of King Clovis of the Franks, who brought the French people as a nation into the Catholic Church in 496, when he was baptized at Rheims by Saint Remigius. Her husband, King Clovis, died in 511. Saint Clotilde was left a widow for thirty-four years. She lived the rest of her life as much a nun as she was a queen. She endured great sufferings for the Catholic Faith. Her favorite patron saint in Heaven was Saint Martin of Tours. She died not far from his tomb, at the age of seventy-one.
Saint Kevin (618).
He is one of the great Irish saints. He was the founder of the famous monastery of Glendalough. Along with Saint Laurence O'Toole, he is one of the patron saints of Dublin.