The 16th-Century.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

The 16th-Century marks a sad period for The Church. The Pagan revival, Protestantism, and, soon after, Jansenism, ravaged her within, while Islam became ever more menacing without.

(1535). Among the many Catholics martyred by the heretics, many have been Beatified, some have been Canonised, e.g., the Holy Martyrs of Gorcum in the Netherlands, and Saint John Fisher (Feast Day 22 June) and Saint Thomas More (Feast Day 6 July) in England.

To set up a bulwark against the barbarian invasion at the dawn of the Middle Ages, Providence raised up Saint Benedict and his Order of Peace.

To fight the barbarians of the spirit, which advanced like an army of evil at the beginning of Modern Times, Almighty God stirred up, among a pleiad of other Saints, Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1556,) Feast Day 31 July, the first General of the Society of Jesus [Editor: The Jesuits], that new chivalry of Christ which was approved by the Bull “The Government Of The Church Militant”, and whose most glorious soldiers at that time were Saint Francis Borgia (1572), Feast Day 10 October, Saint Francis Xavier, First Apostle of India (1552), Feast Day 

3 December, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, the model of Christian youth (1591), Feast Day 21 June, and Saint Peter Canisius, Doctor of The Church and “the Second Apostle of Germany” (1597), Feast Day 27 April.

Saint Francis of Paula, Founder of the Order of Minims (1507), Feast Day 2 April.

A son of Saint Dominic, Pope Saint Pius V (1572), Feast Day 

5 May, ascended the Pontifical Throne in 1566. In 1571, he instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which, two years later, became the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary of The Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast Day 7 October), in memory of the Naval victory of Lepanto, gained over the Turks.

With the help of Saint John of The Cross (1591), a Discalced Carmelite and a Doctor of The Church, Feast Day 

24 November, the seraphic Saint Teresa of Avila (1582), Feast Day 15 October, restored the primitive observance in the ancient Order of Mount Carmel.

Saint Peter of Alcantara (1562), the illustrious reformer of the Friars Minor, Feast Day 19 October, being their guide in this noble attempt.

Like him, Saint Paschal Baylon (1592), Feast Day 17 May, was a Franciscan.

Saint Jerome Emilian (1537), Feast Day 20 July, Founded the Congregation of Somascha for the education of young men, and Saint Angela Merici (1540), Feast Day 31 May, that of the Ursulines for the education of girls.

Saint Cajetan (1547), Feast Day 7 August, was the Founder of the Theatines. The Barnabites, another Institute of the same kind, owe their origin to Saint Anthony-Mary Zaccaria (1539), Feast Day 5 July.

Saint Charles Borromeo (1584), Feast Day 4 November, was a reformer of the Clergy. Saint Philip Neri (1595), Feast Day 

26 May, the Congregation of the Oratory. Saint Thomas of Villanova (1555), Feast Day 22 September, an Augustinian Monk, became famous for his Charity to the Poor, and Saint John of God (1550), Feast Day 8 March, formed a Congregation of Friar Hospitallers.

In 1584, Pope Gregory XIII extended the Feast of Saint Anne, Feast Day 26 July, to the Universal Church. It was this Pope who, in 1582, promulgated the reform of The Calendar, which remains famous under the name of the Gregorian Reform, and which restored the Christian anniversaries to their proper dates.

In 1585, Pope Sixtus V imposed on the whole Church the Feast of The Presentation of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Feast Day 

21 November.

It was also in the 16th-Century that Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X raised over Saint Peter’s tomb the new Basilica of the Vatican. 

Pope Urban VIII Consecrated it in 1626, a fact recalled on the anniversary of The Dedication of the Churches of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Feast Day 18 November.