This unofficial list is only an attempt to put together a monthly calendar of some African Saints, Blesseds, and Venerables, holy men and women of African ancentry, those of the ancient Church of North Africa as well as those of later centuries including those of the twentieth century. The year indicates when they died, and the date at the end of the comment indicates the feast day.This list is not exhaustive. If you have some comment, suggestion or information on this page please contact me at the above e-mail address.
Name |
Year |
Comment |
| St. Fulgentius | 533 |
Bishop of Ruspe, Tunisia, January 1st |
| St. Paul | 342 |
Egyptian Hermit and founder of Monastic life in Thebes, January15 |
| St. Anthony | 356 |
Founder of monastic life in the desert of Egypt, January 17 |
| St. John the Alms Giver | 619 |
Patriarch of Alexandria, January 23 |
| St. Gelasius | 496 |
Bishop of Rome and third African Pope (492-496), March 1 |
| SS. Perpetua and Felicity | 202 |
Martyred in Carthage along with 6 others companions, March 7 |
| St. Maximilian (Marmilian) | 295 |
Martyred at Theveste, Numidia after refusing to serve in the Roman army, March 12 |
| St. Benedict the Black | 1585 |
Sicilian, son of African parents; the first African to be canonized through the regular canonical process, April 4 |
| St. Zeno | 380 |
Born at Cherchell, Algeria; missionary in Verona, Italy, where he become Bishop of Verona (c. 362), April 12 |
| St. Marcellinus | 4th Cent. |
He was an African missionary to France, April 20 |
| St. Athanasius | 373 |
Bishop of Alexandria, May 2 |
| SS. Timothy and Maura | 298 |
Husband and wife martyred in Southern Egypt, May 3 |
| St. Isdore of Chios | 251 |
Alexandrian army officer beheaded for his faith, May 15 |
| St. Josephine Bakhita | 1947 |
Sudanese slave girl born in 1869. She was later sold to an Italian Consol who took her to Italy where she eventually became free. She was baptized and later joined the Canossian Sisters in Vincenza, Italy, lived a holy life, and beatified May 17, 1992. She was canonized on October 1st 2000. Her feast is 8 February. |
| St. Julia of Tunisia | ? |
Slave girl crucified for her faith, May 22 |
| St. Charles Lwanga and Companions | 1886 |
Martyrs, canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964. The 22 young court servant were martyred for their faith by the Buganda King Mwanga in 1886. Along with them were 80 young Anglicans. June 3 |
| St. Onuphrius | 4th Cent. |
Egyptian hermit, June12 |
| St. Orsiesius | c.380 |
Abbot of Tabennisi Monastery, Egypt, June 15 |
| St. Cyril of Alexandria | 444 |
Patriarch of Alexandria (412-444), June 27 |
| St. Shenute | c.450 |
Founder of monastic life in Egypt, July 1 |
| St. Anatolius | c. 282 |
Philosopher and scientist of Alexandria, July 3 |
| St. Pantaenus | 190 |
Head of Alexandrian Catechetical School and missionary to Persia (Iran), July 9 |
| St. Eugenius | 5th Cent. |
Archbishop of Carthage, July 13 |
| St. Speratus and companions | 180 |
The 12 martyrs of Scillum, Carthage, Tunisia, July 17 |
| St. Aurelius | 5th Cent. |
Archbishop of Carthage, Tunisia, July 20 |
| St. Victor I | 199 |
Bishop of Rome and first African Pope (189-199), July 23 |
| St. Rutilius | 4th Cent. |
North African martyr, August 2 |
| Blessed Isidore Bakanja | 1909 |
A Congolese labourer and catechist martyred for his faith, 8 August |
| Blessed Victoire Rasoamanarivo | 1894 |
Foundress of the Catholic Action in Madagascar, beatified in 1989, August 21 |
| 153 martyrs of Utica | c. 260 |
Thrown into a pit of quicklime in Utica, Tunisia, August 24 |
| St. Monica | 387 |
Mother of St Augustine of Hippo, widowed at age 40, August 27 |
| St. Poemen | c. 400 |
A desert monk known for his holiness, and who encouraged frequent Communion, August 27 |
| St. Augustine of Hippo | 354-430 |
Bishop of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba) on coast of Algeria, Doctor of the Church, August 28 |
| St. Moses the Black | 395 |
A slave, gang leader, who after conversion died a martyr of non-violence on August 28, his feast day. That date providentially coincides with the march to Washington by 200,000 African Americans in 1963, August 28 |
| Blessed Ghebre Mikha'el | 1855 |
Ethiopian priest and martyr, September 2 |
| St. Donatian and Companions | 484 |
Martyrs, six Bishops of the Ecclesiatical province of Byzaccne (present day Tunisia and Algeria); killed for their faith by the Arian Vandals, September 6 |
| St. Nemesia and Companions | 257 |
9 Bishops, several deacons and lay persons who died in a marble quarry in North Africa, September 10 |
| St. Maurice and his Theban Legion (from Egypt) | 287 |
Martyrs, who were killed at Agauno, Switzerland for refusing to sacrifice to pagan divinities, September 22 |
| St. Matthew | 1st Cent |
Apostle and Evangelist. According to one ancient tradition, he was the first evangelizer of Nubia (modern Sudan), September 21 |
| St. Raissa | c. 300 | Virgin and martyr from Alexandria, September 22 |
| SS. Aizan and Sazan | 360 |
Twin Brothers; Aizan was the first Christian Emperor of the Kingdom of Axum, Ethiopia, October 1 |
| St. Thais | c. 350 |
Egyptian penitent, converted after many years as a prostitute, October 8 |
| St. Cerbonius | 573 |
African missionary Bishop in Italy, October 10 |
| St. Michael Aragave | 4th Cent. |
One of the first Ethiopian Monks, October 11 |
| St. Sarmata | 357 |
A disciple of St. Anthony of Egypt, martyred by Saracens in the Egyptian desert, October 11 |
| 5000 African martyrs and confessers of the faith | 483 |
African martyrs deported and killed for their faith by the Vandal King Huneric, October 12 |
| Commemoration of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church: St. Frumentius (Abba Salama) and Aedesius | 380 |
Syriac monks and founders of the Church in Ethipia, October 27 |
| St. Elesbaan | 555 |
An Ethiopia King who died as a monk in Jerusalem, October 27 |
| St. Lalibala (Ghebre Mesqel) | 1255 |
An Ethipian Emperor revered for his faith, October 27 |
| St. Tekla Hymanot | 1313 |
A great Ethipian reformer of monasticism, October 27 |
| St. Martin de Porres | 1639 |
Born in Peru, son of a Spanish father and an African slave mother, who became a pharmacist at an early age and later joined the Dominican Order, where he continued to dispense medicine to the poor, while living a humble and austere life, with great devotion to the Eucharist, November 3 |
| St. Pierius | 4th Cent. |
Head of the Catechetical School in Alexandria, November 4 |
| St. Achilias | 312 |
Head of religious instruction in Alexandria, November 7 |
| St Nennas | c.300 |
An Egyptian soldier in Phygia, who fled from persecution and became a hermit, November 11 |
| St. Arcadius and companions | 437 |
Martyrs, victims of the Arian Kind of the Vandals, Genseric, November 13 |
| St. Gelasius | 496 |
Bishop of Rome and third African Pope (492-496), liturgical reformer, who orderded the reception of Communion under both species, November 21 |
| St Cathrine of Alexandria | 4th Cent. |
Virgin and martyr who suffered martyrdom in Alexandria. Her relics are said to be kept in the monastery of St. Catherine on Sinai, November 25 |
| Blessed Anuarite Nengapeta | 1964 |
Virgin and martyr, a member of the Holy Family Sister in Congo Kinshasa, martyred by the Simba rebels, December 1 |
| St. Peter Martyr of Alexandria | 311 |
Patriarch of Alexandria during the Roman persecution, December? |
| St. Cassian of Tangiers | 298 |
A lawyer who resigned and became Christian and died as a martyr, December 3 |
| St. Melchiades | 314 |
Bishop of Rome and second African Pope (311-314), December 10 |