Corpus Christi and St. Joseph Parish in Portsmouth

08/09/2026

07/09/2026

St Regina of Autun was a young Christian martyr who lived in 3rd‑century Roman Gaul, born near Autun in Burgundy. Her mother died at her birth, and she was raised by a Christian nurse who quietly taught her the faith. Regina grew up tending sheep in the hills around Autun, living a life of prayer and simplicity. When she was about fifteen, she was arrested by the Roman official Olybrius after refusing both his demand to renounce Christianity and his offer of marriage.

During her imprisonment she endured harsh torture, yet remained steadfast. Her medieval Passio describes how she was comforted by a vision of a dove and a shining cross, symbols of God’s presence with her in suffering. Regina was finally beheaded at Alesia, a place now renamed Alise‑Sainte‑Reine in her honour. Her courage inspired a strong local devotion, and her feast on 7 September has been kept for over a thousand years.

A medieval Passio is a devotional story written to describe a martyr’s suffering and death, blending historical memory with symbolic or legendary elements meant to inspire faith.

06/09/2026

Pepin the Short (c. 714–768) was the first Carolingian King of the Franks and the father of Charlemagne. The son of Charles Martel, he inherited strong leadership and military skill. With the approval of St Pope Zachary, Pepin deposed the last Merovingian king, Childeric III, who had become a mere figurehead while the mayors of the palace held all real power. The Frankish nobles asked the Pope whether it was right for a powerless king to reign, and Zachary judged that the one who truly governed should bear the royal title. Pepin was crowned in 751, marking the beginning of the Carolingian dynasty.

Pepin proved a decisive and reforming ruler. He defended the papacy against the Lombards, and his Donation of Pepin created the Papal States, securing the Church’s independence. He reformed Frankish law, supported missionary work led by St Boniface, and strengthened ties between the Frankish kingdom and Rome. His energetic and pragmatic rule laid the foundations for the empire his son Charlemagne would later build.

05/09/2026

Happy feast day of Saint Mother Teresa.

04/09/2026

Saint Cuthbert (c. 634–687) was born near Dunbar in the Anglo‑Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. As a young shepherd, he experienced a vision of angels at the moment of St Aidan of Lindisfarne’s death in 651, which led him to enter Melrose Abbey as a monk. Bede records that Cuthbert later practised severe night‑time prayer, standing in the cold sea; when he returned to shore, two otters warmed his feet, though Bede does not specify whether this occurred during his time as prior or later as a hermit.

Cuthbert served as prior of Melrose during the plague, then as prior of Lindisfarne, helping the community accept Roman customs after the Synod of Whitby. Seeking solitude, he withdrew to Inner Farne as a hermit before reluctantly accepting the role of Bishop of Lindisfarne. He died on Inner Farne in 687, and his body was found incorrupt when opened eleven years later, strengthening the devotion that grew around him, especially in northern England.

His feast day is celebrated on 4 September in England and Wales, and on 20 March in the rest of the Catholic Church.