Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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MARTYROLOGIES

Lists of martyrs of certain cities or countries; catalogues of martyred saints arranged according to the occurrence of their feast days in the liturgical calendar. Origination in the early Middle Ages, they are important as sources of Church history. In some religious communities, the martyrology is read daily in the refectory. The Roman Martyrology, a catalogue of saints honored by the Church, written around the mid-sixteenth century, has been often revised and re-edited. Its total listing gives short accounts of about six thousand saints and blesseds honored by the Catholic Church.