St. Charles Lwanga and Companions

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions. One of 22 Ugandan martyrs, was St. Charles Lwanga who is the patron saint of the youth and Catholic action in most of tropical Africa.

St. Charles is a saint who protected his fellow pages, who were aged 13 to 30, from all the homosexual demands that had occurred from the Bagandan ruler, Mwanga, and St. Charles would also encourage them to grow in their Catholic faith during their very difficult imprisonment. These people where imprisoned because they refused the ruler’s demands.

St. Charles was introduced to Christ’s teachings from two attendants in the court of Chief Mawulugungu. While St. Charles was a catechumen, he decided to enter the royal household as an assistant to Joseph Mukaso, who was the head of the court pages.

Joseph Mukaso was martyred because he had encouraged many African youths to resist Mwanga’s demands. During the very difficult night of Joseph Mukaso’s martyrdom, St. Charles decided to get baptized.

St. Charles was eventually imprisoned with many of his friends. St. Charles’s great courage and belief in God is what helped him inspire each one of his friends to remain chaste and faithful people while they were imprisoned.

St. Charles stood strong in his faith and he was unwilling to submit to the many immoral acts he was demanded to, and St. Charles made sure that he protected the faith of his friends.

Due to the fact that St. Charles did that stuff he was eventually burned to death at Namugongo on June 3, 1886, by Mwanga’s order.

When Pope Paul VI decided to canonize all these 22 martyrs on October 18, 1964, he also made reference to all the Anglican pages that were martyred for the same reason.

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions feast day is celebrated on June 3.

Prayer to St. Charles Lwanga and Companions:

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions intercede that we may be able to stay strong in our faith and defend the faith against every single heresy we may encounter or witness. St. Charles Lwanga and Companions help us to be able to guide more people to Christ and help others to find the trust in Christ and the faith they need to overcome difficult moments.

Amen

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works Cited

Information (read from, not taken):

Franciscan Media. "Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions. ”Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions | Franciscan Media. Accessed 3, June 2021.

Images:

Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions. June 3, 2021. Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions - Google Search.