A few decades ago, even centuries ago, ancestors used to name their children with the name of the saint of the day they were born, not in vain in the famous “Mañanitas” there is a stanza that says: “Today, because it is your saint’s day, we sing them to you here…”.
He onomastic refers to the day in which a saint is celebrated, although it is common for many people to use it as a synonym for birthdays, which is wrong, since when talking about it we only refer to the list of the names of the saints.
Like every day of the year, today we also commemorate the women and men who stood out for having special connections with the deities, who did good deeds for their neighbors and who had high ethics and morals, reasons that led them to be canonized or beatified and be part of the saints.
This is the saint’s day Tuesday June 4th.
Naomi (נָעֳמִי, “pleasant” in Hebrew) is a biblical character from the Old Testament. She was the mother-in-law of Ruth, who was the ancestor of David and the wife of Elimelech, an Ephrathite of Bethlehem of Judah in the time of the judges. Due to severe famine, she moved to Moab with her husband and her two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. Elimelech died there. Later, the sons married the Moabites Orpah and Ruth and about ten years later both died without issue.
Heartbroken, Naomi decided to return to Judah. The two widowed daughters-in-law began the return journey with her, but Naomi recommended that they return and marry in their own land, since she herself had become “too old to belong to a husband,” so she could not. have more children with whom they could marry. Orpah returned, but Ruth remained with Naomi out of love for her and for her God, Jehovah.
When Naomi arrived in Bethlehem, she said to the women who greeted her: “Do not call me Naomi (My Pleasantness). Call me Mara (Bitter), because the Almighty has treated me bitterly.” As it was barley harvest time, Ruth kindly went to glean for her own sustenance and Naomi’s, so she went to work in Boaz’s field. When she told Naomi whose field she was working in, she sensed the hand of Jehovah, since Boaz was a close relative of Elimelech and, therefore, one of the repurchasers. Naomi encouraged Ruth to present this fact to Boaz. He responded promptly and followed the usual legal procedure to buy back the Elimelech property from Naomi. So according to the law of levirate or brother-in-law marriage, Ruth became Boaz’s wife in favor of Naomi. When a son was born to them, her neighbors named him Obed and said, “A son has been born to Naomi.” Obed therefore became the legal heir to the house of Elimelech of Judah.
(Note from the Santopedia:) Saint Naomi is celebrated on June 4, but we have not found her in any martyrology or reference document.
Along with this character there is other saints and martyrs which are also celebrated this Tuesday, June 4, as the following:
Saint Ruth
Saint Francis Caracciolo
Saint Walter of Servigliano
Saint Metrophanus of Byzantium
Saints Nicholas and Trano
Saint Optatus of Milevi
Saint Petroc of Cornwall
Saint Quirinus of Sisak
Blessed Philip Smaldone
The Catholic and Orthodox Church uses canonization to declare as a saint a deceased person who during his or her life made sacrifices or was related to a divine event in favor of the church.
This involves including the person’s name in the canon (list of recognized saints) and the permission of the Catholic Church to venerate her is granted, recognizing her power before God.
During Christianity, people were recognized as saints without the need for a formal process; However, this changed in the Middle Ages. In the case of Catholicism, The Church must carry out an exhaustive investigation of the life of the person to be sanctified.
For the Catholic Church there are four ways to achieve the appointment: the path of heroic virtues; the path of martyrdom; that of exceptional causes, confirmed by an ancient cult and written sources; and that of the offer of life.
In addition, it is considered whether the person lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree or whether he suffered martyrdom because of his faith, likewise, It is an essential requirement that he have performed at least two miracles (or one in the case of being a martyr).
Catholicism is one of the most widely practiced religions in the world. The most recent data from the Vatican – particularly from its Ecclesial Statistical Yearbook – indicate that there are more than 1,360 million Catholics in the world.
The American continent is where Catholics are most prevalent, with almost half of those registered by the Vatican, with more than a quarter located in South America.
In recent years, the Vatican has noted that the presence of Catholics has increased significantly on two continents: Asia – particularly the Middle East – and Africa.
In contrast, religious numbers in Europe have been declining, while in Oceania they have remained stable.
