It has been said that St. Patrick (c. 389-c. 461) performed a thousand miracles. And why not? Many more (40,000) were prudently attributed to St. Vincent Ferrer, the Dominican missionary and "Angel of Judgment." 

Moreover, the author knows of no saint for whom there are claimed so many resurrection miracles during one apostolic lifetime as for St. P...

Padre Pio (May, 1887 – September, 1968) was canonized on June 16, 2002, by the Roman Catholic Church. He is the only priest known to have received the full stigmata.

The final year of the dying, decaying 20^th century has seen the beatification of Padre Pio, the holy monk whom God sent as a sign for our age. For, while everyone wants to make us believe in a new "charismatic" Church, strangely we do not find there any wonder-working saints like the ones ...

St. Peter

St. Irenaeus

The writings of entitle him to a high place among the fathers of the Church, for they not only laid the foundations of theology but, by exposing and refuting the errors of the gnostics, they delivered the from the real danger of the doctrines of those heretics.

He was probably born about the year 125, in one of those maritime provinces of where the of the was still cherished and where...

St. Cyril of Alexandria

St. Cyril of Alexandria, and of the Church (June 27) Cyril was born at Alexandria, Egypt. He was nephew of the of that city, Theophilus. Cyril received a classical and theological at and was ordained by his uncle. He accompanied to in 403 and was present at the of the Oak that deposed Chrysostom, whom he believed guilty of the charges against him. He succeeded his uncle

St. Anthelm

Carthusian and bishop, defender of papal authority. Anthelm was born in 1107 in a castle near Chambery, in Savoy, France. He was ordained a and visited the Carthusian at Portes, where he entered the Order at the age of thirty. Two years later, in 1139, he was appointed of Le Grande Chartreuse, which had been damaged. Anthelm made the monastery a worthy motherhouse of the Carthusians, constructing a defensive wall and a...

Bishop of Trier, Germany, from 332, and a worker. He was probably born at Silly, France, and succeeded St. Agritus as of Trier, giving refuge to in 336. St. Paul, the of Constantinople, was also given Maximinus’ protection. Maximinus was an ardent enemy of the Arian heretics, opposing them i...

Bl. Margaret Pole

Martyr of England. She was born Margaret Plantagenet, the niece of Edward IV and Rich­ard III. She married Sir Reginald Pole about 1491 and bore five sons, including Reginald Pole. Margaret was widowed, named countess of Salisbury, and appointed governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Hemy VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, Spain. She opposed Henry’s mar­riage to Anne Boleyn, and the king exiled her from court, although he call...

St. Philip Neri

If one had to choose one saint who showed the humorous side of that would Philip Neri.

Born in 1515 in Florence, he showed the impulsiveness and spontaneity of his from the he was a boy. In fact one incident almost cost him his life. Seeing a donkey loaded with fruit for market, the little boy had barely formed the thought of jumping on the donkey's back before he had done it. The donkey, surprised, lost his footing...

St. David I of Scotland

St. John Baptist Rossi

This holy was born in 1698 at the village of Voltaggio in the of and was one of the four of an excellent and highly respected couple. When he ws ten a nobleman and his wifre who were spending the summer at Voltaggio obtained permission from his to take him back with them to to be trained in their house. He remained with them three years, winning golden opinions from all, notably from two Capuchi...

St. Rita

St. Rita was born at Spoleto, in 1381. At an early age, she begged her to allow her to enter a convent. Instead they arranged a marriage for her. Rita became a wife and mother, but her husband was a of violent temper. In he often mistreated his wife. He taught their his own ways.

Rita tried to perform her duties faithfully and to pray and receive the frequently. After nearly twe...

St. Eugene de Mazenod

Eugene de Mazenod was born on August 1, 1782, at Aix-en-Provence in France. Early in he experienced the upheaval of the French Revolution. the less, he entered the seminary, and following ordination he returned to labor in Aix-en-Provence. That area had suffered greatly during the Revolution and was not really a safe place for a priest. Eugene directed his minist...

St. Bernardine of Siena

In the year 1400, a young came to the door of the largest hospital in Siena. A plague was raging through the city so horrible that as many as twenty people died each day just in the hospital alone. And many of the people who died were those who were needed to tend the ill. It was a desperate situation -- more and more people were falling ill and fewer and fewer people were there to help them.

The twenty-year-old who stood there had no...

St. Celestine

When the father of this Italian saint died, his mother brought up her twelve well, even though they were very poor. "Oh, if I could only have the joy of seeing one of you become a saint!" she use to say. Once when she asked as usual, "which one of you is going to become a saint?" little Peter (who was to become Pope Celestine) answered with all his heart, "Me, mama! I'll become a saint!" And he did.

When he was twenty, Peter became a hermi...

St. Paschal Baylon

Franciscan lay brother and mystic. Born to a peasant at Torre Hermosa, in Aragon, on Whitsunday, he was christened Pascua in honor of the feast. According to accounts of his early life, Paschal labored as a shepherd for his father, performed miracles, and was distinguished for his austerity. He also taught himself to read. Receiving a vision which told him to enter a nearby F...

St. Simon Stock

Although little is known about Simon Stock's early life, legend has it that the name Stock, meaning "tree trunk," derives from the fact that, beginning at age twelve, he lived as a hermit in a hollow tree trunk of an oak tree. It is also believed that, as a young man, he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he joined a group of Carmelites with whom he later returned to Europe. Simon Stock founded many Carmelite Communities, especially in Universit...

St. Dymphna

Dymphna was fourteen when her mother died. Damon is said to have been afflicted with a mental illness, brought on by his grief. He sent messengers throughout his town and other lands to find some of noble birth, resembling his wife, who would be willing to marry him. When could be found, his advisers told him to marry his own daughter. Dymphna fled from her castle together with St. Gerebr...

St. Matthias - Apostle

How does one qualify to be an apostle?

The first act of the after the of was to find a replacement for Judas. With all the questions, doubts, and dangers facing them, they chose to focus their attention on finding a twelfth apostle. Why was this important? Twelve was a very important number to the Chosen People: twelve was the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. If the new Israel was to come from the disciples of Jesu...

St. John the Silent

Bishop of in Palestine and a hermit. Born in Nicopolis, Armenia, he established a monastery at the age of eighteen. Appointed a at the age of twenty-eight, he spent nine years in his office before retiring to to embrace the eremitical life. Through a vision, he found his way to the monastery, or laura, of St. Sabas, asking to be walled up and living for seventy-five years as a silent recluse

Sts. Nereus & Achilleus

So often we hear people or even ourselves excuse an action by saying "I was only following orders." But for Nereus and Achilleus this excuse could not stand in the face of the cross.

Everything we know from authority about the two first- century martyrs comes from a testimony written by Pope in the fourth century and inscribed on a memorial tablet that commemorates their lives. But even this commentary comes 300 years after they d...

St. Ignatius of Laconi

St. Solange

St. Solange d. 880, Born of a poor of vineyard workers near Bourges, France, she became a shepherdess whose beauty attracted the lustful attention of a noble in Poitiers. He kidnapped her, but when she leaped from the horse on which he was carrying her off, he pursued and killed her. The sources of the story are questionable, however.  is May 10.   

St. Pachomius

St. Pachomius was born about 292 in the Upeer in and was inducted into the Emperor's army as a twenty-year-old. The great kindness of Christians at toward the soldiers became embedded in his and led to his after his discharge. After being baptized, he became a of an anchorite, Palemon, and took the habit. The two of them led a of extreme austerity and total to God; they combined manual labor wi...

St. Peter of Tarantaise

Cistercian archbishop. Peter was born near Vienne, in Dauphine, France, and joined the Cistercian Order at Bonneveaux at the age of twenty with his two brothers and father. Known for his piety, at age thirty he was sent to serve as the first of Tamie, in the Tarantaise Mountains, between Geneva and Savoy. There he built a for travelers. In 1142, he was named the of Tarantaise against his wishes, and he devoted muc...

Blessed Rose was born at Viterbo in 1656, the daughter of Godfrey Venerini, a physician. Upon the death of a young who had been paying court to her, she entered a convent, but after a few months had to return home to look after her widowed mother. Rose use to gather the women and girls of the neighborhood to say the together in the evenings,...

St. Florian

The commemorated in the Roman on May 4th, was an officer of the Roman army, who occupied a high administrative post in Noricum, now part of Austria, and who suffered death for the in the days of Diocletian. His legendary "Acts" state that he gave himself up at Lorch to the soldiers of Aquilinus, the governor, when they were rounding up the Christians, and after making a bold confession, he was twice scourged, half-flayed alive, s...

St. James the Lesser

St. the Less, the author of the first Epistle, was the son of Alphaeus of Cleophas. His mother was either a sister or a close relative of the Blessed Virgin, and for that reason, according to custom, he was sometimes called the brother of the Lord. The held a distinguished position in the early community of Jerusalem. tells us he was a of the Resurrection of Christ; he is also...

St. Athanasius

St. Athanasius, the great champion of the was born at Alexandria, about the year 296, of parents. Educated under the eye of Alexander, later of his native city, he made great progress in learning and virtue. In 313, Alexander succeeded Achillas in the Patriarchal See, and two years later went to the to spend some in retreat with St. Anthony.

In 319, he became a deacon, and even in this capacity...

St. Marculf

Marculf is also known as Marcoul. He was born at Bayeux, Gaul, at noble parents. He was ordained when he was thirty, and did missionary work at Coutances. Desirous of living as a hermit, he was granted land by king Childebert at Nanteuil. He attracted numerous disciples, and built a monastery, of which he was abbot. It became a great pilgrimage center after his death on May 1. was regarded as a patron who cured skin diseases, and as late as 168...

St. Pius V, Pope

Pope from 1566-1572 and one of the foremost leaders of the Reformation. Born Antonio Ghislieri in Bosco, Italy, to a poor family, he labored as a shepherd until the age of fourteen and then joined the Dominicans, being ordained in 1528. Called Brother Michele, he studied at and Genoa, and then taught theology and for sixteen years before holding the posts of master of novices and for several Dominican ho...

St. Catherine of Siena - Doctor of the Church

The 25th child of a wool dyer in northern Italy, St. Catherine started having mystical experiences when she was only 6, seeing guardian as clearly as the people they protected. She became a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, and continued to have of Christ, Mary, and the saints. St. Catherine was one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day, although she never had any formal education...

St. Peter Chanel

In Chanel, and (Feast day - April 28) The protomartyr of the South Seas, Chanel was born in 1803 at Clet in the of Belley, France. His intelligence and simple piety brought him to the attention of the local priest, Father Trompier, who saw to his elementary education. Entering the diocesan Seminary, Peter won the affection and the esteem of both students and professors. After his ordi...

St. Zita

St. Zita was born into a poor but holy family. Her older sister became a Cistercian nun and her uncle Graziano was a hermit whom the local people regarded as a saint. Zita herself always tried to do God's obediently whenever it was pointed out to her by her mother. At the age of twelve Zita became a housekeeper in the house of a rich weaver in Lucca, Italy, eight miles from her home at Monte Sagrati. As things turned out, she stayed with that

St. Cletus

was the third of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent among the first disciples of in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The of the Roman mass, (which Bossuet and all others agree to be of primitive antiquity,) Bede, and other Martyrologists, style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, on the Vatican, and his still remain in that church.  

St. Mark

The second Gospel was written by St. Mark, who, in the New Testament, is sometimes called Mark. Both he and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early Church, and his mother's house in served as a meeting place for Christians there.

St. was associated with and (who was Mark's cousin) on their missionary journey through the island of Cyprus. Later he accompanied alone. We know also th...

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

Franciscan Capuchin martyr. He was born Rey is Sigmaringen, Germany, in 1577. A practicing lawyer, he traveled across as a tutor to aristocrats but then started defending the poor. In 1612, he became a Franciscan Capuchin monk, taking the name of Fidelis. A missionary to Grisons, Switzerland, Fidelis was so successful that local Protestants claimed that he was a spy for the Austrian Emperor. Fidelis was stabbed to death ...

St. George

Pictures of usually show him killing a dragon to rescue a beautiful lady. The dragon stands for wickedness. The lady stands for God's holy truth. was a brave who was victorious over the devil.

He was a soldier in the army of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and he was one of the Emperor's favorite soldiers. Now was a and a bitter enemy to the Christians. He put to death every h...

St. Abdiesus

Also called Hebed Jesus, a deacon in the community of who was caught up in the persecutions conducted by King Shapur II. Records indicate that Abdiesus was accompanied in his martyrdom by Abrosimus, Acepsimus, Azadanes, Azades, Bicor, Mareas, Milles, and a women named Tarbula. Some were Persian courtiers, others priests and bishops. Tarbula was the sister of St. Simeon, and suffered a particularly cruel death by sawing.  

St. Anselm

St. Anselm of and APRIL 21,A.D. 1109 IF the Norman conquerors stripped the English nation of its liberty, and many temporal advantages, it must be owned that by their valor they raised the reputation of its arms, and deprived their own country of its greatest men, both in church and state, with whom they adorned this kingdom: of which this great doctor, and his master, Lanfranc, are instances. was born o...

St. Marian

When was of the monastery which had founded at Auxerre, there came to him a young called (also known as Marian), a fugitive from then occupied by the Visigoths. gave him the habit, and the edified all his piety and obedience. The Abbot, wishing to test him, gave him the lowest possible post - that of cowman and shepherd in the farm at Merille. accepted the work cheerfully,...

St. Alphege

Archbishop and "the First of Canterbury." He was born in 953 and became a in the Deerhurst Monastery in Gloucester, England, asking after a few years to become a hermit. He received permission for this vocation and retired to a small hut near Somerset, England. In 984 Alphege assumed the role of of the of Bath, founded by and by his own efforts. Many of his disciples f...

St. Apollonius the Apologist

Martyr whose Apologia, or defense of the faith, is considered one of the most priceless documents of the early Church. Apollonius was a Roman senator who was denounced as a by one of his slaves. The Praetorian Prefect, Sextus Tigidius Perennis, arrested him, also putting the slave to death as an informer. Perennis demanded that Apollonius denounce the faith, and when he refused, the case was remanded to the Roman senate....

St. Anicetus

Anicetus was a Syrian from Emesa. He became pope about 155 and actively opposed Marcionism and Gnosticism. His pontificate saw the appearance of the controversy between East and West over the date of Easter. St. Polycarp, a of John, is reported to have visited him in about the dispute, which was to accelerate and grow more heated over the following centuries.  

St. Bernadette

St. Paternus

St. Paternus.The first 5th century saint. He followed his father's path by becoming a hermit in Wales. He founded the monastery at the great church of Paternus, and became a of that region. He was known for his preaching, charity and mortifications. Scholars believe his story is an amalgam. His is April 16.  

St. Lydwine

St. Lydwine is the patroness of sickness Lydwine of Schiedam was born at Schiedam, Holland, one of nine of a working man. After an injury in her youth, she became bedridden and suffered the rest of her from various illnesses and diseases. She experienced mystical gifts, including of heaven, hell, purgatory, of Christ, and the stigmata. Thom...

Pope Saint Martin I

Martin I lay too sick to fight on a couch in front of the altar when the soldiers burst into the Lateran basilica. He had come to the church when he heard the soldiers had landed. But the thought of kidnapping a sick pope from the house of didn't stop the soldiers from grabbing him and hustling him down to their ship.

Elected pope in 649, I had gotten in trouble for refusing to condone in the face of wrong. At that

St. Julius

Julius whose is April 12th. Julius was the son of a Roman named Rusticus. He was elected Pope to succeed Pope on February 6, 337. Julius was soon involved in the Arian controversy when opposed the return of Athanasius to the See of in 338. Eusebius and his followers elected George, whereupon the Arians elected Pistus. Julius convened a in in 340 or 341 that neither group attended, and in a letter to t...

St. Marguerite d'Youville

Foundress of the Sisters of Charity, the of Canada. St. Marguerite D'Youville was born at Varennes, Quebec, on October 15, Marie Marguerite Dufrost de La Jemmerais. She studied under the Ursulines, married Francois D'Youville in 1722, and became a in 1730. She worked to support herself and her three children, devoted much of her to the Confraternity of the Holy in charitable act...

St. Waldetrudis

Also known as Waltrude or Waudru, she was the daughter of Saints Walbert and Bertilia and sister of St. Aldegunus of Maubeuge. Marrying Madelgarius, she became the mother of saints Landericus, Madalberta, Adeltrudis, and Dentelin. When her husband chose to become a  about 643 in the monastery of Hautrnont, France, he had founded, she established a at Chateaulieu, around which grew up the town of Mons, Belgium.  

St. John Baptist de la Salle

John Baptist de la Salle was born at Rheims, on April 30th. He was the eldest of ten in a noble family. He studied in and was ordained in 1678. He was known for his work with the poor. He died at St. Yon, Rouen, on April 7th. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1900. was very involved in education. He founded the Institute of the Brothers of the (approved in 1725) and established t...

St. William of Eskilsoe

Missionary. Born at Saint-Germain, France, circa 1125, he served as a at the church of St. Genevieve, Paris, under the great until about 1170, when he was sent to with the mission of reforming the canons at Eskilsoe at the request of the of Roskilde. He became there and, during his three decades among the Danes, he also reformed many other communities. He also founded the of St. Thomas, in Zeeland....

St. Vincent Ferrer

St. Vincent Ferrer is the patron saint of builders because of his fame for "building up" and strengthening the Church: through his preaching, missionary work, in his teachings, as and adviser.  At in Spain, this illustrious son of came into the world on January 23, 1357. In the year 1374, he entered the Order of in a monastery near his native city. Soon after his profession he was commissione...

St. Isidore of Seville
Doctor of the Church

Isidore was literally born into a of saints in sixth century Spain. Two of his brothers, Leander and Fulgentius, and one of his sisters, Florentina, are revered as saints in Spain. It was also a of leaders and strong minds with Leander and Fulgentius serving as and Florentina as abbess.

This didn't make easier for Isidore. To the contrary, Leander may have been holy in many ways, but his tr...

St. Richard of Wyche

Richard of Wyche, also known as of Chichester, was born at Wyche (Droitwich), Worcestershire, England. He was orphaned when he was quite young. He retrieved the fortunes of the mismanaged estate he inherited when he took it over, and then turned it over to his brother Robert. refused marriage and went to Oxford, where he studied under Grosseteste and met and beg...

St. Francis of Paola

Francis was born at Paola, and was educated at the Franciscan friary of San Marco there, and when fifteen became a hermit near Paola. In 1436, he and two companions began a community that is considered the of the Minim Friars. He built a monastery where he had led his eremitical some fifteen years later and set a Rule for his followers emphasizing penance, charity, and humility, and added to the three monastic vows, one of

St. Hugh of Grenoble

Benedictine of Grenoble, France, patron of St. Bruno. He was born in the Dauphine region and became a of the in Valence. In 1080, while attending a in Avignon, Hugh was named of Grenoble. He attempted a massive reform of the diocese, but, discouraged, retired to Chaise Dieu Abbey, and became a Benedictine. Pope St. Gregoiy VII ordered him back to Grenoble. Hugh gave the land on which the Grande ...

St. Benjamin

St. Benjamin, (Feast Day - March 31) The Christians in had enjoyed twelve years of peace during the reign of Isdegerd, son of Sapor III, when in 420 it was disturbed by the indiscreet of Abdas, a who burned the of Fire, the great of the Persians. King Isdegerd threatened to destroy all the churches of the Christians unless the would rebuild it.

As Abdas refused to comply, the threat ...

St. Peter Regulatus

Also Peter Regalado, Franciscan reformer. Peter was born at Valladolid, Spain, to a noble family, and entered the in his native city at the age of thirteen. After several years, he transferred to a far more austere monastery at Tribulos, where he became known for his severe as well as his abilities to levitate and enter into ecstasies. A success as abbot, he gave himself over to bringing needed reforms to t...

St. Venturino of Bergamo

Dominican preacher and missionary crusader. A native of Bergamo, Italy, he joined the in 1319 and soon distinguished himself as a brilliant preacher, attracting huge crowds throughout northern Italy. Pleased with his ability to reach large of believers, he announced in 1335 his to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. When Pope (r. 1334-1342) learned of the pilgrimage, he feared Venturino might be plannin...

St. Rupert

Bishop and missionary, also listed as Robert of Hrodbert. A member of a noble Frankish family, he was appointed of Worms, Germany, and then dedicated himself to spreading the among the Germans. With the patronage of Duke Thedo of Bavaria, he took over the deserted town of luvavum about 697, which was renamed Salzburg, Austria. Rupert founded a church, a monastery, and a school; brought in groups of missionaries; and established a nunnery a...

St. Margaret of Clitherow

St. Margaret Clitherow was born in Middleton, England, in 1555, of protestant parents. Possessed of looks and full of wit and merriment, she was a charming personality. In 1571, she married Clitherow, a well-to-do grazier and butcher (to whom she bore two children), and a few years later entered the Church. Her led her to harbor fugitive priests, for which she was arrested and imprisoned by hostile authorities. Recourse was...

St. Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo

Bishop and defender of the rights of the native Indians in Peru, Born in Mayorga, Spain, he studied and became a lawyer and then professor at Salamanca, receiving appointment-despite being a layman-as chief judge of the court of at under King of Spain. The king subsequently appointed him in 1580 to the post of of Lima, Peru. After re...

St. Lea

A letter which wrote to provides the only information we have about St. Lea, a devout fourth century widow. Upon the death of her husband, she retired to a Roman monastery and ultimately became its Superior. Since his correspondence was acquainted with the details of St. Lea's life, omitted these in his letter. He concentrated instead on the of in comparison with that of a consul who had recently died. "Who pr...

Bl. John of Parma

John Buralli, the seventh general of the Franciscans, was born at in the year 1209, and he was already teaching there when at the age of twenty-five, he joined the Franciscans. He was sent to to study and, after he had been ordained, to teach and preach in Bologna, and Rome. He preached so well that crowds of people came to hear his sermons, even very important persons flocked to hear him.  In the year 1247, was ch...

Everything we know about the husband of and the foster father of comes from and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him.

We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he took to the to be circumcised and to be purified he offered the

"Make your fold with the sheep; flee from the wolves: depart not from the Church," Cyril admonished catechumens surrounded by heresy. These were prophetic words for Cyril was to be hounded by enemies and for most of his life, and although they could exile him from his he never left his beloved Church.

Cyril's began a few years before (the that was not divine or one in being with the Father) a...

St. Patrick

St. Patrick of is one of the world's most popular saints.

Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461.

Along with and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish.

There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.

Patrick was bor...

St. Abban

St. Louise de Marillac

Louise de Marillac was born probably at Ferrieres-en-Brie near Meux, France, on August 12, 1591. She was educated by the Dominican at Poissy. She desired to become a nun but on the advice of her confessor, she married Antony LeGras, an official in the Queen's service, in 1613. After Antony's death in 1625, she met de Paul, who became her spiritual adviser. She devoted the rest of her to working with him. She helped...

St. Matilda

Matilda was the daughter of Count Dietrich of and Reinhild of Denmark. She was also known as Mechtildis and Maud. She was raised by her grandmother, the of Eufurt convent. Matilda married Henry the Fowler, son of Duke Otto of Saxony, in the year 909. He succeeded his father as Duke in the year 912 and in 919 succeeded King Conrad I to the German throne. She was noted for her piety and charitable wo...

Bl. Agnello of Pisa

The founder of the English Franciscan province, Blessed Agnello, was admitted into the Order by St. Francis himself on the occasion of his sojourn in Pisa. He was sent to the Friary in Paris, of which he became the guardian, and in 1224, St. Francis appointed him to found an English province; at the he was only a deacon. Eight others were selected to accompany him. True to the precepts of St. Francis, they had no money, and the monks of Fecam...

St. Fina or Seraphina, Virgin A.D. 1253 The old town of San Geminiano in treasures with special veneration the of Santa Fina, a young girl whose claim to be recognized as a saint lay in the perfect resignation with which she accepted bodily suffering. She was born of who had seen better days but had fallen into poverty. The child was pretty and attractive. Poor as she was she always kept half her food to give to those who were worse off ...

Constantine was king of Cornwall. Unreliable tradition has him married to the daughter of the king of Brittany who on her death ceded his to his son and became a at St. Mochuda monastery at Rahan, Ireland. He performed menial tasks at the monastery, then studied for the and was ordained. He went as a missionary to under and then St. Kentigern, preached in Galloway, and became of a monastery at Govan. In old ...

Born in 1579, Ogilvie belonged to Scottish nobility. Raised a Calvinist, he was educated on the continent. Exposed to the religious controversies of his day and impressed with the of the martyrs, he decided to become a Catholic. In 1596, at age seventeen he was received into the Church at Louvain. Later attended a variety of educational institutions, and eventually he sought admission into the Jesuits. He was ordained a...

St. John of God

From the he was eight to the day he died, followed every impulse of his heart. The challenge for him was to rush to follow the promptings of the gave him, not his own human temptations. But unlike many who act impulsively, when made a decision, no how quickly, he stuck with it, no what the hardship.

At eight years old, heard a visiting speak of adventures that were waiting in the ag...

A hermit and of St. Anthony. Paul had long been a humble farmer in when, at the age of sixty, he discovered that his wife was unfaithful. Leaving her, he set out for the and went to Anthony to become a follower. Anthony at first refused him, owing to Paul’s advanced years and because he doubted Paul’s sincerity. As Paul was persistent, Anthony gave him a of demanding and arduous tasks which Paul fulfilled wi...

St. Colette

Colette was the daughter of a carpenter named DeBoilet at Corby in Picardy, France. She was born on January 13, christened Nicolette, and called Colette. Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor. She became a Franciscan tertiary, and lived at Corby as a solitary. She soon became well known for her and spiritual wisdom, but left her cell in 1406 in response to a dream directing her to reform the Poor Clares. She receiv...

St. of the Cross was born about the middle of the seventeenth century in the beautiful island of Ischia, near Naples. From his childhood he was the model of virtue, and in his sixteenth year he entered the of the Strictest Observance, or Reform of of Alcantara. Such was the edification he gave in his Order, that within three years after his profession he was sent to found a monast...

St. Katharine Drexel

Saint Katharine Drexel, Religious (Feast Day-March 3) Born in 1858, into a prominent Philadelphia family, Katharine became imbued with love for and neighbor. She took an avid interest in the material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans. She began by donating money but soon concluded that more was needed - the lacking ingredient was people. Katharine founde...

Bl. Charles the Good

In 1086, St. Canute, King of and father of Blessed Charles the Good, was slain in St. Alban's Church, Odence. Charles who was only a few years old was taken by his mother to the court of Robert, Count of Flanders, his maternal grandfather. When he grew up, he became a knight and accompanied Robert in a crusade to the Holy Land where he distinguished himself; on their return, Charles also fought against the English with his uncle. ...

According to tradition, was the son of King Sant of South and St. Non. He was ordained a and later studied under St. Paulinus. Later, he was involved in missionary work and founded a number of monasteries. The monastery he founded at in Southwestern was noted for extreme asceticism. David and his monks drank neither wine nor beer - only water - while putting in a full day of heavy manual labor and intense study. Around ...

St. Aubin

Albinus, also known as Aubin, entered the monastery of Tincillac when a youth, was elected when he was thirty-five, and was named of in 529. He was known for his generosity to the sick and the indigent, widows, and orphans, for his work in ransoming slaves, and for his and the many miracles he is reputed to have performed both during his lifetime and after his death. His is March 1.  

St. Hilary, Pope

Pope from 461-468 and guardian of Church unity. He was born in Sardinia, Italy, and was a papal to the Robber Council of in 449, barely escaping with his from this affair. Hilary was used by Pope I the Great on many assignments. When Leo died, Hilary was elected pope and consecrated on November 19,461. He worked diligently to strengthen the Church in and Spain, calling councils in 462 and 465. Hilary also reb...

St. Leander of Seville

St. Leander of Seville, (Feast - February 27th) Leander was born at Cartagena, Spain, of Severianus and Theodora, illustrious for their virtue. St. Isidore and Fulgentius, both were his brothers, and his sister, Florentina, is also numbered among the saints. He became a at and then the of the See. He was instrumental in converting the two sons Hermenegild and Reccared of the Arian Visigothic King Leov...

St. Tarasius

St. Tarasius was subject of the Byzantine Empire. He was raised to the highest honors in the Empire as Consul, and later became first secretary to the Emperor Constantine and his mother, Irene. When being elected of Constantinople, he consented to accept the dignity offered to him only on that a General Council should be summoned to resolve the disputes concerning the veneration of sacred images, for had been sep...

St. Polycarp

Imagine being able to sit at the feet of the and hear their stories of with from their own lips. Imagine walking with those who had walked with Jesus, seen him, and touched him. That was what Polycarp was able to do as a of the Evangelist.

But being part of the second of Church leaders had challenges that the first could not teach about. What did you do when those eyewitnesses were gone? H...

St. Margaret of Cortona

Margaret of Cortona, penitent, was born in Loviana in in 1247. Her father was a small farmer. Margaret's mother died when she was seven years old. Her stepmother had little care for her high-spirited daughter. Rejected at home, Margaret eloped with a youth from and bore him a son out of wedlock. After nine years, her lover was murdered without warning. Margaret left Montpulciano and returned as a penitent to her fat...

Bishop and martyr. The of in Galilee. He attended the Council of (451) and took part in the complete triumph of the orthodox against the of the era. On his return home he was assassinated by a group of at the command of Emperor Theodosius II.   

Wulfric (d. 1154) + hermit and worker. Born at Compton Martin, near Bristol, England, he became a and was excessively materialistic and worldly. After meeting with a beggar, he underwent a personal and became a hermit at Haselbury; Somerset, England. For his remaining years, he devoted himself to rigorous austerities and was known for his miracles and prophecies. While he was never formally canonized, Wulfric was a ver...

Bl. Alvarez of Corova

In St. Matthew's Gospel, we read of or who is described as one of our Lord's brethren or kinsmen. His father was Cleophas, St. Joseph's brother, and his mother, according to some writers, was our Lady's sister. He would therefore be our Lord's first cousin and is supposed to have been about eight years older than He. No he is one of those brethren of who are  mentioned in the of the as having received the

St. Alexis Falconieri

Founder and mystic, one of the first Servants of or Servites. The son of a wealthy merchant in Florence, Italy, Alexis and six companions joined the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin in in 1225. Gathered together on the Feast of the Assumption in 1233, the group experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin which inspired them to found a new religious community dedicated to prayer....

Died in 309, He and four companions, Elias, Isaias, Jeremy and Samuel were Egyptians who visited Christians condemned to work in the mines of Cilicia during Maximus persecution, to comfort them. Apprehended at the gates of Caesarea, Palestine, they were brought before the governor, and accused of being Christians. They were all tortured and then beheaded. When Porphyry, a servant of demanded that the bodies be buried, he was tortured and then burned ...

Valentine was a holy in Rome, who, with and his family, assisted the martyrs in the under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270....

St. Catherine de Ricci

St. Catherine was born in in 1522. Her baptismal name was Alexandrina, but she took the name of Catherine upon entering religion. From her earliest infancy she manifested a great love of prayer, and in her sixth year, her father placed her in the of Monticelli in Florence, where her aunt, Louisa de Ricci, was a nun. After a brief return home, she entered the of the Dominican at Prat in Tuscany, in her fourteenth ye...

St. Buonfiglio Monaldo

He was one of seven Florentines who had joined the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin (the Laudesi) in a particularly lax period in the city's history and who were inspired by a vision on the feast of the Assumption to take up a of solitude and prayer. After nearly fifteen years of austerity at a hermitage on Monte Senario he took the name in 1240 of Servants of Mary, or Servites. Six were ordained, developed as und...

St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict, consecrated her to from her earliest youth. After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his famous monastery, she took up her abode in the neighborhood at Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict, who, it appears, also directed his sister and her nuns. She visited her brother once a year, and as she was not allowed to enter ...