At 7:08 pm Rome time, white smoke began billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel indicating that the 115 cardinal electors of the Catholic Church have chosen a new Pope. The new Pope succeeds Benedict XVI, who resigned the papacy February 28. This election comes on the fifth ballot since the cardinals were first […]
ST. POLYCARP, Bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of St. John. He wrote to the Philippians, exhorting them to mutual love and to hatred of heresy. When the apostate Marcion met St. Polycarp at Rome, he asked the aged Saint if he knew him. “Yes,” St. Polycarp answered, “I know you for the first-born of […]
ST. PETER DAMIAN was born in 988, and lost both parents at an early age. His eldest brother, in whose hands he was left, treated him so cruelly that a younger brother, a priest, moved by his piteous state, sent him to the University of Parma, where he acquired great distinction. His studies were sanctified […]
St. Joseph Calasanctius was born in Arragon, in 1556. When only five years old, he led a troop of children through the streets to find the devil and kill him. He became a priest, and was engaged in various reforms, when he heard a voice saying, “Go to Rome,” and had a vision of many […]
ST. ROMANUS was a soldier in Rome at the time of the martyrdom of St. Laurence. Seeing the joy and constancy with which that holy martyr suffered his torments, he was moved to embrace the Faith, and addressing himself to St. Laurence, was instructed and baptized by him in prison. Confessing aloud what he had […]
THE early years of Camillus gave no sign of sanctity. At the age of nineteen he took service with his father, an Italian noble, against the Turks, and after four years’ hard campaigning found himself, through his violent temper, reckless habits, and inveterate passion for gambling, a discharged soldier, and in such straitened circumstances that […]
SIMON was born in the county of Kent, England, and left his home when he was but twelve years of age, to live as a hermit in the hollow trunk of a tree, whence he was known as Simon of the Stock. Here he passed twenty years in penance and prayer, and learned from Our […]
ST. JOHN, the youngest of the apostles in age, was called to follow Christ on the banks of the Jordan during the first days of Our Lord’s ministry. He was one of the privileged few present at the Transfiguration and the Agony in the garden. At the Last Supper his head rested on the bosom […]
THERE is good reason to believe that St. Stephen was one of the seventy-two disciples of our blessed Lord. After the Ascension he was chosen one of the seven deacons. The ministry of the seven was very fruitful; but Stephen especially, “full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people.” Many […]
ISCHYRION was an inferior officer who attended on a magistrate of a certain city in Egypt. His master commanded him to offer sacrifice to the idols; and because he refused to commit that sacrilege, reproached him with the most abusive and threatening speeches. By giving way to passion and superstition, the officer at length worked […]
ST. EDMUND left his home at Abingdon, a boy of twelve years old, to study at Oxford, and there protected himself against many grievous temptations by a vow of chastity, and by espousing himself to Mary for life. He was soon called to active public life, and as treasurer of the diocese of Salisbury showed […]
ST. NAZARIUS’s father was a heathen, and held a considerable post in the Roman army. His mother, Perpetua, was a zealous Christian, and was instructed by St. Peter, or his disciples, in the most perfect maxims of our holy faith. Nazarius embraced it with so much ardor that he copied in his life all the […]
THE illustrious martyrdom of these Saints happened at Rome, under the Emperor Antoninus. The seven brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble, pious, Christian widow in Rome, who, after the death of her husband, served God in a state of continency and employed herself wholly in prayer, fasting, and works of charity. By […]
ELIZABETH [or Isabel] was born in 1271. She was daughter of Pedro III. of Arragon, being named after her aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At twelve years of age she was given in marriage to Denis, King of Portugal, and from a holy child became a saintly wife. She heard Mass and recited the Divine […]
THIS learned father and apostolic man flourished in the second century. He was by birth a Sicilian, by profession a Stoic philosopher. His esteem for virtue led him into an acquaintance with the Christians, and being charmed with the innocence and sanctity of their conversation, he opened his eyes to the truth. He studied the […]
ST. GOAR was born of an illustrious family, at Aquitaine. From his youth he was noted for his earnest piety, and, having been raised to sacred orders, he converted many sinners by the fervor of his preaching and the force of his example. Wishing to serve God entirely unknown to the world, he went over […]
PETER OF LUXEMBURG, descended both by his father and mother from the noblest families in Europe, was born in Lorraine, in the year 1369. When but a schoolboy, twelve years of age, he went to London as a hostage for his brother, the Count of St. Pol, who had been taken prisoner. The English were […]
BERTHA was the daughter of Count Rigobert and Umana, related to one of the kings of Kent in England. In the twentieth year of her age she was married to Sigefroi, by whom she had five daughters, two of whom, Gertrude and Deotila, are Saints. After her husband’s death she put on the veil in […]
THIS Saint was born at Dalmatia, St. Jerome’s native country, and soon sought out that great Doctor, in order not only to follow his advice in matters relating to Christian perfection, but also to profit by his deep learning. The life of a recluse possessed peculiar attractions for him, but to enter a monastery it […]
MARCUS AND MARCELLIANUS were twin brothers of an illustrious family in Rome, who had been converted to the Faith in their youth and were honorably married. Diocletian ascending the imperial throne in 284, the heathens raised persecutions. These martyrs were thrown into prison, and condemned to be beheaded. Their friends obtained a respite of the […]
GENERAL: That Priests who experience difficulties may find comfort in their suffering, support in their doubts, and confirmation in their fidelity. MISSIONARY: That as fruit of the continental mission, Latin American Churches may send missionaries to other Churches.
AMONG the disciples of the apostles in the primitive age of saints this holy virgin shone as a bright star in the Church. She lived when Christians were more solicitous to live well than to write much: they knew how to die for Christ, but did not compile long books in which vanity has often […]
ST. FELIX was a Roman by birth, and succeeded St. Dionysius in the government of the Church in 269. Paul of Samosata, the proud Bishop of Antioch, to the guilt of many enormous crimes added that of heresy, teaching that Christ was no more than a mere man, in whom the Divine Word dwelt by […]
ST. YVO HELORI, descended from a noble and virtuous family near Treguier, in Brittany, was born in 1253. At fourteen years of age he went to Paris, and afterwards to Orleans, to pursue his studies. His mother was won frequently to say to him that he ought so to live as became a Saint, to […]
