ST. ANDREW was one of the fishermen of Bethsaida, and brother, perhaps elder brother, of St. Peter, and became a disciple of St. John Baptist. He seemed always eager to bring others into notice; when called himself by Christ on the banks of the Jordan, his first thought was to go in search of his […]
CATHERINE was a noble virgin of Alexandria, Egypt. Before her Baptism, it is said, she saw in vision the Blessed Virgin ask her Son to receive her among His servants, but the Divine Infant turned away. After Baptism, Catherine saw the same vision, when Jesus Christ received her with great affection, and espoused her before […]
These 117 saints died under persecutions of Christians that in fact lasted from 1625 to 1886 and costed about 130.000 lives. The group consists of martyrs in the three Vietnamese kingdoms of Tonkin, Annam and Cochin China. Among the 117 were 96 Vietnamese and 21 foreign missionaries. Of the Vietnamese group were 37 priests and […]
Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ (January 13, 1891 – November 23, 1927) was a Mexican priest executed on trumped-up charges of bombing and attempted assassination of former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón. Pro’s arrest, lack of trial, and summary execution by firing squad gained prominence during the Cristero War (1926-29) for which he served as an inspirational […]
St. Rose Dushesne was born in Grenoble, France in 1769 and died in St. Charles, Missouri, 1852. Scion of a prominent family, she joined the convent of the Visitation, without her family’s knowledge. During the French Revolution her convent was suppressed, but in 1804 her community was incorporated into the Society of the Sacred Heart […]
ST. MARGARET’S name signifies “pearl;” “a fitting name,” says Theodoric, her confessor and her first biographer, “for one such as she.” Her soul was like a precious pearl. A life spent amidst the luxury of a royal court never dimmed its lustre, or stole it away from Him who had bought it with His blood. […]
St. Josaphat Kuncevyc. Martyr, born in the little town of Volodymyr in Lithuania (Volyn) in 1580 or — according to some writers — 1584; died at Vitebsk, Russia, 12 November, 1623. At the age of twenty-four (1604) he entered the Basilian monastery of the Trinity at Vilna. The fame of his virtues rapidly spread, and […]
WHEN a mere boy, Martin became a Christian catechumen against his parents’ wish; and at fifteen was therefore seized by his father, a pagan soldier, and enrolled in the army. One winter’s day, when stationed at Amiens, he met a beggar almost naked and frozen with cold. Having no money, he cut his cloak in […]
LEO was born at Rome. He embraced the sacred ministry, was made archdeacon of the Roman Church by St. Celestine, and under him and Sixtus III had a large share in governing the Church. On the death of Sixtus, Leo was chosen Pope, and consecrated on St. Michael’s day, 440, amid great joy. It was […]
ABOUT fifty years after the Protestant Reformation had broken out, Our Lord raised up a mere youth to renew the face of His Church. In 1560 Charles Borromeo, then twenty-two years of age, was created cardinal, and by the side of his uncle, Pius IV, administered the affairs of the Holy See. His first care […]
The Church pays, day by day, a special veneration to some one of the holy men and women who have helped to establish it by their blood, develop it by their labors, or edify it by their virtues. But, in addition to those whom the Church honors by special designation, or has inscribed in her […]
St. Simon was a simple Galilean, called by Our Lord to be one of the twelve pillars of His Church. Zelotes, “the zealot,” was the surname which he bore among the disciples. Armed with this zeal he went forth to the combat against unbelief and sin, and made conquest of many souls for His divine […]
Anthony Mary Claret was a Catalan Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop and missionary, and was confessor of Isabella II of Spain. Born in Sallent, Bages comarca, near Barcelona, on December 23, 1807, the son of a small woolen manufacturer. He received an elementary education in his native village, and at the age of twelve became a […]
St. John was born at Capistrano, Italy, in 1385. His father had come to Naples under Louis of Anjou, hence he is supposed to have been of French blood, though some say he was of German origin. His father dying early, John owed his education to his mother. She had him at first instructed at […]
St. John Paul II. Born Karol Józef Wojtya in Wadowice Poland, 18 May 1920. Ordained a priest in 1946; a bishop in 1958, and elevated to the papacy in 1978. Died in the Vatican, 2 April 2005 at the age of 84. As Pope, he made such a mark that he is often referred to […]
THE eighty-one years of this Saint’s life (1694-1775) were modeled on the Passion of Jesus Christ. In his childhood, when praying in church, a heavy bench fell on his foot, but the boy took no notice of the bleeding wound, and spoke of it as “a rose sent from God.” A few years later, the […]
The following holy Jesuit mssionaries are the first martyrs in North America: Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf, Noel Chabanel, Anthony Daniel, Charles Garnier, Gabriel Lalamant, priests; and Rene Goupil and John Lalande. They were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and canonized by the same Pontiff five years later. Saint Isaac Jogues was born […]
ST. IGNATIUS, Bishop of Antioch, was the disciple of St. John. When Domitian persecuted the Church, St. Ignatius obtained peace for his own flock by fasting and prayer. But for his part he desired to suffer with Christ, and to prove himself a perfect disciple. In the year 107, Trajan came to Antioch, and forced […]
