Thomas More was born in London, 1478. Upon the completion of humanistic studies at Oxford, he studied law in London and became a renowned attorney. He was for a time very seriously perturbed about his vocation in life, having felt and attraction toward both the Carthusians and Franciscans. He had no assurance of a calling […]
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 […]
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 […]
1713-1784. Founder of many California missions. Buried in the mission of St. Charles Borromeo at Carmel. http://www.carmelmission.org/museum/
LADISLAS the First, son of Bela, King of Hungary, was born in 1041. By the pertinacious importunity of the people he was compelled in 1080, much against his own inclination, to ascend the throne. He restored the good laws and discipline which St. Stephen had established, and which seem to have been obliterated by the […]
ST. PROSPER was born at Aquitaine, in the year 403. His works show that in his youth he had happily applied himself to all the branches both of polite and sacred learning. On account of the purity and sanctity of his manners, he is called by those of his age a holy and venerable man. […]
IN 976, Sergius, a nobleman of Ravenna, quarrelled with a relative about an estate, and slew him in a duel. His son Romuald, horrified at his father’s crime, entered the Benedictine monastery at Classe, to do a forty days’ penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation to religion. After three years at […]
ST. JOHN FRANCIS REGIS was born in the south of France at Languedoc, in 1597. From his tenderest years he showed evidences of uncommon sanctity by his innocence of life, modesty, and love of prayer. At the age of eighteen he entered the Society of Jesus. As soon as his studies were over, he gave […]
ST. EPHREM is the light and glory of the Syriac Church in the 4th century. A mere youth, he entered on the religious life at Nisibis, his native place. Long years of retirement taught him the science of the Saints, and then God called him to Edessa, there to teach what he had learned so […]
Till the thirteenth century the Church had not thought of establishing a special festival in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, being satisfied with celebrating on Holy Thursday the institution of this divine mystery. At that period, however, as heretics dared to attack the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and numerous miracles and […]
Little is know about these Saints, except that they died c. 304, during the persecution of the Roman Emperor, Diocletian. Marcellinus was a priest and Peter an exorcist. Pope Damasus I, the oldest source, claimed that he heard the story of these two martyrs from their executioner who became a Christian after their deaths.
AFTER the miraculous victory obtained by the prayer of the Christians under Marcus Aurelius, in 174, the Church enjoyed a kind of peace, though it was often disturbed in particular places by popular commotions, or by the superstitious fury of certain governors. This appears from the violent persecution which was raised three years after the […]
At Domremy, on the Upper Meuse River in France, was born on January 6, 1412, of pious parentage, the illustrious heroine of all time, St. Joan of Arc. Taught by her mother from earliest years to pray each night “O God, save France,” she could not help but conceive that ardent love for her country […]
AUGUSTINE was prior of the monastery of St. Andrew on the Cœlian, and was appointed missionary to England by Pope Gregory I, also a great saint. St. Augustine and his companions, having heard on their journey many reports of the barbarism and ferocity of the pagan English, were afraid, and wished to turn back. But […]
GREGORY VII, by name Hildebrand, was born in Tuscany, about the year 1013. He was educated in Rome. From thence he went to France, and became a monk at Cluny. Afterwards he returned to Rome, and for many years filled high trusts of the Holy See. Three great evils then afflicted the Church: simony, concubinage, […]
Between 1915 and 1937, St. Christopher Magallanes, and 21 other Mexican priests – as well as three lay companions — were martyred by the anticlerical Mexican government. They supported either covertly or spiritually or even sometimes directly the Cristero Revolt, an attempt in the late 1920’s by Christians to win back religious freedom in a […]
IN 1408 St. Vincent Ferrer once suddenly interrupted his sermon to declare that there was among his hearers a young Franciscan who would be one day a greater preacher than himself, and would be set before him in honor by the Church. This unknown friar was Bernardino. Of noble birth, he had spent his youth […]
As a child, Peter had visions of our blessed Lady, and of the angels and saints. They encouraged him in his prayer, and chided him when he fell into any fault. His mother, though only a poor widow, put him to school, feeling sure that he would one day be a Saint. In 1235, at […]
St. John held the office of Vicar of Christ from 523-526 when he was martyred at the behest of Theodoric. His official journey to Constantinople was successful in making peace at a time when Arianism had again reared its heretical head, and had created dissension between the Latin and Greek churches. The Byzantine Emperor, Justin, […]
