St. Margaret Mary’s parents, Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn, were distinguished less for temporal possessions than for their virtue, which gave them an honorable position. From early childhood Margaret showed intense love for the Blessed Sacrament, and preferred silence and prayer to childish amusements. The death of her father and the injustice of a relative […]
When a child of seven years, Teresa ran away from her home at Avila in Spain, in the hope of being martyred by the Moors. Being brought back and asked the reason of her flight, she replied, “I want to see God, and I must die before I can see Him.” She then began with […]
EARLY in the third century, Callistus, then a deacon, was intrusted by Pope St. Zephyrinus with the rule of the clergy, and set by him over the cemeteries of the Christians at Rome; and, at the death of Zephyrinus, Callistus, according to the Roman usage, succeeded to the Apostolic See. A decree is ascribed to […]
Bishop of Paris and martyr during the 3rd century. Pope Fabian (236-250) sent Denis with other missionary bishops to Gaul to revive the faith there after the persecution of Decius. They settled on the island in the Seine where now stands the cathedral of Notre Dame. Many conversions followed thanks to his labors, and those […]
With the entire Mediterranean at the mercy of Ottoman fleets, Muslim slave-traders had been ravaging coastal towns in 16th century Europe, and carrying whole villages to the slave markets. Pope Pius V helped organize a coalition of Christian fleets, notably Spanish, Venetian and that of the Papal States. The Pope asked the Churches of Catholic […]
BRUNO was born at Cologne, about 1030, of an illustrious family. He was endowed with rare natural gifts, which he cultivated with care at Paris. He became canon of Cologne, and then of Rheims, where he had the direction of theological studies. On the death of the bishop the see fell for a time into […]
ST. FRANCIS, the son of a merchant of Assisi, was born in that city in 1182. Chosen by God to be a living manifestation to the world of Christ’s poor and suffering life on earth, he was early inspired with a high esteem and burning love of poverty and humiliation. The thought of the Man […]
GOD does not abandon to mere chance any of His handiworks; by His providence He is everywhere present; not a hair falls from the head or a sparrow to the ground without His knowledge. Not content, however, with yielding such familiar help in all things, not content with affording that existence which He communicates and […]
Marie-Francoise-Thérèse Martin, known as “the Little Flower of Jesus,” was born at Alencon, France, on January 2, 1873. Reared in a home of comfort and surrounded by refinements that would have spoiled an ordinary child, Thérèse’s intelligence had an early dawning which enabled her to comprehend the Divine Goodness far in advance of her tender […]
ST. JEROME, born in Dalmatia, in 329, was sent to school at Rome. His boyhood was not free from fault. His thirst for knowledge was excessive, and his love of books a passion. He had studied under the best masters, visited foreign cities, and devoted himself to the pursuit of science. But Christ had need […]
Today is the feast of St. Wenceslas (or Wenceslaus) whom we usually think about at Christmastime thanks to the much-loved carol “Good King Wenceslas.” Actually, St. Wenceslas, was not a king, but a duke — though one filled with the royal virtues of charity and humility and finally, crowned with martyrdom. Born around 903, he was the […]
STS. COSMAS and DAMIAN were brothers, and born in Arabia, but studied the sciences in Syria, and became eminent for their skill in medicine. Being Christians, and full of that holy temper of charity in which the spirit of our divine religion consists, they practised their profession with great application and wonderful success, but never […]
Born Francesco Forgione in 1887, he was given the name Pio when he joined the Capuchins, and was popularly known as Padre Pio after his ordination to the priesthood. He became famous for his stigmata. On 16 June 2002, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II. Born in Pietrelcina, a farming town in the […]
ONE day, as Our Lord was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw, sitting at the receipt of custom, Matthew the publican, whose business it was to collect the taxes from the people for their Roman masters. Jesus said to him, “Follow Me;” and leaving all, Matthew arose and followed Him. Now the […]
MANY centuries ago, St. Januarius died for the Faith in the persecution of Diocletian, and to this day God confirms the faith of His Church, and works a continual miracle, through the blood which Januarius shed for Him. The Saint was Bishop of Beneventum, Italy, and on one occasion he travelled to Misenum in order […]
St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) of whom Pope Clement VIII said: “The Church of God had not his equal in learning,” was born of a noble family at Montepulciano in Tuscany, Italy. He lived a very full life conspicuous for exemplary piety. Brilliant and unusually devout, as a young man he attended the Jesuit College in […]
CYPRIAN was an African of noble birth, but of evil life, a pagan, and a teacher of rhetoric. In middle life he was converted to Christianity, and shortly after his baptism was ordained priest, and made Bishop of Carthage, notwithstanding his resistance. When the persecution of Decius broke out, he fled from his episcopal city, […]
Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (Latin: Mater Dolorosa, at times just Dolorosa), and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life. […]
The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary is a feast day celebrated since 1684. In that year Pope Innocent XI added it to the Church calendar to commemorate the military victory of 1683, when the Turkish army was vanquished before the gates of Vienna, and Europe was delivered from the Muslim scourge. After […]
PETER CLAVER was a Spanish Jesuit. In Majorca he fell in with the holy lay-brother Alphonsus Rodriguez, who, having already learned by revelation the saintly career of Peter, became his spiritual guide, foretold to him the labors he would undergo in the Indies, and the throne he would gain in heaven. Ordained priest in New […]
GREGORY was a Roman of noble birth, and while still young was governor of Rome. On his father’s death he gave his great wealth to the poor, turned his house on the Cœlian Hill into a monastery, which now bears his name, and for some years lived as a perfect monk. The Pope drew him […]
St. John the Baptist was called by God to be the forerunner of His divine Son. In order to preserve his innocence spotless, and to improve the extraordinary graces which he had received, he was directed by the Holy Ghost to lead an austere and contemplative life in the wilderness, in the continual exercises of […]
ST. AUGUSTINE was born in 354, at Tagaste in Africa. He was brought up in the Christian faith, but without receiving baptism. An ambitious school-boy of brilliant talents and violent passions, he early lost both his faith and his innocence. He persisted in his irregular life until he was thirty-two. Meanwhile his mother, St. Monica, […]
