Rewards of Persistent Prayer
St. Monica (331-387) was the mother of St. Augustine (whose feast day is August 28). Monica, her pagan and licentious husband Patricius, his cantankerous mother, and her three children (including Augustine) all lived together in North Africa.
There was plenty of potential for family strife and discord, but Monica’s patience and charity made […]

The Spanish priest St. Joseph Calasanz (1556-1648) devoted his life to the education of deprived children. Joseph was ordained in 1583 after being trained in canon law and theology. He went to Rome, where it seemed he had a promising Church career, but he was shocked by the ignorance and poor morals of the common […]

King St. Louis IX (1214-1270) reigned over France for thirty-five years. The son of Louis VIII, the young king ascended to the throne in 1235 and soon showed himself to be a just and able administrator. Louis was impartial and merciful in dispensing justice (even forgiving nobles who rebelled against his reign). He insisted on […]

The first canonized saint of the western hemisphere was St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617). Isabel de Flores y del Oliva was the daughter of Spanish parents in Peru. Because her family was poor, young Rose helped support them by growing flowers and doing embroidery and other needlework.
At an early age Rose was attracted by the […]

St. Stephen of Hungary (975-1038) played an important role in Christianizing his country. Stephen was born a pagan, but as a youth, he and his father, Duke Geza, were baptized by the Bohemian bishop St. Adalbert of Prague. At the age of twenty Stephen married Gisela, the sister of the Emperor St. Henry II.
In 997 […]

Tarsicius is the patron of first communicants, altar boys, and a confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. Tarsicius is believed to have been a deacon in Rome.
Around the year 255, as he was carrying the Blessed Sacrament along the Appian Way to give Communion to imprisoned Christians, bystanders seized him. He was beaten to death with […]

The founder of the Dominican Order, St. Dominic (1170-1221), was born in Spain, where he was well educated in preparation for the priesthood. Dominic was ordained in 1206, and when his bishop, Diego, was appointed a papal emissary to the Albigensians, Dominic was chosen to accompany him. The Albigensians were a heretical group in southern […]

Many early Christians were martyred by the Roman Empire, including the third-century Pope St. Sixtus and several other members of the Church of Rome. Sixtus was elected Bishop of Rome (Pope) in 257; that same year the Emperor Valerian issued a decree forbidding Christians to hold assemblies (thereby making it impossible for them to celebrate […]

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ genealogy, but neither of them mention the Virgin Mary’s parents by name, nor is there any reference to them elsewhere in the New Testament. A second-century apocryphal (unofficial) writing, the Protoevangelium of James, professes to give an account of Mary’s birth, and it is the source of […]

James, the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John, is called St. James the Greater (so as to distinguish him from the other Apostle named James — a cousin of Jesus). Like their father, James and John were fishermen in Galilee. Soon after Jesus called Peter and Andrew (themselves fishermen and brothers) as […]

These three servants of God all died for the Faith near Durham, England, in 1594 and are known as the Durham Martyrs.
John Boste was born about 1544, educated at Queen’s College, Oxford, and became a fellow there. At the age of 22 he joined the Catholic Church with the intention of becoming a priest. In […]

St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) was a religious foundress noted for combining a life of mysticism with charitable activities in the secular world. Beginning at the age of seven, she had visions of the crucified Lord; at the age of fourteen, she was married to Ulf Godmarsson, a Swedish nobleman. They had eight children, including […]

Our knowledge of St. Mary Magdalene, one of Christ’s most devoted followers, is based entirely on the Gospels, which portray her as a disciple of Jesus and as one of the women who followed and ministered to Him in Galilee (Luke 8:1-2). She was from Magdala, a small town on the northern edge of the […]

St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619) was a Capuchin priest known for his great scholarship and powerful preaching. His parents died when he was a child, and his uncle arranged for him to study at the College of St. Mark in Venice. At the age of sixteen Lawrence joined the Capuchins (a branch of the Franciscan […]

These two nuns, martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, were beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 10, 1998. The following is excerpted from L’Osservatore Romano, published on the day of their beatification:
Rita Dolores Pujalte Sanchez was born in Aspe, Spain, on February 19, 1853. Her parents, Antonio Pujalte and Luisa Sanchez, gave her […]

The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the patronal feast of the Carmelite order. Following is an excerpt from the Carmelite Constitutions of 1995:
Mary, overshadowed by the Spirit of God, is the Virgin of the new heart, who gave a human face to the Word made flesh. She is the Virgin of wise […]

St. Bonaventure (1221-1274) was a great Franciscan bishop and theologian. He was born in the town of Bagnorea in central Italy, and as a youth was cured of a serious illness through the prayers of St. Francis of Assisi. This, and the fact that one of his teachers at the University of Paris was a […]

Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks,” the American Indian Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) was born near the banks of the Mohawk River in modern-day New York State (close to the spot where the French Jesuit missionaries Saints René Goupil, Isaac Jogues, and Jean de la Lande had been martyred a few years earlier). When Kateri […]

The son of the Duke of Bavaria (a region of southern Germany), St. Henry (973-1024) was educated by the Bishop of Ratisbon, St. Wolfgang, and in 995 he succeeded his father as duke. Otto III, the Holy Roman Emperor (ruler of Germany and northern Italy), was his cousin, and upon Otto’s death in 1002, Henry […]

Adrian Fortescue was born in 1476 to an old, respected Devonshire family at Punbourne, England and was a cousin of Anne Boleyn. A country gentleman, he was married twice and had two daughters by his first marriage and three sons by the second. He became a Dominican tertiary at Oxford, was a knight of the […]

Saints Peter and Paul were the two greatest Apostles, and the two most important leaders of the early Church. Peter and his brother Andrew were fishermen, and followed Jesus throughout His public ministry. Saul of Tarsus (who changed his name to Paul upon becoming a Christian) was originally a Pharisee who persecuted the early Church […]

St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) was a Portuguese priest famous for his gifted preaching. He originally planned to join the Augustinian Order, but when he saw the bodies of the first Franciscans to be martyred for their faith, he was filled with an intense desire to become a missionary — and, he hoped, a martyr […]

Though not one of the twelve Apostles, St. Barnabas, along with St. Paul, was considered an Apostle and an important leader in the early Church. The Acts of the Apostles introduces him by saying, “There was a certain Levite from Cyprus named Joseph, to whom the Apostles gave the name ‘Barnabas’ (meaning ’son of encouragement’). […]

John Dominici was born into poverty in Florence around the year 1356. His childhood was marked by piety and devotion, and he could almost always be found praying in the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. When he was 15 years old, he attempted to join the Order of Preachers — or Dominicans, as they […]

The missionary bishop and martyr St. Boniface (672?-754) has been called the “Apostle to the Germans.” He was born in England and given the name Wynfrith, which he later changed to Boniface. Until about the age of forty, he was a Benedictine monk, devoted primarily to scholarship; then, in 718, Boniface permanently left England and […]

Francis was born on October 13, 1563, in Italy. At one point in his life he contracted leprosy, but after being miraculously cured, he vowed himself to the service of God. He gave away all his worldly goods and left for Naples in 1585 to study theology.
After being ordained a priest in 1587, he entered […]

The nineteenth century martyrs of Uganda were the first black Catholic martyrs of Africa. St. Charles Lwanga first learned of Christ from two members of the court of an African chief named Mawulungungu. Charles became a catechumen (one actively preparing for baptism); soon after this, he entered the royal court of King Mwanga of Uganda, […]

Saints Marcellinus and Peter were Roman Christians who suffered martyrdom for their faith at the beginning of the fourth century. Marcellinus was a priest in Rome and Peter was an exorcist. (At one point in the Church’s history, exorcists comprised a minor order in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, ranking below deacons and sub-deacons.) During the intense […]

St. Justin (100?-165) was the first Christian philosopher. He was born of a pagan Greek family in Palestine (the Holy Land). As a young man, he studied one system of philosophy after another. He was principally attracted to Platonism (based on the teachings of Socrates and Plato some 500 years earlier), but through Platonism he […]

Catherine de Pazzi (1566-1607) was born of a noble family in the Italian city of Florence during its golden age; instead of taking her expected role in society as a matron and mother, she chose to devote herself to meditation and the service of God. Catherine learned to meditate at the age of 9, and […]

The sixth-century bishop St. Augustine of Canterbury (d. 605) is famous for his missionary work in England. (He is not to be confused with St. Augustine of Hippo, the great Church thinker of the fourth century.) Augustine was the prior or abbot of a monastery in Rome. In 596 the Pope, St. Gregory the Great, […]

The Italian priest St. Philip Neri (1515-1595) greatly contributed to the spiritual reformation of the Church in the sixteenth century. He was born in Florence to a wealthy family, and after receiving a good education, was apprenticed to a relative with a flourishing business which Philip was intended to inherit.
However, after having a mystical experience, […]

St. Bede (672?-735) was an English scholar and monk widely acknowledged as a saint even in his own lifetime. As a youth, he was sent to the monastery of St. Paul in Jarrow, and it was there that he remained for virtually the remainder of his life. Bede became a monk and a priest, and […]

Godric was born in the tenth century at Walpole, in Norfolk. As a young boy he peddled wares throughout the neighboring villages. Later, as he made more money at his trade, he was able to frequent fairs in other cities to sell his merchandise. Since he was very diligent and careful with his money, he […]

The Italian priest St. Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) was known for his preaching and his popularity with ordinary people. As a young man, he cared for an elderly woman on her deathbed; she constantly pronounced the name "Jesus" with great devotion. Bernardine was profoundly affected, and decided to make the name of Jesus the theme […]

St. John I was a sixth-century pope and martyr. John was born in the Italian province of Tuscany, and was elected Bishop of Rome (that is, pope) in 523. The Mediterranean world was, by this time, divided into the Eastern and Western Empires, each having a separate emperor.
Christianity was also divided (though not in […]

St. Isidore the Farmer (1070-1130) is considered the patron saint of farmers and rural communities. (He is not to be confused with another Spanish saint, St. Isidore of Seville [April 4]). Isidore was born in Madrid; as a young boy, he went to work on the estate of John de Vergas, a wealthy landowner from […]

All our knowledge of St. Matthias comes from the Acts of the Apostles, which describes his election as an Apostle (1:15-26). Because of Judas' betrayal of Jesus and subsequent suicide, our Lord's original and closest followers — the Apostles — numbered eleven, rather than twelve (though by this time there were many other followers of […]

John was born on January 8, 454, in Nicopolis, Armenia. His parents, Euphemia and Encratius, were good Catholics who came from a long line of government dignitaries. They brought John up in the faith and made sure he received a good Christian education.
After the death of his parents, John received a large inheritance, which he […]

St. Apollonius is also known as Apollonius of Ephesus. He was a Roman senator who lived in the second century. He is thought to come from Ephesus because he was so well acquainted with the Christian history of that area. One early author stated that Apollonius was the bishop of Ephesus; however, since there are no other written accounts of this, it is doubtful that this is true. He certainly was known as a great defender of the faith, which earned him the name Apollonius the Apologist.

In the second century there was an apocalyptic and charismatic movement within the Church which was a threat to Tradition, the Holy Scriptures, and the office of the bishop. A man named Montanus claimed to be directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. He had many followers, including two prophetesses, Maximilla and Priscilla. They were prophesying the end of the world and the need to restore rigorous ascetic practices to Christianity. Although most of their writings have been lost or destroyed, written records of Eusebius and Epiphanius indicate that the Montanist doctrines were not readily susceptible to attack on matters of dogma. Therefore, the Church stressed traditional sources of authority and raised character issues in order to combat the Montanists. This is where the writings of Apollonius were so effective. Although many of his writings have been lost, according to others he showed the errors in the Montanist prophecies, and reported the unedifying lives of Montanus and his prophetesses. He also shed light on some of those in the sect, such as the apostate Themison and Alexander. Alexander was a notorious thief who was publicly condemned at Ephesus and had himself adored as a god.

Information about Benedict comes from his confessor, Marconi, who later wrote an account of his life. Benedict was born in France on March 26, 1748, the eldest of fifteen children. His mother's name was Anne-Barba Grandsire, and his father was Jean-Baptiste Labre. He attended school in his village and was taught by the vicar of […]

There are several saints and popes with the name Marcellinus or similar-sounding names, which sometimes leads to confusion over them. Each deserves honor and veneration; however, today is the feast day of Saint Flavius Marcellinus who was born sometime in the fourth century. He was the tribunal secretary in the court of Emperor Honorius and […]

Albinus, also known as Aubin, was born to a noble family in Brittany. From his youth Albinus was fervent in his piety. He decided to be a monk, and so in his twenties entered the monastic life at a place then called Cincillac. (Later the name was changed to St. Aubin's in his honor.) At […]

Gregory was born in 669 in Rome. When he was just a young man, he was so pious that he caught the attention of Pope St. Sergius I. Pope Sergius ordained Gregory a subdeacon and Gregory ended up serving under the next four popes in different roles. Under one pope he served as treasurer of […]

Leander was born to Roman parents somewhere around the year 534 in Carthage. When Leander was a young man, his family moved to Seville. Leander became a Benedictine monk and in 579 was made Bishop of Seville. He also established a school, which became known as a center of learning and orthodoxy. Leander became a […]

Porphyrius was born around 347 in Thessalonica. He spent five years in the Scete desert in Egypt and then went to live in a cave near the Jordan. Despite poor health, he would go often to meditate at the site of Christ's Resurrection. Once while visiting the site, he met Mark, who later became a […]

Today is the feast day of St. Tarasius, who lived in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth century. At first he was secretary to the Emperor Constantine and Constantine's mother, Irene.
Later when Paul IV, Patriarch of Constantinople, died, an assembly was held to discuss his replacement. The people, who had come to know Tarasius from […]

Ethelbert was born into Britain's royalty in the year 552. He was the son of Eormenric, King of Kent. Ethelbert succeeded his father and later married Bertha, daughter of Charibert, King of the Franks. When they married, Ethelbert was an idol worshipper, and Bertha was a Christian. Out of respect for his wife, Ethelbert gave […]

Eucherius was born in the fourth century. Upon the death of his wife he entered the monastery of Lerins, joining his two sons, Veranius and Salonius, who were already living there. Later, Eucherius moved to the island of Lerona (now called Sainte-Marguerite) where he spent his time studying.
Desiring to become a hermit, Eucherius wrote to […]

Conrad was a member of one of the most noble families of Piacenza. He married while still very young. He was known to be a most pious and honest person.
One day while out with friends on a hunting expedition, he thought he saw some game in an area of brush. He ordered his attendants to […]