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(400-461 AD) Leo’s pontificate took place in the middle of the fifth century (440-461) and was marked by a number of firsts: he was the first pope named Leo, and the first pope to be remembered as “the Great” (later, Gregory I and Nicholas I would also be accorded the honor). Leo is also the […]

(Died 304 AD) St. Theodore was born a heathen and as a young man went into the army. By associating with Christian soldiers, he became familiar with that faith and eventually embraced it. Following the example of many others at that time, he did not profess openly his beliefs. When his heathen comrades used to […]

(1266-1308) Today’s saint was born in Duns, county of Berwick, Scotland. The “Scotus” in his name is a derivation of “Scotia,” the Latin name for his native land. John received the habit of the Friars Minor at Dumfries, where his uncle Elias Duns was superior. After novitiate, John studied at Oxford and Paris and was […]

(658-739)      Willibrord was the son of the hermit St. Wilgis, who sent him to the Benedictine monastery of Ripon, England, under Abbot St. Wilfrid of York. After Wilfrid was deposed and exiled in 677/678, Willibrord also went into exile, spending 12 years in Ireland, where he became a disciple of St. Egbert. He was ordained […]

(1340-1391) Nicholas Tavelic (Croatian: Nikola Tavelić) was a Franciscan missionary who died a martyr’s death in Jerusalem on Nov. 14, 1391. A Croatian friar, he was beatified as part of Nicholas Tavelic, O.F.M. and companions, which included friars from Italy and France. All four members of his group have been declared saints by the Catholic […]

(First century) St. Zachary and St. Elizabeth were the father and the mother of St. John the Baptist, the last and the greatest of the prophets and the harbinger of Jesus. St. Zachary’s story is told in the first chapter of St. Luke. He spoke one of the three canticles of the New Testament, which […]

(1538-1584) Charles was born in Arona in 1538, the second son of Gilbert and Margaret. At the age of 12 he was given the title of “commendatory” of a nearby Benedictine Abbey. The honorific title came with a notable income, but the future saint insisted on dedicating the revenue to charity, especially the care of […]

(1579-1639) Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, of Spanish and black parentage. Inheriting his mother’s dark color, at times he was looked down upon by his aristocratic father, and, in early childhood, he was badly neglected. An intelligent boy, he was befriended by a doctor who taught him the art of healing. Martin […]

The origins of today’s feast are rooted in Christian beliefs and ancient pagan rituals. The church has always encouraged prayer for the dead from the earliest times as an act of Christian charity. “If we had no care for the dead,” Augustine noted, “we would not be in the habit of praying for them.” Even […]