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(1887-1968) Francesco Forgione was born May 25, 1887, into a poor Italian farm family in Pietrelcina. He was baptized in the Church of St. Ann in Pietrelcina, where he later became an altar server. By the time he was 5 years old, he had made the decision to dedicate his life to God. As a […]

(Died 287) St. Maurice was a member of the Theban Legion, a Roman legion said to have been constituted by Christian soldiers from Africa, which was called to put down a revolt in Aaunum, located in modern day Switzerland, in the year 287. Two legends exist about the martyrdom of St. Maurice and his companions. […]

(First century) When Christ first encountered Matthew, he was a publican, sitting at the custom desk at Capernaum. As a tax collector for Rome, Matthew was one of the most despised people of his community. When Jesus entered the room, he simply told Matthew, “Follow me.” The tax collector got up and changed the course […]

(1821-1846; companions died 1839-1867) Christianity came to Korea during the Japanese invasion in 1592 when some Koreans were baptized, probably by Christian Japanese soldiers. Evangelization was difficult because Korea refused all contact with the outside world except for taking taxes to Beijing annually. On one of these occasions, about 1777, Christian literature obtained from Jesuits […]

(Died 305) Januarius (or Gennaro in Italian) was an early Christian bishop who was martyred near Naples during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. According to legend, as bishop of Benevento, he was visiting some imprisoned Christians in Pozzuli, a town very near Naples, when he was arrested. The bishop and his Christian companions […]

(1603-1767)           Today’s saint proves that a saint doesn’t have to be blessed with incredible intelligence in order to be in the state of grace. St. Joseph was born in 1603 at Cupertino, in the diocese of Nardo in the Kingdom of Naples. His mother often considered him a nuisance and treated him harshly. Joseph was […]

(1542-1621) A promising scholar from his youth in Tuscany, Robert Bellarmine was ordained in 1570. He devoted his energy to the study of church history, as well as to scripture, in order to systematize church doctrine against the attacks of the Protestant Reformers. He was the first Jesuit to become a professor at Louvain. His […]

(4th century)                A detailed account of the martyrdom of today’s saint reveals her many sufferings. Euphemia was the daughter of Christians, the senator Philophronos and Theodosia and suffered for Christ in the year 304 A.D. in the city of Chalcedon, on the banks of the Bosphorus opposite Constantinople. The Chalcedon governor Priscus circulated an order […]

(1447-1510)                 St. Catherine Fieschi was the daughter of a Viceroy of Naples, and born in Genoa. Her family had given to the church two popes, nine cardinals and two archbishops. Though noble in birth, rich and exceedingly beautiful, Catherine rejected the excesses of the world, and begged her divine Master for some share in His […]

(Died 1214) St. Albert was born toward the middle of the 12th century in Castel Gualtieri in Emilia, Italy. He entered the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross at Mortara, Pavia, and became prior there in 1180. In 1184, he was named bishop of Bobbio, and the following year he was transferred to Vercelli which […]