Author: Editor

(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 […]

(c. 349-407) Growing up, and into adulthood, we often hear chastisement of complainers who lament the lack of some material item. We remind them of all the blessings they have been granted. “More is not better!” we might say to these people. Today’s saint would wholeheartedly agree with that exhortation. Brought to Constantinople after a […]

(950–1012) Born to poor parents, Guy lived a simple agricultural life until age 14. He became assistant sacristan at the Sanctuary of Our Lady at Laken, where his duties included sweeping the church, dressing the altars, taking care of the vestments and altar linens, ringing the bell for Mass and vespers, and providing flowers and […]

(1620–1684) Miguel Baptista Gran Peris was the only child in a farm family. He married at age 18, but became a widower just 16 months later. He then followed a call to religious life, and Franciscan friar at the convent of Sant Miquel d’Escornalbou, making his religious profession on July 14, 1641, and taking the […]