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(Died 223) Callistus was a slave in the imperial Roman household. Put in charge of the bank by his master, he lost the money deposited, fled and was caught. After serving time for a while, he was released to make some attempt to recover the money. Apparently, he carried his zeal too far, being arrested […]

(Died circa 185 AD)           Theophilus was born a heathen, not far from the Tigris and Euphrates, and was led to embrace Christianity by studying the Holy Scriptures. He makes no reference to his office in his existing writings, nor is any other fact in his life recorded. Eusebius, however, speaks of […]

On Oct. 12, 1717, three Brazilian fishermen set out on the waters of the Paraiba River, which ran through their village. They were charged with providing the fish for the banquet that would be take place a few days later in the village of Guarantinguetá on the occasion of the visit of the Count of […]

(1881-1963) Pope John XXIII was born in the small village of Sotto il Monte in Italy. He was the fourth of 14 children born to poor parents who made their living by sharecropping. His given name was Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli. He graduated from university with a doctorate in theology and was ordained a priest in […]

(Died 644) Paulinus was a Roman monk from St. Andrew’s monastery in Rome. St. Bede describes him as tall and thin, with a slightly stooping figure; he had black hair and an aquiline nose and was of venerable and awe-inspiring stature. He was sent by St. Gregory the Great in 601, with St. Mellitus and […]

(3rd century) St. Gregory of Tours tells us that this Denis was an Italian by birth and became a missionary bishop. With five companions he established a Christian center on an island in the Seine in the city of Paris. One of his companions was a priest called Rusticus, another a deacon called Eleutherius. They are said to […]

(4th century) Pelagia was a 15-year-old Christian virgin. Soldiers came in search of her, during the Diocletian persecution, in order to force her to offer publicly a heathen sacrifice. She was alone in the house. She came out to the soldiers and when she learned the order they had to execute, she requested permission to […]

(Died 303) St. Justina was born in Padua a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. Padua was a Roman province under the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (r.284-305) who had mounted some of the fiercest persecutions of the early Church especially in the East of the Empire. The inhabitants of Padua were ordered to take […]

(c. 1030-1101) Bruno was born in Cologne, Germany, and became a famous teacher at Rheims. He was appointed chancellor of the archdiocese at the age of 45. He supported Pope Gregory VII in his fight against the decadence of the clergy and took part in the removal of his own scandalous archbishop, Manasses. A vendetta […]

(1905-1938) Faustina was born Aug. 25, 1905, in Poland, in the small village of Glogowiec. Her parents, Marianna and Stanislao Kowalski, were humble peasants. Baptized by the name of Helena, at the age of 7 she already felt the call to religious life, but without the consent of the parents, could not pursue it. The […]