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(975-1040) St. Cunegundes was the daughter of Sigfrid, first Count of Luxemburg. She married Henry, duke of Bavaria (later to be St. Henry), who upon the death of the Emperor Otho III became King of the Romans. In 1014, the couple traveled to Rome where they were crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Empress by Pope […]

(1205-1282) Imagine a woman refusing the proposal of the holy Roman emperor to become rather a bride of God. This is the story of today’s saint. Agnes was the daughter of Queen Constance and King Ottokar I of Bohemia. She was betrothed very young to the Duke of Silesia, who died three years later. She […]

(Died 589) Though we have little information about his life, David probably is one of the most famous British saints. We do know that he became a priest, was a missionary, and founded many monasteries. His principal abbey is in southwestern Wales. The lives of the Welch monks were filled with extreme austerity. They worked […]

(Died 992) In in 10th-century England there were large groups of people who settled in England from Scandinavian countries. They brought with them their Gods but slowly adopted Christianity. Oswald was of Danish ethnicity but born in England. He was brought up by his uncle Odo, the archbishop of Canterbury and educated by Fridegode, a […]

(1838-1862) Francesco Possenti proved that even a young man can be a role model for others. He was born in Assisi, the 11th child of Sante Possenti and Agnes Frisciotti. His mother was unable to care for him and he was placed for a year in the care of a nursemaid. In 1841, the family […]

(1888-1922) Maria Bertilla Boscardin was born in Italy in 1888. Growing up she lived in fear of her father, a violent man prone to jealousy and drunkenness. Her schooling was limited so that she could spend more time helping at home and working in the fields. She showed few talents and often was the butt […]

(552-616) Ethelbert succeeded his father, in 560, as King of Kent (an area east of London on the English Channel) and made an unsuccessful attempt to win from Ceawlin of Wessex the overlordship of Britain. He married Bertha, daughter of Charibert, King of the Franks, thus increasing his political cachet. He gave his Christian wife […]

(1049-1129) John was born to a Calabrian couple of Stilo. Before he was born, his father was killed, and his mother was taken as a slave by Saracens to Palermo. It was there that John was born. John grew up as a Christian in a Muslim world. At age 14 he escaped and fled to […]

(69-155 AD) Polycarp was born between 69 and 70 AD of Christian parents. He had the grace of receiving the teachings of Christ directly from the Apostles and became a disciple of St John the Evangelist. It was at the command of the Apostles that Polycarp would become the bishop of the Church of Smyrna. […]

(1247-1297) Margaret of Cortona was born in Loviana in Tuscany in 1247. Her father was a small farmer. Margaret’s mother died when she was 7 years old. When her father remarried, her stepmother disliked her high-spirited stepdaughter. Rejected at home, Margaret eloped with a youth from Montepulciano and bore him a son out of wedlock. […]