SAINTS

(3rd century) Today’s saint proves that age is not a qualification for sainthood. He was martyred at age 12. He was alive during a period of open persecutions of the Christians. At that time each day, from a secret meeting place in the catacombs where Christians gathered for Mass, a deacon would be sent to […]

(1894–1941) “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This famous quote from John 15:12-13 was followed to the letter by today’s remarkable saint, Maximilian Mary Kolbe. He was born in Zduńska-Wola, Poland, during […]

(Died 587 AD) St. Radegunda — also spelled Radegund or Radegundis, or in French, Sainte Radegonde — was a Thuringian princess. Radegunda was captured about 531 by Chlotar I during an expedition against the Thuringians. She was educated at his court, and, although she is said to have hoped from an early age to be […]

(1572 –1641) At 20 years old, Jane married Christophe, a baron whom she soon found out was under a mountain of debt. Armed with her faith and humor (a friend once said, “Even stupid jokes were funny when she told them”), she took charge by personally organizing and supervising every detail of the estate, a […]

On Palm Sunday 1211, 18 year-old Clare decided to rebel against her wealthy — and much beloved — family, in pursuit of the desire for true freedom that God put in her: She wanted to be poor. Seven years prior, she had witnessed a wealthy young man strip naked, return his rich and elegant clothing […]

(Died 258AD) Little is known about the early life of St. Lawrence. He was a Christian during a very dangerous era, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Valerian, who ruled from 253 to 260. Lawrence became a Roman archdeacon under Pope St. Sixtus II. His position of arch deacon held the responsibility as the […]

(189 –1942) Today’s saint was born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau, Germany — now Wroclaw, Poland — just as her family was celebrating Yom Kippur, the most important Jewish festival, the Day of Atonement. Her birth name was Edith Stein. Upon the death of her father when she was 2 years old, her […]

(Aug. 8, 1170–Aug. 6, 1221) Those people of a certain age will remember a song performed by a singing Belgian Dominican nun that, against all probability, topped the charts in America in the 1960s — “Domi-nique:” Domi-nique -nique -nique s’en allait tout simplement, Routier, pauvre et chantant. En tous chemins, en tous lieux, Il ne […]

(1480–547) Cajetan began his professional life as a lawyer. After his ordination at age 36, he was engaged in the work of the Roman Curia. While in Rome he joined the Oratory of Divine Love, a group devoted to piety and charity. When he was 42, he founded a hospital for incurables in Venice. Cajetan […]

(c. 450–523) Hormisdas was one of a few popes to have had children. He married as a young man and was widowed by the time he pursued his religious career. His son Sliverus grew to follow his father in the family business, becoming pope in (536). Hormisdas was born in the town of Frosinone, south […]