SAINT OF THE DAY

(1098-1179) Hildegard of Bingen was the 10th child of a well-to-do family of West Franconia (now Germany). She had visions connected with illness (perhaps migraines) from a young age, and in 1106 her parents sent her to a 400-year-old Benedictine monastery that had only recently added a section for women. They put her under the […]

(3rd century) St. Gatianus was sent to Gaul by Pope Fabian in the year 250 with six other bishops. Upon his arrival there he found a people steeped in paganism. Gatianus tried to show the people the absurdity of their pagan beliefs and the powerlessness of their idols. Instead he tried to show them the […]

(1310-1370) Guillaume De Grimoard, who would later be crowned Pope Urban V, was born to a noble family of Languedoc, France. He joined the Benedictines and taught law at Avignon. In 1352, he became the abbot of Saint-Germain Auxerre and in 1361 of Saint-Victor in Marseille. In 1362 he succeeded Innocent VI as pope and […]

(1000-1073) St. Dominic of Silos was born in Cañas, La Rioja, Spain, to very humble parents. Dominic worked as a shepherd before becoming a Benedictine monk. When he was ordained a priest, he soon became the master of novices and later prior. When he and two of his fellow monks opposed King Garcia Sánchez’s annexation […]

(1521-1597) Peter Kanijs was born in 1521 in the Dutch village of Nijmegen. At that time, it was in the German territory of duchy of Gelderland. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1543. He participated in the Council of Trent in 1547 and in 1562, expressly called by the bishop of Augsburg, Cardinal Otto […]

(c. 1230-1306) Jacomo or James, was born a noble member of the Benedetti family in the Italian city of Todi. He became a successful lawyer and married a pious, generous lady named Vanna. His young wife took it upon herself to do penance for the worldly excesses of her husband. One day Vanna, at the […]

(1133-1193) At the time of his birth, the Catholic Church had firmly established a foothold in Iceland. Two centuries prior, German and Norwegian missionaries had begun their evangelization there. In Thorlak’s day the church had fallen into some disarray, particularly due to local clergy disregarding the rule of clerical celibacy, selling church positions for personal […]

The year was 1223. St. Francis would only live three more years. It happened that he was preaching in the small central Italian town of Greccio and the good saint wanted to celebrate the birth of Christ in a meaningful way that would speak to the people. How would he make them understand that their […]

Today is Christmas, and we have to agree with the writers of Franciscan Media, who say, “On this day, the church focuses especially on the newborn Child, God become human, who embodies for us all the hope and peace we seek. We need no other special saint today to lead us to Christ in the […]

(1st century) Steven was the first Christian martyr. He was one of the first to follow the Apostles. It is believed that he was either Greek, or a Jew educated in Greek culture. What is certain is that he was so greatly appreciated by the community in Jerusalem that his name appears first among the […]