Saints (81)
Saint Mary Magdalene
Saint Mary Magdalene (1st century AD)
Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles, is the first of the women who followed Jesus to proclaim Him as having risen from the dead. The feast day of this saint, who stood beneath the Cross on Calvary, is celebrated on July 22nd.
Personal Life
"Apostle of the Apostles" is the title given Mary Magdalene by St Thomas Aquinas. Her name comes from her home town of Magdala, a fishing village on the western shore of Lake Tiberias. St Luke the Evangelist tells us, in Chapter 8 of his Gosp…
Saint Mary, Mother of God
Saint Mary, Mother of God (1st century BC)
Mary is the Mother of God because she is the Mother of Jesus, true God and true Man. Because of this, she more than anyone else can lead us to her Son, for no other like her knows who Jesus is, and no one knows how to relate with Him as well as she does. Mary is the Mother who, on hearing the shepherd’s words, understood immediately that the Child was not just “her Son”. “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice” Jesus would say one day (Lk. 8:19-21)…
Saint Matthew the Evangelist
Saint Matthew the Evangelist (1st century AD)
From tax collector to Apostle and Evangelist: this is the arc of Saint Matthew's life. He was called Levi, which means “God's gift”. He was a contemporary of Our Lord Jesus. The Church celebrates him on September 21. Saint Matthew is the patron of bankers, accountants, and bill collectors.
Personal Life
,p>Lake Tiberias sparkled and, as usual, Matthew was there, sitting at the custom desk at Capernaum, to collect the taxes that the Jews had to pay to the Romans. He was a publican, …
Saint Michael Garicoïts
Saint Michael Garicoïts (1797-1863)
Michael was born in Navarre, in the post-revolutionary period in France. In that context, the young priest realized that the main challenge was the re-evangelization of the clergy, young people, and peasants. For this reason, in 1835, he founded the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bétharram.
Personal Life
Michael was born in Ibarre, in the Pyrenees mountains, not far from the border with Spain. He had little schooling because his family had four other chil…
Saint Michael the Archangel
Saint Michael the Archangel
St Michael the Archangel is the Prince of the heavenly hosts, always at the head of the angelic legions as they continually battle against the forces of evil. Devotion to St Michael, whose feast is celebrated on September 29th, has universal reach.
History
" And when we pass'd a little forth, I heard a crying, 'Blessed Mary! pray for us, Michael and Peter! all ye saintly host!'", (Dante, Purgatory, Canto XII, 51)
As he passes among the souls of the envious Purgatory, the great C…
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Mother Theresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
A witness of charity and mercy, Mother Teresa is an example for all people of the wonders that one can accomplish when one entrusts oneself totally to Christ. Founder of the Missionaries of Charity, canonized by Pope Francis, Saint Teresa is celebrated by the Church on September 5 each year.
Personal Life
“I present you the most powerful woman in the world.” It is October 26, 1985, when UN Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar introduces Mother Teresa of Calcutta to the United Nations…
Saint Padre Pio
Saint Padre Pio (1887-1968)
The story of one of the most beloved saints of our times began on 25 May 1887 in the Italian village of Pietrelcina. Inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, Francesco Forgione, known by his religious name “Padre Pio,” spent his life focused on the Passion and Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Personal Life
Born into a poor Italian farm family, from a young age Francesco Forgione desired to be a friar. When he was sixteen, he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Order, and took the name…
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick (4th century - 461)
One of the most venerated saints in the world, St. Patrick, patron of Ireland, was reduced to slavery when he was a boy, but thanks to prayer, he had a genuine conversion of the heart that led him to be a holy missionary. The Church remembers him on March 17.
Personal Life
Patrick was born in Roman Britain between 385 and 392, to a Christian family. At the age of fifteen or sixteen he was kidnapped by a handful of Irish pirates who took him with them to Northern Ireland and sold hi…
Saint Paul
Saint Paul (1st century AD - 67 AD)
The Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul was the greatest missionary in history. A Pharisee converted to Christ, his concern for expounding the faith to those, who heard him, would make him the first Christian theologian. His martyrdom is remembered on June 29, together with that of St. Peter.
Personal Life
A Jew of Tarsus, in modern-day Turkey, Saul, a Roman citizen, educated at the Jewish school in Jerusalem, had also a good Greek-Hellenistic formation: he knew Greek and Latin. The …
Saint Peter
Saint Peter (1st century BC - 67 AD)
St. Peter (born Simon) was a Jewish fisherman, one of the Twelve Apostles, and a key leader in the early Christian Church, known as the first Pope by Catholic tradition; Jesus renamed him "Peter" (meaning "rock") and designated him the foundation of His Church.
Personal Life
His name was Simon; Jesus called him Peter. Simon was born in Bethsaida, and lived in Capernaum where was a fisherman on the Sea of Tiberias. The Teacher invited him, along with Andrew his brother, to follow Him;…
Saint Philip
Saint Philip (1st century AD)
St. Philip was one of the twelve Apostles. According to John (1:43-51), Philip came from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, and belonged to the group of disciples who surrounded John the Baptist.
Personal Life
Although Philip was of Jewish origin, his name is Greek, like that of Andrew, and this is a small sign of cultural openness that must not be underestimated. The information we have on him is provided by John's Gospel. Like Peter and Andrew, he is a native of Bethsaida (cf…
Saint Philip Neri
Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595)
Philip was born in Florence but reborn, for the Romans, in the squares and alleys of the Eternal City, the most run-down of them, in and through which a holy shepherd acquired the “smell of the sheep” - sheep, who had the stench of poverty, which empties both the pockets and the soul.
Personal Life
When Philip Neri arrived in Rome in 1534, it was as if a light were lit in the darkness of misery that nestled amidst the glories of the Ara Pacis and the lustrous travertine of the nobl…
