St. Louise de Marillac was a wife, mother, widow, and religious foundress. Louise was born in 1591 at Le Meux, a small village near Compiègne in northern France. Her parents were not married, and she never knew her mother. Louis de Marillac, a widower from a prominent family, declared Louise...
St. Giles of Assisi was a humble religious, a mystic, and a dear friend of St. Francis of Assisi. Born c. 1190, little is known of the background of Giles. As a very young man, he was aware of the dramatic conversion of his townsman, Francis. After two of his...
St. Katharine Drexel was an heiress, a religious foundress, and a pioneer in education for underprivileged minorities. Katharine was the second daughter born to Philadelphia banking magnate Francis Drexel and his wife Hannah. Five weeks after Katharine’s 1858 birth, Hannah died. Several years later, Francis married Emma Bouvier, and three...
St. José Sánchez del Río was a defender of the Faith during the anti-Catholic Calles regime in 20th century Mexico. José was born in 1913 to Macario Sánchez Sánchez and his wife Maria del Río Arteaga. The family lived at Sahuayo in the Mexican state of Michoacán. José was a...
St. Bernardo of Corleone was a swordsman and shoemaker who became a Capuchin religious brother. He was born Filippo Latini in 1605 at Corleone, Sicily in modern-day Italy. He was raised in a devout Catholic family and their home was known as “the house of saints”. His father was a...
St. Finnian of Clonard was a renowned Irish teacher, founder, and abbot. Finnian was born in 470 at Myshal in County Carlow, Ireland. MANY YEARS OF FORMATION While still quite young, he was sent to be tutored by Bishop Fortchern of Trim. Thus began a long journey of prayer and...
St. Cecilia was a renowned virgin martyr of the early Church. The time she lived is not precisely known, but she most likely lived during the 200s AD. According to the story that was handed down from antiquity, Cecilia was born in Rome to a Catholic family, and her father...
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos was a German religious priest and a missionary to the United States. Francis was born in 1819 to Mang and Franziska Seelos, one of twelve children. The family lived at Füssen in the Kingdom of Bavaria, currently near the southern border of Germany. The family was...
St. Catherine of Genoa was a married woman and charity worker, as well as a mystic. Catherine was born in 1447 to the prominent Fieschi family at Genoa, Italy, the youngest of five children. When she was thirteen, Catherine expressed a desire to enter into religious life, but because of...
St. Peter Julian Eymard was a priest and founder, and is known as The Apostle of the Eucharist. Peter was born in 1811 in a small town near Grenoble in the French Alps. His father had been a widower who remarried Peter’s mother, and he owned a cutlery shop and...