Today, March 7, is the commemoration of Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity. St. Perpetua was a young, well-educated, noblewoman and mother living in the city of Carthage in what is now modern-day Tunisia. Her mother was a Christian and her father was a pagan. Perpetua took her mother as her role model. Her father tried …
Today, March 5, is the memorial of Blessed Lazër Shantoja. Lazër was born in 1892 (other biographers claim another year) in Albania. For his elementary and secondary education, he studied at the Albanian Pontifical Seminary. He was described as a very talented seminarian. In 1915, he was ordained priest and thereafter pursued his love for …
Today, March 4, is the memorial of Saint Casimir. Prince Casimir was born in 1458 in Krakow, Poland. He was the youngest son of king Casimir IV of Poland and Elizabeth of Austria. Casimir, who dedicated himself to lifelong celibacy, was known for his austere life, sleeping on bare ground and spending much of …
Today, March 3, is the memorial of Saint Katharine Drexel. Foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Named Catherine Mary, the saint was the daughter of the extremely wealthy railroad entrepreneurs and philanthropists Francis Anthony and Hannah Langstroth. She was born in 1858 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mom died when she was still a …
Today, March 1, is the memorial of Blessed Giovanna Maria Bonomo. Giovanna, born in 1606 in Venice, came from a wealthy and noble family. Even in her early childhood, Giovanna was already achieving a high degree of holiness. God was always in her thoughts and actions. When she was 10 months old, it is said …
Today, February 28, is the memorial of Blessed Daniel Brottier. Devotee of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Daniel was born in Loir-et-Cher, France in 1876. When his mother Herminie asked a very young Daniel what he wanted to be when he grew up, the child replied that he wanted to become Pope. Herminie replied …
Today, February 26, is the memorial of Saint Victor the Hermit. Victor was born in Troyes, Champagne, France in the 7th century. He came from a pious well-to-do and well-educated Christian family. It seemed Victor grew up embracing the virtuous life. Even as a youth, he was already practising a high degree of prayer, fasting, …
Today, February 25, is the memorial of Saint Avertano of Lucca. Carmelite confessor. Avertano was born in Limoges, France around 1320. In his youth, Avertano had resolved to live a life closest to the teachings of the Gospels. The desire for holiness was always in his mind and soul. Thus, when Avertano witnessed the exemplary …
Today, February 24, is the memorial of Blessed Marco de Marconi. Marco was born in 1480 in Modena, Italy. He came from a pious and rich Christian family, but early on he knew he had a religious vocation. At 16, he joined the girolamini or the Order of the Hermits of St. Jerome. He dedicated …
Today, February 23, is the memorial of Saint Polycarp. Polycarp was born around A.D. 65. St. Jerome, St. Irenaeus and the early Christian writer Tertullian wrote that Polycarp was a disciple of Saint John the Apostle. Irenaeus wrote that Polycarp corresponded with people who had actually seen Jesus. He fought the heresy Gnosticism. He also …