Today, May 12, is the memorial of Saint Pancratius. Patron saint invoked against headaches and cramps. Pancratius was born in 289 near present-day Turkey. His parents Cleonius and Cyriada both died when he was very young. With his uncle Dionysius’ support, he studied in Rome. They became Christian converts, with Pancratius becoming the most ardent …
Today, May 11, is the memorial of Saint Ignatius of Laconi. Born in Sardinia in 1701, Ignatius was the son of poor farmers Mattia Peis Cadello and Anna Maria Sanna Casu. Ignatius grew up helping his parents in the fields. When he was seriously sick, he promised to become a Capuchin friar if he got …
Today, May 10, is the memorial of Saint John of Avila. Doctor of the Church. Born to wealth and piety in 1499, John was sent to the University of Salamanca, Spain to study law at age 14. Unfortunately, John decided that law was not for him, and so he left. When John returned home, he …
Today, May 8, is the memorial of Blessed Aloysius Rabata. Carmelite friar and martyr. Aloysius was born in 1443 in modern-day Sicily, Italy. He entered the Carmelite Order at the Annunziata convent in Trapani at an early age. He was appointed prior of the Carmelite community of St. Michael in the town of Randazzo. As …
Today, May 7, is the memorial of Saint Rosa Venerini. Foundress of the Maestre Pie Venerini (MPV) or the Venerini Sisters. Following the deaths of her fiancé and her father, Rosa entered a period of intense discernment. Exactly what was God trying to tell her? Rosa invited neighborhood women to pray the rosary in her …
Today, May 6, is the memorial of Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno. Foundress of the Daughters of Saint Anne (DSA). Rosa, born in 1831, was married at age 21 to Gerolamo Custo. From then on, she experienced financial setbacks, serious illnesses, and the death of her husband and her child. She pondered all things and felt …
Today, May 5, is the memorial of Saint Angelus. Carmelite friar. He was one of the first Carmelites to come to Sicily from Mount Carmel. Angelus’ parents were 12th-century Jewish converts. At age 18, Angelus and his twin brother joined a group of hermits who formed the first Carmelite house. He was sent to evangelize …
Today, May 4, is the memorial of St. John Houghton and Carthusian Companion-Martyrs of London. They were the monks of the London Charterhouse, the monastery of the Carthusian Order in central London, who were put to death by the English state in a period lasting from May 4, 1535 until September 20, 1537. Reason: they …
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Today, May 3, is the feast of the apostles Saint Philip and Saint James the Lesser. They were two of the favored witnesses of Jesus’ Resurrection. To the present times they bear testimony that Jesus is truly risen from the dead, that they had seen, touched, and talked with Him (1 John 1: 1). They …
Today, May 1, is the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. Pope Pius XII declared the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955 as a response to the increasingly communist climate of the time. It served as a reminder to the faithful of the true dignity and value of work for human beings, …