Today, November 4, is the memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo. Patron saint of seminarians and catechists. Charles was born in 1538 to a very wealthy and noble family. His parents were Count Gilberto Borromeo and Margaret de’ Medici. His maternal uncle was Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici, who became Pope Pius IV. Charles was made a …
Today, November 3, is the memorial of Saint Martin de Porres. Juan Martín de Porres Velázquez was born in Peru in 1579. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman, Juan de Porres, and a young freed black slave, Anna Velázquez. Martin and his sister Juana grew up in poverty after Juan abandoned the …
Today, October 31, is the memorial of Blessed Irene Stefani. Irene Stefani was born Aurelia Stefani in 1891, Brescia, Italy. In 1911, she joined the Consolata Missionary Sisters, founded by Blessed Joseph Allamano. During World War 1, the Sisters worked in Kenya and Tanzania to take care of the wounded in the hospitals and in …
Today, October 30, is the memorial of Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph. Foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. She came from a deeply religious Lutheran pastor’s family. Many trials and experiences with society’s poor and needy led her to the road of the Catholic faith. In front of her …
Today, October 29, is the memorial of Blessed Chiara Badano. The First Saint of Generation X. Born in 1971, Chiara was a bright and strong-willed child. Being an only child, her parents Ruggero and Maria Teresa, wanting Chiara to meet other kids, enrolled in the nearby kindergarten. When Chiara was nine years old, she discovered …
Today, October 28, is the feast of Saint Jude Thaddeus and Saint Simon. Apostles. St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, was a brother of St. James the Lesser, and a relative of Jesus. According to the ancient writers, Jude preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. Eusebius wrote that he returned …
Today, October 27, is the memorial of Saint Emilina of Boulancourt. Patron saint of single lay women. Born in 1115, the young Emilina joined the Cistercian Abbey of Boulancourt at Longeville, France. Emilina became a lay sister and was known for her intense prayer life, extreme way of fasting, and severe self-imposed penances such as …
Today, October 26, is the memorial of Blessed Celine Borzecka. Co-foundress — along with her biological daughter Venerable Hedwig Borzęcka — of the Sisters of the Resurrection. Celine was born in 1833 to Ignatius and Petronella, both wealthy landowners in Belarus. She wanted to pursue her religious vocation, but her family opposed it. In obedience …
Today, October 24, is the memorial of Saint Anthony Mary Claret. Founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretians). Anthony Mary was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1807, and was the fifth of 11 children. He worked as a weaver in his youth. He wanted to join the …
Today, October 23, is the memorial of Saint John of Capistrano. John was born at Capistrano, near Aquila, perhaps of a Nordic family that had emigrated to Italy. He studied law at Perugia and eventually became governor there in 1412. He was jailed when Malatesta di Rimini conquered Perugia. He had a vision in which …