Today, June 4, is the memorial of Saint Francis Caracciolo. Co-founder of the Order of Clerics Regular Minor (the Adorno Fathers). Francis, born to nobility in 1563, was an upright youth. When he was 22, Francis contracted a skin disease that was diagnosed as “leprosy” in those days. Because he was near death, he made …
Today, June 3, is the memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companion-Martyrs of Uganda. Charles Lwanga, born in 1860, was the chief of the royal pages or attendants and was considered the strongest athlete of the court and the most handsome man of Uganda. He instructed his friends in the Catholic Faith and he personally …
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Today, June 2, is the memorial of Blessed Sadok & the 48 Dominican Martyrs of Sandomierz. They were a group of 49 Dominicans, some of whom received the habit from Saint Dominic de Guzman himself. They worked separately and together to bring the faith and establish the Dominican Order in Poland, basing their operations in …
Today, June 1, is the memorial of St. Hannibal Maria di Francia. Founder of the Rogationists and the Daughters of Divine Zeal. Born in 1851 in Messina, Italy, Hannibal was the third of four children of Francis the Marquises of Saint Catherine of Jonio, a Papal Vice-Consul, a knight, and Honorary Captain of the Navy. …
Today, May 29, is the memorial of Pope Saint Paul VI. The future pope was born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini in 1897. He was the son of a prominent newspaper editor. He was ordained in Brescia, Italy in 1920, continued his studies in Rome, and became part of the Vatican secretariat of state …
Today, May 28, is the memorial of Saint Bernard of Menthon. The large dogs called St. Bernard, trained to search for lost victims in the mountains, are named after him. Patron saint of mountain climbers. Also known as Bernard of Montjoux, he was born to the French nobility in Chateau de Menthon in 1020. His …
Today, May 27, is the memorial of Saint Augustine of Canterbury. Augustine was a monk and abbot of Saint Andrew’s abbey in Rome, Italy. He was sent by Pope St. Gregory the Great with 40 brother monks, including Saint Lawrence of Canterbury to evangelize the British Isles in 597. That same year, he became the …
Today, May 26, is the memorial of Saint Philip Neri. Founder of the Congregation of the Oratory or the Oratorians. The world welcomed Philip Neri in 1515. He gave up becoming a businessman and chose to devote his life entirely to God. Although he took up Theology and Philosophy, he decided on what was unthinkable …
Today, May 25, is the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi. Carmelite nun and virgin. Patroness of the Third Order of Carmelites. Mary Magdalene, born in 1566, came from a very wealthy family. Even as a child, she rejected the high fashion of her station, choosing instead to dress in simple clothes. Her religious …
Today, May 22, is the memorial of Saint Rita of Cascia. Patron saint of impossible cases. Born in 1381 in Umbria, Italy, the young Rita was already decided on becoming a nun. Back then, arranged marriages were common and so her parents Antonio and Amata Lotti wanted her to marry Paolo Mancini. Thus at age …