Veneration of St. George comes to us from the east, probably from Palestine where he was held in high honor as a martyr. Regarded as the patron of Christian armies he is venerated under this title by the Latins as well as by the Greeks. In Rome there is a sanctuary built in his honor,…

Born at Sigmaringen in Swabia in 1577, St. Fidelis practiced at first as a lawyer and so took to heart the cause of the needy that he was known as the poor man’s lawyer. Then he joined the Capuchin Friars Minor and was sent by the Holy See to the Grisons in order to bring…

St. Mark is one of the four Evangelists. He was not one of the Apostles but was a disciple of theirs from the outset and soon became their companion in their mission. He appears to have been associated especially with St. Peter; he acted as his interpreter and wrote down his teaching. The Gospel of…

St. Cletus is identical with St. Anacletus and figures in the list of Popes as the second successor of St. Peter, from 76 to 88. St. Marcellinus governed the Church two centuries later, from 296 to 304, during the terrible Diocletian persecution.

Born at Nijmegen, St. Peter Canisius belonged to the Society of Jesus. With St. Boniface he shares the title of Apostle of Germany. By his preaching, his devotional and controversial books, the colleges that he founded, and his missions undertaken on behalf of four popes to German bishops and princes, he successfully worked against the…

Born in Italy not far from Genoa, from his early years St. Paul of the Cross showed a great love for our Savior’s passion. After living for some time as a hermit he founded in Rome the Passionist Congregation, which is devoted to preaching the mystery of the Cross. His whole life was outstanding for…

St. Peter was born in Verona about 1205; his parents were Manichaeans, but he was converted and entered the Order of Preachers with the ambition not only of preaching the faith but of giving his life for it. He had his wish, for in the course of his apostolic work he was assassinated by the…

Catherina Benincasa, born in Siena, was favored with visions from the age of seven. Becoming a tertiary of the Dominican Order in 1360, she acquired great influence by her life of prayer and extraordinary mortifications as well as by the spread of her spiritual writings. Her continual appeals for civil peace and reform of the…

St. Hugh was appointed bishop of Grenoble specifically to reverse the desolate condition into which the church was sunk through the sloth and bad example of its late pastor. He found the people immersed in a profound ignorance of several essential duties of religion and plunged into vice and immorality. He endeavored by rigorous fasts…

Born at Paula in Calabria, St. Francis, after living as a hermit for five years (from the age of fourteen to nineteen) gathered around him some companions with whom he led the religious life. This was the origin of a new order, to which he gave the name of Minims, that is, “the least” in…