Marius a nobleman of Persia with his wife Martha and two sons Audifax and Abachum being converted to the faith, distributed his fortune among the poor as the primitive Christians did at Jerusalem and came to Rome to visit the tombs of the apostles in the year 270. The emperor Aurelian then persecuted the church,…

Together with St. Cecilia, St. Agnes is one of the most famous Roman martyrs. At the height of persecution when many of the faithful, and even the clergy, were giving up the faith, she remained faithful to Christ and made the sacrifice of her youthful life. St. Ambrose and St. Damasus praised the example that…

The Church celebrates together the anniversaries of two martyrs: the great Spanish deacon, St. Vincent, burned to death at Saragossa in 304, and a Persian monk, St. Anastasius, beheaded in 628. Two famous churches at Rome are dedicated to them, some of their relics being kept in Tre Fontane, the traditional site of St. Paul’s…

Born at Penafort, near Barcelona, St. Raymund is one of the glories of the Dominicans. As a moral theologian and an outstanding minister of the sacrament of penance he placed his knowledge, which was extensive, at the service of the cause of the conversion of the Moors. He was renowned for his miracles and for…

On the eve of the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Church has fixed the feast of St. Timothy, his faithful companion on his missionary journeys. Timothy also suffered imprisonment for Christ, and gloriously confessed his name, in the presence of many witnesses; but was set at liberty. He was ordained bishop by…

The Epistle (Acts of the Apostles 9. 1-22) is the account of the conversion of him who, to the Church, is the very type of apostle, whose wonderful teaching she continually puts before us. Surpassing all his equals in zeal for the Jewish law and their traditions, which he thought the cause of God, Paul…

A disciple of St. John, who appointed him bishop of Smyrna, St. Polycarp was condemned to the stake in 156 at the age of eighty-six. He accepted martyrdom with peace and joy of soul. The account of his arrest and suffering speaks of his admirable calm and of the veneration in which the Christians of…

Born in Antioch about 347, St. John Chrysostom was a great genius. His powerful eloquence earned for him the surname of Chrysostom, or golden mouthed. With St. Athanasius, St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, he forms the group of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church. He was anointed Archbishop of Constantinople. His courage…

Devoting himself body and soul to delivering Christians from captivity among the infidels and in providing for their spiritual welfare, St. Peter Nolasco founded the Order of Our Lady of Ransom which he obliged its members themselves to become prisoners of the pagans, if by so doing they could obtain the freedom of their brothers…

His ardent love of God and souls, his great kindliness, rare wisdom and sure teaching made St. Francis exceptionally influential in bringing about conversions and in guiding souls in the spiritual life. He was bishop of Geneva. He won back to the faith more than 70,000 heretics, thus restoring to the Church a great part…