Author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke came from Antioch and was one of the first converts to Christianity. He accompanied St. Paul on his missionary journeys. He was still with him in Rome when St. Paul was in prison awaiting death. We hear no more of him afterwards…

At sixteen, Peter, a native of Alcantara in Spain became a Franciscan at Valencia. He was a faithful follower of the primitive Rule and led a very austere life. He was one of St. Teresa’s spiritual directors and encouraged her in her reformation of the Carmelite Order. His great devotion to the passion of our…

A Canon and professor of theology at Cracow and later parish priest of Ilkusi, St. John Cantius led a life of great humility and wonderful charity. The Church honors his love of his neighbor; he even gave away his clothes and shoes, letting his cloak trail on the ground as he returned home in order…

St. Hilarion was the founder and organizer of monastic life in Palestine and the spiritual father of many monks. He was born to the south of Gaza in Palestine and studied in Alexandria; in Egypt he came to know St. Antony, desired to share his solitary life with him and then introduced this form of…

Philip, a venerable old man, bishop of Heraclea, the metropolis of Thrace, was an illustrious martyr of Christ in the persecution of Diocletian. He was careful to train many disciples in the study of sacred learning, and in the practice of solid piety. Two of his disciples, Serverus, a priest, and Hermes, a deacon, had…

Born in Barcelona in 1807, Antony Mary Claret felt called to the foreign missions in far off lands. Instead he was asked to exercise his missionary apostolate in his own country. He went everywhere in Catalonia and in the Canary Islands where his burning zeal and deep piety was the means of converting many souls.…

Our knowledge of the Archangel Raphael comes to us from the book of Tobias. His mission as wonderful healer and fellow traveler with the youthful Tobias has caused him to be invoked for journeys and at critical moments in life. His Mass invites us to see in the angels perpetual adorers who live constantly in…

St. Evaristus became Pope in 112 and governed the church for 9 years. The institution of cardinal priest is by some ascribed to him, because he first divided Rome into several parishes, according to the Pontifical, assigning a priest to each: he also appointed seven deacons to attend the bishop. He was honored with the…

The only survivors of a capture during a voyage back from Persia, cousins Frumentius and Edesius were raised by a prince of Abyssinia and eventually assisted his widow in the government of the state. Frumentius supported Christian merchants and strongly recommended the true religion to the infidels. After release from his duties, Frumentius entreated St.…

Celebrated on the same day, Saints Simon and Jude appear together in the Canon of the Mass, possibly because they both preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia and Persia. St. Simon was zealous for the honor of his Master, and exact in all the duties of the Christian religion. He showed a pious indignation towards those…