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…
In former times the Church christened pagan festivals, making use of dates and ceremonies and endowing them with a Christian significance. In accordance with this tradition she has placed the civil observance of Labor Day under the powerful patronage of St. Joseph, the humble workman whom God chose to watch over the childhood of the…
Bishop of Alexandria and a great defender of the orthodox faith, throughout his life St. Athanasius opposed the Arian heresy. By denying the Godhead of the Word the Arians turned Christ into a mere man, only higher in grace than others in the eyes of God. St. Athanasius took part in the Council of Nicea…
St. Alexander became pope in 109 and held the Holy See ten years. He died in 119 and is ranked among the martyrs in the canon of the Mass. Martyrologies join with him two companions, Eventius and Theodulus who suffered with him, or at least about the same time of his happy death. The bodies…
The Church reminds us what St. Augustine owed to his mother by attributing to the prayers of St. Monica the conversion of her son and by choosing for the Gospel on her feast the account of the raising from the dead of the son of the widow of Naim. St. Monica was born at Tagaste…
