St. Veronica was born at Mercatello, in the duchy of Urbino in Italy in 1660. Few Saints have received such extraordinary favors from Our Lord, as this holy Abbess of the Poor Clares at Citta di Castello. She received the stigmata several times, her head showed the marks of the crown of thorns and she experienced the sufferings of the Passion in her body. She underwent many trials and much ill-treatment and, towards the end of her life, suffered painful illnesses. She died on July 9, 1727 and was canonized by Gregory XVI.

St. Thomas More was a lawyer whose career as an advisor and statesman in England culminated in his becoming Lord Chancellor in 1529.  His opposition to King Henry’s divorcing of Queen Catherine eventually led to in his beheading in 1535.  Amidst the distractions of court life and the contacts with leading humanists of his time,   St. Thomas More was a devout Catholic who practiced prayer and penance (his hair shirt was discovered at his death).     St. Thomas is a martyr of the Church for his fidelity to his Redeemer – no matter what the sacrifice.  His last words attest to this: “I die his majesty’s faithful servant, but God’s first”.