Saints of the Day & More

Youssef (Joseph) was born on May 8, 1828 in a small town in Lebanon called Biqa - Kafra. It was the fifth son of Anthony and Bridget Choudiac Makhlouf , simple peasants with faith . Two of his maternal uncles were monks in the monastery of Quzhaya which was about an hour away from Biqa - Kafra. Joseph frequently visited and stayed with them helping with the divine , sharing in their prayers and songs and listening to their wise counsel. I was twenty when he left home and family to enter the monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouk Lebanese Maronite Order . Upon receiving the habit of a novice it changed its name to Charbel , a name of a martyr of the Church of Antioch who died in the year 107 under the rule of Trajan. When his mother and his uncle learned of his decision, immediately went to fetch the monastery trying to convince him to return. Finally , Bridget, also convinced his son 's vocation , he said: If you were not to be good religious I would say : Go home ! But now I know the Lo...

Born in the year 1126 in Germany, based and educated in a Benedictine monastery near Bonn, Germany, from 12 years of age. Elizabeth came to see the monastery as their own home, and hoped in 1147. She was sighted, starting in 1152 began to have mystical ecstasies and visions, had the gift of prophecy, and suffered attacks from demonic forces. With the help of his brother Egbert, a monk and abbot, wrote three volumes describing their visions. Schönau was abbess from 1157 until his death on June 18, 1164. This is all that is known of Elizabeth of Schönau. References: Catholic.Net

Columba, the most famous of the saints associated with Scotland, was actually an Irishman of the O'Neill or O'Donnell clan, born about the year 521 at Garton, County Donegal, in north Ireland. Of royal lineage on both sides, his father, Fedhlimidh, or Phelim, was great-grandson to Niall of the Nine Hostages, Overlord of Ireland, and connected with the Dalriada princes of southwest Scotland; his mother, Eithne, was descended from a king of Leinster. The child was baptized Colum, or Columba.[1] In later life he was given the name of Columcille or Clumkill, that is, Colum of the Cell or Church, an appropriate title for one who became the founder of so many monastic cells and religious establishments. As soon as he was old enough, Columba was taken from the care of his priest-guardian at Tulach-Dugblaise, or Temple Douglas, to St. Finnian's training school at Moville, at the head of Strangford lough. He was about twenty, and a deacon, when he left to study in the school of Lein...

Briocus, Brioc or Bru) A Celtic saint of Brittany who was educated in Ireland and then studied under the guidance of St. Germanus, the famous St. Germanus of Auxerre. Much of what we read about his early years, we have to take it with caution. Ussher says he was born in Ireland, but it is very probable that it was in France for the year 431, also bringing with him to Saint Iltud. Even before being ordained, Saint Brioc worked many miracles represented in his "Acts" (edited by F. Godefroid Herschenn), and after a brief period, he was with his parents, he entered his career as a missionary. In 480, establesció in Armorica, and founded a monastery in Landebaeron. From there he went to the High Britain where he established a chapel in a place known as Saint Brieuc-des-Vaux, between Saint Malo and Land Trigui; of that place he was appointed as its first bishop. Many miracles are mentioned in his "Acts," especially the treatment of Riguel Conde, whom the nobleman gave his...

Saint Paternus of Avranches in Normandy (c. 482-565) was born around the year 482, although the exact year is unknown, in Poitiers, Poitou. He was born into a Christian family. His father Patranus went to Ireland to spend his days as a hermit in holy solitude. Because of this, Paternus embraced religious life. He became a monk at the Abbey of Marnes in France. Later on, St Paternus went to Wales where he built a monastery called Llanpatenvaur.Before long, he wished to attain the perfection of Christian virtue by a life of penance in solitude. He went into solitude with his fellow monk, Saint Scubilion. The forest of Seicy in the diocese of Coutances was the place he became a hermit. At a later date, the abbot of the region who knew Paternus recommended him to the Bishop of Coutances and the bishop made him a priest in 512. Together with St Scubilion he evangelized the western coasts and established several monasteries of which he was made the abbot general. Prayer Father may we follow ...

John's nickname comes from the famous treatise on asceticism written by John and entrusted to the abbot of Raithu, The Ladder of Paradise (Greek climax, which means stairs). His biographer, the monk Daniel Raithu Monastery, southwest Sinai, writes that John was born in Palestine and the age of six left the hometown to retire to a monastery in Sinai. There he received the monastic tonsure at four years of income and lived 19 years in community under the guidance of a holy old man, named Martyrdom. When the master died, John retired to a solitary cell on Mount Sinai, a few miles from the monastery, where he was down on Saturday and Sunday to participate in religious ceremonies with the other brothers. In the cell there was only a wooden cross, a table and a bench that served as chair and bed. Their only wealth were the books of Holy Scripture and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, including Pastoralis Regula of St. Gregory the Great, translated into Greek by a patriarch of An...

Anthony was born in the village of Comas, near Heraclea in Upper Egypt Two Greek philosophers ventured out into the Egyptian desert to the mountain where Anthony lived. When they got there, Anthony asked them why they had come to talk to such a foolish man? He had reason to say that -- they saw before them a man who wore a skin, who refused to bathe, who lived on bread and water. They were Greek, the world's most admired civilization, and Anthony was Egyptian, a member of a conquered nation. They were philosophers, educated in languages and rhetoric. Anthony had not even attended school as a boy and he needed an interpreter to speak to them. In their eyes, he would have seemed very foolish. But the Greek philosophers had heard the stories of Anthony. They had heard how disciples came from all over to learn from him, how his intercession had brought about miraculous healings, how his words comforted the suffering. They assured him that they had come to him because he was a wise man....

Cyrano was an abbot of the seventh century. He lived in France in the seventh century and his life has told us and later told a biographer with many details and specifics. Berry was the son of noble. Eventually, he became bishop of Tours, the diocese most desirable of those times. He was educated in the city of Saint Martin. He was introduced in court to make a brilliant career. The father had even prepared a nice girl for marriage. One day, Cyrano left the court. Following the devotion to St. Martin of Tours became a hermit near his grave. Later, the clergy of the city welcomed him. Cyrano had given his entire estate to the poor the Gospel. Without anyone noticing, he left to join the bishop Tours Flavio, an Irishman who had a community of pilgrimage throughout Europe. Once in Rome, worked hard until they returned to France to found a monastery in the town of Longoret. This community grew under the guidance of St. Cyrano. That was a great austerity of life in all the monks. In other w...