Saints of the Day & More

Born in 1515 in Avila, Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada began at forty years the task of reforming the Carmelite Order by its primitive rule, guided by God through mystical conferences, and with the help of San Juan de la Cruz (who in turn amended the male branch of the Order, the Discalced Carmelites separated from the shoes). It was a mission almost unbelievable for a frail woman like yours: from the monastery of San Jose, outside the walls of Avila, first reformed Carmelite convent for her, left with the burden of the treasures of His Castle Inside, in all directions of Spain and held numerous foundations, raising too many grievances, to the extent that temporarily left him permission to draw other reforms and to establish new cases. Mystical teacher and director of consciences, was to epistolary contacts with King Philip II of Spain and the most illustrious figures of his time, but as a practical woman took care of things monastery minimum and never neglected the economic side, because a...

Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was an brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul." (Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been published recently.) But within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonized. Over the years, some modern Catholics have turned away from her because they associate her with over- sentimentalized piety and yet the message she has for us is still as compelling and simple as it was almost a century ago. Therese was born in France in 1873, the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be monk. The two had gotten married but determined they would be celibate until a priest told them that was not how God wanted a m...

The fourth century AD , which had its important moment in the 380 with the edict of Emperor Theodosius who ordered that the Christian faith had to be adopted by all peoples of the empire , is full of great figures of saints, Athanasius , Hilary, Ambrose, Augustine , Chrysostom , Basil and Jerome. The latter was born in Stridonia (Dalmatia ) around the year 340, he studied in Rome where he was baptized. His spirit is encyclopedic , his literary work reveals the philosopher, the orator , the grammarian , the dialectical , able to think and write in Latin, Greek, Hebrew writer, rich , pure and robust at the same time. He was responsible for the Latin translation of the Old and New Testament, which became, with the title of Vulgate, the official Bible of Christianity. Jerome is a personality very strong : everywhere where you raise enthusiasm or controversy. In Rome lashes the vices and hypocrisies and calls for new forms of religious life , attracting them to some influential women patric...

Saint Robert Bellarmine was the first Jesuit priest to develop the theory of the indirect power of the Pope in temporary affairs. He all but eliminated the Divine-Rights-of-Kings untenable principle that had been in existence many years before we worked at the Vatican. He described and explained the head of hell-Satan and his cohorts. The titles of Gentle Doctor of The Controversies, one of his more notable writings, and the title "Prince of Apologists" are two of the most known names that identify him. Robert is the Doctor of Church, State and Country Relations. The pope made him a Cardinal and insisted on having him by his side as his personal theologian. The more he stepped down, the more God raised this humble priest up with greater responsibilities at the Vatican. This brilliant Jesuit lived in an age of great deflection within the church amidst religious controversy. His writings, intelligence, and character served the church at a time that was most needed. Diplomats, a...

Pope St. Gregory the Great was an apostle of the English, one of the most important popes and influential writers of the Middle Ages. Gregory was the son of a Roman senator and entered the service of the State as a young man. But in 573 he sold his enormous properties, founding six monasteries in Sicily and a seventh in Rome, and giving generously to the poor. The next year he entered his own monastery of St. Andrew's on the Celian Hill as a monk and was distinguished for his austere life, which both filled him with nostalgia in later years and caused some of the ill-health which he suffered so constantly. Pope Benedict I, however, called him out of the monastery to become one of the seven deacons of Rome, and his successor, Pelagius II, made him apocrisiarius (ambassador) in Byzantium. After six years of distinguished service Gregory returned to Rome to become abbot of St. Andrew's, seemingly convinced that the future of Christianity lay with monasticism rather than with the d...

The Dominicans are now celebrating. St. Dominic de Guzmán founded in the thirteenth century. For so many years have done and are doing a great service to the Church throughout the world. The founder of the Dominican fathers, who are now 6,800 in 680 houses in the world , was born in Caleruega , Spain, in 1171. His mother , Joan of Aza, was an admirable woman in virtues and has been declared Blessed . He was educated in strict religious training. At age 14 he went to live with an uncle, a priest in Palencia , in whose house he worked and studied. People said that age was a kid but that serious like an old man . His special joy was to read religious books, and give charity to the poor. At that time the region came a famine and people have begged for help to survive . St. Dominic de Guzmán distributed at home all I had and even furniture. Then, when he had nothing more to do to help the hungry, sold what he loved and appreciated , his books (at that time were copied by hand and very expen...

Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. He was born Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori on September 27,1696, at Marianella, near Naples, Italy. Raised in a pious home, Alphonsus went on retreats with his father, Don Joseph, who was a naval officer and a captain of the Royal Galleys. Alphonsus was the oldest of seven children, raised by a devout mother of Spanish descent. Educated at the University of Naples, Alphonsus received his doctorate at the age of sixteen. By age nineteen he was practicing law, but he saw the transitory nature of the secular world, and after a brief time, retreated from the law courts and his fame. Visiting the local Hospital for Incurables on August 28, 1723, he had a vision and was told to consecrate his life solely to God. In response, Alphonsus dedicated himself to the religious life, even while suffering persecution from his family. He finally agreed to become a priest but to live at ...

St. Peter , who was one of the most famous orators of the Catholic Church , was born in Imola , Italy and was formed by the Bishop of that city Cornelius, by which always retained a great veneration. Bishop Cornelio St. Peter convinced that in the domain of their own passions and lusts reject lies the true greatness, and that this is a sure way to get the blessings of God. St. Peter enjoyed the friendship of the Emperor Valentinian and his mother, Placida, and on the recommendation of the two, he was appointed archbishop of Ravenna. We also enjoyed the friendship of Pope Saint Leo the Great. When it became archbishop of Ravenna, had in this city a large number of pagans. And it worked so enthusiastically to convert them , that when he died and the pagans were very few non-believers in this place. A lot of people liked his sermons, and so gave him the nickname of Chrysologus , which means , that speaks very well. His manner of speech was concise , simple and practical. People were as...

Julio was born in Brindisi, Kingdom of Naples, to a family of Venetian merchants. He was educated at Saint Mark's College in Venice, and joined the Capuchins in Verona as Brother Lorenzo. He received further instruction from the University of Padua. An accomplished linguist, Lawrence spoke most European and Semitic languages fluently. He was appointed definitor-general for Rome for the Capuchins in 1596; Pope Clement VIII assigned him the task of converting the Jews in the city. Beginning in 1599, Lawrence established Capuchin monasteries in modern Germany and Austria, furthering the Counter-Reformation and bringing many Protestants back to the Catholic faith. In 1601, he served as the imperial chaplain for the army of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and successfully recruited Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur to help fight against the Ottoman Turks. He then led the army during the capture of Székesfehérvár from the Ottoman Empire, armed only with a crucifix. In 1602 he was elect...

Anthony was born at Lisbon in Portugal in 1195. He was baptised "Fernando" in the Cathedral Church of old Lisbon. On the font is written: "Here the waters of holy baptism cleansed Anthony from all stain of original sin. The world rejoices in his light, Padua in his body, heaven in his soul." His father, was a revenue officer and knight at the court of Alfonso II, king of Portugal. When Fernando was 15 years old, he joined the community of Canons Regular of St Augustine in Lisbon. However, because of the constant visits of his family, he asked to be moved to another house of the Order. At seventeen he was transferred, more than 175km away, to the Augustinian Monastery of Santa Cruz at Coimbra which was renowned for its biblical scholarship. Here he spent nine years in intense study. There is every indication that during this time he learned the Sacred Scriptures off by heart. However, it is possible that he was not ordained during this period as it was a custom of th...

What a marvelous life of Saint Catherine of Siena is not unusual for both the role played in the history of his time, but how exquisitely feminine with what worked. The Pope, whom she called by the name of "sweet Christ on earth," he complained the little courage and invited him to leave Avignon and return to Rome, with most human words as these: "Courage, manfully, Father! I tell him not to be shaking. " A young man who sentenced to death and had accompanied her to the scaffold, he said at the last moment "to weddings, sweet my brother! soon you'll be in the long life. " But the voice of submissive women changed in tone and often resulted in that "I want" that brooked no misrepresentations when it came into play the good of the Church and harmony among citizens. Catherine was born in Siena (Italy) on March 25, 1347 and was the twenty-fourth daughter of James and Lapa Benincasa. At seven years held its mystical marriage with Christ. This was ...

Vincent was born in Valencia (Spain) in 1350. At 17 he had already so successfully completed his studies in philosophy and theology that included teachers as faculty immediately. He entered the Dominican convent of Valencia and was ordained priest in 1375, a date in the history of the Church is remembered as the beginning of the Great Western Schism (1378-1417). The great confusion divided Christians into two obedience to Rome and Avignon. It was inevitable that even straight spirits, as Vincent Ferrer, of the pope were illegitimate. The good faith of Vincent Ferrer is tested with the fact that he has done everything possible to solve the great conflict and restore the unity of the Church. He traveled throughout Europe, warming to his great speaking to crowds of faithful, attracted also by a special phenomenon: the Dominican preacher, who only knew the Castilian, Latin and some Hebrew, "I understand all the faithful of the various nations where he went, each in their own language,...

St. Peter Damian is one of those stern figures who seem specially raised up, like St. John Baptist, to recall men in a lax age from the error of their ways and to bring them back into the narrow path of virtue. He was born at Ravenna and, having lost his parents when very young, he was left in the charge of a brother in whose house he was treated more like a slave than a kinsman. As soon as he was old enough he was sent to tend swine. Another brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took pity on the neglected lad and undertook to have him educated. Having found a father in this brother, Peter appears to have adopted from him the surname of Damian. Damian sent the boy to school, first at Faenza and then at Parma. He proved an apt pupil and became in time a master and a professor of great ability. He had early begun to inure himself to fasting, watching and prayer, and wore a hairshirt under his clothes to arm himself against the alurements of pleasure and the wiles of the devil. Not only...

Thomas was born in Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily in the year 1225. He was born into the Italian Nobility and was destend to be a Count as his father had been. Thomas was a well eduacted young man, that at the age of five he was taught at Monte Cassino but after the military conflict between Pope Gregory IX and Emperor Fredrick II. After this his mother, Theodora Countess of Theate, enrolled him at Studium Generale , in Naples, which would now relate to the University. Here is where St. Thomas learned about Aristotle and the many other great philosophers who influenced his philosophy. It was also during his study at Naples that Aquinas came under the influence of John of St. Julian, a Dominican preacher in Naples, who was part of the active effort by the Dominican order to recruit devout followers. Here his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music was Petrus de Ibernia. In the year 1244, Thomas decided that he was going to join the Dominican Order. Thomas' family was no...

Born in Savoy in the heart of a Catholic family, a rarity in a region that Calvin had imposed his doctrine of predestination against the odds. His father wanted to study law and sent him to Paris. But it was here that he felt love for theology and the problems of predestination. The pernicious Calvinistic doctrine had penetrated into himself for moments. It was believed destined for damnation. In this state of crisis, read something that turned him completely. It was a prayer of St. Bernard. He gave a course of 180 degrees to your life. He was full of joy, giving life to all its rich pastoral bishop of Geneva. He also began his writing with "Introduction to the Devout Life." He stayed and lived near Geneva, in Annecy, not to be bothered with headquarters and the emporium of the Calvinists. He devoted himself to making contact with the Catholics of his time, helped all he could to bring it to fruition the reform of Caramel and the very foundation of the Oratory, founded by St....

Born in the early fourth century Poitiers. It was called the "Athanasius of the West", who was a contemporary. Both had to fight against the same opponent, Arianism. Participated in the theological polemics with speeches and especially writing. Hilary was exiled to Phrygia by the Emperor Constantine, who had aligned with the decisions of the Arian synod of Béziers in the year 356. Contact with the Orient was providential for the bishop of Poitiers. During the five years spent in Phrygia learned and discovered Greek origins, as also the great theological production of the Eastern Fathers, obtaining an important documentation for the book that earned him the title of Doctor of the Church: On the Trinity, whose title De Fide adversus original Arians. It was the most important and profound treatise which had appeared previously on the main tenet of the Christian faith. Despite being banished, not inactive. With the booklet Maxertiam Against Constantius himself violently attacked,...

Saint Gregory Nazianzen Gregory was born in 329-330 near Nazianzus, in Cappadocia (Asia Minor). During his youth attended school in Caesarea of Cappadocia, and later the Christian school of Caesarea in Palestine, where he learned rhetoric, and that of Alexandria. Finally went to Athens and became a philosophy, a teacher Christians and pagans. There he began his friendship with St. Basil the Great, which was to last a lifetime. When Basil went to Cappadocia to devote himself to God, Gregory remained in Athens. However, almost secretly, one day left town and returned to Nazianzus. He received baptism and became a monastic life with Basil. On Christmas Day 361 he was ordained priest and in 372 was consecrated bishop by St. Basil Sasima, then Metropolitan of Cappadocia, while never taking his seat, having been put in charge of the Church in his hometown . On the death of the Arian emperor Valens, the Catholics of Constantinople was asked to take charge of the ecclesiastical reorganization ...