Saints of the Day & More

Hermit and Swiss political figure. Born near Sachseln, Canton Obwalden, Switzerland, he took his name from the Flueli river which flowed near his birthplace. The son of a peasant couple, he married and had ten children by his wife, Dorothea Wissling, and fought heroically in the forces of the canton against Zurich in 1439. After serving as magistrate and highly respected councilor, he refused the office of governor several times and, in 1467, at the age of fifty and with the consent of his wife and family, he embraced the life of a hermit, giving up all thought of political activity. Nicholas took up residence in a small cell at Ranft, supposedly surviving for his final nineteen years entirely without food except for the Holy Eucharist. Renowned for his holiness and wisdom, he was regularly visited by civic leaders, powerful personages, and simple men and women with a variety of needs. Through Nicholas’ labors, he helped bring about the inclusion of Fribourg and Soleure in the Swiss Co...

Saint Peter Kanijs born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 1521, and may be defined as a hierrro placed between the anvil, ie white irritation raised his clear preaching in Protestant circles, and the malevolence that I tried envy among them fellow religion. Son of the mayor of Nijmegen, Pedro Kanijs, Latin Canicius, was able to attend excellent schools: canon law and civil law at Louvain in Cologne. In this city liked to spend free time in the monastery of the Carthusians. No one suspected that the young lawyer, whom the father had secured support in his profession, take a hair shirt under her dress. Reading the brief treatise on the Spiritual Exercises, had recently written to San Ignacio, determined the turning point of his life: the pious practice ended in Mainz under the direction of Father Faber, entered the Society of Jesus and was the eighth Jesuit in solemn vows. The young congregation was able to cultivate their favorite studies and their love of learning, to Him we owe the pub...