Saints of the Day & More

St. Ignatius was born in the family castle in Guipúzcoa, Spain, the youngest of 13 children, and was called Iñigo López de Recalde. When he was old enough, he became a page, and then a soldier of Spain to fight against the French. Eventually he found himself at the age of 30 in May of 1521 as an officer defending the fortress of the town of Pamplona against the French, who claimed the territory as their own against Spain. The Spaniards were terribly outnumbered and the commander of the Spanish forces wanted to surrender, but Ignatius convinced him to fight on for the honor of Spain, if not for victory. During the battle a cannon ball struck Ignatius, wounding one leg and breaking the other. Because they admired his courage, the French soldiers carried him back to recuperate at his home, the castle of Loyola, rather than to prison. His leg was set but did not heal, so it was necessary to break it again and reset it, all without anesthesia. Ignatius grew worse and was finally told by the...

We know very little about the early life of St. Jerome Emiliani(or Miani Miano also). Born in Venice in 1486, and like all important families followed a military career. In 1511 Castelnuovo was captured while fighting in the League of Cambrai. During his captivity, he dedicated himself to meditate on the impermanence of worldly power, as happened ten years after St. Ignatius of Loyola. Unexpectedly, was released a month later, and then felt alive vocation dedicated to serving the poor, the sick, young women abandoned and "repentance". A very vast field. After a short "novitiate" as a penitent with Giampietro Carafa, the future Paul IV, Jerome was ordained in 1518. Ten years later there was a tremendous shortage throughout the region and then a plague epidemic, then Jerome sold everything he had, including home furnishings, and devoted himself to the care of the infected. We had to bury the dead, and it was getting dark. But we also had to think about the living, esp...