Feast day – May 16th Margaret was born of farming parents in Laviano, Tuscany. Her mother died when Margaret was seven; life with her stepmother was so difficult that Margaret moved out. For nine years she lived with Arsenio, though they were not married, and she bore him a son. In those years, she had […]
Saint of the Day – Saint Ignatius of Laconi
Feast day – May 11th Ignatius is another sainted begging brother. He was the second of seven children of peasant parents in Sardinia. His path to the Franciscans was unusual. During a serious illness, Ignatius vowed to become a Capuchin if he recovered. He regained his health but ignored the promise. When he was 20, […]
Saint of the Week – Blessed Michael Giedroyc
Feast day – May 4th A life of physical pain and mental torment didn’t prevent Michael Giedroyc from achieving holiness. Born near Vilnius, Lithuania, Michael suffered from physical and permanent handicaps from birth. He was a dwarf who had the use of only one foot. Because of his delicate physical condition, his formal education was […]
Saint of the Week – St. Louis Mary Grignion de Montfort
Feast Day – April 28th Louis’s life is inseparable from his efforts to promote genuine devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus and mother of the Church. Totus tuus (“completely yours”) was Louis’s personal motto; Pope John Paul II chose it as his episcopal motto. Born in the Breton village of Montfort, close to Rennes, […]
Saint of the Week – Saint Ludovico of Casoria’s Story
Feast Day – March 30 Born in Casoria, near Naples, Arcangelo Palmentieri was a cabinet-maker before entering the Friars Minor in 1832, taking the name Ludovico. After his ordination five years later, he taught chemistry, physics, and mathematics to younger members of his province for several years. In 1847, he had a mystical experience which […]
Saint of the Week – Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary
Feast Day – March 19th When the Bible speaks of God “justifying” someone, it means that God, the all-holy or “righteous” one, so transforms a person that the individual shares somehow in God’s own holiness, and hence it is really “right” for God to love him or her. In other words, God is not playing […]
Saint of the Week – Blessed Angela Salawa
Feast Day – March 12th Angela served Christ and Christ’s little ones with all her strength. Born in Siepraw, near Kraków, Poland, she was the 11th child of Bartlomiej and Ewa Salawa. In 1897, she moved to Kraków where her older sister Therese lived. Angela immediately began to gather together and instruct young women domestic […]
Saint of the Week – St. Dominic Savio
Feast Day – March 9th Born into a peasant family at Riva, Italy, young Dominic joined Saint John Bosco as a student at the Oratory in Turin at the age of 12. He impressed Don Bosco with his desire to be a priest and to help him in his work with neglected boys. A peacemaker […]
Saint of the Week – St. Casimir
Feast Day – March 4th Casimir, born of kings and in line to be a king himself, was filled with exceptional values and learning by a great teacher, John Dlugosz. Even his critics could not say that his conscientious objection indicated softness. As a teenager, Casimir lived a highly disciplined, even severe life, sleeping on […]
