St. Colette was the founder of the Colettine Poor Clares (Clarisses) Colette was born January 13, 1381 as the daughter of a carpenter named DeBoilet at Corby Abbey in Picardy, France. Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor. She became a Franciscan tertiary, and lived at Corby …

Self-denial is never an end in itself but is only a help toward greater charity—as the life of Saint John Joseph shows. John Joseph was very ascetic even as a young man. He devoted himself even at his youngest years to a life of poverty and fasting. At 16 he …

St. Angela of the Cross is the Foundress of the Institute of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross. Born on January 30, 1846 in Seville, Spain, and given the baptismal name “Maria of the Angels” Guerrero Gonzalez, the future Saint was affectionately known as “Angelita”. Her father worked …

St. Apollonia was a holy virgin who suffered martyrdom in Alexandria during a local uprising against the Christians in the early 3rd century. During festivities commemorating the founding of the Roman Empire, a mob began attacking Christians. The great Dionysius, then Bishop of Alexandria (247-265), related the sufferings of Apollonia: …

On Feb. 6, the Catholic Church honors the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of native Japanese Catholics and foreign missionaries who suffered death for their faith in the year 1597. During the 16th century, the Catholic faith reached Japan by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier …

by Mary Farrow Denver, Colo., Dec 31, 2020 / 04:01 pm MT (CNA).- While the COVID-19 pandemic has turned life upside down for many people in 2020, it’s not the first time the Church has gone through a major health crisis. In the middle of the 14th century, the plague …

Today is the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket on December 29, 1170. Thomas Becket was a statesman, a scholar, a chancellor, a priest, an archbishop, and a lion of religious liberty. Before the Magna Carta was drafted, before the right to free exercise of religion was …

by Mary Farrow Lafayette, La., Dec 23, 2020 / 04:00 pm MT (CNA).- Three Cajun Catholics from the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana are on their way to becoming canonized saints after a historic ceremony earlier this year. During the Jan. 11 ceremony, Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette officially opened …

Blessed Pope Urban V was born Guillaume de Grimoard at Grisac in Languedoc, 1310. He studied canon law and theology in Avignon and became a Benedictine monk. He was named abbot of his monastery in 1352, and served as a papal diplomat and was eventually sent as an ambassador to …

On November 28, the Church honors St. Catherine Labouré, the humble Daughter of Charity to whom Mary appeared, requesting that the Miraculous Medal be stamped so that all who wear it would receive great graces. Saint Catherine Labouré was born in France on May 2, 1806. She was the ninth …