BORN A SLAVE Venerable Augustus Tolton was born a slave and overcame tremendous discrimination to become the first Roman Catholic priest of African descent in the United States. Augustus was born in 1854 to slaves Peter Paul Tolton and his wife Martha Jane Chisley in Brush Creek, Missouri. Augustus was the second...
“Once, in Cana of Galilee, He turned water into wine, resembling blood. Is it incredible, then, that He should have turned wine into blood? When called to a bodily marriage, He miraculously worked that wonder. Shall He not rather be acknowledged to have given the fruit of His body and...
St. Charles Lwanga and companions were martyrs for purity during Christian persecution in Uganda. CHRISTIANITY COMES TO THE KINGDOM OF BUGANDA In the early1880s, Christian missionaries entered the Ugandan Kingdom of Buganda, and were welcomed by King Mutesa. They were especially successful with the young people, many of whom served...
“Let [the Christian] examine his charity, to be able to say: I am born of God. If he lacks it, he is a deserter running away, even if he bears the seal of a Christian.” St. Augustine of Hippo (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “Love, by its nature, is...
St. John Berchmans was a gifted Jesuit seminarian who lived a short life of exemplary virtue. John was born in 1599 to a master shoemaker’s family in Belgium. From early childhood, he wished to become a priest. He was notably affectionate and kind, and he possessed a cheerful disposition. He...
“So it falls out that in this world, in evil days like these, the Church walks onward like a wayfarer stricken by the world’s hostility, but comforted by the mercy of God. Nor does this state of affairs date only from the days of Christ’s and His Apostles’ presence on...
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez was a Jesuit brother who overcame great personal tragedy to become a kindly and esteemed porter and spiritual advisor. Alphonsus was born at Segovia, Spain in 1533 to a prosperous cloth merchant and his wife. The family hosted a young [St.] Peter Favre (Faber) for an extended...
“Quiet is the first step in our sanctification, the tongue purified from the gossip of the world; the eyes unexcited by fair color or comely shape; the ear not relaxing the tone of the mind by voluptuous songs, nor by that special mischief, the talk of comedians and clowns.” St....
“Sometimes all the powers of our souls are concentrated and withdrawn as a result of the deep reverence, the undisturbing fear, that takes hold of us as we reflect on the majesty of the King in Whose presence we are, Who is looking at us; just as we should pull...
Saints Eulogius, priest, and Leocritia, laywoman, of Cordoba were martyrs for the faith during the Moorish occupation of southern Spain. Since the early eighth century, southern Spain was under the rule of the Moors. They were a Muslim people mostly from northern Africa who had invaded the Iberian peninsula, as...