“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was...
St. Gertrude was a gifted cloistered nun, scholar, and mystic. Nothing is known of her family, but she was born in Thuringia (in the Holy Roman Empire) in 1256. She was but five years old when she arrived, either orphaned or left with relatives, at the Benedictine Cistercian monastery at...
“The more my body suffers for Christ, the more my soul is strengthened.” St. Probus (3rd-4th centuries) “Jesus’ cross is an example of painful toil. His resurrection is the reward of painful toil. In the cross He showed us how we are to bear suffering. In His resurrection He showed...
St. Anthony Daniel was a devoted and intrepid Jesuit priest and missionary and a martyr. Anthony (Antoine in French) was born to a merchant and his wife in 1601 in Dieppe in northern France. At age seventeen, he attended a university, where he studied law for one year and philosophy...
“As the man whom the priest baptizes is enlightened by the grace of the Holy Ghost, so does he who in penance confesses his sins, receive through the priest forgiveness in virtue of the grace of Christ.” St. Athanasius (3rd-4th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “It is not enough to...
MICHAEL IN SCRIPTURE St. Michael the Archangel is universally regarded as one of God’s most powerful angels against all that is evil. Michael, an angel, and thus a pure spirit, is the only angel mentioned by name four times in Holy Scripture. Most significant are his appearances in the twelfth...
“Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down...
St. Jane Frances de Chantal was a devoted wife and mother and the foundress of a vital women’s religious order. Jane (Jeanne Francoise) was born in 1572 at Dijon, France to Benigne and Marguerite Fremyot. Benigne was the president of the parliament of the Province of Burgundy. Marguerite died when...
“Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.” St. John Chrysostom (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “Remember, there is One Who listens to you, so do not hesitate to pray to Him. But He abides...
Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez was a layman active in service to the Church. Carlos was born in 1918 in the city of Caguas, Puerto Rico. His parents were Manuel and Herminia (Santiago) Rodriguez, and Manuel operated a small store attached to the family home. Carlos had four siblings, and the...