Blessed Niels Stensen was a brilliant scientist, Catholic convert, and devoted bishop and reformer. He was born to a Lutheran family in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1638. At the time of Niels’ birth, the long, complicated Thirty Years War was raging in much of Europe, including Denmark. Niels’ father, Sten Peterson,...
St. Agnes of Assisi was an abbess, and with her sister, a pioneer in establishing one of the great mendicant women’s religious orders. She was born Caterina Offreduccio c. 1197 to a noble family in Assisi, Italy. Her father was Count Favorino Scifi and her mother was [Bl.] Hortulana of...
St. Anthony Mary Claret was a missionary archbishop, chaplain to royalty, founder and publisher. Anthony was born in 1807 to Juan and Josefa Claret and the family lived in the town of Sallent in the Catalonia region of Spain. Juan owned a textile/weaving business, and Anthony was the fifth of...
St. Just de Bretenières was a missionary priest and a martyr for the Faith in Korea. Just was born in 1838 at Chalons-sur-Saone in eastern France. His father was the Baron of the nearby town of Bretenières. Just had a younger brother named Christian. The family was well-to-do, and the...
St. Caesarius of Arles was a great preacher, bishop and theologian of the early Church in Gaul (modern France). He was born at Châlons in Burgundy c. 470. This city is now known as Chalon-sur-Saône, located in eastern France. His parents were Gallo-Roman and were apparently of minimal Christian faith....
St. Elizabeth of Portugal was a wife, mother, and queen; as well as a generous philanthropist and a Franciscan tertiary. Elizabeth was born in 1271 to King Peter III of the House of Aragon, and his wife Constance of Sicily. She was born at the royal Aragon Palace at what...
BORN TO ROYALTY St. Columba was a missionary priest and abbot, known as the Apostle to the Picts. Columba was born to a Gaelic Irish royal family at Gartan in County Donegal in northern Ireland in the year 521. His parents were Phelim and Eithne, and the child was probably baptized Columb...
St. Isidore the Farmer was a humble and devout farm worker who experienced many miracles. Isidro (Isidore in English) de Merlo y Quintana was born about the year 1070 in Madrid, Spain. He was named after the great bishop and Doctor of the Church St. Isidore of Seville, and was...
St. Juliana of Liège was a religious and an anchoress who is largely responsible for the worldwide Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. Juliana was born at Retinnes, near Liège in what then the Holy Roman Empire, now in eastern Belgium, in 1192. She was orphaned at age five and placed...
St. Turibius of Mogrovejo was a Spanish missionary, bishop, and Church reformer. Turibius was born in 1538 to Luis Alfonso de Mogrovejo and his wife Ana at Mayorga, Spain. Luis was a governor, and his children were well-educated, in keeping with the family’s status as nobility. Turibius was an exceptionally...