Joachim and Anne are mentioned as the parents of Mary in the apocryphal Gospel of James. Born in Bethlehem, Anne married Joachim and although they had wealth and led a devout life, they were left childless. Joachim retreated to the desert to
Saint Sharbel Makhluf was a priest and a monk who never traveled far from his home village of Bekaa Kafra, Lebanon. Yet his influence as intercessor after his death has extended to non-Christians to include Muslims. Born in 1828 as Joseph Zaroun
Born in Italy in 1550, Saint Camillus de Lellis was initially an aggressive and quarrelsome young man who was also a compulsive gambler. But thanks to the inspiration of the Capuchin Franciscan friars and a good spiritual director, St. Camillus founded a
This article tells the story of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a young Native American girl whose brief life was exemplary in displaying heroic virtue in the face of brutal rejection by her own people. Living in a pagan culture, St. Kateri chose to
Born in Nursia, in central Italy, near the year 480, Benedict went to Rome to study. Disillusioned by the moral corruption he found in the city, he fled to Subiaco and became a hermit. There, he organized 12 monasteries and established the
Maria was born to a poor farming family in Italy in 1890. After her father's death, Maria was put in charge of the household while her mother worked in the fields. Her family shared a house with another family, the Serenellis. One
Called to be one of the twelve Apostles, Thomas is known for doubting a post-Resurrection appearance until he himself saw the risen Lord. For this, history has called him "doubting Thomas." Four apocryphal writings are attributed to Thomas, and he was known
July 1 is the feast day of St. Junipero Serra
Doctor of the Church, bishop and apologist, St. Irenaeus was a foremost defender of the Catholic faith in the second century whose witness to the truth has protected what we believe today. Born to Greek parents in a Christian family in Smyrna,
Saint Paulinus of Nola was a poet and Roman statesman who converted to Christianity. Although St. Paulinus may have been raised a nominal Christian, he was inspired by the faith of simple people and later by the trauma of two family tragedies