St. Isidore was a Spanish day laborer who was born in 1070 and died in 1130. He learned the importance of a life of prayer and growing in the virtues despite lacking formal education and spent his life as a tenant farmer.
Born in France in 1567, Francis studied at Annecy, in Paris, and the University of Padua, receiving his doctorate in law at the age of twenty-four. He chose to enter religious life and was ordained in 1593. He spent four years reconverting
Born in Germany, Marianne moved to the United States with her family when she was 2. She entered the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in New York in 1862. She served as teacher, then
principal at a school for immigrant
Born into Roman nobility, Agnes was raised in a Christian family. A beautiful young girl, she was sought after by many suitors who wanted her hand in marriage. She refused them all and instead dedicated her life to the Lord. The suitors,
According to legend, Sebastian was born in Gaul and educated in Milan. Sebastian served as an officer in the imperial guard under Diocletian. He made converts of officials and jailers, and urged Christian prisoners to stay strong in their faith. He distinguished
Born in Egypt, Anthony was 20 when his parents died. Soon after inheriting the family estate, he gave away everything he owned, placed his sister in a convent and started a hermit's life in an ancient tomb near his village. Anthony endured
Born in Egypt, Paul was left an orphan at around the age of 15. He hid during the persecution under Emperor Decius. At the age of 22, he went to the desert to circumvent a planned effort by his brother-in-law to report
Hilary was raised as a pagan but converted to Christianity. He was elected bishop of Limonum (modern Poitiers) around 353, and shortly afterward, he emerged as the main defender of orthodoxy in the West against the Arians. Condemned for his stand by
Born in Troyes, France, Marguerite had a special devotion to Our Lady. She was turned away by several religious communities, but after meeting the founder of what is now Montreal, Canada, she traveled there to open a new school. She helped teach
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus’ baptism is described in all four Gospels and it marks the beginning of his public ministry. We know that —
Born in Spain, Raymond was already an accomplished academic and preacher when he joined the Dominicans in 1222. He authored for the order the influential manual on canon law for confessors, the Summa de Casibus Poenitentiae. Called to Rome as papal confessor