Some saints like Teresa of ‘Avila and Catherine De’ Ricci are noted for their extraordinary mystical experiences, but they themselves placed little value on these. Both were noted for their good sense, balanced personality and wide circle of friends. Both were also dearly loved by all who knew them. Catherine De’ Ricci was the “finest…

St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a young man who threw everything away for God when he was scarcely out of his teens, became a leader of men before he was twenty-five, and became the conscience of the West for a whole generation. He was known as the “Harpist of Mary”, “Our Lady’s Troubadour”, and the…

When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home. Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, Anthony began to…

St. Joan of Arc was chosen for a mission that led only to disgrace and death. But this was the will of God for her, and she carried out that will even though it destroyed her. That kind of fidelity should inspire us in our own carrying out of the will of God no matter…

St. Louis de Montfort’s life is inseparable from his efforts to promote genuine devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church. He was born and grew up in Brittany, France, a Celtic nation. The Celtic culture seems to have seeped into the very heart of St. Louis: The high spiritedness of…

St. Martin was born in Peru in 1579. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish gentleman and a freed slave from Panama, of African or Native American descent. His father abandoned him when his sister was born and Martin was eight years old. Although Martin was reared in poverty, locked into a low level…

St. Francis de Sales was a remarkable saint and is one of the most lovable men who ever lived. Francis was born in Savoy in 1567 into a noble family near Geneva, Switzerland. He was both intelligent and gentle. He began his education at the age of eight. At an early age he desired to…

St. Katherine Drexel was born in Philadelphia in 1858. She had an excellent education and travel widely as the daughter of a wealthy family. In the life of wealth however, she witnessed her mother welcome into her home the poor three days a week and witnessed her father spending half an hour in prayer each evening.…

St. Therese of Lisieux was born Theresa Martin in Alencon, France in 1873, the fifth daughter in a deeply religious family. Theresa’s sisters all became nuns and that was her desire also. At a very young age, she entered the Carmel at Lisieux where she was known as Theresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy…

St. Teresa of Calcutta was born in Skopje, Macedonia on August 26, 1910 and is known today as Mother Theresa. At age 18 she was moved to pursue missionary work leaving home to join the Sisters of Loreto. She received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux. In 1929 she left for…