Saint of the day

Saint of the day

October 20: Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin

A Hidden Light

What is striking about her is not the extraordinariness of her works, but her ability to transform the ordinary into an inspired offering. Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin—born Anna Francesca—was a simple woman, at times impulsive, yet endowed with deep determination and remarkable self-control. Often the target of jealousy and misunderstanding, she never allowed herself to be discouraged: her resolve, “I want to become a saint and bring many souls to Jesus,” became her life’s program.

October 19: Saint Paul of the Cross

A Life Marked by the Passion of Christ

The figure of the suffering Christ was the silent yet powerful center of his spiritual life, the inner strength behind his apostolic zeal and the spark that gave birth to the mission of the religious community he founded. There is no doubt that Paul of the Cross is the Saint of the Passion of Jesus Christ.

18 October: Saint Luke the Evangelist

A physician who wrote the Gospel for pagans

Born in Antioch to a pagan family, Luke was a physician who was concerned about his patients and who was well aware of their weaknesses and misery. After hearing Saint Paul speak about Jesus, Luke embraced the faith and never left the Apostle again, following him to his martyrdom in Rome in 67 A.D.

October 17: Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Doctor of the Church

The Church as the Body of Christ

One of the most significant figures of the early Christian era is Saint Ignatius of Antioch, a bishop who lived during the first decades of the second century and is venerated as a martyr for his unshakable faith. Tradition holds that he was chosen to lead the Christian community of Antioch by Saint Peter himself. His forced transfer from Antioch to Rome is famous; during this journey, while a prisoner, he wrote seven letters that today stand as an invaluable testimony to the faith of the first Christians.

October 16: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

The Messenger of the Heart of Christ

In the heart of the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XIV (1638–1715), France was still bearing the wounds of the religious wars. Meanwhile, within the Church, a stern and austere spiritual current was spreading — Jansenism. This movement, far removed from the spirit of mercy, tended to instill fear rather than love of God in the faithful. At the same time, following the guidelines set by the Council of Trent, new religious communities were flourishing. Among them was the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, founded in Annecy in 1610 by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal. The two founders saw their Order as a gift born from the very Heart of Jesus and Mary — the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice.

15 October: Saint Teresa of Jesus, Doctor of the Church

A woman who reformed men

The Apostolic Nuncio in Spain, Archbishop Filippo Sega, described Teresa of Jesus as “a restless and wandering woman… whose teachings opposed Saint Paul’s command that women should not teach”. His description of the restlessness of Teresa of Jesus, in the world Teresa de Ahumada, was accurate. Indeed, at the time of his comments, she had already founded 12 monasteries throughout Spain and had travelled more than 50,000 kilometres. And she had done all this with the travel means available at the time, journeying on roads that were not quite roads, with all the discomforts involved in moving from one side of the kingdom to the other, especially for a woman, and even more so, for a nun.  She managed to open 17 monasteries with very few funds, health problems and countless difficulties in finding homes that could be turned into religious convents. Her “crime” was that she was a woman, and above all, a reformer of consecrated life, including that of males.