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Caterina di Favarone, a member of the Offreduccio family and younger sister of Clare of Assisi, was born in the Umbrian city in 1197. Before she had even turned sixteen, she felt the desire to follow her elder sister’s example, choosing a life shaped by evangelical poverty and the Franciscan way.
Albrecht von Bollstädt, better known as Albert the Great, was a Bishop, a philosopher, a theologian, a naturalist, a chemist and the teacher of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He was highly educated, especially in natural sciences, and wrote a Summa Theologiae that became the model for Aquinas’ own celebrated, Summa Theologiae.
A model of courage, holiness, and commitment to justice and unity: this is the example offered by Laurence O’Toole (Lorcan Ua Tuathail), born in Castledermot, County Kildare, in 1128 into an Irish noble family.
Artemide Zatti was born in Boretto, Italy, in the province of Reggio Emilia, on 12 October 1880. From an early age he had to face the hardships of life; at just nine years old he was already working as a farm laborer to earn a living. Because of poverty, his family emigrated in 1897 to Argentina, settling in Bahía Blanca.
He is known above all for his humility, his charity toward the poor, and his dedication to the sick and the marginalized. Even during his lifetime he was regarded as a saint because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession. This is Saint Didacus or San Diego of Alcalá, born around 1400 in San Nicolás del Puerto, in the region of Seville, Andalusia (Spain). From a young age, he felt a strong call to a solitary life dedicated to prayer and humble labor. After entering the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), he devoted himself with humility to the simplest services within the religious community.
There is no doubt that Saint Martin of Tours is well known throughout the world, if for no other reason than his act of charity of sharing half his cloak with a beggar. According to tradition, on that same night Jesus appeared to him wrapped in the beggar’s garments, wearing half a cloak.
This “cape” that belonged to Saint Martin was preserved as a celebrated relic and became part of the collection of the Merovingian kings. Charlemagne sent the Saint’s cape to the Palatine chapel of Aachen, whose name was changed to Aix-la-Chapelle in French and Aachen in German. The chapel’s name has its roots in the place where the Merovingian kings kept Saint Martin’s cape.
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