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Since medieval times, the Church has preserved a profound veneration for Mary, celebrating her conception without sin as early as the 11th century. This feast, placed at the heart of Advent, illuminates the expectation of the Messiah by recalling the unique bond between the Mother and the Son: Mary, shaped by the Spirit as a new creature, is presented by tradition as the one foretold in the promise made to the first parents, the woman destined to share in the victory over evil and to give birth to Emmanuel.
She was a happy girl from a fairly well-off animist family that lived in Olgossa, in Sudan’s Darfur region. In 1878, when she was nine years old, she was abducted by slave traders and her life soon turned into a nightmare. The resulting trauma was so profound that she could no longer remember her name, and her captors mockingly called her “Bakhita”, which means “lucky”.
Elizabeth Catez was born in 1880 at Camp d’Avor, near Bourges. As a child she showed a strong temperament—at times impulsive and even prone to anger—but her character changed profoundly when her mother explained the meaning of First Communion: to receive Jesus, one needed to offer a gentle and willing heart.
The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are united in their celebration of the Nativity of Mary. This feast was born in the East and was introduced to Rome by Sergius 1, in the seventh century. On that day, a procession would leave from the Church of Sant’Andrea al Foro, and head to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. According to the liturgical Calendar, the Feast Day was celebrated on 8 September. In the East, the Nativity of Mary had been celebrated since the 4th century and was linked to the construction of the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, which was built on the site of Anne and Joachim’s house, where Mary was believed to be born. From Jerusalem the recollection of the nativity of Mary spread to Constantinople, where the Eastern Church linked it to the Conception. It should be noted that the Church celebrates the birth on earth and in heaven only of Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist.
As a mediator and peacemaker in disputes between warring towns, Saint Andrew Corsini, a Carmelite religious and Bishop of Fiesole, was imprisoned for his zeal.
Saint Andrew was born into an aristocratic Florentine family in Florence on 30 November 1301, and had a carefree adolescence. He entered the Carmine convent when he was 15 years old, distinguishing himself for his charity towards the poor and those in need. After he was ordained a priest, he was sent to the University of Paris to complete his studies.
Francesca Bussa in Ponziani was known to people as “Ceccolella”. She was born into a noble family and was recognized for her charity and for her lack of shame in begging for alms for the poor.
Born in Rome in 1384 to Paolo Bussa di Leoni and Giacobella di Roffredeschi, she loved to read the biographies of the saints as a young child, and was attracted to spiritual matters. Her spiritual guide was Fr. Antonio di Monte Savello, an Olivetan Benedictine who served at the Church of Santa Maria Nuova al Foro. She wished to consecrate herself to God, but by the time she was 12, her father had already made plans to marry her off to Lorenzo Ponziani, who hailed from a very wealthy family.
The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour, and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, commonly known as Saint John Lateran, is the Cathedral of Rome. Mater et Caput of all the Churches in the Urbe and Orbe, it is a point of reference for the Universal Church. On 9 November, we celebrate its dedication by Pope Sylvester, which took place in 324, 1,700 years ago.
Jesus, “Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as Thou shinest: so to shine as to be a light to others” (Meditations on Christian Doctrine, VII,3). These celebrated words by Cardinal John Henry Newman sum up his thoughts and his legacy. He was a person who was “inconvenient” for his time, who drew many different reactions including among Catholics. He is known for his openness to lay people and to their participation in the evangelization of England in the 19th century, at a time when the country was still tied to tradition and against change. But Newman was certainly not one to take a step back, and he promoted an intelligent and well instructed laity: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold, and what they do not, who know their creed so well, that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it” (The Present Position of Catholics in England, IX, 390). He involved laypeople in teaching catechesis, and was met with opposition, even among the clergy.
For centuries, the Canossa were an important noble family in northern Italy. In the year 1077 the famous Matilda of Canossa played a leading role as mediator during the serious diplomatic crisis between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, who had excommunicated the emperor.
"Let those who have, give; let those who don’t, take": so read a sign placed on an open hat in a very special doctor’s office. This was the clinic where Saint Giuseppe Moscati practiced medicine. The poor were never charged for their visits—in fact, they often left with gifts of food and medicine.
Many miracles are attributed to Saint Peter, but one is truly special. It involves another saint, or rather, the Apostle invites a paralytic girl in a vision, who turns to his intercession in prayer, to go and look for a certain Abbondio if she wanted to be healed.
In our era he may have been called a globetrotter because he loved to visit the main Sanctuaries of Europe on foot: from Santiago de Compostela to Loreto, from Rome to Gargano. He is Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, known as the beggar or wanderer of God. In less than fifteen years, it is estimated that he traveled thousands of kilometers until he settled in Rome. At first, he found refuge under an arch of the Colosseum and people brought him alms which he promptly distributed to those he considered poorer than himself. He then found a place near the Basilica of Saints Sylvester and Martin, in Rome’s Monti district.
He is known as a great miracle worker. In fact, his life is studded with miracles which he performed, above all, in favor of the poor and oppressed, becoming widely known as their defender. He is Saint Francis of Paola, from the name of the Calabrian town where he was born on March 27, 1416, to a devout Catholic family of landowners. Advanced in age, his parents resorted to the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi to have children. When their firstborn arrived, in gratitude to the Saint, they named him Francis and from an early age, the presence of God burst into his life.
What we know about Saint Mark comes to us through the Acts of the Apostles in some letters of Saints Peter and Paul. He was not part of the first group of the Apostles but was a disciple first of Paul and then of Peter. Some authors identify him as the young man, son of the widow Mary, who followed Jesus after his arrest in Gethsemane. On that occasion, he narrowly escaped capture when grabbed, running away by leaving behind the linen robe he was wearing. In his writings, he sometimes also appears with the name of John-Mark.
Embracing the fruits of Baptism he discovered the simplest, shortest and safest path to Jesus, that is, through devotion to the Virgin Mary. Thus Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort proposed to the faithful the consecration to Jesus by the hand of Mary the Mother of God. He wrote in his famous Treatise on True Devotion: “It is through the Most Holy Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through her that he must reign in the world”.
A woman consumed with love and fidelity for the Church, dedicating her life and energy to the Pope, bishops, priests, the consecrated and laity, Saint Catherine of Siena was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970, the second woman ever to receive the title after Saint Teresa of Avila.
Elected in 1566, Pope Pius V, a Dominican friar and a great ascetic, is noted for leading the counter-reformation, establishing the Catechism and promulgating the Breviary and the Roman Missal which carry his name.
Saint Isidore is the last of the Latin Fathers of the Church and is credited with having guided the society of the Iberian Peninsula, a center of culture and learning, by unifying the Roman Catholic inhabitants with the Arian Goths.
He was called the Angel of the Apocalypse for his fiery sermons on the end times and the eternal destiny that awaits humanity. Recalling his contemporaries to coherence in life via the professed faith and announcing the Gospel with vigor and courage, he did not fear the powerful of his time. He is Saint Vincent Ferrer, born on January 23, 1350, in Valencia, Spain, to Don Guillermo Ferrer and Lady Costanza Miguel.
In 17th century France, schooling was no longer in step with the times. Teaching was dispersive and far from the social needs of a changing society. Culture was reserved for an elite and primary school was still based on the private individual method. A young priest had the courage to transform schooling, making it a place for anyone to prepare for life, become educated and acquire knowledge.
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