A Merciful Shepherd
Callistus, a complex and much-debated figure of the early Church, was born in Rome in the second half of the 2nd century into a Christian family of servile condition. While still young, he became a slave in the household of a wealthy Christian named Carpophorus, who was connected to the imperial court.
The Patron of the English Monarchy
Saint Edward the Confessor, venerated as the Patron Saint of the English monarchy, was born around the year 1002 in Islip, near Oxford. The son of the Anglo-Saxon King Æthelred II and the Norman Emma, sister of Duke Richard II of Normandy, he spent much of his youth in exile at the Norman court, where he had taken refuge following the Danish invasion of 1013. He remained in Normandy for about twenty-five years, during which he developed a deep spirituality and a profound attachment to the Christian faith.
A Model for Young People
Through his life, he showed that holiness is not reserved only for priests or religious, but can be lived by anyone — even at school, in the family or in front of a computer screen. He was able to speak about God to his peers using the language of technology, passion and friendship. His coherence between faith and daily life, his willingness to do good and his faith deeply rooted in the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary make him a model for young people of our time.
The Pope of Peace and Dialogue with Everyone
“With your hand on your conscience may each one hear the anguished cry which is raised to the skies from all parts of the earth, from the innocent children to the elderly, from the people of the communities: Peace, peace! We renew this solemn plea today”.
Saving Africa through Africa
Daniele Comboni, who became the first Bishop of Central Africa and founder of two missionary institutes, was born into humble circumstances. He was born on March 15, 1831, in Limone sul Garda, northern Italy, into a poor family of farmers working for a landowner. His parents, Luigi and Domenica, were deeply religious yet their lives were marked by continual sorrow: Daniele was the only one of their eight children to survive past infancy.
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.
Faithful to Christ unto the ultimate sacrifice
In the heart of the Byzantine Empire, an ancient liturgical calendar commissioned by Emperor Basil II preserves the names of several Christian martyrs; among them we find Pelagia, alongside Domitius, Aquila—described as an eparch—and Theodosius. Their memory, kept alive in the Eastern tradition, also reached the West through the Roman Martyrology.
A crown of roses, as a compendium of the Gospel
The Feast of the Rosary was instituted by Saint Pius V with the name, “Our Lady of Victory, to commemorate the battle of Lepanto, which took place on 7 October 1571, when a fleet of the Holy League defeated a fleet of the Ottoman Empire. Christians attributed the victory to the protection of Mary, whom they had invoked by reciting the Rosary before going into battle.
Founder of the Carthusians
Saint Bruno remains to this day a model of contemplative life, of fruitful silence and of authentic detachment from the world. His spiritual work left a lasting mark on the history of Western monasticism. Bruno was born around 1030 in Cologne, Germany, into a noble family.
Messenger of the Mercy of God
Known as the Apostle of Divine Mercy and Teacher of the Interior Life, Saint Faustina Kowalska is one of the most significant spiritual figures of the 20th century, loved throughout the world for the mystical depth of her experience and for her mission in the history of the Church.
