Saint James Berthieu
A shining example of what it means to give one's life for Christ, in union with His sacrifice on the cross, is offered by Saint James Berthieu (27 November 1838 - 8 June 1896). This French priest was a Jesuit missionary killed in Madagascar during the Malagasy rebellion of 1896, when he preferred martyrdom to giving in to repeated requests to deny the faith.
Saint Anthony Maria Gianelli
He was born and grew up in an era of accelerated secularisation, between the French Revolution and the Risorgimento. St Anthony Maria Gianelli (1789-1846), founder of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Garden, was an admirable example of a priest and bishop who was passionate about charity for his neighbour and aware of the urgency of relaunching an adequate Christian education aimed at the salvation of souls.
Corpus Christi
“How did you extract a piece of a living heart from a person?” is the question posed in 2005 by Frederick Zugibe (1928-2013), an expert in forensic medicine and professor at Columbia University, after analyzing a fragment of a consecrated Host, which in 1996 had turned into bleeding flesh in the parish of Santa Maria in Buenos Aires...
Saint Boniface
A tireless missionary, he was erudite and passionate about the Word of God. Out of love for the Creator he set off one last time at about 80 years of age, wishing to announce the Gospel to the pagans who would shortly afterwards martyr him.
Saint Francis Caracciolo
He is often depicted contemplating the Blessed Sacrament. Eucharistic adoration was in fact at the heart of his days and nights
Ugandan Holy Martyrs
Today the Church celebrates the memory of saint Charles Lwanga and other 21 Catholic martyrs killed on different days between 1885 and 1887 and proclaimed saints all together in October 1964 by Paul VI
Saints Marcellinus and Peter
In the early centuries of Christianity, Saints Marcellinus and Peter (†304), martyred during Diocletian's persecutions, enjoyed great popularity. We owe the oldest written record of their martyrdom to Saint Damasus (c. 305-384), the Pope who composed famous epigrams in honour of the martyrs and identified several sepulchres.
Saint Justin
The first philosopher to be proclaimed a saint lived his entire youth in a continuous search for truth. He moved from one philosophical school to another until his conversion to Christ, to which he gave witness tirelessly from then on, first with his teaching and then with his martyrdom
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
St Francis de Sales extolled Mary’s solicitude towards Elizabeth: “Charity and humility are not perfect unless they pass from God to neighbour. It is not possible to love God whom we do not see, if we do not love the people we see. This part is fulfilled in the Visitation”.
Most Holy Trinity
Fides omnium christianorum in Trinitate consistit, “the faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity”, Saint Augustine taught about the greatest mystery that exists.
Saint Paul VI
“The whole life of Paul VI was full of [...] adoration and veneration of the infinite mystery of God”, John Paul II said at the Angelus of 3 August 1980. And he added: “This is exactly how we see his figure in the light of all that he has done and taught; and we see this ever more clearly as time distances us from his earthly life and his ministry”.
Saint Germain of Paris
According to the hagiography written by his friend Venantius Fortunatus, Saint Germain of Paris (c. 496-576) risked not being born because of his mother's attempt to abort him
