Saint Apollonia
The Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius of Caesarea (265-340) reports the contents of a letter from Saint Dionysius of Alexandria (190-265) to Bishop Fabius of Antioch, where the martyrdom of Saint Apollonia is described as a consequence of the preaching of a fortune-teller who had incited the pagan crowds of Alexandria to persecute Christians.
Saint Josephine Bakhita
In the encyclical Spe Salvi, Benedict XVI draws on the life of Josephine Bakhita for a meditation on hope, a theological virtue that had entered powerfully in the life of the Sudanese Saint thanks to the knowledge of the true God.
Saint John of Triora
John of Triora (1760-1816) was one of the missionaries who proclaimed Christ in China without yielding to compromise, to the point of sacrificing their lives. He was canonised by John Paul II on October 1st, 2000, together with 119 other martyrs (beatified at different times and whose leader in the Martyrology is Augustine Zhao Rong) killed in China between 1648 and 1930.
Holy Martyrs of Nagasaki
By postponing their liturgical memory by one day, to avoid the coincidence with that of Saint Agatha, the Church today remembers the martyrdom that took place on February 5th, 1597 on a hill near Nagasaki, where 26 crucified Christians glorified Christ to their last breath.
Saint Agatha
The popular piety aroused by the martyrdom of Saint Agatha (c. 229-235, † 5 February 251), the Sicilian virgin who testified to her unshakeable faith in Christ during Decius' persecutions, spread quickly throughout Christendom.
Saint Gilbert of Sempringham
Gilbert of Sempringham (c. 1083-1189), founder of the only religious order that was entirely English, was the son of a wealthy feudal lord of Norman origin, who had settled in England as a result of William the Conqueror's victorious military campaign and rise to the throne.
Saint Blaise
The Saint famous for the protection of the throat was bishop of Sebaste, in ancient Armenia Minor (now in central Turkey), where he suffered martyrdom in 316 under Licinius, the then Emperor of the East.
Presentation of the Lord
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord concludes the Christmas celebrations by recalling that, 40 days after His birth, Jesus was taken to the temple by Mary and Joseph.
Saint Brigid of Ireland
According to three ancient biographies, Brigid's mother was a Christian Pict slave named Brocca, who had been baptised by Saint Patrick; her father was a pagan chieftain, whose name was Dubthach.
Saint John Bosco
Saint John Bosco (1815-1888) was a pedagogue, a writer, a publisher, a saint endowed with countless mystical gifts; he was a father to a myriad of disadvantaged children and young people whom he educated to work and to a Christian life in a Turin in the feverish climate of industrialisation.
Saint Hyacintha Marescotti
The youth of Saint Hyacintha Marescotti (1585-1640), was not what she would have preferred. She became a Franciscan tertiary without a vocation and while still upset from disappointed love.
Saint Constantius
Saint Constantius, revered as the first bishop of Perugia, was martyred in the 2nd century, either under Marcus Aurelius (in office from 161 to 180) or during the persecutions of his predecessor Antoninus Pius.
