Saint Joseph the Worker
On May 1, 1955, Pius XII instituted the feast of “St. Joseph the Worker” to help workers not to lose sight of the Christian sense of labour, so fully incarnated in the humble carpenter of Nazareth and glorious putative father of Jesus.
Saint Pius V
An impressive number of achievements were accomplished in the six years of the pontificate of Saint Pius V (1504-1572), one of the greatest figures of the Catholic Reformation, who defended the true faith against heresies and linked his name to the Battle of Lepanto.
Saint Catherine of Siena
The stigmata, the ecstasies, the conversations with God, the bilocations were just some of the countless graces received by Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), co-patroness of Italy and Europe.
Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
Saint Pius X not only recommended reading the Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, one of the masterpieces by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), but he also granted in writing the Apostolic Blessing “to all those who will read this Treatise”.
Saint Zita
Patroness of Lucca, in Tuscany, Saint Zita (1218-1278) enjoyed a widespread cult long before she was canonized, so much so that her contemporary Dante Alighieri mentioned her in the Divine Comedy.
Saint Paschasius Radbertus
Saint Paschasius Radbertus (c. 790-865) is considered the greatest theologian of the 9th century for his treatise on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, as well as for some works on Mary. He intuited the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception and wrote that “she was exempt from all original sin”.
Saint Mark
If St. Matthew writes for his fellow Jews (as we gather from his many references to Old Testament quotations revealing that Jesus is the Messiah), St. Mark wrote the second Gospel on the direct appeal of the first Christians of Rome, attracted by the teachings of St. Peter.
Divine Mercy Sunday
On 22 February 1931 Jesus first communicated to St. Faustina Kowalska His desire for a Feast of Divine Mercy to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, asking her to announce the extraordinary graces He would bestow.
Saint George
Saint George (c. 275 - c. 303) was already the object of an extensive and ancient cult long before the legendary image of his fight with the dragon, symbolizing the intrepid faith that triumphs over evil.
Saint Leonidas of Alexandria
The martyrdom of Saint Leonidas of Alexandria (†202), father of the philosopher and theologian Origen, took place during the persecutions ordered by Emperor Septimius Severus.
Saint Anselm of Aosta
Fides quaerens intellectum, “the faith that seeks the intellect”, was the guiding principle of Saint Anselm of Aosta or Canterbury (1033-1109). Called Doctor Magnificus, he devised a famous argument on the existence of God, which has engaged generations of philosophers and theologians.
Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
In 1374 Our Lord revealed to Saint Catherine of Siena that in Paradise she would enjoy a glory equal to that of Saint Agnes of Montepulciano (c. 1268-1317). This fact is indicative of the greatness of this relatively little known mystic.
