20th Century
First non-Italian pope in 455 years; 3rd longest reigning pope; canonized more saints than all other popes combined; had a special love for all young people; began the New Evangelization
Who was Pope St. John Paul II ?
The Husband of Mary, the foster father for Jesus.
Who was St. Joseph?
He was born in Italy in 1815. He founded a school and a boarding home for boys, and taught them how to use a printing press. He had many lifelike spiritual dreams about heaven and hell, which he passed on to his boys. He also performed circus acts to get the boys to listen to his sermons.
Who was St. John Bosco?
This patron saint was a wonderful musician but sadly met her demise in 280 A.D., when she was violently stabbed through the neck. She is the patron saint of singers and poets.
Who is Saint Cecilia?
This is the patron saint of writers. His feast day is January 24. He wrote the book "Introduction to a Devout Life" in 1609. He was canonized in 1665 by Pope Alexander VII.
Who is St. Francis de Sales?
This female patron saint shares the same first name as a modern-day successful "home-making" entrepreneur. Coincidentally, this patron saint is associated with cooks, dieticians, and domestic servants.
Who is Saint Martha?
He carried baby Jesus across a river and is the patron saint of travelers.
Who is St. Christopher?
She was born in France in 1873, to middle class parents. Her mother died when she was only 4. She became very sick when she was 8, but was cured when a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary smiled at her. At age 14, she received a vision of Jesus, which made it clear for her the sacrifice that had been made for her and the rest of us. This so strengthened her faith, that she appealed face to face with Pope Leo XIII to allow her to enter the Carmelite monastery early at age 15, which she did. Taking her final vows at age 17, she kept a prolific diary, outlining her little way of holiness., which is childlike trust in God and performing small daily acts of kindness with humility. She is a doctor of the Church.
Who was St. Therese of Lisieux?
Early Church Bishop of Hippo to experienced a profound conversion after his mother prayed for him for many years.
Who was St. Augustine?
He was born in France, in 1567. He is one of the doctors of the Church. He is best known for his strong preaching against Calvinism in Geneva, which brought many protestants back to the Catholic Church.
Who was St. Francis de Sales?
Was born and raised Jewish but later converted the Catholicism and became a sister. Then she turned herself in with her family and died in a concentration camp.
Who was St. Edith Stein (Therese Benedicta of the Cross)?
He was born of Roman nobility in 480. Rejecting paganism, he fled to the desert and lived in a cave, where he was fed by the ravens. He drove demons out of many places. He established an order with strict rules. His own monks tried to poison him, but he blessed the poison so that it didn’t harm him. He had the ability to read consciences and to prophecy. His order still survives today, and his medal is a strong deterrent to satan.
Who is St. Benedict?
She was born in Sudan in 1869. This African flower, who knew the anguish of kidnapping and slavery, bloomed marvelously in Italy, in response to God's grace, with the Daughters of Charity, where everyone still calls her "Mother Moretta" (our Black Mother")
St. Josephine Bakhita
He was a French nobleman who gave up his riches to help the poor and suffering. When he contracted a plague, he went to a forest to die, but was nursed back to health by a dog.
Who is St. Roch?
He was born in a stable, in 1603, the son of a poor carpenter. At age 8 he received ecstatic visions from heaven. Having a hot temper, his mother continuously worked on him to overcome it. Working as a shoemaker, he applied to become a Capuchin monk, but his ecstasies caused his superiors to reject him. Finally becoming an oblate at a Franciscan monastery, his ecstasies helped him to overcome his lack of education, solving many problems for himself and others. His ecstasies also caused him to levitate while saying Mass, which caused his superiors to forbid him from saying Mass in public. He even survived being interrogated by the Inquisition.
Who was St. Joseph Cupertino?
This 20th century medical doctor chose to postpone her own medical treatment in order to save the life of her unborn daughter.
Who was St. Gianna Molla?
He was a young Sicilian Christian martyr and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, celebrated for his steadfast faith during Diocletian's persecution. Known as the patron saint of dancers, actors, and against epilepsy.
Who is St. Vitus?
She was born in Italy in 1880. She was a farm girl, one of 13 children. She became a nun in 1877, working at an orphanage. When it closed, Pope Leo XIII asked her to move to the US. She founded 67 institutions, including schools, hospitals, and orphanages. She became a US citizen, and was the first American citizen to be canonized a saint.
Who is St. Frances Cabrini?
He bore the stigmata, in the 13th Century. He was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. He fought in an Italian civil war, and was taken prisoner for over a year. Following his release, he renounced his wealth and lived as a beggar. He started a very famous religious order that has changed the world, even today. During the Crusades, he went to the war front and preached Christianity to the Sultan.
Who is St. Francis of Assisi?
Hi is said to have been born with a red cross image across his breast in 1295, St. Roch was born to a noble family at Montpelier, France. Orphaned at age 20, he made a pilgrimage to Rome where he cared for plague victims. Taken ill with the plague, Roch recovered with the aid of a dog who took food from his masters table to feed him. This led to his being named the patron saint of dogs. Roch then performed miracles to help the afflicted.
Who is St. Roch?
A "martyr of charity". He was a prison in the death camp "Auschwitz". He took another person's place to die of starvation.
St. Maximilian Kolbe
(c. 347–420) is the primary patron saint of librarians, archivists, scholars, and translators, recognized for his immense scholarly work, specifically translating the Bible into the Latin Vulgate. His feast day is September 30, which is also celebrated as International Translation Day.
Who is Saint Jerome?
He was a 20th-century Pope known for his deep piety, humble beginnings, and efforts to "restore all things in Christ". As pope from 1903 to 1914, he revolutionized the Church by encouraging frequent Holy Communion, lowering the age for first communion to seven, and initiating the first Code of Canon Law.
Who is St. Pius X?
She was born in Italy in 1347. She had a vision at age 6 where Jesus blessed her. Refusing her parents’ desire to marry, she became a Dominican mystic and stigmatist. Later in life, she had another vision where she was married to Jesus, and the infant Jesus presented her a wedding ring. This doctor of the Church was a counselor to two popes.
Who was Who is St. Catherine of Siena?
She was of Cascia (1381–1457) and was a beloved Italian Augustinian nun known as the "Patroness of Impossible Causes" and patron saint of abused wives, widows, and difficult marriages. She endured a violent marriage, familial murder, and loss, yet became a model of peace, forgiveness, and devotion before entering the convent at 36.
Who is St. Rita?