Getting to know your heavenly family and that great “cloud of witnesses”
“In Madame de Chantal I have found the perfect woman, whom Solomon had difficulty finding in Jerusalem”. —St. Francis de Sales, her spiritual director. St. Jane Frances de Chantal was born in Dijon, France, on Jan. 28, 1572, and died at the Visitation Convent Moulins on Dec. 13, 1641. Jane (Jeanne) was born into nobility,…
On July 30, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Peter Chrysologus, a fifth-century Italian bishop known for testifying courageously to Christ’s full humanity and divinity during a period of doctrinal confusion in the Church. The saint’s title, Chrysologus, signifies “golden speech” in Greek. Named as a Doctor of the Church in 1729, he is distinguished as…
Today, July 15, marks the feast day of St. Bonaventure, who is called “The Seraphic Doctor” of the Church. St. Bonaventure is known for his leadership of the Franciscans and his great intellectual contributions to theology and philosophy. St. Bonaventure was born in Bagnorea in Tuscany, Italy. He is widely believed to have been born…
On July 4, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Elizabeth of Portugal, a queen who served the poor and helped her country avoid war during the 13th and 14th centuries. Elizabeth of Portugal was named for her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who was canonized in 1235. Their lives were similar in some important ways: both…
On June 9, the Church honors St. Ephrem of Syria, a deacon, hermit, and Doctor of the Church who made important contributions to the spirituality and theology of the Christian East during the fourth century. Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christian celebrate his feast on Jan. 28. Ephrem was born in the city of Nisibis…
May 13 is the 100th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in the small village of Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. She appeared six times to Lucia, 9, and her cousins Francisco, 8, and his sister Jacinta, 6, between May 13, 1917 and Oct. 13, 1917. The story of Fatima begins…
