Getting to know your heavenly family and that great “cloud of witnesses”
On April 28, the universal Church celebrates the feast day of Louis-Marie de Monfort, a 17th century saint who is revered for his intense devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Louis-Marie is perhaps most famously known for his prayer of entrustment to Our Lady, “Totus Tuus ego sum,” which means, “I am all yours.”…
On April 11, the Catholic Church honors the memory of the 11th-century bishop and martyr St. Stanislaus of Krakow, who died for the faith at the hands of King Boleslaus II. Canonized in 1253, St. Stanislaus is a beloved patron of the Polish nation and people. In his own country he is commemorated May 8,…
On April 4, the Catholic Church honors St. Isidore of Seville, a bishop and scholar who helped the Church preserve its own traditions, and the heritage of western civilization, in the early middle ages. In 653, less than two decades after his death, a council of bishops in Spain acclaimed St. Isidore as “an illustrious…
Among Welsh Catholics, as well as those in England, March 1 is the liturgical celebration of St. David of Wales. St. David is the patron of the Welsh people, remembered as a missionary bishop and the founder of many monasteries during the sixth century. David was a popular namesake for churches in Wales prior to…
On Feb. 11, the Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, recalling a series of 18 appearances that the Blessed Virgin Mary made to a 14-year-old French peasant girl, St. Bernadette Soubirous. Our Lady of Lourdes (Feb. 11) Patron of the sick, invoked against bodily ills and diseasesThe Marian apparitions began Feb. 11,…
St. Angela Merici, foundress of the Ursuline Sisters, was born in the small Italian town of Desenzano on the shore of Lake Garda in 1474. As a young girl, Angela lost in succession her sister and both of her parents. She went to live with a wealthy uncle in the town of Salo where, without…
