Category Archives: Saints

Saint of the Day

May 6: Blesseds Edward Jones and Antony Middleton

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In the sixteenth century, it was illegal to be Catholic and deadly to be a Catholic priest. Edward Jones was born in Wales; Antony Middleton was born in Yorkshire. They both traveled to France to study for the priesthood and then returned to England secretly.

Edward had a youthful appearance and was able to remain undetected for some time. Antony became known as a zealous preacher, making him a more obvious target in anti-Catholic England. Spies who pretended to be Catholic tracked down both men and had them arrested. Though the trial, according to witnesses, was full of irregularities, the two men were condemned to death. Blesseds Edward and Antony died by hanging on this date in 1590.

Holy Martyrs, show me how to live and die for Christ.

Saint of the Day

May 5: Saint Angelo of Siciliy

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As is sometimes the case, accurate details about the life of this saint are hard to disentangle from later, embroidered accounts. Saint Angelo (d. 1220) was one of the earliest members of the Carmelite order and lived in Sicily, Italy. His preaching about the Gospel apparently included admonitions to live a virtuous life, rather than a sinful life, which annoyed a powerful man named Berengarius. One day, a band of Berengarius’ men attacked Angelo while he was preaching to a crowd and stabbed him. Saint Angelo prayed for his murderer as he died, and the Church acknowledges him as both a saint and a martyr.

Saint Angelo, show me how to forgive.

Saint of the Day

May 4: Blessed Michael Giedroyc

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Blessed Michael Giedroyc (d. 1485) was the only son of noble parents in Lithuania. He suffered all his life from poor health, dwarfism, and an accident that deprived him of the use of one of his feet. Obviously, the secular career that his parents hoped for him would be difficult or impossible.

But Michael apparently accepted all his physical limitations with peace, offering up additional mortifications on his own initiative, praying, and choosing to become an Augustinian Canon Regular. He lived in a cell next to the church as a hermit, living an extremely austere life—only eating vegetables, bread, and salt—even into his old age. But Michael’s life was full in a different way, as God blessed him with consolations in prayer, the gifts of prophecy and miracles, and even spoke to Michael from a crucifix on one occasion.

Blessed Michael, show me how to accept my physical limitations with peace.

Saint of the Day

May 3: Saint Juvenal of Narni

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There are have been several saints named “Juvenal”; this Saint Juvenal was bishop of the city of Narni in Italy and died around the year 376.

He was a priest of the city when the pope separated the city into its own diocese, making Juvenal the bishop. Many of the residents of the town were pagans, and it’s said that while he was passing a statue of a bull in front of a temple one day, a pagan priest struck him with a sword for failing to make a sacrifice in honor of the god. According to tradition, Juvenal caught the sword in his teeth and survived. This public miracle brought many people to the faith.

A few years later, invaders from a neighboring town threatened Narni. Juvenal climbed up the city wall and recited a psalm asking for God’s deliverance; a storm broke out, and many of the opposing soldiers died, saving the city.

Saint Juvenal, show me how to trust in God to do the seemingly impossible.

Saint of the Day

May 2: Saint Wiborada

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Saint Wiborada (d. 926) was born in Klingnau, Switzerland, into a noble family. By the time her brother became a priest, their parents had died, so Wiborada joined him, cared for him, and cared for the sick people of their own. After the brother and sister completed a pilgrimage, her brother became a monk, and she began to live as a recluse.

Unsurprisingly, as word spread about her holiness, prophecies, and miraculous healings of the sick, vicious rumors spread too. Some say she accepted trial by ordeal (that is, some sort of painful test; if you survived, you were considered innocent) to prove her faithfulness. For the rest of her life, she lived in a cell next to Saint Magnus church, praying for hours and practicing many mortifications. Shortly before an invasion of Hungarian forces, she accurately predicted that she would be killed, but her warning allowed the monks and nuns of the area to escape. She was killed with a hatchet while praying (and, one may safely assume, praying for her murderers) and is considered a martyr.

Saint Wiborada, help me to forgive those who harm me.

Saint of the Day

May 1: Saint Amator of Auxerre

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A biography of Saint Amator (344-418) written more than a century after his death is our best source of information about the saint. Setting aside some of the extraordinary details in that account, it’s still not difficult to see why he would be acclaimed a saint.

Amator wanted to become a priest when he was a young man, but he agreed to marry to please his family. Shortly after the wedding, however, he and his bride mutually agreed to enter religious life.

Amator became a priest and then bishop of Auxerre, France, where he converted many followers of paganism to the faith, built churches for the new Christian communities, and even performed miracles through his prayers. Some say he ordained Saint Patrick of Ireland to the priesthood. Amator converted a somewhat frivolous and wealthy young man named Germanus to a deeper practice of the faith; Germanus not only succeeded him as bishop but is also known as a saint.

Saint Amator, show me how to lead others to a deeper faith.

Saint of the Day

April 30: Saint Wolfhard of Verona

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Saint Wolfhard (d. 1127) was a German maker of saddles and other equipment for horses when he traveled to Verona and decided to settle there. In time, his fellow citizens noticed that not only did Wolfhard give away all his profits to the poor, keeping only enough to live on, he was also a holy man. When he noticed that his neighbors were treating him with such veneration, he left to live in the forest as a hermit.

Several years later, some men from Verona happened upon his hermitage and convinced him to return to the city. He lived as a hermit-monk in a Camaldolese monastery there for the rest of his life. It’s said that he was famous for the miracles that resulted from his prayers even during his lifetime, but that even more miracles occurred after his death.

Saint Wolfhard, teach me to be humble.

Saint of the Day

April 29: Saint Joseph Cottolengo

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Saint Joseph Cottolengo (1786-1842) was a parish priest of Turin, Italy, when he was called to the bedside of a poor, pregnant woman. The woman had been refused by hospitals because of her poverty and because she was contagious with tuberculosis and a fever. After Father Cottolengo anointed her and baptized her newborn, both mother and child died. The sight of the squalid conditions, the despair of her surviving children, and the lack of access to medical care for the poor changed his life.

Father Joseph sold everything he had to open a few rooms in a house, and with the assistance of volunteers and a doctor, he turned it into a hospital. From this beginning in 1827 and for the rest of his life, he spent himself on this vocation. With occasional setbacks—such as being closed by the government during a cholera epidemic—the number of hospitals and homes under his direction constantly grew. All the donations he was given were poured back into his homes, though he was also continually close to bankruptcy. He established multiple organizations: religious brothers and sisters to serve the sick; societies to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory; and hermits, priests, and Carmelite nuns to pray for the Church. Worn out by his work, he contracted typhoid fever and died peacefully after saying goodbye to his spiritual children.

Saint Joseph, help me to have an open heart for the sufferings of others and a willing body to serve them.

Saint of the Day

April 28: Saint Pamphilus of Sulmona

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Saint Pamphilus’ life shows us that arguments over the liturgy didn’t start in the twentieth century.

Saint Pamphilus was the bishop of the dioceses of Sulmona and Corfinium in Italy in the late seventh century, and he was known for his generosity to the poor, his simple way of life, and personal holiness. But when he decided to offer Mass shortly after midnight each Saturday night/Sunday morning, followed by distributing alms to the poor and feeding them breakfast at daybreak, some people were scandalized. This innovation caused some of his priests and the laity to complain to the pope, accusing him of being an Arian heretic. (It’s difficult to see how a midnight Mass could be construed as heresy, but never underestimate the ability of some people to be offended.) After being called before the pope to explain himself, Pamphilus was not only vindicated but was sent home with a generous gift for the poor people of his dioceses.

Saint Pamphilus, remind me to unite myself to the Sacrifice of the Mass at all times of the day and night.

Saint of the Day

April 27: Saint Maughold

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If you enjoy this daily blog of lesser-known saints, see my book, which contains short biographies of saints for every day of the year.

Saint Patrick is said to have converted all of Ireland, and Saint Maughold (d. c. 498) is said to be one of his most dramatic converts. After all, Maughold was a pirate with apparently little or no virtue in his behavior when Patrick brought him to the faith.

At Patrick’s direction, Maughold left behind his unsavory business associates and traveled by small boat to the Isle of Man, where two other missionaries were already living. Saint Maughold must have learned a great deal about virtue during his time spent in monastic life because he ultimately became a bishop.

Saint Maughold, help me to never give up hope on those who seem far away from God.