St. Adrian of Canterbury was born in North Africa circa 635. This Benedictine monk became an abbot and an advisor to Pope Vitalian. He went to England in 669 and became abbot of St. Peter’s Monastery. Adrian evangelized England and taught languages, math and astronomy. He died Jan. 9, 710, in Canterbury, England. In 1091,...Read More
St. Severinus of Noricum was born in North Africa circa 410. He was wealthy but gave it all away to live as a hermit. He spread Christianity in Noricum. He helped set up centers for people who lost their homes during the invasion of Attila. He preached and healed in Austria and Bavaria. He died...Read More
St. Raymond of Penafort was born in Spain in 1175. He was a philosophy teacher and priest who joined the Dominicans in 1218; he also went to law school. He was given the task of collecting the pope’s official letters dating back to 1150. He became master general of his order in 1238 and reviewed...Read More
Today is the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. The Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles (through the three kings), the baptism of Jesus and the first miracle at Cana. Traditionally, the feast is celebrated Jan. 6 – the twelfth day after Christmas.Read More
St. John Neumann was born March 28, 1811, in Bohemia (Czech Republic). He became a seminarian, but his bishop decided to stop ordinations due to the great number of priests. John learned English and was ordained in New York. He joined the Redemptorists and was later made bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. He organized Catholic...Read More
Today is the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. St. Bernard, St. John Capistrano and the Franciscans especially supported the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus.Read More
St. Basil the Great was born in 329 in what is now Turkey. He was such a successful speaker that he feared he would lose his piety. Therefore, he gave away his money and things to become a priest and monk. The bishop and archbishop of Caesarea founded monasteries; he also made rules for monks...Read More
Today is the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. She was the mother of Jesus and the wife of St. Joseph. The title, Mother of God, was used by St. Elizabeth when Mary visited her before the birth of Jesus.Read More
When he was a 13-year-old boy at Conception Seminary in Missouri, James Goettsche often slipped out of bed after midnight and secretly made his way into a nearby church.Read More
"It is true that the church in Africa is thriving," Cardinal Turkson said. "But we also have had a certain type of catechesis that is not too deep. Traditional cultures and values are not too radically transformed by the values of the Gospel. We need a more deeply rooted experience of conversion."Read More
Hundreds of people marched through the troubled, poverty-stricken streets of west Baltimore Dec. 9 to celebrate the life of controversial Catholic peace activist Philip Francis Berrigan.Read More