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Blessed Nunzio Sulprizio was born April 13, 1817, in Pescara, Abruzzi, Italy. He was an apprentice blacksmith and a layman. As a youth, he is said to have been pious, chaste and patient. He died young, at the age of 19, on May 5, 1836, in Naples, Italy. Pope Paul VI beatified Blessed Nunzio Sulprizio Dec. 1, 1963.

St. Anthony was a Benedictine abbot who lived in the sixth century. The disciple of St. Benedict accompanied St. Maura on missions to France before founding the St. Julian at Tours monastery. He lived as a hermit at le Rocher, France.

St. Athanasius was born around the year 295 in Alexandria, Egypt. A deacon and secretary to the bishop of Alexandria, he went to the Council of Nicea in 325. There he began a lifelong battle against the Arian heresy, which denied Christ’s divinity. He became the bishop of Alexandria around 328, and he spent about 17 years of his time as bishop in exile due to political issues surrounding the Arian heresy. St. Athanasius also fought for the recognition of the Nicene Creed. This confessor and doctor of the church died May 2, 373, in Alexandria.

St. Catherine of Siena was born in Tuscany, Italy, March 25, 1347. She began to have visions of Jesus, Mary and saints at the age of 6. Although her parents wanted her to marry, she became a Dominican tertiary at age 16. She was a counselor to Pope Gregory XI and Pope Urban VI. St. Catherine wrote many letters and a treatise which are considered some of the most brilliant writings in the Catholic Church’s history. A stigmatist, she died April 29, 1380, of illness. She is patron saint against bodily ills and against fire.

St. Peter Chanel was born July 12, 1803, in France to a peasant family. He was a good student and was ordained at age 24. He joined the Society of Mary (Marists) in 1831 and spent five years teaching at a seminary. In 1836, he led a group of missionaries to New Hebrides in the Pacific. St. Peter Chanel learned the language and began to spread Christianity in the area. Angered that his son wanted to be baptized and jealous of the missionary, a local king had St. Peter Chanel clubbed to death on April 28, 1841. Five months later, the people on the island were entirely converted to Christianity. St. Peter Chanel was the first martyr in Oceania and is patron saint of the area.

St. Zita was born into a Christian family near Lucca, Italy, in 1218. At age 12, she became a domestic servant for a family in Lucca. She gave her own food and the food of the family to those who were in need. Although this caused some problems with the family at first, eventually they were won over by St. Zita’s goodness. She also visited the sick and the imprisoned, and she attended Mass daily. St. Zita died around 1272, and she is patron saint of servants.

St. Cletus was converted and ordained by St. Peter. He became the third pope around the year 76, and his reign ended around the year 89. During that time he ordained a number of priests. He was martyred between 89 and 91. His relics are in St. Linus Church, Vatican City. St. Cletus is mentioned in the Canon of the Roman Mass.

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, a martyr, was born in Germany in 1577. He was a lawyer and a philosophy teacher. However, he was appalled by the corruption of his fellow lawyers, and he decided to leave his profession to become a priest and Franciscan friar. He gave away his wealth to poor people, particularly poor seminarians. St. Fidelis guarded his friary and healed soldiers. He also preached to Calvinists and others in Switzerland. St. Fidelis was murdered April 24, 1622, in Switzerland because of his preaching.

St. George lived in the third century. All that is definitely known about him is that he was a soldier and a martyr. The best known story about St. George involves villagers in Libya with a dragon problem. The dragon ate two sheep each day, and the villagers had to give the dragon maidens when there weren’t enough sheep. St. George heard about the dragon problem when a princess was to be eaten by the dragon. He crossed himself and killed the dragon in one blow. He then gave a sermon and converted many of the villagers. Although St. George was given a large reward, he gave it to the poor. St. George was tortured and beheaded in Palestine around the year 304. St. George is patron saint of chivalry, sheep and horsemen.

St. Anselm of Canterbury was born to a noble family in Piedmont, Italy, in 1033. He became a Benedictine monk in Normandy, France. He was a counselor to Pope Gregory VII, Pope Urban II and William the Conqueror. St. Anselm fought against the English king’s encroachment on the independence of the church. He died in Canterbury, England, in 1109. St. Anselm is considered one of the great theologians of the Middle Ages and was proclaimed a doctor of the church by Pope Clement XI in 1720.

St. Galdinus, a Milanese noble, was born in Milan, Italy, in 1100. He supported the Roman pope during the schism in 1159. He left Milan in 1161 when the city was besieged in support of the anti-pope, and yet St. Galdinus was still elected bishop of the city. He later became a cardinal, an archbishop and a papal legate to Lombardy. After the war, he helped rebuild Milan. St. Galdinus died in 1176 right after a sermon against heresies.

St. Robert of Chaise-Dieu, a Benedictine abbot and founder, was born in Auvergne, France, in the 11th century. After becoming a priest, he founded a hospice and cared for the poor. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, after which he decided to retire and live as a hermit in Auvergne. He attracted so many followers (about 300) that he began the Benedictine Abbey of Casa Dei (later to be called Chaise-Dieu). He died around the year 1067.