Brief Biographies of Saints

St. Alban St. Alban was the first martyr of England, his own country (homeland). During a persecution of Christians, Alban, though a pagan, hid a priest in his house. The priest made such a great impression on him that Alban received instructions and became a Christian himself. In the meantime, the governor had been told that the priest was hiding in Alban's house, and he sent his soldiers to capture him. But Alban changed clothes with his guest, and gave himself up in his stead. The judge was furious when he found out that the priest had escaped and he said to Alban, "You shall get the punishment he was to get unless you worship the gods." The Saint answered that he would never worship those false gods again. "To what family do you belong?" demanded the judge. "That does not concern you," said Alban. "If you want to know my religion, I am a Christian." Angrily the judge commanded him again to sacrifice to the gods at once. "Your sacrifices are offered to devils," answered the Saint. "They cannot help you or answer your requests. The reward for such sacrifices is the everlasting punishment of Hell." Since he was getting nowhere, the judge had Alban whipped. Then he commanded him to be beheaded. On the way to the place of execution, the soldier who was to kill the Saint was converted himself, and he too, became a martyr. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=329)

St. Aloysius Gonzaga St. Aloysius was born in Castiglione, Italy. The first words St. Aloysius spoke were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. He was destined for the military by his father (who was in service to Philip II), but by the age of 9 Aloysius had decided on a religious life, and made a vow of perpetual virginity. To safeguard himself from possible temptation, he would keep his eyes persistently downcast in the presence of women. St. Charles Borromeo gave him his first Holy Communion. A kidney disease prevented St. Aloysius from a full social life for a while, so he spent his time in prayer and reading the lives of the saints. Although he was appointed a page in Spain, St. Aloysius kept up his many devotions and austerities, and was quite resolved to become a Jesuit. His family eventually moved back to Italy, where he taught catechism to the poor. When he was 18, he joined the Jesuits, after finally breaking down his father, who had refused his entrance into the order. He served in a hospital during the plague of 1587 in Milan, and died from it at the age of 23, after receiving the last rites from St. Robert Bellarmine. The last word he spoke was the Holy Name of Jesus. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=15)

St. Ambrose Roman nobility. Brother of Saint Marcellina and Saint Satyrus. Educated in the classics, Greek, and philosophy at Rome. Poet and noted orator. Convert. Governor of Milan. When the bishop of Milan died, a dispute over his replacement was leading to violence. Ambrose intervened to calm both sides; he impressed everyone involved so much that while he was still an unbaptized catechuman, he was chosen to fill the see. He resisted, claiming that he was not worthy, but to prevent further violence, he assented, and on 7 December 374 he was baptized, ordained as a priest, and consecrated as bishop. He immediately gave away his wealth to the Church and the poor both for the good it did, and as an example to his flock. Preacher, teacher, bible student of renown, and writer of liturgical hymns. He stood firm Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 1 of 16 against pagans and Arians. His preaching helped convert Saint Augustine of Hippo, whom Ambrose baptized and brought into the Church. Ambrose's preaching brought Emporer Theodosius to do public penance for his sins. He called and chaired several theological councils during his time as bishop, many devoted to fighting heresy. Welcomed Saint Ursus and Saint Alban of Mainz when they fled Naxos to escape Arian persecution, and then sent them on to evangelize in Gaul and Germany. Proclaimed a great Doctor of the Latin Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta07.htm)

Blessed Ángel Darío Acosta Zurita Fr. Ángel Darío Acosta Zurita was born on 13 December 1908 in Naolinco, Mexico. He was known for his athleticism and his gentle and charitable nature. Ángel Darío was ordained a priest on 25 April 1931 and celebrated his First Mass in the city of Vera Cruz on 24 May. On 26 May he began to serve as coadjutor vicar in the Parish of the Assumption in Vera Cruz. He was very interested in children's catechesis and was dedicated to celebrating the Sacrament of Penance. In the State of Vera Cruz a decree was promulgated known as the "Tejeda Law", which reduced the number of priests allowed in the State to end the "fanaticism of the people", as Governor Adalberto Tejeda called it. A letter was sent to all priests telling them to obey this law. Fr. Darío received his letter on 21 July, remaining calm and joyful as always. On 25 July 1931 the law took force; that same day, in the Parish of the Assumption, everything transpired as usual: children arrived for catechism lessons and people waited to go to confession. At 6:10 p.m., soldiers entered the church and opened fire on the priests. In the confusion and chaos, Fr. Landa was gravely wounded while another priest, Fr. Rosas, was miraculously saved, protected by the pulpit. Fr. Darío had just come out of the baptistery when he was hit by the bullets, having only the time to cry out "Jesus!" He was martyred exactly three months after his priestly ordination. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5672)

St. Augustine of Hippo St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions. His complete turnaround and conversion has been an inspiration to many who struggle with a particular vice or habit they long to break. This famous son of St. Monica was born in Africa and spent many years of his life in wicked living and in false beliefs. Though he was one of the most intelligent men who ever lived and though he had been brought up a Christian, his sins of impurity and his pride darkened his mind so much, that he could not see or understand the Divine Truth anymore. Through the prayers of his holy mother and the marvelous preaching of St. Ambrose, Augustine finally became convinced that Christianity was the one true religion. Yet he did not become a Christian then, because he thought he could never live a pure life. One day, however, he heard about two men who had suddenly been converted on reading the life of St. Antony, and he felt terribly ashamed of himself. "What are we doing?" he cried to his friend Alipius. "Unlearned people are taking Heaven by force, while we, with all our knowledge, are so cowardly that we keep rolling around in the mud of our sins!" Full of bitter sorrow, Augustine flung himself out into the garden and cried out to God, "How long more, O Lord? Why does not this hour put an end to my sins?" Just then he heard a child singing, "Take up and read!" Thinking that God intended him to hear those words, he picked up the book of the Letters of St. Paul, and read the first passage his gaze fell on. It was just what Augustine needed, for in it, St. Paul says to put away all impurity and to live in imitation of Jesus. That did it! From then on, Augustine began a new life. He was baptized, became a priest, a bishop, a famous Catholic writer, Founder of religious priests, and one of the greatest saints that ever lived. He became very devout and charitable, too. On the wall of his room he had the following sentence written in large letters: "Here we do not speak evil of anyone." St. Augustine overcame strong heresies, practiced great poverty and supported the poor, preached very often and prayed with great fervor right up until

Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 2 of 16 his death. "Too late have I loved You!" he once cried to God, but with his holy life he certainly made up for the sins he committed before his conversion. His feast day is August 28th. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=418)

St. Basil the Great St. Basil the Great was born at Caesarea of Cappadocia in 330. He was one of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia. Several of his brothers and sisters are honored among the saints. He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he became acquainted with St. Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea and practiced law. Eventually he decided to become a monk and found a monastery in Pontus which he directed for five years. He wrote a famous monastic rule which has proved the most lasting of those in the East. After founding several other monasteries, he was ordained and, in 370, made bishop of Caesarea. In this post until his death in 379, he continued to be a man of vast learning and constant activity, genuine eloquence and immense charity. This earned for him the title of "Great" during his life and Doctor of the Church after his death. Basil was one of the giants of the early Church. He was responsible for the victory of Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East, and the denunciation of Arianism at the Council of Constantinople in 381-82 was in large measure due to his efforts. Basil fought simony, aided the victims of drought and famine, strove for a better clergy, insisted on a rigid clerical discipline, fearlessly denounced evil wherever he detected it, and excommunicated those involved in the widespread prostitution traffic in Cappadocia. He was learned, accomplished in statesmanship, a man of great personal holiness, and one of the great orators of Christianity. His feast day is January 2. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=261)

St. Benedict Roman nobility. Twin brother of Saint Scholastica. Studied in Rome, but was dismayed by the lack of discipline and the lackadasical attitude of his fellow students. Fled to the mountains near Subiaco, living as a hermit in a cave for three years; reported to have been fed by a raven. His virtues caused an abbey to request him to lead them. Founded the monastery at Monte Cassino, where he wrote the Rule of his order. His discipline was such that an attempt was made on his life; some monks tried by poison him, but he blessed the cup and rendered it harmless. He returned to his cave, but continued to attract followers, and eventually established twelve monasteries. Had the ability to read consciences, prophesy, and forestall attacks of the devil. Destroyed pagan statues and altars, drove demons from groves sacred to pagans. At one point there were over 40,000 monasteries guided by the Benedictine Rule. (http://www.catholic- forum.com/saints/saintb02.htm)

St. Columban Well-born, handsome and educated, Columbanus was torn between a desire for God and easy access to the pleasures of the world. Acting on advice of a holy anchoress, he decided to withdraw from the world; his family opposed the choice, his mother going so far as to block the door. Monk at Lough Erne. He studied Scripture extensively, and wrote a commentary on the Psalms. Monk at Bangor under abbot Saint Comgall. In middle age, Columbanus felt a call to missionary life. With twelve companions (Saint Attala, Columbanus the Younger, Cummain, Domgal, Eogain, Eunan, Saint Gall, Gurgano, Libran, Lua, Sigisbert and Waldoleno) he travelled to Scotland, England, and then to France in 585. The area, though nominally Christian, had fallen far from the faith, but were ready for missionaries, and they had some success. They were warmly greeted at the court of Gontram, and king of Burgundy invited the band to stay. They chose the half-ruined Roman fortress of Annegray in the Vosges Mountains for their new home with Columbanus as their abbot. The simple lives and obvious holiness of the group drew disciples to join them, and the Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 3 of 16 sick to be healed by their prayers. Columbanus, to find solitude for prayer, often lived for long periods in a cave seven miles from the monastery, using a messenger to stay in touch with his brothers. When the number of new monks over-crowded the old fortress, King Gontram gave them the old castle of Luxeuil to found a new house in 590. Soon after, a third house was founded at Fontaines. Columbanus served as master of them all, and wrote a Rule for them; it incorporated many Celtic practices, was approved by the Council of Macon in 627, but was superseded by the Benedictine.

Problems arose early in the 7th century. Many Frankish bishops objected to a foreign missionary with so much influence, to the Celtic practices he brought, especially those related to Easter, and his independence from them. In 602 he was summoned to appear before them for judgment; instead of appearing, he sent a letter advising them to hold more synods, and to concern themselves with more important things than which rite he used to celebrate Easter. The dispute over Easter continued to years, with Columbanus appealing to multiple popes for help, but was only settled with Columbanus abandoned the Celtic calender when he moved to Italy. In addition to his problems with the bishops, Columbanus spoke out against vice and corruption in the royal household and court, which was in the midst of a series of complex power grabs. Brunehault stirred up the bishops and nobilty against the abbot; Thierry ordered him to conform to the local ways, and shut up. Columbanus refused, and was briefly imprisoned at Besançon, but he escaped and returned to Luxeuil. Thierry and Brunehault sent an armed force to force him and his foreign monks back to Ireland. As soon as his ship set sail, a storm drove them back to shore; the captain took it as a sign, and set the monks free. They made their way to King Clothaire at Soissons, Neustria and then the court of King Theodebert of Austrasia in 611. He travelled to Metz, then Mainz, Suevi, Alamanni, and finally Lake Zurich. Their evangelization work there was unsuccessful, and the group passed on to Arbon, then Bregenz, and then Lake Constance. Saint Gall, who knew the local language best, took the lead in this region; many were converted to the faith, and the group founded a new monastery as their home and base. However, a year later political upheaval caused Columbanus to cross the Alps into Italy, arriving in Milan in 612. The Christian royal family treated him well, and he preached and wrote against Arianism and Nestorianism. In gratitude, the Lombard king gave him a tract of land call Bobbio between Milan and Genoa. There he rebuilt a half-ruined church of Saint Peter, and around it he founded an abbey that was to be the source for evangelization throughout northern Italy for centuries to come. Columbanus always enjoyed being in the forests and caves, and as he walked through the woods birds and squirrels would ride on his shoulders. Toward the end of his life came word that his old enemies were dead, and his brothers wanted him to come back north, but he declined. Knowing that his time was almost done, he retired to a cave for solitude, and died as he had predicted. His influence continued for centuries as those he converted handed on the faith, the brothers he taught evanglized untold numbers more, and his brother monks founded over one hundred monasteries to protect learning and spread the faith. (http://www.catholic- forum.com/saints/saintc5s.htm)

St. Daniel the Stylite St. Daniel, the Stylite, Priest. Feast day is December 11. Daniel was born in Maratha, Syria in 409 and became a monk in nearby Samosata on the Upper Euphrates. He learned of St. Simeon Stylites the Elder, living on a pillar at Antioch and got to see him twice. At the age of forty-two, Daniel decided that he too wanted to become a stylite (from the Greek word "stylos", meaning pillar) and live on a pillar at a spot near Constantinople. Therefore, Emperor Leo I, built a series of pillars with a platform on top for him, and Daniel was ordained there by St. Gennadius. The saint quickly became an attraction for the people. He celebrated the Eucharist on his pillar, preached sermons, dispensed spiritual advice, and cured the sick who were brought up to him. He also gave prudent counsel to Emperors Leo and Zeno and the patriarch of Constantinople. All the while, Daniel lived his particular type of pillar spirituality. He came Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 4 of 16 down from his perch only once in thirty-three years - to turn Emperor Baliscus away from backing the heresy of Monophysitism. Daniel died in 493 and became the best known Stylite after St. Simeon Stylites the Elder. The life of St. Daniel the Stylite is an apt reminder that there are many ways to live the spiritual life. All of us have our own way to be close to God every day. Our task is to find that way and follow it to the very end. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=219)

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Born into a wealthy and influential Episcopalian family, the daughter of a Dr Richard Bayley, Elizabeth was raised in the New York high society of the late 18th century. Her mother died when Elizabeth was three years old, her baby sister a year later. She married the wealthy businessman William Magee Seton in 1794 at age 19, and was the mother of five. About ten years into the marriage, William's business failed, and soon after he died of tuberculosis, leaving Elizabeth an impoverished widow with five small children. For years Elizabeth had felt drawn to Catholicism, believing in the Real Presence in the Eucharist and in the lineage of the Church going back to Christ and the Apostles. She converted to Catholicism, entering the Church on 14 March 1805, alienating many of her strict Episcopalian family in the process. To support her family, and insure the proper education of her children, she opened a school in Boston. Though a private and secular institution, from the beginning she ran it along the lines of a religious community. At the invitation of the archbishop, she established a Catholic girl's school in Baltimore, Maryland which initiated the parochial school system in America. To run the system she founded the Sisters of Charity in 1809, the first native American religious community for women. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainte04.htm)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Princess, the daughter of King Andrew of Hungary. Great-aunt of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal. She married Prince Louis of Thuringa at age 13. Built a hospital at the foot of the mountain on which her castle stood; tended to the sick herself. Her family and courtiers opposed this, but she insisted she could only follow Christ's teachings, not theirs. Once when she was taking food to the poor and sick, Prince Louis stopped her and looked under her mantle to see what she was carrying; the food had been miraculously changed to roses. Upon Louis' death, Elizabeth sold all that she had, and worked to support her four children. Her gifts of bread to the poor, and of a large gift of grain to a famine stricken Germany, led to her patronage of bakers and related fields. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainte01.htm)

St. Erasmus Erasmus was also known as Elmo. He was the bishop of Formiae, Campagna, Italy, and suffered martyrdom during Diocletian's persecution of the Christians. He once fled to Mount Lebanon during the persecution and lived a life of solitude there for some time, being fed by a raven. After the emperor discovered his whereabouts, he was tortured and thrown in prison. Legend claims that an angel released him and he departed for Illyricum, eventually suffered a martyr's death and was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Legend records that when a blue light appears at mastheads before and after a storm, the seamen took it as a sign of Erasmus's protection. This was known as "St. Elmo's fire". (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=182)

St. Fabian

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Layman. Farmer. He came into Rome on a day when a new pope was to be elected. A dove flew in and settled on his head; the gathered clergy and laity took this as a sign that Fabian had been anointed, and he was chosen Pope by acclamation. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf58.htm)

St. Francis de Sales Born in a castle to a well-placed family, his parents intended that he become a lawyer, enter politics, and carry on the family line and power. Studied at La Roche, Annecy, Clermont College in Paris, and law at the University of Padua. Doctor of Law. He returned home, and found a position as Senate advocate. It was at this point that he received a message telling him to "Leave all and follow Me." He took this as a call to the priesthood, a move his family fiercely opposed. However, he pursued a devoted prayer life, and his gentle ways won over the family. Priest. Provost of the diocese of Geneva, Switzerland, a stronghold of Calvinists. Preacher, writer and spiritual director in the district of Chablais. His simple, clear explanations of Catholic doctrine, and his gentle way with everyone, brought many back to the Roman Church. Bishop of Geneva at age 35. Travelled and evangelized throughout the Duchy of Savoy, working with children whenever he could. Friend of Saint Vincent de Paul. Turned down a wealthy French bishopric. Helped found the Order of the Visitation with Saint Jeanne de Chantal. Prolific correspondent. Doctor of the Church. (http://www.catholic- forum.com/saints/saintf03.htm)

St. Hedwig Youngest daughter of King Louis I of Hungary. Because she was great-niece to King Casimir III of Poland, she became Queen of Poland in 1382 upon her father's death. She was engaged to William, Duke of Austria, whom she loved, but broke off the relationship in order to marry Jagiello, non-Christian Prince of Lithuania, at age 13 for political reasons. She offered her misery in this marriage to Christ, and she eventually converted her husband; Jagiello was later known as King Landislaus II of Poland after the unification of the kingdoms, a union that lasted over 400 years. Noted for her charity to all, but especially the sick and poor, and for a revision of the laws to help the poor. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintl53.htm)

St. Henry II St. Henry, son of Henry, Duke of Bavaria, and of Gisella, daughter of Conrad, King of Burgundy, was born in 972. He received an excellent education under the care of St. Wolfgang, Bishop of Ratisbon. In 995, St. Henry succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria, and in 1002, upon the death of his cousin, Otho III, he was elected emperor. Firmly anchored upon the great eternal truths, which the practice of meditation kept alive in his heart, he was not elated by this dignity and sought in all things, the greater glory of God. He was most watchful over the welfare of the Church and exerted his zeal for the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline through the instrumentality of the Bishops. He gained several victories over his enemies, both at home and abroad, but he used these with great moderation and clemency. In 1014, he went to Rome and received the imperial crown at the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. On that occasion he confirmed the donation, made by his predecessors to the Pope, of the sovereignty of Rome and the exarchate of Ravenna. Circumstances several times drove the holy Emperor into war, from which he always came forth victorious. He led an army to the south of Italy against the Saracens and their allies, the Greeks, and drove them from the country. The humility and spirit of justice of the Saint were equal to his zeal for religion. He cast himself at the feet of Herebert, Bishop of Cologne, and begged his pardon for having treated him with coldness, on account of a misunderstanding. He wished to abdicate and retire into a monastery, but yielded to the advice of the Abbot of Verdun, and retained his dignity. Both he and his wife, St. Cunegundes, lived in perpetual chastity, to which they had bound themselves by vow. The Saint made numerous

Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 6 of 16 pious foundations, gave liberally to pious institutions and built the Cathedral of Bamberg. His holy death occurred at the castle of Grone, near Halberstad, in 1024. His feast day is July 13th. He is the patron saint of the childless, of Dukes, of the handicapped and those rejected by Religious Order. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3719)

St. Jeanne of the Crosse Delanoue Youngest of 12 children. Mother operated a religious-goods business which Jeanne took over when her mother died in 1691. She was very successful in the business due to her wisdom and shrewdness. She understood the value of the dollar and the items she was selling and trading. During the season of Pentecost in 1698, she experienced two separate revelations about the truth of human life and labors. She had a vision and heard the pious exhortation of a widowed pilgrim from Rennes, a woman named Frances Souchet. The two events changed Jeanne’s outlook on life entirely. Her concern about profits and success paled in the light of Christ’s command of charity. Her tidy life, bound by customs, traditions, sales, and net gains, seemed a sterile wasteland when she took a hard look at the suffering around her. Jeanne closed her shop, much to the astonishment of her neighbors, and began to visit the poor, the sick and the abandoned. The orphans of Samur were her special concern, and she funished three houses donated by admiring benefactors, turning them into havens for all in need. More and more companions joined Jeanne in her apostolate, including her niece. In 1704, with her young relative and two trusted members of her group, Jeanne founded the Sisters of St. Anne of Providence of Samur. Jeanne became Jeanne of the Cross. Two Years later, encouraged by St. Louis de Monfort, Jeanne leased a large house from the Oratorians. She began caring for children, poor women, and the sick of Samur. Obstacles did not deter her, and she received canonical approval from the bishop of Angers. She also practiced penance and mortification and was revered for her miracles of healing. By 1721, her sisters were starting new foundations throughout France. She died in Fencet on August 17, 1936. (M. Bunson, M. Bunson, and S. Bunson. John Paul II’s Book of Saints. 1999. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division: Huntington, IL. 34)

St. Jerome Emiliani Jerome Emiliani lay chained in the dark dirty dungeon. Only a short time before, he had been a military commander for Venice in charge of a fortress. He didn't care much about God because he didn't need him -- he had his own strength and the strength of his soldiers and weapons. When Venice's enemies, the League of Cambrai, captured the fortress, he was dragged off and imprisoned. There in the dungeon, Jerome decided to get rid of the chains that bound him. He let go of his worldly attachments and embraced God. When he finally was able to escape, he hung his metal chains in the nearby church of Treviso -- in gratitude not only for being freed from physical prison but from his spiritual dungeon as well. After a short time as mayor of Treviso he returned his home in Venice where he studied for the priesthood. The war may have been over but it was followed by the famine and plague war's devastation often brought. Thousands suffered in his beloved city. Jerome devoted himself to service again -- this time, not to the military but the poor and suffering around him. He felt a special call to help the orphans who had no one to care for them. All the loved ones who would have protected them and comforted them had been taken by sickness or starvation. He would become their parent, their family. Using his own money, he rented a house for the orphans, fed them, clothed them, and educated them. Part of his education was to give them the first known catechetical teaching by question and answer. But his constant devotion to the suffering put him in danger too and he fell ill from the plague himself. When he recovered, he had the ideal excuse to back away, but instead his illness seemed to take the last links of the chain from his soul. Once again he interpreted his suffering to be a sign of how little the ambitions of the world mattered. He committed his whole life and all he owned to helping others. He founded orphanages in other cities, a hospital, and a shelter for prostitutes. This grew into a congregation of priests

Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 7 of 16 and brothers that was named after the place where they had a house: the Clerks Regular of Somascha. Although they spent time educating other young people, their primary work was always Jerome's first love -- helping orphans. His final chains fell away when he again fell ill while taking care of the sick. He died in 1537 at the age of 56. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=61)

St. John of Avila The Apostle of Andalusia and the spiritual advisor of St. Teresa, St. Francis Borgia, St. John of the Cross, St. Peter of Alcantara, and others. He was born on January 6, 1499, at Almodovar del Campo, Spain. After studying law at the University of Salamanca, he left the university to be a hermit. He then went to Alcala, where he was ordained. John drew great crowds with his fiery denunciations of evil and his many sermons. A brief imprisonment by the Inquisition in Seville made him even more popular. His missionary efforts were centered on Andalusia, and his letters and other writings have become Spanish classics. John was canonized in 1970. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3944)

St. John of the Cross Born in Spain in 1542, John learned the importance of self-sacrificing love from his parents. His father gave up wealth, status, and comfort when he married a weaver's daughter and was disowned by his noble family. After his father died, his mother kept the destitute family together as they wandered homeless in search of work. These were the examples of sacrifice that John followed with his own great love -- God. When the family finally found work, John still went hungry in the middle of the wealthiest city in Spain. At fourteen, John took a job caring for hospital patients who suffered from incurable diseases and madness. It was out of this poverty and suffering, that John learned to search for beauty and happiness not in the world, but in God. After John joined the Carmelite order, Saint Teresa of Avila asked him to help her reform movement. John supported her belief that the order should return to its life of prayer. But many Carmelites felt threatened by this reform, and some members of John's own order kidnapped him. He was locked in a cell six feet by ten feet and beaten three times a week by the monks. There was only one tiny window high up near the ceiling. Yet in that unbearable dark, cold, and desolation, his love and faith were like fire and light. He had nothing left but God -- and God brought John his greatest joys in that tiny cell. After nine months, John escaped by unscrewing the lock on his door and creeping past the guard. Taking only the mystical poetry he had written in his cell, he climbed out a window using a rope made of stirps of blankets. With no idea where he was, he followed a dog to civilization. He hid from pursuers in a convent infirmary where he read his poetry to the nuns. From then on his life was devoted to sharing and explaining his experience of God's love. His life of poverty and persecution could have produced a bitter cynic. Instead it gave birth to a compassionate mystic, who lived by the beliefs that "Who has ever seen people persuaded to love God by harshness?" and "Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love." Since joy comes only from God, John believed that someone who seeks happiness in the world is like "a famished person who opens his mouth to satisfy himself with air." He taught that only by breaking the rope of our desires could we fly up to God. Above all, he was concerned for those who suffered dryness or depression in their spiritual life and offered encouragement that God loved them and was leading them deeper into faith. "What more do you want, o soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfaction and kingdom -- your beloved whom you desire and seek? Desire him there, adore him there. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and you won't find him, or enjoy him more than by seeking him within you." -- Saint John of the Cross (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=65)

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St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer One of six children born to Jose and Dolores Escriva; three of his siblings died in infancy. His father was a small businessman, and when his business failed in 1915, the family moved to Logrono. As a young man, Josemaria saw the bare footprints left in the snow by a monk; the sight moved him, and kindled a desire for religious vocation. He studied for the priesthood in Logrono and Zaragoza. His father died in 1924, and Josemaria had to simultaneously support the family while studying. Ordained in Zaragoza on 28 March 1925. Assigned for a while to a rural parish, and then in Zaragoza. Moved to Madrid in 1927 to study law. Following a profound spiritual retreat, he founded Opus Dei in Madrid on 2 October 1928, which opened a new way for the faithful to sanctify themselves in the midst of the world through their work and fulfillment of their personal, family and social duties. The next few years were spent studying at the University of Madrid, teaching to support his mother and siblings, ministering to the poor and sick, and working to build the foundation of Opus Dei. Religious persecution in the Spanish Civil War forced him into hiding, and he ministered covertly to his parishioners. He escaped across the Pyrenees to Burgos. At the end of the war in 1939, he returned to his studies in Madrid. Doctor of law. Retreat master for laity, priests, and religious. On 14 February 1943, he founded the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, united to Opus Dei. Moved to Rome in 1946. Obtained a doctorate in theology from the Lateran University. Consultor to two Vatican Congregations. Honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. Named a prelate of honor by Pope Pius XII. Opus Dei received the approval of the Holy See on 16 June 1950. Josemaria travelled frequently throughout Europe and Latin America to work for the growth of Opus Dei. By the time of his death, Opus Dei had spread to five continents with over 60,000 members of 80 nationalities, and today has over 80,000 members, most laymen. In 1976 Carmelite sister Concepcion Boullon Rubio was at the point of death when she was suddenly and completely cured of lipomatosis after members of her family prayed to God for a cure through the intercession of Saint Josemaria. His Cause for canonization was introduced in Rome on 19 February 1981. On 9 April 1990, Pope John Paul II declared that he lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree. The cure of Sister Rubio was unanimously approved by the Board of Physicians for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints on 6 July 1991. On 20 December 2001 a second miracle attributed to Monsignor Escriva's intervention was decreed by the Congregation and approved by Pope John Paul II. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5603)

St. Juan Diego Born an impoverished free man in a strongly class-conscious society. Farm worker, field labourer, and mat maker. Married layman with no children. A mystical and religious man even as a pagan, he became an adult convert to Christianity around age 50, taking the name Juan Diego. Widower in 1529. Visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared at Guadalupe on 9 December 1531, leaving him the image known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. On 20 December 2001 a second miracle attributed to Juan Diego's intervention was decreed by the Congregation and approved by Pope John Paul II. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=73)

Bl. Karl Leisner Many Catholic priests and seminarians were imprisoned in the Nazi prison camps, and not a few died of the intentionally harsh treatment they received. Two of these clerics were beatified by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Berlin on June 23, 1996. One was Father Karl Leisner. In the mid 1930s Karl was studying for the priesthood in the western German diocese of Muenster. An apostolic young seminarian, he tried to organize the Catholic students into groups for discussion and recreation. He would take teenagers on "camping" hikes to Belgium and Holland so that they could talk freely about the contrast between what Hitler was teaching and what the Church teaches. However, when the Nazis

Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 9 of 16 began to demand complete control over all German youth, Karl's efforts became less effectual. The government next made Leisner serve for six months in agricultural work service. Despite the Nazi ban on religious activities among his fellow farmers, he arranged ways for them to attend Sunday Mass. On discovering this, the Gestapo (the Nazi secret police) declared him a dangerous person. Searching his home, they made off with all his diaries and papers, and most of his books. Fortunately they preserved all these documents, thus preserving data for a history of this young man's heroic life. As the end of his theological education drew near, Karl fell ill with tuberculosis. He passed the year 1939 in a mountain sanitarium. Having then recovered partially, he was put into jail. Then he was sent to the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, and later transferred to Dachau. His tuberculosis worsening, he was lodged in the infamous Dachau infirmary, where the patients were often selected for medical experiments. Leisner arranged, nonetheless, to have Communion brought to him secretly. In December 1944 a French bishop who was imprisoned in the camp was able to ordain him to the priesthood. He was so ill afterwards, that he had to postpone his first Mass for a week. After that first Mass he never got to celebrate another. When the Allies liberated Dachau in April 1945, he was sent to a sanitarium, but he died a few weeks later of the rigors of disease and jail. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5605)

St. Katherine Marie Drexel Saint Katharine Drexel, Religious (Feast Day-March 3) Born in 1858, into a prominent Philadelphia family, Katharine became imbued with love for God and neighbor. She took an avid interest in the material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans. She began by donating money but soon concluded that more was needed - the lacking ingredient was people. Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, whose members would work for the betterment of those they were called to serve. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of 20 million dollars to this work. In 1894, Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other schools quickly followed - for Native Americans west of the Mississippi River, and for the blacks in the southern part of the United States. In 1915 she also founded Xavier University in New Orleans. At her death there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country. Katharine was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=193)

Blessed Liduina Meneguzzi Born to a poor farm family. Noted as a child for her piety, attending daily Mass, praying often, teaching catechism as soon as she was old enough, and considering the religious life. At age 14 she began working as a servant to local wealthy families, and in the hotels around the hot springs of Abano. On 5 March 1926 she answered the call to religious life and joined the Sisters of the Congregation of Saint Francis de Sales. She worked for years at the Santa Croce boarding school as housekeeper, sacristan, nurse and big sister to the girls. In 1937 she was finally allowed to enter the mission fields, working at Dire- Dawa, Ethiopia, a cosmopolitan, crossroads city with people of many backgrounds, races and religions including Catholics, Copts, Muslims and native pagans. Liduina worked as a nurse in the Parini Civil Hospital first with civilian patients, and after the outbreak of World War II, with injured soldiers. When the city was bombed she worked in the streets, carrying the wounded to shelter, baptizing dying children, leading dying Christians through acts of contrition. Her work with the Ethiopians, black and white, Christian, Muslim and neither, gave her the chance to speak to them all about the faith. She would tell any who would listen about the goodness of God the Father; her example led many to ask, and her ecumenism anticipated the later work of Vatican II. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintl53.htm)

St. Magdalen of Canossa

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At some point each man and woman on earth seeks a way of starting over, of putting all things right, by mustering the courage to achieve the good works that were originally intended. A new beginning. Life does not allow many new beginnings, and yet, a few individuals have had the daring to turn their back on all the familiar aspects to seek unknown horizons. At the start of the nineteenth century, a woman named Magdalen of Canossa made a new beginning in her young life, and this dramatic turn of events both confounded her world and brough conolations to the young of her generation. Seeing Christ Crucified Magdalen could not respond by doing anything less. She united herself to Christ and began an apostolate of total charity. She was born Magdalen Gabrialle in Verona, Italy, on March 1, 1774, the daughter of the Marquis Ottavio of Canossa and Marchioness Maria Teresa Szlugh. Her Father was a naturalist and geologist, a descendant of an ancient aristocratic family. Her mother was a court attendant and lady-in-waiting to Empress Marie Therese’s court in Vienna, Austria. When Magdalen was only five, her father died suddenly. While her mother followed all appropriate customs of mourning and maintained the family estate, when she remarried two years later she left Magdalen and her four siblings in the care of their Uncle Jerome and the estate servants. Magdalen suffered a number of major illnesses as a child, but her strength increased as she matured. Uncle Jerome and other discovered as well that she had dedicated herself to Christ and intended to embrace the religious life. She made a prolonged retreat at a nearby Carmelite convent, and for a time she wanted to be a Carmelite. This proved impossible when she assumed the burdens of the family estate at age nineteen. Magdalen proved herself to be a skilled administrator, even when Napolean, some of his officers, and a troop of his cavalry arrived at her castle doors seeking lodgings. The French leader called Magdalen “an angel” and treated her with much respect throughout his stay. By 1803, Magdalen’s family members had started to assume responsibilities for the affairs of the estate. She was free to start her own apostolate, which centered on needy children and on the dream of providing every young boy or girl an education. She opened a school in 1805 in an abandoned Augustinian monastery, reportedly ceded to her by Napoleaon, who was now Emperor of France. The young women who joined her in the school became the first sisters of her congregation, the Canossian Daughters of Charity. Magdalen started the congregation in 1808 and saw her sisters laboring in Bergamo, Milan, Trent, and Venice. Today there are about 4000 members of the congregation, with 395 houses in many countries. She displayed great holiness in this work, using what she called “the fire” of charity to aid others. Spiritually, Magdalen was a gifted mystic, known to have received many graces. She experienced ecstasies and visions, and she was said to levitate during prayer. A model of charity, she also suffered severe physical problem in her later years, bearing them heroically. Magdalen died in Verona on April 10, 1835, and her remains were enshrined in a marble sarcophagus. (M. Bunson, M. Bunson, and S. Bunson. John Paul II’s Book of Saints. 1999. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division: Huntington, IL. 44-5)

St. Longinus St. Longinus is the centurion who pierced the side of Our Lord while He was hanging on the Cross. St. Longinus, who was nearly blind, was healed when some of the blood and water from Jesus fell into his eyes. It was then he exclaimed "Indeed, this was the Son of God!" [Mark 15:39]. St. Longinus then converted, Left the army, took instruction from the apostles and became a monk in Cappadocia. There he was arrested for his faith, his teeth forced out and tongue cut off. However, St. Longinus miraculously continued to speak clearly and managed to destroy several idols in the presence of the governor. The governor, who was made blind by the demons that came from the idols, had his sight restored when St. Longinus was being beheaded, because his blood came in contact with the governors' eyes. St. Longinus' relics are now in the church of St Augustine, in Rome. His Lance is contained in one of the four pillars over the altar in the Basilica of St Peter's in Rome. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=11)

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St. Magdalen of Canossa At some point each man and woman on earth seeks a way of starting over, of putting all things right, by mustering the courage to achieve the good works that were originally intended. A new beginning. Life does not allow many new beginnings, and yet, a few individuals have had the daring to turn their back on all the familiar aspects to seek unknown horizons. At the start of the nineteenth century, a woman named Magdalen of Canossa made a new beginning in her young life, and this dramatic turn of events both confounded her world and brough conolations to the young of her generation. Seeing Christ Crucified Magdalen could not respond by doing anything less. She united herself to Christ and began an apostolate of total charity. She was born Magdalen Gabrialle in Verona, Italy, on March 1, 1774, the daughter of the Marquis Ottavio of Canossa and Marchioness Maria Teresa Szlugh. Her Father was a naturalist and geologist, a descendant of an ancient aristocratic family. Her mother was a court attendant and lady-in-waiting to Empress Marie Therese’s court in Vienna, Austria. When Magdalen was only five, her father died suddenly. While her mother followed all appropriate customs of mourning and maintained the family estate, when she remarried two years later she left Magdalen and her four siblings in the care of their Uncle Jerome and the estate servants. Magdalen suffered a number of major illnesses as a child, but her strength increased as she matured. Uncle Jerome and other discovered as well that she had dedicated herself to Christ and intended to embrace the religious life. She made a prolonged retreat at a nearby Carmelite convent, and for a time she wanted to be a Carmelite. This proved impossible when she assumed the burdens of the family estate at age nineteen. Magdalen proved herself to be a skilled administrator, even when Napolean, some of his officers, and a troop of his cavalry arrived at her castle doors seeking lodgings. The French leader called Magdalen “an angel” and treated her with much respect throughout his stay. By 1803, Magdalen’s family members had started to assume responsibilities for the affairs of the estate. She was free to start her own apostolate, which centered on needy children and on the dream of providing every young boy or girl an education. She opened a school in 1805 in an abandoned Augustinian monastery, reportedly ceded to her by Napoleaon, who was now Emperor of France. The young women who joined her in the school became the first sisters of her congregation, the Canossian Daughters of Charity. Magdalen started the congregation in 1808 and saw her sisters laboring in Bergamo, Milan, Trent, and Venice. Today there are about 4000 members of the congregation, with 395 houses in many countries. She displayed great holiness in this work, using what she called “the fire” of charity to aid others. Spiritually, Magdalen was a gifted mystic, known to have received many graces. She experienced ecstasies and visions, and she was said to levitate during prayer. A model of charity, she also suffered severe physical problem in her later years, bearing them heroically. Magdalen died in Verona on April 10, 1835, and her remains were enshrined in a marble sarcophagus. (M. Bunson, M. Bunson, and S. Bunson. John Paul II’s Book of Saints. 1999. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division: Huntington, IL. 44-5)

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys She was born in Troyes, France, on April 17, 1620 and enjoyed a healthy happy childhood. At the age of twenty, she received the grace of a vocation during her prayers on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and applied at the convents of the Carmelites and the Poor Clares. She was not accepted. Marguerite was, at the time a Sodalist, attached to the convent of the Augustinian Canonesses. A priest in who she confided her disappointment, Abbe Gendret, advised her that God perhaps had chosen her for an active apostolate. In 1653 the governor of the French settlement in Canada, Ville-Marie, decided that she was the woman destined to start educational programs in what was to become the city of Montreal. In 1667, at the end of the Iroquois War, Marguerite introduced classes for Indian

Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 12 of 16 children and set up a Marian Sodality there. In 1670 she returned to France to recruit more women to help teach in the expanding school and to get authorization from King Louis XIV for her school. Upon returning with now 9 teachers, Marguerite began her own congregation and called it the Congregation of Notre Dame which was canonically erected by the Bishop of Quebec, Blessed Francois de Laval, in 1676. She had to fight to maintain her vision of an active apostolate that was unlike that of the Ursulines. The official rule of the order was formally approved on June 24, 1698. She endured great tragedies including fires, the deaths of her sisters and extreme poverty. Despite these tragedies Marguerite maintained her order and set a precedent when she received two Iroquois women dedicated to Notre Dame de Bon Secours. She also opened a school for Indian girls. In 1689, she was invited by the Bishop to expand her congregation to Quebec, and at the age of 69 she made the journey on foot to set up a new house. Four years later, she was able to resign and in 1699, she became seriously ill. She prayed to God that she would be able to die and take the place of a young novice who was also deathly ill. Three days later, the young novice miraculously recovered and on January 12, 1700, Marguerite died peacefully. She was declared venerable in 1878 and beatified in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. Pope John Paul II canonized Marguerite on October 31, 1982. (M. Bunson, M. Bunson, and S. Bunson. John Paul II’s Book of Saints. 1999. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division: Huntington, IL. 45-6)

St. Paul St. Paul, the indefatigable Apostle of the Gentiles, was converted from Judaism on the road to Damascus. He remained some days in Damascus after his Baptism, and then went to Arabia, possibly for a year or two to prepare himself for his future missionary activity. Having returned to Damascus, he stayed there for a time, preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. For this he incurred the hatred of the Jews and had to flee from the city. He then went to Jerusalem to see Peter and pay his homage to the head of the Church. Later he went back to his native Tarsus, where he began to evangelize his own province until called by Barnabus to Antioch. After one year, on the occasion of a famine, both Barnabus and Paul were sent with alms to the poor Christian community at Jerusalem. Having fulfilled their mission they returned to Antioch. Soon after this, Paul and Barnabus made the first missionary journey, visiting the island of Cypress, then Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia, all in Asia Minor, and establishing churches at Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. After the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem Paul, accompanied by Silas and later also by Timothy and Luke, made his second missionary journey, first revisiting the churches previously established by him in Asia Minor, and then passing through Galatia. At Troas a vision of a Macedonian was had by Paul, which impressed him as a call from God to evangelize in Macedonia. He accordingly sailed for Europe, and preached the Gospel in Philippi. Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, and Corinth. Then he returned to Antioch by way of Ephesus and Jerusalem. On his third missionary journey, Paul visited nearly the same regions as on the second trip, but made Ephesus where he remained nearly three years, the center of his missionary activity. He laid plans also for another missionary journey, intending to leave Jerusalem for Rome and Spain. Persecutions by the Jews hindered him from accomplishing his purpose. After two years of imprisonment at Caesarea he finally reached Rome, where he was kept another two years in chains. The Acts of the Apostles gives us no further information on the life of the Apostle. We gather, however, from the Pastoral Epistles and from tradition that at the end of the two years St. Paul was released from his Roman imprisonment, and then traveled to Spain, later to the East again, and then back to Rome, where he was imprisoned a second time and in the year 67, was beheaded. St. Paul untiring interest in and paternal affection for the churches established by him have given us fourteen canonical Epistles. It is, however, quite certain that he wrote other letters

Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 13 of 16 which are no longer extant. In his Epistles, St. Paul shows himself to be a profound religious thinker and he has had an enduring formative influence in the development of Christianity. The centuries only make more apparent his greatness of mind and spirit. His feast day is June 29th. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=91)

St. Peter the Apostle Peter was a native of Bethsaida, near Lake Tiberias, the son of John, and worked, like his brother St. Andrew, as a fisherman on Lake Genesareth. Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus, and Christ called Peter to become adisciple. In Luke is recounted the story that Peter caught so large an amount of fish that he fell down before the feet of Jesus and was told by the Lord, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men”. Jesus also gave Simon a new name: Cephas, or the rock. Becoming a disciple of Jesus, Peter acknowledged him as "... the Messiah, the son of the living God”. Christ responded by saying: "... you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.... He added: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”. Peter was always listed as the first of the Apostles in all of the New Testament accounts and was a member of the inner circle of Jesus, with James and John. He is recorded more than any other disciple, and was at Jesus’ side at the Transfiguration, the raising of Jairus’ daughter, and the Agony of the Garden of Gethsemane. He helped organize the Last Supper and played a major role in the events of the Passion. When the Master was arrested, he cut off the right ear of a slave of the high priest Malchus and then denied Christ three times as the Lord predicted. Peter then “went out and began to weep bitterly”. After the Resurrection, Peter went to the tomb with the “other disciple” after being told of the event by the women. The first appearance of the Risen Christ was before Peter, ahead of the other disciples, and when the Lord came before the disciples at Tiberias, he gave to Peter the famous command to “Feed my lambs.... Tend my sheep.... Feed my sheep”. In the time immediately after the Ascension, Peter stood as the unquestionable head of the Apostles, his position made evident in the Acts. He appointed the replacement of Judas Iscariot; he spoke first to the crowds that had assembled after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; he was the first Apostle to perform miracles in the name of the Lord; and he rendered judgment upon the deceitful Ananias and Sapphira. Peter was instrumental in bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. He baptized the Roman pagan Cornelius, and at the Council of Jerusalem he gave his support to preaching to Gentiles, thereby permitting the new Church to become universal. Imprisoned by King Herod Agrippa, he was aided in an escape by an angel. He then resumed his apostolate in Jerusalem and his missionary efforts included travels to such cities of the pagan world as Antioch, Corinth, and eventually Rome. He made reference to the Eternal City in his first Epistle by noting that he writes from Babylon . It is certain that Peter died in Rome and that his martyrdom came during the reign of Emperor Nero, probably in 64. Testimony of his martyrdom is extensive, including Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Clement I of Rome, St. Ignatius, and St. Irenaeus. According to rich tradition, Peter was crucified on the Vatican Hill upside down because he declared himself unworthy to die in the same manner as the Lord. He was then buried on Vatican Hill, and excavations under St. Peter’s Basilica have unearthed his probable tomb, and his relics are now enshrined under the high altar of St. Peter’s. From the earliest days of the Church, Peter was recognized as the Prince of the Apostles and the first Supreme Pontiff; his see, Rome, has thus enjoyed the position of primacy over the entire Catholic Church. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5358)

St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) Born to a southern Italian farm family, the son of Grazio, a shepherd. At age 15 he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars in Morcone, and joined the order at age 19. Suffered several health problems, and at one point his family thought he had tuberculosis. Ordained at age 22 on 10 August 1910. While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first

Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 14 of 16 priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide. His canonization miracle involved the cure of Matteo Pio Colella, age 7, the son of a doctor who works in the House for Relief of Suffering, the hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo founded by Padre Pio. On the night of 20 June 2000, Matteo was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital with meningitis. By morning doctors had lost hope for him as nine of the boy´s internal organs had ceased to give signs of life. That night, during a prayer vigil attended by Matteo´s mother and some Capuchin friars of Padre Pio´s monastery, the child's condition improved suddenly. When he awoke from the coma, Matteo said that he had seen an elderly man with a white beard and a long, brown habit, who said to him: "Don´t worry, you will soon be cured." The miracle was approved by the Congregation and Pope John Paul II on 20 December 2001. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintp27.htm)

St. Porphyry Bishop of Gaza and hermit also called Porphyrius, not to be confused with the thirdcentury Neoplatonist philosopher. Born in Thessalonika, Macedonia, he belonged to a wealthy Greek family but, at the age of twenty five, became a hermit in the desert of Skete, Egypt, later residing on the banks of the Jordan in Palestine, and finally in Jerusalem. With the help of his friend Mark, he gave away all of his inheritance, worked as a humble shoemaker for a time, and then received ordination as a priest. Against his will, he was made bishop of Gaza in 396, proving a brilliant and energetic prelate. One of his chief challenges came from the pagans of the region, but by the end of his life he had extirpated virtually all of the remnants of the old religion. He erected a church on the site of the most prominent pagan temple in the area as a symbol of his victory. His deacon, Mark, authored a biography of the bishop, a genuinely valuable historical document. Porphyrius died in Gaza on February 26. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5554)

St. Rita of Cascia Augustinian nun, also called Margarita. She was born in Roccaporena, near Spoleto, Italy, in 1381, and expressed from an early age the desire to become a nun. Her elderly parents insisted that she be married at the age of twelve to a man described in accounts of her life as cruel and harsh. She spent eighteen extremely unhappy years, had two sons, and was finally widowed when her husband was killed in a brawl. Both sons also died, and Rita, still anxious to become a nun, tried unsuccessfully to enter the Augustinians in their convent at Cascia. She was refused because she was a widow and because of the requirement that all sisters should be virgins. Finally, in 1413, the order gave her entry, and she earned fame for her austerity, devotion to prayer, and charity. In the midst of chronic illnesses, she received visions and wounds on her forehead which resembled the crown of thorns. She died on May 22 at Cascia, and many miracles were reported instantly. Canonized in 1900, she is honored in Spain as La Santa de los Impossibles and elsewhere as a patron saint of hopeless causes. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4610)

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin (Feast day - November 18) Born in Grenoble, France, in 1769, Rose joined the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 1818, when she was forty-nine years old, Rose was sent to the United States. She founded a boarding school for daughters of pioneers near St. Louis and opened the first free school west of the Missouri. At the age of seventy-one, she began a school for Indians, who soon came to call her "the woman who is Office for Vocations – Diocese of Manchester www.catholicnh.org/vocationweek Page 15 of 16 always praying". Her biographers have also stressed her courage in frontier conditions, her singlemindedness in pursuing her dream of serving Native Americans, and her self-acceptance. This holy servant of God was beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1940 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988. (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintr20.htm)

St. Thomas More St. Thomas More, Martyr (Patron of Lawyers) St. Thomas More was born at London in 1478. After a thorough grounding in religion and the classics, he entered Oxford to study law. Upon leaving the university he embarked on a legal career which took him to Parliament. In 1505, he married his beloved Jane Colt who bore him four children, andwhen she died at a young age, he married a widow, Alice Middleton, to be a mother for his young children. A wit and a reformer, this learned man numbered Bishops and scholars among his friends, and by 1516 wrote his world-famous book "Utopia". He attracted the attention of Henry VIII who appointed him to a succession of high posts and missions, and finally made him Lord Chancellor in 1529. However, he resigned in 1532, at the height of his career and reputation, when Henry persisted in holding his own opinions regarding marriage and the supremacy of the Pope. The rest of his life was spent in writing mostly in defense of the Church. In 1534, with his close friend, St. John Fisher, he refused to render allegiance to the King as the Head of the Church of England and was confined to the Tower. Fifteen months later, and nine days after St. John Fisher's execution, he was tried and convicted of treason. He told the court that he could not go against his conscience and wished his judges that "we may yet hereafter in heaven merrily all meet together to everlasting salvation." And on the scaffold, he told the crowd of spectators that he was dying as "the King's good servant-but God's first." He was beheaded on July 6, 1535. His feast day is June 22nd. (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=324)

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