Condemned for high treason, John was hanged in Glasgow and buried secretly in a criminal's plot, -no relics remain.
Frances, forced into marriag,e lived forty years as wife, mother and house-keeper before she was able to realise her dream of being a nun and ascetic.
Summary: St Gregory of Nyssa, teacher, defender of faith, bishop; one of the youngest of a family of ten, five brothers and five sisters, nearly all of whom, including their parents, are honoured as saints. He was strong in his defence of [...]
Summary: St Dominic Savio is the youngest non-martyr to be officially canonised in the Catholic Church. He owes a lot to the influence of his mentor, St John Bosco, with whom he went to train for the priesthood.
Patrick Duffy outlines his life.
St Senan is associated especially with Scattery Island or Inis Cathaigh, in the estuary of the River Shannon
Their execution was intended as entertainment for the crowd, some spectators, inspired by the martyrs' fearlessness, became converts to Christianity.
Colette gave herself to prayer and penance, and like St Francis, had a deep devotion to Christ's passion as well a love and care for animals.
Kieran (Irish Ciarán) of Saighir is known as the "first-born of the saints of Ireland"
Casimir was viceroy of Poland, and from 1481 to 1483 administered the state with great prudence and justice.
Katharine's great work work was to provide education and training for those who came from the disenfranchised peoples of the United States.
Summary: St Katharine Drexel, was an American of Austrian origin (canonised by John Paul II in 2000), inherited a fortune, but chose to spend it on the [...]
Thje venerable Bede considered that Chad’s two years as bishop were decisive in christianising Mercia which covered virtually the whole of central Britain.
David, Patron of Wales', monastery had a most austere regime. Instead of oxen to pull the plough, the monks had to pull their plough on their own shoulders.
Cassian's teaching on overcoming the eight evil tendencies were the inspiration behind the way the Irish monks practised asceticism.
Summary: St Oswald, There are two saints called Oswald ; one was a king, the other a monk. The saintly king lived in the 7th century in Northumbria: he brought St Aidan to Lindisfarne and his feast is on 5th August. Today’s St Oswald was the monk of [...]
Anne Line ran a safe house in England for priests and Mass until she was arrested, tried, convicted and hung at Tyburn in 1601AD.
Paula had little or no education herself and this inspired her to devote herself to work for the education of women at home and abroad.
Walburga belonged to an extraordinary English family, five of whom are saints. She herself became a missionary abbesss in Germany.
King Ethelbert of Kent gave monks a house and allowed them to preach freely. Many were converted, he himself accepted baptism in 601.
Summary: St Polycarp, bishop, martyr. Born about the year 69; died on this day about 155 at Smyrna (Turkey), where he had been the beloved and respected bishop. A disciple of Saint John the apostle, who wrote to the Philippians to strengthen their faith and to defend the [...]
The Chair of St Peter is a metaphor for the service the Pope offers as an authoritative leader of the Church.
Summary: St Margaret of Cortona is said to have suffered from bi-polar symptoms, that is, sometimes manic and at other times abnormally depressed states in a way that interferes with functioning. Others have described her as a second Mary Magdalene.
Patrick Duffy [...]
St Peter, a hermit and scholar, denounced clerical sex abuse and was an influential reforming bishop and cardinal.
Robert was only thirty-three, "the same age as Jesus", as he told his trial judge, when he was condemned to death in England.
Fra Angelico is probably better known as an artist than as a holy man. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1982.
The Venerable Bede points to the example of Colman's frugality and simplicity of living and his devotion to imparting the Word of God.
Fionán, abbot of Lindisfarne, was well able to manage the tensions that emerged between the Celtic and Roman ritual expressions of Christianity.
Summary: Abbot Fintan of Clonenagh (6th century) monk Fintan was born in Leinster, received his religious formation in Terryglass, Co. Tipperary under the abbot Colum, and was deeply influenced by his penitential practices and the severity of the Rule. Fintan made his own foundation in Clonenagh, [...]
Summary: Seven Founders of the Order of Servites, Religious. In 1233 these prominent businessmen from Florence (Italy) withdrew to a life of solitude, prayer, and penance. They developed into an order of mendicant friars (Servants of Mary). Noted for their radical response to the demands of the gospel.
Onesimus became a Christian and, stranger still, Paul sent him back to Philemon.
