Leo knew how to make himself close to the people with his pastoral action and his preaching at a time when Rome was tried by famines, an influx of refugees, injustice and poverty.

Summary: Pope Leo the Great was a layman when chosen for the office; he was able to keep the invaders from the north – the Huns and the Vandals – at bay; he was a focus for unity in the Church; and he gave powerful expression to the dignity [...]

Summary: Elizabeth of the Trinity, She spent six years as a Carmelite nun, but like St Thérèse of Lisieux she advanced in holiness in a very short time. As a [...]

The Lateran Bassilica became the cathedral of the Church of Rome and the seat of the popes for a thousand years..

John is traditionally regarded as the thologian who put the argument from reason in defence of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary..

Willibrord's missionary methods show his conviction of the power of the Christian religion..

Saints Patrick, Brigid, and Colmcille, are saints, as it were, by acclamation of the local Church, before the official papal canonisation process was established.

Zachariah and Elizabeth are willing cooperators with God in his design of "tender mercy".

Martin himself suffered discrimination as he was "illegitimate" and of mixed race. He is now regarded as the patron saint of those who suffer discrimination, and people of mixed race,

Charles' care for the poor was unflinching and his reforms antagonised the higher levels of the corrupt Church

Summary: St Malachy, bishop  Malachy was born near Armagh in 1094 . He became vicar of Ceallach, the reforming bishop of Armagh, and he continued this work of reform as bishop of Connor and as abbot and, later, bishop of Armagh. He introduced the Cistercians and the Canons [...]

Christian ritual expresses what Christians believe about death, after life, the resurrection of the body and what we call "life everlasting".

Pope Boniface IV (608-615AD) dedicated the Pantheon in Rome, as a church to St Mary and all the martyrs was the beginnnings of All saint's Day.

Summary: Dominic Collins SJ was a big man in every way. A soldier of fortune in the Catholic armies of Europe, joined the Jesuits in Santiago de Compostela, sent back to Ireland in 1601 with army of Spaniards going to Kinsale, eventually captured and put to death for [...]

Dominic joined the Jesuits in Santiago de Compostela and was sent back to Ireland in 1601. But he was captured and put to death i n Youghal for his faith.

Summary: St Dominic Collins A curt summary of the life of Dominic Collins would say: Born in Youghal, Co. Cork in the year 1566, left for France in 1586,returned to Ireland in 1601 as a Jesuit brother, brought back to [...]

Summary :St Alphonsus Rodriquez overcame many tragedies in his early life. He was born in Spain in 1531, the third of eleven children and became a Jesuit lay brother at forty and had an enormous influence on all he came in contact with.

Summary: St Hilda was of the royal house of King Edwin of Northumbria and became abbess of the double monastery of men and women at Whitby. Because of the school [...]

Colman had a pet rooster who woke him for the night office, a pet mouse he trained to prevent him going to sleep again and a pet fly he trained to mark the place in the manuscript service book where the service left off.

Some modern writers have associated Simon with the name the' Zealot . as a basis for recognising him. Jude is often, in popular usage, known as the patron of desperate causes- the "saint of last resort"

Summary: St Otteran, monk, a descendant of Conall Gulban, is usually identified with Odhran who preceded Colum Cille in Iona. His death is recorded in 548 and his grave was greatly revered in Iona. He was chosen by the Vikings as patron of the city of Waterford in [...]

Cedd demanded personal commitment and was not afraid to confront the powerful

Appointed bishop of Ross, Thaddeus arrived to find another bishop already in possession of his diocese. And things get a lot worse before they get better.

Summary: St Anne Line was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. She was martyred for sheltering Catholic priests.

Anne’s date of birth [...]

Summary: The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. These forty men and women of England and Wales, martyred between 1535 and 1679, were canonised in Rome by Pope Paul VI on 25th October 1970. Each has their feast day but they are [...]

The patience of St. Anthony Claret was tested in the political upheavals of the nineteenth century. His efforts at reform stirred up a great deal of hostility..

John married the daughter of a Perugian nobleman but as his marriage had not yet been consummated he had it anulled so that he could enter the Franciscans of the Strict Observance at Perugia..

John saw orthodox preaching and good living by priests as the planks of the reform process that had just begun with the Council of Trent.

According to the Martyrology of Tallaght, Fintan of Clonenagh had the name of being the "hard man" among the Celtic abbots.

His spirituality drew its power from meditation on the passion of Jesus as expressing the great love of God.