Blessed Junipero Serra

Blessed Junipero was named Miguel Jose when he was born, he took the name Junipero when he became a brother with the Franciscans at 17 years old. Junipero was a good friend of St. Francis. As Junipero studied to become a priest, he read a lot of stories of the Saints. The ones he loved the most were the saints who were missionaries and brought the Good News of Jesus to those who had never heard it before. He decided that if God would allow it, he would become a missionary. After 20 years of being a priest and a teacher he was allowed to go to “New Spain” (now Mexico and California) to bring Jesus to the people living there. It was a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean in a boat and the Friars finally arrived in Mexico on December 6, 1749. Not long after they arrived Junipero was bit by an insect that made his leg swell up and made it difficult for him to walk. Junipero never complained and he walked far and wide to make sure that many people heard about Jesus and gave their life to Him. Junipero started 21 missions in Mexico and later in California, they told people about God, they took care of their needs and taught them many things about farming and other important things needed to live. His missions baptized 6,000 people who got to know Jesus because Junipero said yes to God’s call.

Martyrs

Many of the first Christians to follow Jesus after His death and resurrection lost their lives because of their faith. They were the first martyrs of the Church. The Emperor of Rome during this time was Nero, who was a very cruel and selfish man. He blamed the Christians for all the bad things that happened in Rome and this made the citizens of Rome hate the Christians. They did horrible things to people who believed in Jesus and thought that it was fun to watch these Christians suffer. The Christians died happily for their faith because they knew that dying would only mean that they could be with Jesus in Heaven. The Emperor thought that if he was mean to the Christians, people would stop believing in Jesus out of fear. He was very wrong. The more Christians he killed because of their faith, the more people started to believe in Jesus because they saw how much the Christians loved Jesus – so much that they were willing to die for Him.

St Irenaeus

Irenaeus’ parents were faithful Catholics and while Irenaeus was still young he was sent to study under the Bishop of Smyrna, the great Saint Polycarp who had been a disciple of St. John. Irenaeus knew that Bishop Polycarp was an amazing man and he carefully watched and listened to everything the bishop said, so that he could become holy like his teacher. After studying many years with Bishop Polycarp he was sent to Lyons, France to help Bishop Pothinus (who later became a saint as well). Many of the people in France were turning their hearts away from God and leaving the Church. Irenaeus helped Bishop Pothinus teach them the Truth so that they would believe in Jesus again. Bishop Pothinus made Irenaeus a priest, As a priest he spent lots of time teaching people about the faith and showing people that they were wrong to turn away from Jesus. These teachings and the books that he wrote about the Catholic faith made him a Doctor of the Church. He was killed because of his faith in God and became a martyr in Lyons, France.

St Emma

Emma, also known as Hemma, was born into a royal family. She was related to Emperor Henry II and was a Countess. She married William of Friesach and they had two boys. Emma was always very generous with what she had; she always gave to the poor. Everybody loved her so much and thought she was a saint even before she died. When her husband, and later her two sons died, she started a Benedictine Monastery in Austria. She also built ten Churches. Later in her life she joined the monastery in Austria and became a nun. She spent her days in prayer and devotion to God.

St Pelagius

When Pelagius was a boy, the Moors ruled the part of Spain where he lived in. The Moors did not believe in God and did not allow anyone else to believe in God either. Pelagius was a Christian and because of his faith in Jesus he was thrown in prison when he was only ten years old. No one came to rescue him, so he remained in prison for three years. When he was thirteen years old the ruler of the Moors told Pelagius he would let him go, as long as stopped believing in Jesus. Pelagius told the ruler that he would never deny Jesus, so the ruler had him killed. Pelagius died a young martyr for Jesus.

St William of Monte Virgine

William was an orphan who was raised by one of his relatives after his mother and father died. When he was 14 years old he went on a pilgrimage, walking the path of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This pilgrimage ends at the Shrine of the Apostle Saint James. When he arrived at the end of his pilgrimage, he decided to give his life completely to God and became a hermit (living alone with God). He lived on a high mountain called Monte Vergine (which means the Mountain of the Virgin Mary). People followed him there and they built the Monastery of Montevergine. William wanted to live a very strict life but not all the men who came to live at the monastery wanted such a hard life. William left and started a new monastery where he continued to live very strictly, so that he could stay close to God. William performed miracles through God and he was very close to God his entire life.

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin. His parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were very old and it was a miracle that they had a child in their old age. Zechariah was a priest and one day when he was praying in the temple, an Angel appeared to him and told him that he would have a son named John, who would be very special from the day he was born. Zechariah asked the Angel how this could be, because he was so old. The Angel told him that he would know this was from God because Zechariah would not be able to speak until his son was born. So it was that Zechariah lost his voice and could not speak until Elizabeth had the baby. When everyone asked Zechariah what his name was, he wrote down that his name was John – and because he believed that the child came from God he was able to speak again. John is called the Baptist, because when he grew up he started to prepare people for his cousin Jesus. He would teach people amazing things about God and he would baptize them with water and tell them to turn away from sin. He even baptized his cousin Jesus right before Jesus started his own mission and teaching. He told people to follow Jesus, because he could only baptize with water, but he knew that Jesus would baptize people with a greater power – the power of the Holy Spirit.

St Joseph Cafasso

Joseph was born with a crooked spine, which made it impossible for him to stand straight and made it difficult for him to walk. This did not stop him from doing amazing things for God! He knew he wanted to be a priest when he was very young and began studying to be a priest as early as 12 years old. He became an incredible preacher and a wonderful teacher of priests. He loved his students and helped them to follow what God was calling them to do. He became good friends with St. Bosco, they knew each other from when they were kids. Joseph helped John listen to God and discover that God was calling him to help young boys in Italy who did not have a home. God called Joseph to help the prisoners in Italy, because they were treated very badly and even killed for their crimes. He helped so many prisoners turn to God and confess their sins before they were killed for their crimes; they died receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and knowing that God loved them and forgave them. Everyone that knew Fr. Joseph loved him, because all He wanted to do was bring people closer to Jesus.

St Thomas More

Thomas More grew up learning about God and the Catholic faith. When he grew up he studied and became a lawyer and began to work for the Government. He married Jane Colt and they had 4 children. He was a very smart man and he even wrote a book called “Utopia” which became very famous. King Henry VIII noticed how smart and wise Thomas More was and he hired him to do a lot of very important jobs for the King. Thomas was happy to serve the King, until the King tried to force him to change his mind about what marriage should be and how we should always follow the Pope’s teachings. So Thomas More quit his job, even though it was a very important and powerful job. Thomas then got into more trouble with the King. The King had decided that he was going to be the head of the Church in England and Thomas refused to follow him. Thomas was thrown into the King’s prison tower and was taken to court for treason (going against the King). Thomas told the judges that he would never go against what he believed in and that he hoped one day he would meet them all in heaven. Right before he died, he declared that he would always be the “King’s good servant”, but he would always be God’s servant first.

St Aloysius Gonzaga

Aloysius’ father planned on making him a soldier from the time that Aloysius was very little. His father sent him to train with the soldiers while he also studied. Even though Aloysius knew his dad wanted him to be a soldier, Aloysius planned on living his life for God from the time that he was 9 years old. When he was young, he got sick with a kidney disease. While he was getting better, Aloysius had lots of time to read about Jesus and the lives of the Saints and this helped him love God even more. Aloysius’ dad would not let him become a priest for a long time, so instead he taught the poor about Jesus. Finally, when Aloysius was 18 years old his father let him join the Jesuit order. He gave up all of his riches to his brother and took a vow of poverty (to live like the poor) and did whatever the order asked him to do. When the plague (a really bad disease) spread all over Rome, Aloysius volunteered to help with the sick and the dying. He soon became sick as well and although he got better he was always very weak. He died when he was only 23 years old, and so he became an example for youth all over the world of how to live life for Jesus.

Blessed Michelina

Michelina was born into a wealthy and important family. She learned to follow God from her mother and father and was given everything she needed. When she was only 12 years old, she married a very important and rich man and she went to live in a palace with him. They had a son together and she was very happy living her life for her family. Her husband died when Michelina was only 20 years old, leaving her to raise their son on her own. Even though Michelina had everything the world could give her, she found herself very sad and very lost. She searched for happiness outside of God and she could not find it. Then a very holy woman came to live in her town, Michelina saw in her something that she wanted too and she asked the woman to come and live with her so that she could learn from her. What she learned was that this woman loved God before anyone and anything else. She taught Michelina to pray and love God first and this finally brought Michelina the joy and peace that she was looking for. She was able to once again become a good mother to her son and to live her life for God. Even though her son died when he was still a child, Michelina was still able to love God and see that her son was going to be in heaven with Jesus. All alone, Michelina gave her whole life to serving Jesus through serving the poor of her community. She gave away most of her possessions and she became a lay Franciscan, living her life simply and all for God. When she died, many miracles happened to those that came to see her tomb in the Franciscan church where she was buried.

St Romauld

Romuald belonged to a rich and noble (important) family and growing up he did not follow the commandments of God. One day he saw his father kill another man in a fight and Romuald was so upset about it that he went to a nearby monastery to do penance (doing hard things to show God that you are sorry for your sins or other people’s sins) for his father’s sin. Romuald loved the monastery life so much that he decided to stay and join the monastery and became a monk. Romuald spent the rest of his life living a very strict life, praying and leading the other brothers in the monastery as Abbot (leader). He also spent many years as a hermit so that he could spend as much time with God as possible every day. He also started his own Order called the Camaldolese Benedictine order and opened many monasteries in Italy. The first rule in his monasteries was to “Empty yourself completely and sit waiting”, waiting for God to speak and work in their lives. Through the example of his life, his father repented for his sin and came to know God as well.

St Gregory Barbarigo

Gregory studied very hard as a young man and he became a lawyer. He was asked to attend a very important meeting in Germany to represent Venice. This meeting was to sign a peace treaty, which would end the “Thirty Years War” that had been fought in Germany between Germany, Sweden and France. The war had been started by an argument between the Catholic and Protestant people. While at this meeting, Gregory (still only about 20 years old) met Archbishop Fabio Chigi, who was the Pope’s representative and who later became Pope himself, Pope Alexander VII. The Archbishop could tell that Gregory was a very good man and he made him the Bishop of Bergamo, Italy. When the Archbishop later became Pope he made Gregory a Cardinal of Padua (where St. Anthony came from). He was a very generous, kind and humble Cardinal; he gave to the poor and was always ready to help those in need. He started schools and seminaries for men to study for the priesthood. He helped to choose 4 Popes during his time as Cardinal.

St Emily

Emily was born into a very rich family and she was sent to study in Paris. Her mother died when Emily was only 15 years old and Emily returned to her home to be with her father. Her father wanted to find a good husband for her, but Emily didn’t want to get married she wanted to serve God as a nun. With the help of her Parish priest, Fr. Mercier, she started to help little boys and girls who were not well taken care of and to take care of the poor and sick in her community. She did this at her Father’s home until her grandfather left her lots of money when he died. She used her grandfather’s money to buy a really big house and started a convent with 3 other girls. They called themselves the “Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition” and many more girls joined them in the years to come. They continued the work that Emily started in her father’s home. Sr. Emily started convents in Burma and Australia and before she died there were over 40 convents around the world.

St. John of France

John was always very close to God, even as a little boy. He didn’t do a lot of the things young boys do, because he was too busy praying and learning about God. He spent all his free time praying and being with God, because he loved God with all his heart, soul and mind. So when he was 19 years old he joined the seminary so that he could be a priest. During his days in seminary all his teachers noticed how close he was to God and how special this made him. All he wanted to do was pray and serve others and give whatever he could to those around him. As a priest, Fr. John continued to serve others and God with his whole life. He didn’t think about himself and only did what he absolutely had to for himself in order to stay alive; he didn’t eat much, he didn’t sleep much, he didn’t take holidays. Fr. John spent his days preaching, helping people get to know Jesus, healing people, listening to confessions and celebrating mass. He would do all these things which such closeness to God, that people who saw him could not help but return to Jesus, because they saw in Fr. John the love of God. He went on missions to the villages in the mountains to help people there come back to Jesus. Everyone who came to know Fr. John Francis Regis, said that they were closer to Jesus because of him.

Adelaide

Adelaide was sent to a convent to live with the Cistercian sisters when she was only 7 years old. The sisters loved her so much because she was such a kind and humble girl. The sisters were so sad when they found out that Adelaide had became sick with a disease called leprosy (a sickness of the skin). In those days you could not heal someone with leprosy and it was easily spread and very dangerous, so the sisters had to keep Adelaide away from all of the sisters. So Adelaide spent most of her time alone and had to be very careful not to get close to the sisters so that she did not get them sick too. She suffered her illness quietly and with a lot of grace; she never complained. She spent her days praying and talking to God, and God comforted her and gave her special visions and graces. After Adelaide became blind and was no longer able to move, she joined Jesus in heaven. Many people asked for her prayers and Jesus performed many miracles through her intercession.

St Methodius

Methodius was actually born in Italy, but after his studies were finished he decided to go to Constantinople to work for the Emperor. On his way there, he met a monk who taught him all about God and how much he loves us. Methodius learned that he could be very happy by giving up everything he had and living for God. He joined a monastery and actually built a monastery too. The Emperor, who Methodius had wanted to work for when he first set sail for Constantinople, did not believe that people should have statues and icons of Saints. Many people agreed with the Emperor; they believed that Christians who had these things were worshiping these statues and icons instead of worshipping God. Methodius tried to help the Pope teach the Emperor and his followers that Christians were not worshipping these statues or icons, but they were using them to be able to get closer to Jesus through prayer and reflection on these holy peoples’ lives. Methodius was thrown into prison for going against the Emperor. Seven years later the Emperor died and his wife, Empress Theodora, became the ruler of Constantinople. The Empress was a good Christian and found nothing wrong with having statues and icons and so she set Methodius and many other Christians free from prison. Methodius spent the rest of his life working to bring peace to the people of Constantinople. He also wrote about the lives of the Saints and wrote about the teachings of the faith, which helped many people get closer to God.

St Anthony of Padua

Anthony was born in Portugal and was named Fernand when he was born. His family was rich and his parents wanted Fernand to become an important man in their city, but Fernand only wanted to be a priest. After getting a really good education, Fernand joined the Augustinian friars. When he was 25 years old he was inspired to join the Franciscans because 5 Franciscan brothers had been martyred for the faith and Fernand also wanted to give his live for Jesus. When he became a brother he took the name Anthony. He became an amazing teacher of the faith and preached all over Italy and in France too. He was able to explain the faith in very simple words and so honestly that everyone who heard him could understand and came to believe in Jesus. Because of this gift in teaching the faith, the Church made him a Doctor of the Church. He died at a young age near Padua in Italy. Many people asked him to pray for them after he died and many miracles happened because of his intercession to Jesus.

St John of Shonagun

John was born to rich parents and was the oldest of 7 children. He could have lived a comfortable life, but he gave it all up to become a priest. Although he was a very good priest, he felt that he needed to learn more so that he could preach against the lies that were being taught about the faith. So he studied for 4 more years and became a wonderful preacher, leading many people back to the truth about God. After becoming very sick, he joined the Augustinian friars, where he was a wonderful leader for the new men joining the monastery. He always knew exactly what was going on in peoples’ souls and God performed many miracles through him. He was never afraid to speak the truth about people, no matter how powerful or mean the person was, because of this many people wanted to kill him. John did not care, he continued to share the Gospel, work miracles and bring people back to God.

St Barnabas

Barnabas was born around the same time that Jesus was born. He was named Joseph when he was born. He was St. Mark’s cousin and he became a Christian after the great event of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down on the Apostles and helped them preach in many languages. The Apostles gave Joseph a new name, Barnabas, to symbolize that he was starting a new life in Jesus. He gave everything he owned to the community of early Christians and truly gave his whole life to spreading the Good News of Jesus to everyone he could. He joined St. Paul (who was first called Saul) in many missions to foreign lands, to tell everyone they could that Jesus lived to save us from sin and then He rose from the dead so we could be with Him and God the Father in Heaven! Barnabas was able to return to his home country of Cyprus to share the gospel with them and He was overjoyed to see so many of the people in his country become believers in Jesus. Barnabas died a martyr; he was stoned because he believed in Jesus and he was not afraid to share the Good News.

St Ephrem

Ephrem lived during a very difficult time, where many people believed in false gods and didn’t want to learn about the one true God. People were teaching lies in the Church and someone needed to put a stop to this and teach the Truth about Jesus. Ephrem was baptized when he was about 18 years old and from then on spent his life trying to know God better and teach others more about God too. He shared the Gospel through writing songs. Until this time people didn’t have song books that they used at Church, St. Ephrem created hymns like the ones we sing at Church today. These hymns taught people the Truth about God and our faith and helped the Christians understand things better. He was a great teacher of the faith and he might have even been a Deacon in the Church. His hymns and teachings helped the Christian people in the Church begin to love God and His Church again; this is why the Church calls him a Doctor of the Church.

St William of York

William grew up close to royal people. His mother was King William’s sister and his father worked for King Henry I. William grew up with a deep faith in God and when he was older he worked for the Church in York, not for the royal people like his Father did. He became a priest and the Pope made him the Archbishop of York. Even though he was a good man and a good Archbishop, some people said that he was doing bad things and they wanted the Pope to make William stop being the Archbishop of York. The Pope said no, but when this Pope died the new Pope, Eugene III, believed what people were saying and William was no longer allowed to be the Archbishop. He went to a quiet place and lived the life of a monk, praying and doing penance (doing hard things because you are sorry for your sins and for the sins of others). After Pope Eugene III died, William was again made the Archbishop of York, because the new Pope, Anastastius IV, realized that what had been said about William was all lies. He was only Archbishop for a short time though, because he died soon after returning to York. Some people think that his enemies poisoned him, but no one knows for sure. There were many miracles that happened when people came to see his tomb and ask for his prayers, so the Church knows that he was a holy man.

St Anne of St Bartolomew

Born into a peasant family (farmers), Anne grew up and became a shepherdess. She lived close to Avila, which is where the Carmelite nuns lived; they were run by St. Theresa of Avila. Anne asked to join this convent and was accepted as a lay sister instead of a Cloistered nun. This allowed her to run errands and do some of the work outside of the convent walls that the other sisters could not do. St. Theresa began to know Blessed Anne and liked her so much that she chose her to be her travel buddy, as she visited other convents or started new convents in Europe. Anne was with St. Theresa a lot and learned so much from her. After St. Theresa died Anne continued doing some of the work that she had helped St. Theresa do while she was alive. She was sent to open a convent in France and then she opened some in the Netherlands and Belgium. Many rich and very well educated girls joined the convents that Anne helped start and she reminded Jesus that she was only a shepherd girl and maybe he should choose someone else to do this important work. Jesus reminded her that straw can start a very big fire and through Anne’s work many women’s hearts caught on fire with love for Jesus.

St Norbert

Norbert was born into a rich family and he loved the good and easy life. He didn’t like doing things that were hard. He joined the German royal court and continued leading a very fun, easy and selfish life, thinking of only himself. Then one day he was riding his horse in a storm. There was a big strike of lightening that scared his horse and made it jump. This threw Norbert off the horse and onto the muddy ground where he was knocked unconscious (not able to move or think). He lay there in the mud getting wet by the rain for over an hour. When he woke up he repeated the words that St. Paul said to God when he was knocked off his horse, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” God said to him, “Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.” So Norbert sold everything he had and gave it to the poor. He become a priest and started preaching, walking everywhere barefoot in order to do penance (doing hard things because you feel bad about the sins you have done or others have done) for the life he had lead. The Pope saw how he had changed and gave him some land to start an Order, which was very popular because of its strict ways. Soon there were 8 Abbeys and 2 Convents. Fr. Norbert later became Pope and was very well respected by the Church all over the world.

St Boniface

Even though Boniface was born in England, he is honored in Germany because he was a missionary in that country and helped many people become Christian there. He first heard about God from some missionaries who stayed at his parent’s house when he was just a little boy. He listened to the Good News of the Gospel that they shared and loved listening to them because they were so excited to share about Jesus. That day Boniface knew that he wanted to be a missionary when he grew up. So after studying at a monastery school and becoming a priest, the Pope St. Gregory II sent him to Germany with St. Albinus, St. Abel and St. Agatha also went with him. Fr. Boniface was a wonderful preacher and many people came to know Jesus through him. He was able to show people that their false gods had no power and many people stopped believing in false gods and started believing in Jesus instead. He built churches and monasteries in all the places that he preached in Germany. Fr. Boniface became an Archbishop and was sent to Bavaria, which is now also part of Germany. Again, Archbishop Boniface converted many people there. One day Archbishop Boniface was in Holland and he was getting ready to confirm some new Christians when a group of warriors attacked them. Instead of being afraid and running for his life, Archbishop Boniface trusted in God and was excited to join Jesus in heaven. He died that day as a martyr with 52 new Christians who were with him.

St Francis C

Before Francis became a priest he was very sick with a skin disease that was almost like leprosy (a sickness that hurts peoples’ skin), but he studied to become a priest anyway. When he became a priest his disease disappeared, it was a miracle. He started an Order of priests with a friend of his, St. John Augustine, called the Minor Clerks Regular. In this Order, he served the Church and the priests in the order with great humility. The Pope thought he was such a good priest that he wanted to make him a Bishop, but Fr. Francis was too humble and refused to become a Bishop. He made sure that anytime he could, he told people about how much God loved them; through him many people came to know about the love God had for them. He made sure that in the Order there was always someone praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, where Jesus’ body is really present to us. He died when he was still pretty young, he was only in his 40s, but he was so ready to go to heaven. Shortly before he died, one of the priests in his Order heard him say, “Let’s Go!” and the priest asked, “Where are we going?”. Fr. Francis answered “To Heaven!”.

Sts Charles Lwanga

Charles Lwanga belonged to the Society of Missionaries of Africa, known as the “White Fathers” because their robes were all white. These Missionaries shared the Good News of the Gospel with so many young people in Africa. Soon these new Christians began to share the Good News of Jesus’ love with even more people. 200 of these new Christians worked for King Mwanga, the leader of this group was Joseph Mkasa. Joseph was friends with the King, but when he told the King that he was not living the way God would want him to live, the King got so angry that he had him killed. Before Joseph died he forgave the King. Charles then took Joseph’s place as leader of the new Christians who worked for the King. The King became very angry that people working for him were still learning about Jesus and so he gathered everyone in the Palace Court together. He asked all the people who did not pray to stand beside him and those that did pray to stand in front of him. Fifteen men stood in front of him and he asked them if they were going to stay Christian, they all said yes! All of them were 25 years old or younger and they were not afraid to say that they were Christians, even though they knew that would mean they would die. The King made them all walk 37 miles to where he planned to take their life; some died on the way and those that made it to the end were killed in a fire. They were not afraid to die, they all continued to praise Jesus even while they were dying. They knew that the King could harm their bodies, but he could not harm their souls. They all died as martyrs because of their strong faith in Jesus.

Sts Marcellinus and Peter

Marcellinus was a priest in the early Church and Peter was someone who got rid of bad spirits (an exorcist). They were very strong believers in Jesus and helped to spread the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection throughout Rome. They were put into prison and eventually they were killed because of their faith in Jesus. They were killed in a secret place in the forest, because the rulers of Rome did not want people to respect their bodies. Their bodies were found and later Emperor Constantine built a Basilica over their tombs in order for all Catholics to remember how they died for their faith.

St Justin

Justin’s mom and dad did not believe in God and so Justin grew up without knowing who Jesus and God the Father were. Even though he was never taught about God, through reading about history and science he knew that there must be a God and he wanted to find out more. God wanted Justin to know Him too and so one day while Justin was walking alone, he met an old man along the way that explained to him who God was. He shared the Gospel with him and told him that God sent His Son to earth to save us, so that we could have a relationship with Him. He asked Justin if he would pray to Jesus and let him into His heart and Justin said yes. From that day, Justin began to pray and read the Bible, he grew closer and closer to Jesus every day. As he learned more and more, he began to write a lot about the faith and some of his writings are still used today to explain the faith. Being Christian was not allowed in Rome during the time that Justin was doing all his writings about the Church and so Justin was arrested for believing in Jesus. When he faced the Judge, he was asked if he thought that dying would help him get to heaven. Justin responded by saying that he didn’t think he would get to heaven, he was sure of it! The Judge sentenced Justin to death because of his faith in Jesus, and so Justin died a martyr.