St Sylvester

St. Sylvester became Pope in 314 when Emperor Constantine ruled. It was a time of change for the church because the rule of Emperor Diocletian had just ended. Diocletian hated Christians and had many of Jesus’ followers killed. Emperor Constantine did not like Christians either, at first. Many were afraid he would be mean like the emperor before him. Emperor Constantine found out he had leprosy, a very bad skin disease that had no cure in those days. One night the emperor had a dream he was visited by St. Peter and St. Paul. The saints told him to go visit Pope Sylvester and that he would be healed. Emperor Constantine hurried to see the pope and asked to be baptized. Pope Sylvester gladly did as the emperor asked and, during the baptism, the emperor was healed. Emperor Constantine then did everything he could to help spread the Good News of Jesus. St. Sylvester continued to be pope until his death in 335. He was a very wise and strong leader. With the help of Emperor Constantine, he was able to build up Christ's Church after it had been through such hard times.

Sys Anysia y Ergwin

Anysia was born in Salonika, Greece. Her family was very rich and were also very faithful Christians. When her parents died, Anysia used her family’s money to help the poor. She took private vows of poverty and chastity. During this time in Greece, Christians were treated very badly. People were not allowed to go to Mass. Despite this, Anysia always tried to go to Mass in secret locations. One day when she was on her way, she was stopped by a guard who demanded to know where she was going. She traced the cross on her forehead and told him what she was doing. He grabbed her by the arms and tried to take her to be sacrificed to the pagan sun god. She put up a struggle and he pulled out his sword and killed her. Later, her friends built a church in the place where she had been martyred.

St Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket was born in London, England. He was very well liked and had many friends, one of whom was the King of England, King Henry II. Thomas was studying to become a priest when the king asked him to be his chancellor. As chancellor, he was very prayerful and gave a lot of what he had to the poor. When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, King Henry II wanted his friend Thomas to finish his studies to become a priest so he could make Thomas the archbishop. Thomas warned his friend that it was not a good idea and that it would be hard on their friendship, but the king did not listen. As time went on, Thomas served God’s Church well but the king kept trying to take over more power in the church. At first, Thomas almost gave in to his friend but he stood for his faith in the Church instead. King Henry became so mad at Thomas that he sent out four of his knights to “rid him of this archbishop”. On December 29th, 1170, Thomas was killed in his own cathedral for defending Jesus and His Church.

Holy Innocents

During the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, three Wise Men from the East came to visit Him. They did not know where to find Jesus so they visited King Herod to see if he knew. When King Herod heard that they were looking for Jesus, the Messiah, he started planning a very evil plan. He was worried that this new king would take over his kingdom, so he wanted to get rid of Jesus. Herod asked the Wise Men to return to him once they found Jesus so that he could also visit him. Once the Wise Men found Jesus, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Joseph was also warned in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt. When Herod found out that the Wise Men had disobeyed, he was very angry. He ordered his men to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and younger, hoping to get rid of Jesus. Today we remember and honor all those innocent babies who were martyred. They are called the Holy Innocents.

St John the Apostle

St. John lived during the time of Jesus. His parents were Zebedee and Salome. He and his brother James were fishermen and were both called to be Jesus' apostles. John was the youngest of Jesus' apostles and is the only one who did not leave Jesus during his crucifixion and death. After Jesus' resurrection, the apostles had been out on their boat fishing but did not catch any fish. A man from the shore told them to cast out their nets and they came up full of fish. It was John who recognized the man as Jesus. After Pentecost, John was filled with the Holy Spirit and went out preaching the Good News of Jesus. He performed many miracles and hundreds of people became followers of Jesus. John lived to be over one hundred years old and never stopped preaching about Jesus' great love.

St Charbel

Youssef Zaroun Makhlouf was born in a mountain village in Lebanon. He lived a simple life with his parents. He loved Jesus and always hoped to become a monk when he grew up. His parents wanted him to get married, so Youssef asked Mother Mary to help him to become a monk. When he was twenty-three, his parents gave their permission for him to join the monastery of Our Lady. He chose the name Charbel, who was a martyr in the early church. Charbel spent many years of his life as a hermit. He took a vow of silence and prayed for long hours during the day. He ate very little and slept on the hard ground. He was a very peaceful and prayerful man. He lived a very simple life like he had when he was a boy. He did not look to money or things for happiness; instead he found joy in living with very little to show his love for Jesus.

St John of Kanty

were farmers and taught their son about Jesus. John was a smart boy and his parents were able to send him to Krakow to go to university when he was old enough. He studied to be a priest and a teacher. He worked at the university for a while but then some bad men told lies about him and he was fired from his job. He was sent to a small town of Olkusz to be their parish priest. At first, the people did not like him because he was from the big city. John decided to just be himself and he showed kindness and love to the people of his parish. He soon won their hearts. After seven years as their parish priest, he was asked to return to the city of Krakow. The people of his parish were so sad to see him go that they journeyed half way back to the city with him. Back in Krakow, John became well-known for his preaching. He was always helping the poor. He ate very little and always shared what he had with people who were in need. He died when he was 83 years old.