St Matthias

Matthias was a follower of Jesus when he was alive.  After Jesus ascended into heaven his disciples wanted to choose an Apostle to replace Judas; so they gathered to pray and ask God who they should choose.  Matthias was chosen, you can read about it in the Bible - Acts 1:23-26.  He spread the Good News about Jesus being Risen from the dead in Judea and Cappadocia (now Turkey), Egypt and Ethiopia.  Many people came to believe in Jesus because of Matthias’ words.  The more people that became Christian because of Matthias sharing the gospel, the more the enemies of Jesus became angry.  They decided that they needed to stop Matthias from spreading the Good News and they stoned him to death.  Matthias died a martyr because he refused to be silent and continued to spread the gospel until he died.  

St Andrew Fournet

Andrew grew up in a very Catholic family, his mother really wanted Andrew to become and priest and encouraged him to do so from a very young age.  Andrew didn’t want to be a priest and he got tired of being told that he should.  When he left home to study, he met some friends who liked to party and get into trouble; Andrew started to do the same.  In order to help him get back on the right road, his mother asked Andrew to go and live with his Uncle for a little while; his Uncle was a priest.  Andrew did as his mother asked and he helped his Uncle in the small Church where he was a Priest.  His Uncle helped Andrew to grow closer to God and get back to his studies.  Andrew then became a priest!  During a time called the French Revolution, there was lots of change happening in France and there were lots of people that wanted to change the Church.  Fr. Andrew refused to follow any changes that were not part of God’s teachings and because of this, many people wanted to kill him.  He was forced to go into hiding for a while, but after 5 years he came back to help his people, even though it was still dangerous.  Fr. Andrew protected his people and made sure that they received all they needed from the Church.  He continued to serve his people even after the revolution, living until he was 82 years old.

Sts Nereus, Achilles, Pancras

Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers under the rule of Emperor Trajan, during a time when Christians were hated in Rome.  They became Christian and left the Roman Army forever, this made the Emperor very angry.  They were sent away from Rome to the island of Terracina where they were killed because of their faith in Jesus.  They were martyrs because they gave up their life for their belief in God.  Pancras came to live in Rome with his Uncle after both his parents died, leaving him orphaned.  His Uncle told him about God and he came to believe in Jesus and was baptized.  Even though Pancras was just a boy, he was also arrested because of his faith in Jesus and he also died a martyr’s death.  He faced his death so bravely that many people came to believe in God because of him.  A church in England, built by St. Augustine, was named after St. Pancras to honour this brave young martyr.

St Ignatius of Laconi

Ignatius was one of 7 children born to a poor farmer in Italy. He grew up working in the fields with his family. There were two times in his life that showed Ignatius that God wanted him to join the Franciscan community. When Ignatius was 17 years old he became very sick; he promised God that if he got better he would become a Franciscan friar. He got better right away, but his dad convinced him that he should wait. Two years after that, he was riding a horse, when he suddenly lost control and was almost killed; then for no reason the horse stopped and calmly trotted on his way. This convinced Ignatius that he needed to join the Franciscan's right away. As a Franciscan brother his job was to go house-to-house asking for donations for the community to survive. Even though the people were giving donations to Brother Ignatius, they were the ones that felt like they were receiving something more from him. He was loved by everyone in the village; because he was a peacemaker, he cared for the sick and lonely, he made children happy and helped those who had sinned find peace with God.

St Antoninus

Antoninus wanted to become a priest even as a young boy. When he was 15 years old he asked his parish priest if he could join the Dominican Order. Since he was so young and not very healthy, the priest told him that he had to learn the Canon law of the Church first. The Canon law of the Church is very complicated and hundreds of pages long, but Antoninus was determined to become a priest. One year later Antoninus returned to his parish priest with the Canon Law memorized. Amazed by Antoninus’ desire to be a priest, he allowed him to join at 16 years old. Fr. Antoninus was such a good priest and he was given many important jobs to do: he became Bishop of the Dominicans, he had the gift of healing people, he was a teacher of the faith and was also made the Archbishop of Florence, Italy. He was also called “The father of the Poor” because he always helped those in need. He would give whatever he had, even his clothes, shoes, furniture and his only mule. He gave his mule away many times to poor people and rich people kept buying it back for him, so he would keep giving it away to whoever needed it.

Bl Nicolas Albergati

Nicholas almost became a lawyer, but God had other plans. After studying law for a few years, Nicholas decided to join an order of priests called the Carthusians. When he was only 35 years old, he was made Bishop of his Diocese, even though he didn’t feel like he could do a good job. He was a very good Bishop and loved by all the people in his Diocese. He spent time with the people, even those that were poor. He lived a simple life and would care for those that needed help. He became a Cardinal in 1426 because he was a very wise man and a peacemaker. Pope Martin V and the Emperor of Rome and Pope Eugene IV and the French King always turned to Bishop Nicholas for help in keeping peace between the rulers. Blessed Nicholas is the patron of learning because he wrote lots of books and always helped people to learn more about God and their faith.

St Catherine of St Augustine

Catherine grew up in France, watching her grandparents care for the poor and sick in their home. She knew when she was very young that she too wanted to help the sick and poor. She entered the convent before she was even 16 years old; following her older sister who became a nun the day Catherine entered the convent. Her sister was sent to Canada first and Catherine begged the convent to send her too. They finally decided she could go, and Catherine made the long journey to Quebec, Canada to serve the poor and sick. Life was very hard and there was lots of danger for those serving the Lord in the new country of Canada. Lots of nuns got tired of the hard life and went back to France, but Catherine had promised to stay in Canada no matter what and to take care of the people there and she did. As the Church in Canada grew, more missionaries came to Canada. Sr. Catherine was in charge of all the new girls joining the convent and she also continued to work hard in the hospital. She died when she was only 36 years old.