Óscar Romero
OSCAR ROMERO was born in Ciudad Barrios, a town in the mountainous east of El Salvador, on 15th August 1917. He was the second of seven children. When he was thirteen he declared a vocation to the priesthood. He went to a seminary in San Miguel, then to the capital San Salvador, and from there…
Read MoreThomas Becket
Thomas Becket was an English archbishop and martyr, famously murdered by knights of Henry II at Canterbury Cathedral. After his death, his tomb and relics became a focus for pilgrimage and he was made a saint. Thomas Becket was born in Cheapside, London, to reasonably affluent Norman parents who had settled in England some years earlier. He was given a good…
Read MoreColumba of Iona
Saint Columba (or Colum Cille, “the dove of the Church”) was of noble birth, a member of the powerful Ui Néill clan, which traced its descent to Niall of the Nine Hostages, who died around the year 450. His parents were Fedelmid mac Ferguso and Eithne. Although it is difficult to determine the date of…
Read MoreElizabeth Alexandra
Queen Elizabeth II had a strong Christian faith, evident throughout her life in her words and actions. As well as her formal role as ‘Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England’, which came with monarchy, her personal faith was evident even before she was crowned. ‘Pray for me … that…
Read MoreMary Teresa Bojaxhiu
This luminous messenger of God’s love was born on 26 August 1910 in Skopje, a city situated at the crossroads of Balkan history. The youngest of the children born to Nikola and Drana Bojaxhiu, she was baptised Gonxha Agnes, received her First Communion at the age of five and a half and was confirmed in…
Read MoreKyrillos VI
On March 9, the Coptic Orthodox Church remembers the departure of the Great Pope (Papa, Ava) Kyrillos (Cyril) VI, the 116th Pope of Alexandria and successor of Saint Mark the Evangelist. He sat on the throne of Saint Mark for twelve years (1959-1971). Pope Kyrillos was a holy man of prayer who through full dedication…
Read MoreIgnatius of Loyola
St. Ignatius came from a family of minor nobility in Spain’s northern Basque region. One thing to know about Ignatius is that he was far from saintly during much of his young adult life. He was vain, with dreams of personal honor and fame. He gambled and was not above sword fighting. As some have…
Read MoreThomas More
Today we know Sir Thomas More primarily as the author of Utopia, and as one of the more famous martyrs of Henry VIII’s reign. The popular image is of a man – principled, steadfast, courageous – who placed his own conscience above his king’s demands. Yet if you were to ask More’s contemporaries to describe…
Read MoreJoan of Arc
There are few figures from the Middle Ages, male or female, more well-represented in the historical record than Joan of Arc. Her life, though short, was so extraordinary that she continues to be held in high esteem, is the object of continued research and study in academia, is the patron saint of France, and remains…
Read MoreCatherine of Siena
The value Catherine makes central in her short life and which sounds clearly and consistently through her experience is complete surrender to Christ. What is most impressive about her is that she learns to view her surrender to her Lord as a goal to be reached through time. She was the 23rd child of Jacopo…
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