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Information on Popular Saints
| Browse: St. Joseph | St. Francis | St. Michael | St. Augustine | St. Rita |
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 St. Joseph
Saint
Joseph was by birth of the royal family of David, but was living in
humble obscurity as a carpenter, until God raised him to the highest
office ever accorded a mortal man, by choosing him to be the spouse of
the Virgin Mother, the virginal father and guardian of the Incarnate
Word. Joseph, says Holy Scripture, was a just man. He was innocent and
pure, as became the husband of Mary; he was gentle and tender, as one
worthy to be named the father of Jesus; he was prudent and a lover of
silence, as became the master of the holy house; above all, he was
faithful and obedient to divine calls.
His
conversation was with Angels rather than with men. When he learned that
Mary bore within Her womb the Lord of heaven, he feared to take Her as
his wife; but an Angel bade him put his fear aside, and all doubts
vanished. When Herod sought the life of the divine Infant, an Angel
told Joseph in a dream to fly with the Child and His Mother into Egypt.
Joseph at once arose and obeyed. This sudden and unexpected flight must
have exposed both him and his little Family to many inconveniences and
sufferings; the journey with a newborn infant and a tender virgin was
long, and the greater part of the way led through deserts and among
strangers. Yet Saint Joseph alleges no excuses, nor inquires at what
time they were to return. Read more... |
 St. Francis
Saint
Francis, the son of a merchant of Assisi, was born in the year 1182 in
a poor stable, his birth already prophesying the Saint who would preach
poverty to a world seduced by luxury. Though chosen by God to be for
the world a living manifestation of Christ’s poor and suffering life on
earth, in his youth he was generous, always of equal humor, and much
appreciated by his friends; he was fond of splendors, fine clothing,
and good company, and easily won the affection of all who knew him.
More than once various holy persons foretold for him a future of glory,
but in veiled terms. Francis did not understand these predictions, and
supposed he would become the leader of a large militia.
The
military life he had adopted ended when Jesus told him he was destined
to fight another kind of combat, one against the demon and sin; that
the grandeurs predicted were spiritual, not temporal — and to return
home. He became inspired with a great esteem for poverty and
humiliation. The thought of the Man of Sorrows, who had nowhere to lay
His head, filled him with holy envy of the poor, and constrained him to
renounce the wealth and the worldly station which he had come to abhor.
One day, while on horseback, he met a leper begging alms who inspired
him with repugnance, and he took a path to avoid him. Then, repenting,
he turned his horse around and returned to embrace him and give him a
generous alms, as was his custom for all beggars. He continued on his
way, but looked back, and nowhere on the plain could the stranger be
seen, though there were no trees, no refuges anywhere. He was from that
day a completely transformed person. Read more... |
 St. Michael the Archangel
“MI-CA-EL,”
or “Who is like unto God?” was the cry of the great Archangel when he
smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts. From
that hour he has been known as Michael, Captain of the armies of God,
the archetype of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul
in strife with the powers of evil. What is more, we see him in Holy
Scripture as the special guardian of the children of Israel, their
comfort and protector in times of sorrow or conflict. It is he who
prepares their return from the Persian captivity, when the prophet
Daniel prays for that favor (Daniel 10:12-13); who leads the valiant
Maccabees to victory in battle, after the prayer of Judas Maccabeus (I
Mac. 7:41-44).
Ever since its foundation by
Jesus Christ, the Church has venerated Saint Michael as her special
patron and protector. She invokes him by name in her Confiteor, when
accusing her faults; she summons him to the side of her children in the
agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening
flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light. Lastly, when
Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who
will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross. This we know from a
prophecy of Scripture which states clearly that in those days the great
prince Michael will rise up to protect the children of God. (Daniel
12:1-4) Read more... |
 St. Augustine
Saint
Augustine was born in 354 at Tagaste in Africa. He was brought up in
the Christian faith but did not receive baptism, result of the
practice, common in the first centuries, of deferring it until
adulthood. An ambitious schoolboy of brilliant talents and violent
passions, he early lost both his faith and his innocence. He pursued
with ardor the study of philosophy. He taught grammar, rhetoric and
literature for nine years in his native town of Tagaste, and in
Carthage. He persisted in his irregular life and doctrinal errors until
he was thirty-two. Then one day, stung to the heart by the account of
some sudden conversions, he cried out, “The unlearned rise and storm
heaven, and we, with all our learning, for lack of courage lie inert!”
The great heart of this future bishop was already evident.
When
as a genial student of rhetoric, he was at Milan, where Saint Ambrose
was bishop, Augustine tells us later in his autobiography, the Catholic
faith of his childhood regained possession of his intellect, but he
could not as yet resolve to break the chains of bad habit. His mother
helped him to separate from the mother of his son, Adeodatus, who had
died as a young man; and she, after this painful separation, retired
for life to a convent, regretting that she had long enchained this soul
of predilection. Augustine’s mother, Saint Monica, died soon afterwards. Read more... |
 St. Rita of Cascia
Saint
Rita was born in Italy in the late 14th century, near the little city
of Cascia, of parents who though advancing in age had no children; she
was the fruit of their pious prayers. At the age of twelve she resolved
to consecrate herself to God by the vow of chastity, but her parents
required her to marry. She obeyed; and God, who perhaps wished her to
serve as an example for those having to bear with violent spouses,
permitted that she be joined to a man of ferocious character, who
terrified the region where he lived.
During
eighteen years she succeeded so well in pacifying him that he
eventually even became submissive to the laws of God. Nonetheless, his
enemies killed him; and then the pious widow had to overcome her twin
sons’ desire for vengeance. Again she succeeded. When the two young men
died not long afterwards, she was without any further bonds to keep her
in the world, and she made application to a convent of Augustinian nuns
at Cascia. Never had a widow been admitted there, but Saint John the
Baptist, with Saint Augustine and Saint Nicholas, who had died during
the 13th century in the nearby town of Tolentino, appeared to her to
answer her fervent prayers. They transported her miraculously into the
convent by night, despite all the locked doors. The Sisters, finding
her there in the morning, could not refuse her request any longer. Read more... |
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