Saints & Heroes

August 31: Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne lived in seclusion, but his virtues shone so brightly that he was selected to become a Bishop.

July 4: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, born on April 6, 1901 in Turin, Italy, was strongly anti-communist and anti-fascist and never hid his political views. When Pope John Paul II beatified Pier Giorgio, he called him the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes.”

July 1: Junipero Serra, the indomitable apostle of California, was born on the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea and received the name Miguel Jose in Baptism.

April 11: Saint Gemma Galgani is one of the Church’s mystics. She died on Holy Saturday in 1903 at the age of 25. Gemma was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1940.

December 8: Saint Romaric was a nobleman with considerable property, who gave up his title to become a monk and repurposed his estate into a monastery.

This staircase stands as a silent witness to the faith and efforts of those pioneering sisters who dedicated their lives to raising hearts and minds to God.

February 4: Saint John de Britto, a missionary in India, was tortured many times, but miraculously recovered from his injuries. He was eventually martyred.

February 3: Saint Blaise was made a bishop at a very young age. He fled to the mountains to avoid persecution, but he was captured, tortured, and beheaded.

February 1: Saint Henry Morse was born to a Protestant family but converted and became a Jesuit priest. He was eventually martyred.