While the Universal Church celebrates the Feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces on November 8, the Franciscan Friars celebrate this feast on May 8. The friary which houses the General Curia of the Order of Friars Minor is named for Mary under this title. The term “Mediatrix” refers to Mary’s unique role in the economy of grace. Here are some key points: Cooperation...

Román Adame Rosales was born on February 27, 1859. He studied for the priesthood in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and was ordained on November 30, 1890. He worked in various parishes, showing a profound dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to catechesis, directing spiritual exercises, and parish schools. He founded the association "Daughters of Mary and Nocturnal Adoration," and...

St. Marcian is sometimes called Marianus. He was a lay brother of a community of religious in Autessiodurum, Gaul (modern day Auxerre, France), which was dedicated to the memory of Sts. Cosmas and Damian.  He fled Avaricum (modern Bourges) to escape an invasion of Visigoths.  Under St. Mamertinus, Marcian was put in charge of the community’s livestock. He was honored by having...

Bruno of Egisheim was born into an aristocratic family. He was educated at Toul, where he first became canon and then was consecrated bishop on September 9, 1027, at the early age of 25. Dynamic, purposeful, and zealous in the cause of reform, he began to raise the moral standards of important monasteries in his diocese, as well as those of the secular diocesan clergy, by holding frequent...

St. Peter of St. Joseph Betancur, or Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667), also known as Hermano Pedro, was born into poverty in the Canary Islands. He was a shepherd until the age of 24 at which time he traveled to Guatemala, then the capital of New Spain, hoping to connect with a relative and to begin training to be a priest. The journey so impoverished him that he entered a bread line...