Conleth was an Irish metal worker and hermit. He lived as a recluse at Old Connell on the Liffey and was a close friend of St. Brigid. In time he served as spiritual director of St. Brigid’s Convent at Kildare. A copyist and skilled illuminator of manuscripts, he is noted for the crosier that he fashioned for St. Finbar of Termon Barry. Conleth died when he was attacked by wolves in the...

Saint Juvenal is venerated as the first Bishop of Narni in Umbria. Historical details regarding Juvenal’s life are limited. A biography of Juvenal of little historical value was written after the seventh century; it states that Juvenal was born in Africa and was ordained by Pope Damasus I and was the first bishop of Narni and was buried in the Porta Superiore on the Via Flaminia on...

St. Athanasius (296-373 A.D.) was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to noble Christian parents. He received an excellent education in theology, philosophy, rhetoric, and law, which he directed to the service of God. He made great progress in both wisdom and virtue, and made a spiritual retreat in the Egyptian desert with St. Anthony the Great. St. Athanasius became the Bishop of Alexandria and served...

Saint Peregrine Laziosi (Pellegrino Latiosi) (c. 1260 – 1 May 1345) is an Italian saint of the Servite Order (Friar Order Servants of Mary). He is the patron saint for persons suffering from cancer, AIDS, or other illness. Peregrine Laziosi was born around 1260, the only son of an affluent family in Forlì, in northern Italy. At that time Forli was part of the Papal States....

This is the pope whose job it was to implement the historic Council of Trent. If we think popes had difficulties in implementing Vatican Council II, Pius V had even greater problems after Trent four centuries earlier. During his papacy (1566-1572), Pius V was faced with the almost overwhelming responsibility of getting a shattered and scattered Church back on its feet. The family of God had...