In the sixteenth century when the Faith, especially in Germany, was so mightily shaken by the so-called reformers, when the Sign of the Cross was abolished as a superstitious practice, almighty God permitted this very Sign of the Cross to shine with special power and radiance, in order to strengthen the Faith in another country. This was Spain, and it was through the great miracle worker of...

Gertrude of Nivelles, OSB (c. 628 – 17 March 659) was a seventh-century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the Abbey of Nivelles, now in Belgium. She was born into a noble family who lived at King Dagobert's court in Belgium. Her father served as mayor of Dagobert's palace. When Gertrude was 10 years old, King Dagobert tried to arrange a marriage between her and the son of...

In the history of Dr. Champney we read: “This year on March 16, John Amias and Robert Dalby, priests of the College of Douai, suffered in York as in cases of high treason, for no other cause but that they were priests ordained by the authority of the See of Rome, and had returned into England and exercised there their priestly functions for the benefit of the souls of their...

St. Longinus was the centurion who, standing by Pilate’s direction with other soldiers beneath the cross of our Lord, pierced His side with a lance, and seeing the portents which followed, the darkening of the sky and the earthquake, believed in Christ.  “Surely, this was the Son of God.”  Legend says that his eyesight had been failing. When he pierced the side of...

Lazarus (or Lazzaro) was elected bishop of Milan, Italy, around the year 439, a time when the Ostrogoths controlled the region. According to tradition, he popularized the penitential “Rogation” litanies, praying for protection for the city and its people. Little else is known about his life, although he might have imitated Pope Saint Leo the Great in working to stop the spread of...