St. Catherine (1447–1510) was born into an aristocratic family in Genoa, Italy. She was a quiet, obedient, physically beautiful, and holy child who devoted herself to prayer and penance. At the age of 13 she made an attempt to enter a convent, but was rejected. At the age of 16 she consented to a marriage arranged by her family for political and financial gain. Her husband was faithless...

St. Albert of Jerusalem (d. 1215) was born to a noble family in Italy, and was well educated in theology and law. He went on to become a priest and bishop and served in important posts as a peacemaker; he served as a mediator between Pope Clement III and the Holy Roman Emperor, between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Cyprus, and between the Knights Templar and the Armenian Kingdom...

St. John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.) was born to noble parents in Antioch, an important center of Christianity in his day. After the death of his father, his mother sent him to the best schools for his education. As a result of his philosophical studies he was convinced of the truth of Christianity, entered the Church, and became a renowned scholar and orator. He then adopted a life of extreme...

St. Guy (950–1012), also known as the "Poor Man of Anderlecht," was born to pious parents of humble means in the country village of Anderlecht near Brussels. Having no money for school, from his childhood he served the poor and fostered a great devotion to the Church while praying for the grace to love and accept his poverty. He was regarded as a young saint by those who knew...

Francisco was the only child in a farm family. He married at the age of eighteen, but became a widower just sixteen months later. He then followed a call to religious life as a Franciscan friar at the convent of St. Miquel d’Escornalbou, making his religious profession 14 July 1641, and taking the name of Bonaventura. Over the next seventeen years he served in various Franciscan convents...