Pope St. John XXIII (1881–1963) was the third of thirteen children born to a poor sharecropping family living in Lombardy, Italy. Desiring to serve God with his life, he entered seminary at the age of 12, and, after serving a short stint in the Italian Army, was ordained a priest in 1904. He taught apologetics and church history before being called to service as a military chaplain...

St. Francis Borgia (1510-1572) was born in Spain to a noble family, the son of a Duke. On his father's side of the family he was the great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI, one of the notorious "Borgia Popes," and on his mother's side he was the great-grandson of King Ferdinand of Aragon. Francis joined the Spanish court of King Charles V at the age of 18, married, and had 8...

St. John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801–1890) was the eldest of six children born to a nominal Protestant family in London, England. As a child he loved reading the Scriptures, and experienced a conversion to Christianity at the age of 15. He became a brilliant academic, an extremely influential Oxford scholar, and an Anglican priest. He was a leader in what was called the "Oxford...

Thaïs is first briefly described as wealthy and beautiful, a courtesan living in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, Egypt. Yet in the eyes of the church, she was a public sinner. Thaïs, however, made inquiries about the Christian religion and eventually converted. In her Vita a monk in disguise pays for entry into her chambers in order to challenge her and convert her, yet he finds that she...

St. Justina of Padua (d. 304 A.D.) was a young and pious Christian woman who dedicated her virginity to Christ. She received baptism at the hands of St. Prosdocimus, the first Bishop of Padua in Italy. At the age of sixteen she was arrested for being a Christian under the persecutions of Roman Emperor Maximinian, and was ordered to make sacrifice to the pagan gods. When she refused, she was...