Emily (Émilie) de Rodat (6 September 1787 – 19 September 1852), born Marie Guillemette (Wilhelmina) Emilie de Rodat, also known as Emily de Rodat, was a nun, virgin, mystic, and the founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche.[1] She was born to a noble family near Rodez, in southern France. When she was 18 months old, she was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in...

St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) was the son of a poor Italian carpenter. His father died before his birth, leaving his mother destitute. As a result Joseph was underfed and often sick. He was a dull child who constantly found himself the worse off in every situation. He was awkward, absent-minded, ill-tempered, unintelligent, and difficult to be around. Many thought he was good for...

St. Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) was born to a large and noble German family. She began to have mystical visions at the age of three which continued throughout her life. Her parents, promising her to the service of God, sent her to be educated at the Benedictine Abbey by an anchoress when she was about eight years of age. At the age of fourteen she became a consecrated nun attached...

Pope St. Cornelius (d. 253 A.D.) was a Roman citizen and a holy priest who became the twenty-first successor to the chair of St. Peter, following a fourteen-month vacancy when Pope St. Fabian was martyred by Roman Emperor Decius. When the Emperor temporarily left Rome, the persecution against the Christians subsided long enough for the Church to elect St. Cornelius as the new Roman Pontiff....

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...