Pope St. Celestine I (d. 432 A.D.) was a Roman deacon who was elected Supreme Pontiff in 422 A.D. He was a contemporary of St. Augustine, and it is said that the two were good friends. He also lived with St. Ambrose in Milan prior to serving in Rome. Pope St. Celestine led the Church for nine years during a troubled time of social upheaval. Within the Church there were multiple dangerous...

St. Anne and St. Joachim (1st c. B.C.) are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the maternal grandparents of Jesus. Their names have been preserved in Church tradition since the second century, although little is known of their lives. It is believed that St. Joachim and St. Ann, although wealthy, lived a devout and simple life of voluntary poverty, chastity, and generosity to the poor....

St. James was the brother of the beloved evangelist, John. He was the first of the apostles to receive the crown of martyrdom, beheaded by Herod Agrippa. His sacred bones carried from Jerusalem to Spain and placed in the remote province of Galicia where they are devoutly honored by the far-famed piety of the inhabitants and the frequent concourse of Christians, who visit them through piety and...

Although this saint never traveled far from the Lebanese village of Beka-Kafra where he was born, his influence has spread widely. Joseph Zaroun Makluf was raised by an uncle because his father, a mule driver, died when Joseph was only three. At the age of 23, Joseph joined the Monastery of St. Maron at Annaya, Lebanon, and took the name Sharbel in honor of a second-century martyr. He...

St. Bridget (1303-1373) was born into a devout and prestigious family in Sweden. Her father was a governor, judge, and one of the wealthiest landowners in the country. Bridget received an excellent religious education, and from a young age demonstrated a great capacity for holiness. She even experienced mystical visions in her childhood. At the age of thirteen she was given in marriage to a...