Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604 A.D.) was the son of a wealthy Roman senator. His mother and two of his aunts are also saints, which provided him with a strong and devout religious upbringing. His skill in grammar and rhetoric were exceptional, and he followed in his father's political footsteps by serving in public office as the prefect of Rome. Discerning a call to the religious...

Today the Church honors another saint of the Old Testament, Eleazar, nephew of Moses and son of Aaron. Eleazar or Elʽazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, from creating the plating for the altar from the firepans of Korah's assembly, to performing the ritual...

St. Giles (7th c.) was born to a wealthy and noble Greek family. He devoted his life to the things of God and grew in sanctity, but found that his material and spiritual riches drew unwanted praise and attention. To escape prestige, he sold all of his possessions, gave his wealth to the poor, and moved away to Gaul (present day France) to live in solitude in the wilderness as a cave-dwelling...

Born to wealthy pagan parents, Cyprian taught rhetoric and literature. As an adult, he converted to Christianity. He was a student of Saint Caecilius of Carthage. He was ordained in 247 and proclaimed Bishop of Carthage in 249. During the persecution of Decius, beginning in 250, Cyprian lived in hiding, covertly ministering to his flock; his enemies condemned him for being a coward and not...

St. Fiacre (d. 670 A.D.) was born in Ireland and was raised from childhood in an Irish monastery. There he grew in knowledge as well as holiness, and became a priest. He retired to a hermitage to live in prayer and solitude, but men began to flock to him to imitate his way of life and become his disciples. To escape them, Fiacre left Ireland to establish a new hermitage in France. He went to...