St. Martin de Porres (1569-1639) was born in Lima, Peru. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave woman from Panama, of either African or Native American descent. His parents never married. For the first eight years of his life his father did not acknowledge him, and abandoned the family after Martin's sister was born. St. Martin de Porres was raised in poverty...

Saint Victorinus of Pettau or of Poetovio (died 303 or 304) was an Early Christian ecclesiastical writer who flourished about 270, and who was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. A Bishop of Poetovio (modern Ptuj in Slovenia; German: Pettau) in Pannonia, Victorinus is also known as Victorinus Petavionensis, Poetovionensis or Victorinus of Ptuj. Born probably in Greece on...

In addition to it being the Feast of All Saints, November 1 is also the feast day for a number of individuals as well. St. Deborah (11th c. B.C.) was a godly widow and saint of the Old Testament. She was a courageous prophetess and champion of the Israelites. All Israel came to her to judge their disputes, and God prophesied to Israel through her. She was Israel's only female judge. Her...

Saint María de la Purísima Salvat Romero (20 February 1926 – 31 October 1998), born María Isabel Salvat Romero, was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun and a member of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross. She assumed the name of "María de la Purísima of the Cross" after she entered that order. She was beatified on 18 September 2010 in Seville and a second miracle approved in 2015...

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez (1532–1617) was born in Segovia, Spain, the son of a wool merchant. He was prepared for his First Holy Communion by St. Peter Faber, one of the first Jesuits. When his father died, Alphonsus had to leave school at the age of 14 to take over the family business, which eventually failed. He married and had three children, and was left a widower at the age of 31 when...