St. Isaac Jogues (1607–1646) was born in France to a middle-class family, and at the age of 17 entered a Jesuit seminary where he displayed a talent for writing and teaching. He was ordained in January of 1636 at the age of 29, and three months later was sent as a missionary priest to the rugged wilderness of New France (now Canada) to work among the Huron and Algonquin Native American...

St. Luke the Evangelist (1st c.) was a well-educated Greek physician and a native of Antioch in Syria. He was one of the earliest converts to Christianity, believed to have been one of Jesus' seventy disciples. He was a follower of St. Paul the Apostle and spent most of his life evangelizing with him in Asia Minor up until the time of Paul's martyrdom in Rome. Luke wrote a canonical...

St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 98-117) was a Syrian who became a disciple of St. John the Apostle. Tradition holds that he was the infant whom Jesus took in his arms, saying, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me" as recounted in Mark's Gospel. St. Ignatius was a pagan convert to Christianity and...

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) was born in France to a virtuous and distinguished family. As a child she showed great devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and by the age of 9 was practicing severe penances. In her childhood she became sick with rheumatic fever and was confined to bed for four years. She made a vow to the Blessed Virgin to consecrate herself to the religious...

St. Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, died October 4, 1582. She was a Spanish nun, one of the great mystics and religious women of the Roman Catholic Church, and author of spiritual classics. She was the originator of the Carmelite Reform, which restored and emphasized the austerity and contemplative character of primitive Carmelite life. St. Teresa was elevated to...