St. Lawrence of Canterbury (d. 619 A.D.) was among the original band of missionaries sent from Rome to evangelize England with St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. As a fruit of their labor the region's most powerful ruler, the King of Kent, became a baptized Christian along with many of his countrymen. When Augustine died, Lawrence became Canterbury's second Archbishop....

St. Brigid of Ireland (451–525 A.D.), also known as St. Brigit of Kildare, was born to a pagan Irish chieftain father and a Christian slave mother, making her a slave girl. She worked as a dairy maid, and became known for her virtuous life and charity to the poor. Recognizing her great piety and special graces, a Christian king convinced her father to grant Brigid her freedom. Once free...

St. John Bosco (1815–1888) was born in Italy to a poor farming family. His father died when he was two, leaving his religious instruction to his pious mother. At the age of nine he had his first of many powerful visions which would come throughout his life. In it Jesus and the Virgin Mary showed him that he was to instruct poor, wayward boys and bring them back to God. John eventually...

Pope Gelasius II (c. 1060/1064 – 29 January 1119), born Giovanni Caetani or Giovanni da Gaeta, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 January 1118 to his death in 1119. A monk of Monte Cassino and chancellor of Pope Paschal II, Caetani was unanimously elected to succeed him. In doing so he also succeeded to the conflicts with Emperor Henry V over...

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was born into a wealthy and noble family in Aquino, Italy. He was the pious and brilliant son of a count, and a lucrative future was planned for him. When Thomas set off to enter the newly founded Dominican order to be a poor mendicant friar, his mother the countess held him prisoner in the family castle in order to dissuade him. His brothers tried to...