David Lewis (1616 – 27 August 1679) was a Jesuit Catholic priest and martyr who was also known as Charles Baker. Lewis was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Lewis, the youngest of nine children of Protestant Reverend Morgan Lewis, the headmaster of a grammar school, and Margaret...

Teresa Jornet Ibars was born on 9 January 1843 in a small town in Lleida to the farmers Francisco José Jornet and Antonieta Ibars. One sister was María and another was Josefa who became a Vincentian religious in Havana. Her brother Juan married and had three daughters who later joined her congregation. Her great-uncle was Blessed Francisco Palau - the brother of her maternal grandmother. In...

St. Genesius of Rome (d. 303 AD) was a renowned actor and playwright, the leader of a popular acting troupe during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. When the Emperor was killing Christians, Genesius wrote plays to mock them and expose their secret rites to ridicule. To research for a play mocking baptism, he went to a priest pretending to desire the sacraments and was fully instructed as a...

St. Bartholomew (1st c.) is one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles who, together with his friend and fellow Apostle Philip, came from Cana in Galilee. All we know of St. Bartholomew (also called Nathaniel) is what is mentioned of him in the synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts. Philip told Bartholomew that he had found the Messiah, and, despite Bartholomew's incredulity, the two went together...

Eoghan or Eugene of Ardstraw was a native of Leinster, and, after presiding over the abbey of Kilnamanagh (County Wicklow) for fifteen years, settled in the valley of Mourne (County Tyrone), his mother’s country, about the year 576. He was followed by many disciples. He was consecrated first Bishop of Ardstraw in about 581. His name is generally latinised as Eugenius, but the Irish form...