St. William of York (d. 1154) was born to a powerful family in England, the nephew of the king. He became a priest and then treasurer of York Minster Cathedral at the time when the English crown was contested by two grandchildren of William the Conqueror. When the Archbishop of York died, William was chosen to take his place. Kind-hearted and generous to the poor, he was well-liked by the...
St. Boniface (d. 754 A.D.) was born to a noble Christian family in Devonshire, England. He became a Benedictine monk and devoted his life to the evangelization of the pagan Germanic tribes in what is now Germany. He went there at the request of Pope Gregory II in 719 A.D. and systematically opened up the vast tracks of wilderness to the Gospel, building on the work of the earlier Irish...
St. Francis was the founder of the Minor Clerks Regular with St. John Augustine Adorno. He was born in 1563, a member of a noble Neapolitan family. Though he had a rare skin disease, much like leprosy, Francis became a priest, at which time his skin disease disappeared. In 1588, he co-founded the Minor Clerks Regular and spent the rest of his life as the superior. He was canonized in 1807. His...
St. Clotilde (c. 474- 545) and her husband King Clovis (c. 466-511) founded the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Franks for over 200 years. They were married in 492 or 493, and she converted him to Christianity in 496. When Clovis died, Clotilde retired to Tours. Her sons' quarrels caused her great sorrow. She died at the tomb of St. Martin of Tours and was buried in Sainte-Genevieve...
St. Elmo (d. 303 AD), also known as St. Erasmus of Formia, was an Italian bishop during the reign of Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. During their brutal persecution against Christians, St. Elmo left his diocese and fled to Mount Lebanon where he lived for seven years. An angel advised him to return to his diocese in order to vanquish his enemies. As he traveled there he was stopped and...