Pius is believed to have been born at Aquileia, in Northern Italy, during the late 1st century. His father was an Italian called "Rufinus", who was also a native of Aquileia according to the Liber Pontificalis. According to the 2nd century Muratorian Canon and the Liberian Catalogue, he was the brother of Hermas, author of the text known as The Shepherd of Hermas. The writer of the...

Information about his life is largely drawn from the Hodoeporicon of Willibald, a text written in the 8th century by Huneberc, an Anglo-Saxon nun from Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm who knew Willibald and his brother personally. The text of the Hodoeporicon ("Itinerary") was dictated to Huneberc by Willibald shortly before he died. Willibald's father was Richard the Pilgrim, and his...

Born to the Italian nobility, the daughter of the Duke of Marciano, and Anna, daughter of the Count of Corbara; her mother died when Angelina was 12. Given in an arranged marriage at age 15 to the Duke of Civitella, Giovanni da Terni, who agreed to honor the girl’s private vow of chastity. Widowed at age 17, she quickly moved to follow a call to religious life before another marriage...

Refugium Peccatorum meaning Refuge of Sinners is a Catholic title for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its use goes back to Saint Germanus of Constantinople in the 8th century. In the Catholic tradition, Eve is viewed as being responsible for the sufferings of humans since their fall and expulsion from paradise while the Virgin Mary is viewed as the source of all healing. She is the new Eve, who...

Andrew of Crete, also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was an 8th-century bishop, theologian, homilist, and hymnographer. He is venerated as a saint in both the Eastern Orthodoxy and the Catholic Church. Saint Andrew is primarily known as a hymnographer. He is credited with the invention (or at least the introduction) of the canon, a new form of hymnody, into the liturgy. Previously, the...