Maria Crocifissa Di Rosa (1813 – 1855) was the founder of the Handmaids of Charity (also called the Servants of Charity) in Brescia, Italy, in 1839. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII. She was born as Paolina Francesca di Rosa, into a wealthy family, in the city of Brescia, Italy on 6 November 1813. First educated in a convent by the Visitation Sisters, she left school after the death of...

Mary Frances Schervier (3 January 1819 – 14 December 1876) was the founder of two religious congregations of religious sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, both committed to serving the neediest of the poor. One, the Poor Sisters of St. Francis, is based in her native Germany, and the other, the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, was later formed from its province in the...

Odile of Alsace, also known as Odilia and Ottilia, born c. 662 - c. 720 at Mont Sainte-Odile, is a saint venerated in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. She is a patroness saint of good eyesight and of the region of Alsace. Odile was the daughter of Etichon (also known as Athich, Adalrich or Aldaric), Duke of Alsace and founder of the Etichonid noble family. According to...

Edburga was a Benedictine abbess and disciple of St. Mildred. A member of the royal family of Kent, England, she succeeded St. Mildred as abbess of Minster, on the Isle of Thanet. She also conducted correspondence with St. Boniface, whom she met while on pilgrimage to Rome. A noted calligrapher, Edburga sent supplies to St. Boniface’s missions and built a church for her convent. ...

Pope St. Damasus I (306-384 A.D.) was born into a Christian family in Rome. He became a deacon and served at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Rome where his father served as priest. After the death of Pope Liberius, Damasus was elected Pope in the year 366 A.D. Violence broke out as a rival pope was also elected, and the two factions fought to enforce their candidate. Damasus was confirmed as...