St. Edwin (585-633 A.D.) was the son of the pagan King of Deira who reigned in present-day England. After his father was deposed from his throne, Edwin spent his childhood in exile to escape rival kings who considered his bloodline a threat to their rule. One day a stranger prophesied that Edwin would reclaim his father's throne if he promised to obey what would later be taught to him...

The Martyrs Zenaida and Philonilla lived in Tarsus in Cilicia during the first century, and were related to the holy Apostle Paul. They were pious Christian women, and both of them shared a love of learning. By whatever means were available to them at that time, they acquired medical knowledge. The two sisters left their home and settled in a cave near the city of Demetriada, where they lived...

The martyrdom of St. Berard and his companions in 1219 had inflamed many of the religious of the Order of Friars Minor with the desire of preaching the Gospel in non-Christian lands; and in 1227, the year following St. Francis's death, six religious of Tuscany, Agnellus (Agnello), Samuel, Donulus, Leo, Hugolinus (Ugolino), and Nicholas, petitioned Brother Elias of Cortona, then...

Saint Denis was a legendary 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint. According to his hagiographies, he was bishop of Paris in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by decapitation. Some accounts placed this during Domitian's persecution and identified St Denis of Paris with the Areopagite who was converted by St Paul and...

St. Simeon is styled a confessor. He is the man who held the infant Jesus, the upright and devout man of Jerusalem who looked forward to the consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25). As Luke wrote: “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord.  He came in the Spirit into the Temple; and when the parents brought in...