Nazarius was a citizen of Rome whose father was Jewish or pagan. His mother was Perpetua. Nazarius was a student of the apostle Peter and was baptized by Pope Linus. During the persecutions of Nero, Nazarius fled Rome and preached in Lombardy, visiting Piacenza and Milan, where he met the brothers Gervase and Protase, who had been imprisoned and who inspired Nazarius by their example. Nazarius...

“Il facchino del monastero – the Monastery’s handyman”! That was the nickname the Capuchin Poor Clares of Saint Mary of the Snow (Santa Maria della Neve) in Brescia, Northern Italy gave Sister Mary Magdalen Martinengo. During her thirty two years in religious life she had been at one stage or another novice, dish-washer, kitchen hand, porter, gardener, baker, sweeper,...

George Preca was a Maltese Catholic priest and the founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine as well as a Third Order Carmelite. He is known as "Dun Ġorġ" in Maltese and Pope John Paul II dubbed him "Malta’s second father in faith". He assumed the religious name of "Franco" after becoming a Third Order Carmelite. He was a popular figure among some groups,...

St. Christopher (3rd c.) is a highly popular saint, though little is known about him with certainty. According to one account, a pagan queen prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary for a child, whom she named Offerus and dedicated to the pagan gods. The child grew into a man of exceptional size and strength, and he endeavored to serve only the strongest and most courageous of masters. At first he...

There is an oddity in today’s martyrology (listing of the saints) in that we find two different St. Christines and a St. Christiana. St. Christina the Astonishing (1150-1224) was born to a peasant family in Belgium. She was orphaned as a child and raised by her two older sisters. When she was 21 she had what was believed to be a severe seizure, and was pronounced dead. At her funeral...