Ezra (or Esdras) and his contemporary Nehemia are the major sources for the period of time named “The Restoration,” the years immediately following the end of the Babylonian Captivity. So in our canon of the Hebrew Scriptures, they appear at the end of the historical section. Ezra may have written even more, but only one book of the Hebrew Scriptures is considered the inspired...

These two friars were martyred in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to deny their faith. John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before leaving England in 1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the height of her power....

St. Olga, also called Helga or Saint Olga of Kiev, (born c. 890—died 969, Kiev; feast day July 11), princess who was the first recorded female ruler in Russia and the first member of the ruling family of Kiev to adopt Christianity. She was canonized as the first Russian saint of the Orthodox Church and is the patron saint of widows and converts. Olga was the widow of Igor I, prince of...

Saint Veronica Giuliani, O.S.C. Cap., was an Italian Capuchin Poor Clare nun and mystic. She was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839. Veronica’s desire to be like Christ crucified was answered with the stigmata. Veronica was born in Mercatelli, Italy. It is said that when her mother Benedetta was dying she called her five daughters to her bedside and entrusted each of them to one of...

St. Augustine Zhao Rong (d. 1815) was a Chinese soldier who was assigned to escort the captive Catholic bishop, John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, to Beijing where he was to be executed by beheading. The bishop's faith made a strong impact on Zhao, who then requested baptism. He took the Christian name Augustine, and later entered the seminary and was ordained to the priesthood. During the...