A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms

Also known as
    Alfred Bessette

Memorial
    6 January

Profile
    Son of a woodcutter, and eighth of twelve children. His father died in a work-related accident, his mother of tuberculosis, and he was adopted at age twelve by a farmer uncle who insisted he work for his keep. Farmhand, shoemaker, baker, blacksmith, factory worker. At 25 he applied to join the Congregation of the Holy Cross; initially refused due to poor health, but he gained the backing of Bishop Bourget, and was accepted.

    Doorkeeper at Notre Dame College, Montreal. Sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. Spent much of each night in prayer. On his windowsill, facing Mount Royal, was a small statue of Saint Joseph, to whom Andre was especially devoted. "Some day," he believed, "Saint Joseph will be honored on Mount Royal."

    Andre had a special ministry to the sick. He would rub the sick person with oil from a lamp in the college chapel, and many were healed. Word of his power spread, and when an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, Andre volunteered to help; no one died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. "I do not cure," he always said. "Saint Joseph cures." By his death, he was receiving 80,000 letters each year from the sick who sought his prayers and healing.

    For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy land on Mount Royal. Brother Andre and others climbed the steep hill and planted medals of Saint Joseph on it, and soon after, the owners yielded, which incident helped the current devotion to Saint Joseph by those looking to buy or sell a home. Andre collected money to build a small chapel and received visitors there, listening to their problems, praying, rubbing them with Saint Joseph's oil, and curing many. The chapel is still in use.

Born
    9 August 1845 near Montreal, Canada as Alfred Bessette

Died
    6 January 1937 of natural causes; more than a million people paid their respects at his funeral

Venerated
    12 June 1978 by Pope Paul VI

Beatified
    23 May 1982 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized
    17 October 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI

Also known as
    Gianna Beretta
    Gianna Molla

Memorial
    28 April

Profile
    Tenth of thirteen children born to Alberto and Maria Beretta, she was a pious girl raised in a pious family; one sister became a nun, and two brothers, including Enrico Beretta became priests. While in college, she worked with the poor and elderly, and joined the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. Physician and surgeon, graduating from the University of Pavia in 1949, she started a clinic in Mero, Italy in 1950. She returned to school and studied pediatrics, and after finishing in 1952 she worked especially with mothers, babies, the elderly, and the poor. Active in Catholic Action, and a avid skier. She considered a call to religious life, but was married to Pietro Molla on 24 September 1955 at Magenta. Mother of three, she continued her medical career, treating it as a mission and gift from God. During her pregnancy with her fourth child, she was diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst. Her surgeon recommended an abortion in order to save Gianna's life; she refused and died a week after childbirth, caring more for doing right by her unborn child than for her own life. Today that child is a physician herself, and involved in the pro-life movement.

Born
    4 October 1922 in Magenta, Milan, Italy

Died
    28 April 1962 in Monza Maternity Hospital of complications from an ovarian cyst

Venerated
    6 July 1991 by Pope John Paul II

Beatified
    24 April 1994 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy

Canonized
    16 May 2004 by Pope John Paul II

Profile
    Daughter of an Albanian businessman who died when Agnes was nine years old. Nun, missionary and teacher in Calcutta, India in 1928. In 1948 she left the convent to work alone with the poor, and became an Indian citizen. She founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. In 1957 the Missionaries of Charity started their work with lepers and in disaster areas. She received the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1972, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and the Missionaries today work in 30 countries.

Born
    26 August 1910 in Skopje, Albania (modern Macedonia)

Died
    5 September 1997 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India of natural causes

Venerated
    20 December 2002 by Pope John Paul II

Beatified
    19 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II

Also known as

Teresa of the Infant Jesus; Therese of the Child Jesus; the Little Flower; the Little Flower of Jesus