This full-color children's book is from Catholic Classics and has little stories about the following saints and blesseds: Elizabeth Seton, Bernadette, Kateri Tekakwitha, Rita, Joan of Arc, Anne, Blessed Mother, Rose of Lima, Therese, the Little Flower, Margaret Mary, Frances Cabrini, Gertrude, Catherine Laboure, Barbara, Lucy.
St. Anne (Ann, Anna)
Feast Day:
Roman Rite Calendar - 07/21
Patron Of:
Cabinet Makers, Canada, Grandmothers, Mothers, Horseriders, Housekeepers, Women In Labor, Carpenters, Against Poverty, Sterility
Mother of Our Lady. Grandmother of Jesus Christ. Wife of Saint Joachim. Probably well off. Tradition says that Anne was quite elderly when Mary was born, and that she was their only child. The belief that Anne remained a virgin in the conception and birth of Mary was condemned by the Vatican in 1677. Believed to have given Mary to the service of the Temple when the girl was three years old. Devotion to her has been popular in the East from the very early days of the Church; widespread devotion in the West began in the 16th century, but many shrines have developed since.
Profile Beautiful maiden imprisoned in a high tower by her father Dioscorus for disobedience. While there, she was tutored by philosophers, orators and poets. From them she learned to think, and decided that polytheism was nonsense. With the help of Origen and Valentinian, she converted to Christianity.
Her father denounced her to the local authorities for her faith, and they ordered him to kill her. She escaped, but he caught her, dragged her home by her hair, tortured her, and killed her. He was immediately struck by lightning, or according to some sources, fire from heaven.
Her imprisonment led to her association with towers, then the construction and maintenance of them, then to their military uses. The lightning that avenged her murder led to asking her protection against fire and lightning, and her patronage of firefighters, etc. Her association with things military and with death that falls from the sky led to her patronage of all things related to artillery, and her image graced powder magazines and arsenals for years. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
While there were undoubtedly beautiful converts named Barbara, this saint is legend, and her cultus developed when pious fiction was mistaken for history.
Died beheaded by her father c.235 at Nicomedia during the persecution of Maximinus of Thrace; relics at Burano, Italy, and Kiev, Russia
Profile Ninth of eleven children born to a farm family, and from an early age felt a call to the religious life. Never learned to read or write. Forced to take over running the house at age eight after her mother died and her older sister joined the Sisters of Charity. Worked as a waitress in her uncle's cafe in Paris. Upon entering a hospital run by the Sisters of Charity she received a vision in which Saint Vincent de Paul told her that God wanted her to work with the sick, and she later joined the order, taking the name Catherine.
On 18 July 1830 she had a vision of Our Lady who described to her a medal which she wished struck. On one side it has the image of Our Lady, and the words, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee"; on the other are the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Our Lady told Catherine that wearers of the medal would receive great graces, it has become known as the Miraculous Medal, and its wearing and devotion has spread worldwide. Miracles reported at her tomb.
Born 2 May 1806 at Fain-les-Moûtiers, Côte d'Or, Burgundy, France as Zoe Laboure
Died 31 December 1876 at Enghien-Reuilly, France; body incorrupt; entombed in her convent chapel
Patron Of:
Death Of Children, Death Of Parents, Widows, people ridiculed for their piety, Apostleship of the Sea, In-law Problems, Opposition of Church Authorities, Diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana
Profile Born into a wealthy and influential Episcopalian family, the daughter of a Dr Richard Bayley, Elizabeth was raised in the New York high society of the late 18th century. Her mother died when Elizabeth was three years old, her baby sister a year later. She married the wealthy businessman William Magee Seton in 1794 at age 19, and was the mother of five.
About ten years into the marriage, William's business failed, and soon after he died of tuberculosis, leaving Elizabeth an impoverished widow with five small children. For years Elizabeth had felt drawn to Catholicism, believing in the Real Presence in the Eucharist and in the lineage of the Church going back to Christ and the Apostles. She converted to Catholicism, entering the Church on 14 March 1805, alienating many of her strict Episcopalian family in the process.
To support her family, and insure the proper education of her children, she opened a school in Boston. Though a private and secular institution, from the beginning she ran it along the lines of a religious community. At the invitation of the archbishop, she established a Catholic girl's school in Baltimore, Maryland which initiated the parochial school system in America. To run the system she founded the Sisters of Charity in 1809, the first native American religious community for women.
Died 4 January 1821 in Emmitsburg, Maryland of natural causes
Profile We don't know who her parents were or what became of them. She was raised in the Cistercian abbey of Helfta, Eisleben, Saxony from age five. An extremely bright student, and gentle person. At age 26, when she had become too enamored of philosophy, she received a vision of Christ who reproached her; from then on she studied the Bible and the works of the Church Fathers. Received many visions and mystical instruction, which formed the basis of her writings. Helped spread devotion to the Sacred Heart. Her writings have been greatly praised by Saint Teresa and Saint Francis de Sales, and continue in print today.
Born 6 January 1256 at Eisleben, Germany
Died on a Wednesday of Easter season in 1302 of natural causes; relics in the old monastery of Helfta
Canonized never formerly canonized; received equipollent canonization and a universal feast day declared in 1677 by Pope Clement XII
Patron Of:
Imprisoned, Prisoners, Rape Victims, Soldiers, France, Martyrs
Profile One of five children born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romee. Shepherdess. Mystic. From age 13 she received visions from Saint Margaret of Antioch, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Michael the Archangel.
In the early 15th century, England, in alliance with Burgundy, controlled most of what is modern France. In May 1428 Joan's visions told her to find the true king of France and help him reclaim his throne. She resisted for more than three years, but finally went to Charles VII in Chinon and told him of her visions. Carrying a banner that read "Jesus, Mary", she led troops from one battle to another. She was severely wounded, but her victories from 23 February 1429 to 23 May 1430 brought Charles VII to the throne. Captured by the Burgundians during the defence of Compiegne, she was sold to the English for 10 thousand francs. She was put on trial by an ecclesiastical court conducted by Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, a supporter of England, and was excuted as a heretic. In 1456 her case was re-tried, and Joan was acquitted (23 years too late).
"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." - Saint Joan of Arc, as recorded at her trial
Born 6 January 1412 at Greux-Domremy, Lorraine, France
Profile
Rich, young Christian of Greek ancestry. Raised in a pious family, she vowed her life to Christ. Her Roman father died when she was young. Her mother, Eutychia, arranged a marriage for her. For three years she managed to keep the marriage on hold. To change the mother's mind about the girl's new faith, Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha, and her mother's long haemorrhagic illness was cured. Her mother agreed with Lucy's desire to live for God, and Lucy became known as a patron of those with maladies like her mother's.
Her rejected pagan bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian to the governor of Sicily. The governor sentenced her to forced prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her killed instead. After torture that included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire; they went out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and was executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger. Her name is listed in the prayer "Nobis quoque peccatoribus" in the Canon of the Mass.
Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name led to her connection with eyes, the blind, eye trouble, etc.
Born
c.283 at Syracuse, Sicily
Died
stabbed in the throat c.304 at Syracuse, Sicily; her relics are honoured in churches throughout Europe
Canonized
Pre-Congregation
Name Meaning
light; bringer of light (= Lucy)
Patronage
against blindness
against dysentery
against epidemics
against eye disease
against hemorraghes
authors
Begijnendijk, Flemish Brabant, Belgium
blind people
Conzano, Italy
cutlers
eye problems
glaziers
laborers
martyrs
Mtarfa, Malta
peasants
Perugia, Italy
saddlers
salesmen
sore eyes
sore throats
stained glass workers
Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
throat infections
Villa Santa Lucia, Latium, Italy
writers
Patron Of:
Against Polio, Loss of Parents, Sacred Heart
Profile Healed from a crippling disorder by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, which prompted her to give her life to God. After receiving a vision of Christ fresh from the Scourging, she was moved to join the Order of the Visitation at Paray-le-Monial in 1671.
Received a revelation from our Lord in 1675, which included 12 promises to her and to those who practiced a true to devotion to His Sacred Heart, whose crown of thorns represent his sacrifices. The devotion encountered violent opposition, especially in Jansenist areas, but has become widespread and popular. Born 22 July 1647 at L'Hautecourt, Burgundy, France Died 17 October 1690 of natural causes; body incorrupt
Patron Of:
Infertility, Healing Of Wounds, Loneliness, Tumors, Difficult Marriages, Sick, Sickness, Widows, Desperation, Impossible Situations, Abuse Victims, Sterility, Bodily Ills, Desperate Causes, Forgotten Causes, Lost Causes, Against Loneliness, Parenthood, Victims of physical spouse abuse, Wounds
Also known as Margarita of Cascia; Rita La Abogada de Imposibles Memorial 22 May Profile Daughter of Antonio and Amata Lotti; known as Peacemakers of Jesus, they had Rita late in life. From her early youth, Rita visited the Augustinian nuns at Cascia, and showed interest in a religious life. However, when she was twelve, her parents betrothed her to Paolo Mancini, an ill-tempered, abusive individual who worked as town watchman, and was dragged into the political disputes of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Disappointed but obedient, Rita married him when she was 18, and was the mother of twin sons.
She put up with Paolo's abuses for eighteen years before he was ambushed and stabbed to death. Her sons swore vengeance on their father's killers, but through Rita's prayers and interventions, they forgave the offenders.
Upon the deaths of her sons, Rita again felt the call to religious life. However, some of the sisters at the Augustinian monastery were relatives of her husband's assassins, and she was denied entry for fear of causing dissension. Asking for the intervention of Saint John the Baptist, Saint Augustine of Hippo, and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, she managed to bring the warring factions together, not completely, but sufficiently that there was peace, and she was admitted to the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalen at age 36.
Rita lived 40 years in the convent, spending her time in prayer and charity, and working for peace in the region. She was devoted to the Passion, and in response to a prayer to suffer as Christ, she received a chronic head wound that appeared to have been caused by a crown of thorns, and which bled for 15 years.
Confined to her bed the last four years of her life, eating little more than the Eucharist, teaching and directing the younger sisters. Near the end she had a visitor from her home town who asked if she'd like anything; Rita's only request was a rose from her family's estate. The visitor went to the home, but it being January, knew there was no hope of finding a flower; there, sprouted on an otherwise bare bush, was a single rose blossom.
Among the other areas, Rita is well-known as a patron of desperate, seemingly impossible causes and situations. This is because she has been involved in so many stages of life - wife, mother, widow, and nun, she buried her family, helped bring peace to her city, saw her dreams denied and fulfilled - and never lost her faith in God, or her desire to be with Him. Born 1386 at Roccaparena, Umbria, Italy Died 22 May 1457 at the Augustinian convent at Cascia of tuberculosis Beatified 1 October 1627 by Pope Urban VIII Canonized 24 May 1900 Patronage abuse victims; against loneliness; against sterility; bodily ills; desperate causes; difficult marriages; forgotten causes; impossible causes; infertility; lost causes; parenthood; sick people; sickness; sterility; victims of physical spouse abuse; widows; wounds
Patron Of:
Aviators, Tuberculosis, Florists, Missionaries, Missions, Domestic, France, Loss of Parents, African Missions, AIDS Sufferers, Air Crews, Aircraft Pilots, Flower Growers, Illness
Also known as
Teresa of the Infant Jesus;
Therese of the Child Jesus;
the Little Flower;
the Little Flower of Jesus
Profile Born to a middle-class French family. Her father, Louis, was a watchmaker, her mother, who died of cancer when Therese was 4, was a lace maker, and both have been declared Venerable by the Church. Cured from an illness at age eight when a statue of the Blessed Virgin smiled at her. Carmelite nun at age 15. Defined her path to God and holiness as "The Little Way," which consisted of love and trust in God. At the direction of her spiritual director, and against her wishes, she dictated her famed autobiography Story of a Soul. Many miracles attributed to her. Declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.
"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." - Saint Therese of Lisieux
Born 2 January 1873 at Alcon, Normandy, France
Died 7pm Thursday 30 September 1897 at Lisieux, France of tuberculosis
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