Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, also known as Íñigo Oñaz López de Loyola, was of noble birth and was reared in the household of a prominent courtier. In 1517 he left his life at court to enter the army. He would later found the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits.
Saint Peter Chrysologus
Saint Peter Chrysologus (d.450) is the Doctor of Homilies. His words helped to defeat the attack on Christ's humanity. No doctor said so much in his homilies in fewer words. Chrysologus means "The Golden-Worded"
Saint Martha
Saint Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were evidently close friends of Jesus. He came to their home simply as a welcomed guest, rather than as one celebrating the conversion of a sinner like Zacchaeus or one unceremoniously received by a suspicious Pharisee. The sisters feel free to call on Jesus at their brother’s death, even though a return to Judea at that time seems almost certain death.
Saint Alphonsa
Saint Alphonsa of Bharanangan (1910 – 1946) is the first person of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church and the first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
Saint Pantaleon
Saint Pantaleon came from Nicomedia, near the Black Sea, in Asia. He was such a famous doctor that the Emperor himself chose him for his own doctor. When the Emperor Diocletian began his persecution, Pantaleon at once gave away everything he owned to the poor. Not long afterwards, he was accused of being a Christian. He was given the choice of denying his Faith or being put to death. No torture could force Pantaleon to deny his Faith.
Saints Joachim and Anne, Grandparents of Jesus
In Nazareth there lived a rich and pious couple, Joachim and Anne. They were childless. When on a feast day Joachim presented himself to offer sacrifice in the temple, he was repulsed by a certain Ruben, under the pretext that men without offspring were unworthy to be admitted. Whereupon Joachim, bowed down with grief, did not return home, but went into the mountains to make his plaint to God in solitude.
Saint James The Greater
Saint James was one of the favored three Apostles who had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus and the agony in Gethsemani. St. James was apparently the first of the apostles to be martyred.
Saint Charbel Makhlouf
Saint Charbel Makhlouf, O.L.M., was a monk of the Lebanese Maronite Order and a priest in Lebanon. During his life he obtained a wide reputation for holiness and he has been canonized by the Catholic Church.
Saint Bridget of Sweden
Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) Patroness of Europe, mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettine Order.
Saint Mary Magdalene
Saint Mary Magdalene was one of the many “who were assisting them [Jesus and the Twelve] out of their means.” She was present at Our Lords' Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus' empty tomb. And, of all the “official” witnesses that might have been chosen for the first awareness of the Resurrection, she was the one to whom that privilege was given. She is known as the "Apostle to the Apostles."
