Daily Saints

Blessed Carlo Acutis

Carlo Acutis was born in Milan and grew up in a wealthy family. His family was not exactly religious but he received his first communion. He would always pray before the tabernacle as well as before and after every mass. His models were Bernadette Soubirous, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, Dominic Savio, and St. Francis of Assisi, among others.

At school, he helped his friends whose parents were getting a divorce, he also defended students from bullies. He volunteered to help the city’s homeless and destitute. Blessed Carlo Acutis was known to be a computer geek, he spent four years creating a website dedicated to cataloguing every reported Eucharistics miracle around the world.

He was diagnosed with leukemia and died in 2006. He was beatified in 2020.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/blessed-carlo-acutis

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Saint Maria Soledad Torres Acosta

Daily Saints

Born on December 2, 1826, Saint Maria Soledad was the second of five children. She had a simple childhood although she had poor health. In 1851, she joined the new Institute of the Servants of Mary with a purpose of caring for the sick in their own homes. She became the 7th of the founding group and finally took the name Sister Maria Soledad.

After spending five years into the ministry, Saint Maria Soledad was appointed as Superior and took charge of the Congregation when Father Michael left for his missions. She became the Foundress and Mother of the Servants of Mary. She overcame many challenges throughout her leadership in the Congregation. It eventually grew in number. In 1875, they began a ministry in Havana, Cuba. It received Papal approval in 1876. Saint Maria Soledad governed for 35 years.

Sources:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/10/11/saint-of-the-day-11-october-saint-maria-soledad-torres-acosta-1826-1887/

http://www.catholicnewsworld.com/2018/10/saint-october-11-saint-maria-soledad.html

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St. Francis Borgia

Daily Saints

St. Francis Borgia was a Spanish nobleman, born into an influential family. He initially served in the imperial court and made a career there. However, he gave up his public life and his possessions due to series of life events. He joined the Society of Jesus and was instrumental in spreading the Jesuits’ influence all over Europe.

He helped established the Jesuit College in Gandia which was made into a university. He was elected as head of the Jesuits at the age of 55. He focused on growing and spreading faith through the Society of Jesus in Europe. He was regarded as the second founder of the Jesuits. He passed away in 1572.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-francis-borgia

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-Borgia

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Saint Denis

Daily Saints

Denis was one of the seven bishops that was sent to Gaul to convert people during the reign of emperor Decius. He was regarded as the first bishop of Paris. Little is known about his life but legend has it that Saint Denis was beheaded on Montmartre, which translates to “mountain of martyrs”. According to the legend, his corpse, which was decapitated, carried his head to the northeast of Paris. A basilica was built over his tomb at the beginning of the sixth century.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Denis

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-denis-and-companions

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Saint Pelagia

Daily Saints

The story of St. Pelagia has inspired various legends. There are two stories that are often confused together. One of it is a historical young Christian in Antioch who is celebrated as a virgin and martyr. According to the story, at 15 years old, she threw herself off the roof of a building rather than be offered as a sacrifice to the pagan gods during the persecution of Christians.

The other story is talks of another Pelagia known as “Pelagia the Penitent”, who was a famous actress in Antioch. Pelagia was renowned for being rich and being meticulous with her physical appearance. One day she went to hear the preach of the Bishop, St. Nonnus, and was so moved by his sermon that she wanted to be baptized. St. Nonnus agreed and baptized her. After that, she gave her wealth to aid the poor and left Antioch to live a life of poverty.

St. Pelagia is known as the patron saint of actresses.

Sources:

https://www.saintsfeastfamily.com/copy-of-st-pelagia-of-tarsus-oct-8

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=811

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Our Lady of the Rosary

Daily Saints

Instituted by Pope St. Pius V to give thanks for their victory at the battle of Lepanto in the 1570s. They attributed their victory to the rosary and the feast actually is a reminder of all the countless blessing bestowed upon the people through the Rosary of our Blessed Virgin Mary.

It was initially a practice developed as an imitation of 150 Psalms, by praying 150 our Fathers. There was also a practice of praying 150 Hail Marys. Then at some point, the mystery of the life of Jesus was added to each of the Hail Mary. According to legend, Mary gave the rosary to Saint Dominic. Although a legend, the development of the prayer form of the rosary can be attributed to the followers of Saint Dominic. One of the followers was even known as the “apostle of the rosary”, Alan de la Roche. He was the one who founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary. By 16th century, the rosary has already transformed into the form that we now use.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/our-lady-of-the-rosary

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-10-07

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Saint Bruno

Daily Saints

Born in Cologne, Germany in 1030. He became a famous teacher at Rheims and at the age of 45, he became the chancellor of the archdiocese. He took part in the fight against the decadence of the clergy and denounce the violent Archbishop Manasses de Gournai. He also founded the religious order, Carthusian Order, which symbolizes his passionate love of a life in penitence and solitude.

He always had a dream of living a life of hermitage, a life in solitary and in prayer. He was given a land by his friend which eventually became his foundation “in the Chartreuse”. He and his friends stayed there in individual cells, spending most of their time in solitude and only eating together during feasts. They mostly worked on copying manuscripts.

In 1674, Pope Clement X extended St. Bruno’s feast to the whole church despite never being officially canonized.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-bruno

https://catholicreadings.org/saint-bruno-of-cologne/

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St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

Daily Saints

Third among 10 children, Faustina Kowalska was born on August 25, 1905 in Poland. Her birth name was Helena Kowalska. They were poor peasants, her father was a farmer and carpenter. At a young age of seven, she already felt the call to religious life. However, even after receiving her basic education, she was not permitted by her parents to join the convent.

At the age of 16, she started working as a housekeeper to support herself and her family. It was during this time that she received the Sacrament of Confirmation. When she was 19 years old, she received a vision instructing her to join the convent in Warsaw. She went to Warsaw without the permission of her parents and started looking for convents. She had a hard time finding a convent that would accept her due to her poverty. She finally found a convent that accepted her, the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The convent allowed her to stay as long as she worked as a housemaid to earn her keep. In 1926, she was officially admitted to the convent and finally clothed in the habit. After completing her novitiate in 1928, she took her first religious vows. Her parents were present when took her vows.

On February 22, 1931, she received a vision of the Divine Mercy of Jesus. From then on, she devoted her work to spreading the image of the Divine Mercy along with the signature “Jesus, I trust in you”.

In 1938, her health started deteriorating and she returned home to Krakow. She died on October 5th of that year. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 18, 1993. She was then canonized on April 30, 2000.

Sources:

https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/stfaustina/bio

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St. Francis of Assisi

Daily Saints

Believed to be born around 1181-1182, St. Francis of Assisi was initially baptized as Giovanni but was then renamed as Francesco. He was born into a well-to-do family– his father was a merchant and his mother was believed to be part of a French noble family. He grew up to be a popular young noble with his lavish lifestyle and exuberant personality. He was not very studious as a child and even when he grew up he did not show any interest in his father’s business. Instead he wanted to be a knight. In 1202, he joined the men of Assisi in the war between Assisi and Perugia where they were defeated. He was captured and taken in as a prisoner for almost a year. St. Francis fell ill due to the miserable conditions in the prison.

St. Francis had many episodes of receiving visions but there were two visions that were notable. These visions, among others, led him to embrace a life of poverty. He renounced all worldly possessions and dedicated himself to repairing and refurbishing churches. He listened to mass and preached to townspeople. He attracted followers and started leading a group of 12 disciples. They went to Rome to seek the approval of Pope Innocent III to recognize his order. On April 12, 1210, Pope Innocent III gave his oral approval of the Franciscan rule of life. This marked the official founding of the Franciscan order.

St. Francis became totally blind later on in his life. He was also in constant pain brought on by the stigmata. He died on October 3, 1226 at the age of 44 in Assisi, Italy. Only two years after his death, he was already canonized as a saint on July 16, 1228 by his former protector Pope Gregory IX.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-of-Assisi/Franciss-vision-and-the-stigmata-of-the-Crucified

https://www.biography.com/religious-figure/saint-francis-of-assisi

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-francis-of-assisi

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Saint Theodore Guerin

Daily Saints

Anne-Thérèse Guérin, known as St. Theodora, was born on October 2, 1978 in Estables, France. St. Theodora exuded piousness at a young age. Even as a child, she loved prayers. She already knew that her vocation was to become a nun. However, life circumstances did not allow her to pursue her path to becoming a nun immediately. The loss of her two siblings, and then later on her father, took a toll on her mother. St. Theodora had to take care of her mother and her remaining sisters. She had take on the responsibility of managing their household. When she turned 25, she finally received her mother’s consent to leave home and pursue her religious path. She joined the Sisters of Providence who took care of the poor, sick, and the dying. They also served God through educating children.

In 1840, St. Theodora was tasked to lead a group of missionary sisters in the United States of America to establish her order there. She pushed through with her journey despite her fragile health and crossed the Atlantic until she reached St. Mary of the Woods. When they arrived, St. Mary of the Woods was only a tiny log chapel. But St. Theodora and her band of missionary sisters persevered through extreme hardships while serving in the mission. In less than a year after they arrived, St. Theodora was able to open the first Catholic women’s Liberal Arts college in the United States. St. Mary of the Woods College is still active until today. She died on May 14, 1856 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998. In 2006, she was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

Sources:

https://www.saintsfeastfamily.com/copy-of-st-theodore-guerin-oct-3

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Blessed Carlo Acutis

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Saint Maria Soledad Torres Acosta

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St. Francis Borgia

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Saint Denis

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Saint Pelagia

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Our Lady of the Rosary

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Saint Bruno

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St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

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St. Francis of Assisi

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Saint Theodore Guerin

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