St. Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier - Patron of Foreign Missions, of the Apostleship of Prayer, of Borneo, Australia, New Zealand and China - December 3rd

This great missionary was born at Xavier Castle in Spain and went to the University of Paris when he was eighteen. Here he met St. Ignatius Loyola, who was about to start the Society of Jesus. St. Ignatius tried to get Francis to join him, but at first the happy-go-lucky young man would not think of it. St. Ignatius often repeated to him the words of Jesus: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” At last, Francis saw clearly that his place in life was among the Jesuits.

When he was thirty-four, St. Ignatius sent him as a missionary to the East Indies. The King of Portugal wanted to give him presents and a servant, but Francis answered, “The best way to acquire true dignity is to wash one’s own clothes and boil one’s own pot.”

During the course of his amazing career in Goa, India, Japan and other land of the East, St. Francis made thousands of converts. In fact, he baptized such great crowds that his arms were so weak he could hardly lift them. He gathered the little children about him and taught them about Our Lord. Then he made little “lay apostles” out of them, telling them to spread the Faith they had learned.

There was nothing St. Francis wouldn’t do to help souls. Once he faced a fierce band of raiders, alone, with no weapon but his Crucifix. They backed up and did not attack his Christian tribes. The Saint also brought many bad-living Christians to repentance, by his gentle, polite ways and by his prayers.

In the midst of his painful journeys and great labors, the Saint was full of a special joy coming from God. Sometimes he had to cry out: “Enough, O Lord, enough! My heart cannot hold any more of this tremendous joy!”

It had long been St. Francis’ great longing to get into China, into which no foreigner was permitted. At last, the arrangements were made, but the great missionary fell ill and died almost alone on an island off the Chinese coast.

This great saint stood out for three virtues: a great wish to bring souls to the Heart of Jesus; a heroic obedience; and a great spirit of sacrifice. Today I will ask myself what I can do for the missions.

St. Edmund Campion

St. Edmund Campion – December 1st

Edmund was a very popular young English student. He was a great speaker and was chosen to deliver a welcoming speech to Queen Elizabeth herself when she visited his college. A group of his fellow students were so attracted by his happy nature and his many talents that they made him their leader. Even the Queen and her chief ministers were fond of this attractive young man.

But Edmund was troubled about his religion. Although he had agreed to become a minister, he kept thinking that the Catholic Church might be the only true Church. He did not hide his feelings, and so the government, which was persecuting Catholics, became very suspicious of him. Edmund knew that he would lose the Queen’s favor and all his chances for a great career if he chose to become a Catholic, but he became a convert anyway.

After he had escaped from England, Edmund studied to become a priest. He entered the Society of Jesus and taught in the college at Prague. When the Holy Father decided to send some Jesuits to England, Father Edmund was one of the first to go. The night before he left, one of his fellow priests felt urged to write over his doorway: “Father Edmund Campion, Martyr.”

Although he knew what danger faced him, the holy priest set out cheerfully. In fact, he had many a laugh because of his disguise as a jewel merchant.

In England, he preached with great success to the poor Catholics who had to meet in secret. Spies of the Queen’s men were everywhere trying to catch him, and he wrote: “I won’t escape their hands much longer. Sometimes I read letters that say ‘Campion has been caught’!”

It was a traitor who finally brought about the Jesuit’s capture. Edmund was visited in jail by the mighty Lords who had been so fond of him, and even perhaps by Queen Elizabeth. But none of their threats or promises could make him give up the Catholic Faith. Nor could tortures break him. And in spite of all his sufferings, he still defended himself and his fellow priests in such a marvelous manner that no one could answer him. Yet the enemies of the Church condemned him anyway.

Before he was put to death, St. Edmund forgave the man who had betrayed him and even helped to save his life.

Like this saint I will be sincere in living up to my faith. After all, I do not want to harm my soul just to please other people…

St. Stanislaus Kostka

St. Stanislaus Kostka - Patron of Youth - November 13th

This Polish youth was sent to a Jesuit school at Vienna with his older brother Paul. The two boys were not at all alike, however. Stanislaus had the courage to keep pure and to avoid bad language. He did well in his studies and the other boys admired his devotion at prayer. Paul, instead, was hard on his younger brother because he himself was not leading a good life.

After two years of patiently putting up with Paul’s bullying, Stanislaus became so ill that he was close to death. The man who owned the boarding house in which they lived was an enemy of the Catholic faith and refused to let a priest bring Holy Communion to the sick youth. Stanislaus prayed in desperation and God sent two angels to him with the Blessed Sacrament. Later, the Blessed Mother herself appeared to the Saint to tell him to enter the Society of Jesus. Stanislaus had already thought of that, so he asked to be admitted into the Society. But the Superior at Vienna dared not accept him because Stanislaus’ powerful father would be furious. The boy refused to give up. He stole away secretly and set out on foot to walk all the way to Rome, to ask the Superior General himself. On the way he stopped at the Jesuit house where St. Peter Canisius was superior.

St. Peter tested Stanislaus by setting him to wait on the seminarians at table and to clean their rooms. The holy young man served the students so humbly and respectfully that everyone was amazed.

At Rome, Stanislaus was accepted even though his father had written a very angry letter, telling him that he was following a profession not good enough for a nobleman’s son. But the seventeen-year-old saint answered respectfully that he must follow his vocation. He knew it was a far higher profession than any career his father could give him.

In the Jesuit college at Rome, St. Stanislaus performed every duty cheerfully and well. His face seemed to glow when he entered church, because of his great love for Jesus. But before his year of Novitiate was up, the holy Novice fell sick. No one thought his illness was serious, but the Saint was already thinking of going to Heaven. He told a priest friend that he hoped to be there for the next Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother into Heaven. And so it happened.

Early the morning of August 15th, the Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, the sick young man whispered that he could see Our Lady coming with angels to take him home to Heaven.

One month after St. Stanislaus’ death, his brother Paul arrived in Rome, intending to force him to return. What was his surprise on finding Stanislaus dead! And what remorse he felt! From that time on, Paul began to live a good life, and he willingly testified to the virtues of his holy brother.

I will ask the Blessed Mother to let me know in which state of life Jesus wants me.

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez – October 30th

This Spanish Saint took over the family business of buying and selling wool when he was twenty-three. Three years later, he got married and God sent him and his wife Mary two children. But many sufferings now came to Alphonsus. Business began to be bad, his little daughter died and then his wife. Now this business man began to think of what God might have in mind for him. He had always been a devout Christian, but from then on, he prayed, did penance, and went to the Sacraments more than he had ever done.

When he was nearly forty, Alphonsus’ son died, too, and despite his great sorrow, he thanked God for having taken the boy out of the danger of sinning. Alphonsus soon asked to be admitted into the Society of Jesus, but he was told he must study first. So he went back to school, this man of forty, with little boys who made fun of him. He had to beg for his food, for he had given his money to the poor. At last, he was accepted as a lay-brother and was made door-keeper at a Jesuit college.

“That brother is not a man-he is an angel!” his Superior said of him years later. Priests who knew him for forty years never heard him say or do anything which could be criticized. His kindness and obedience were known to all. Once, all the chairs in the house, even the ones from the bedrooms, had been used for a forty hours devotion. By mistake, his was not returned until the following year. Yet, because of his humility, Alphonsus had never mentioned the fact to anyone. When he was over seventy and sick, the Superior tested his obedience by saying: “You are to go to the missions of the Indies.” St. Alphonsus went straight out to the college gate to go find out when the next ship was sailing-only to be told to go back to his Superior!

During his long life, the Saint had to conquer very strong temptations, besides physical pains. Even as he lay dying, he spent a half hour in terrible agony. Then, just before he died, he was filled with peace and joy. He kissed his crucifix, looked lovingly at his brothers, and died with the name of Jesus on his lips.

Saints became saints because they were humble. Jesus said that to enter Heaven we must become humble. Today I will imitate this saint by taking the last place and doing humble work cheerfully.

St. Francis Borgia

St. Francis Borgia - Patron of Portugal - October 10th

Francis was a young nobleman at the court of the King of Spain. He became a Duke when he was only thirty-three and lived a happy, peaceful life with his wife Eleanor and their eight children. But unlike so many other powerful nobles, Francis was a perfect Christian gentleman, a true man of God, and his great joy was to receive Holy Communion often.

This happy life ended when his beloved wife died. Just a few years later, Francis did something that astonished all the nobles of Spain: he gave up his dukedom to his son Charles and became a Jesuit priest. So many people came to his first Mass that they had to set up an altar out doors. But his superior tested him by treating him in exactly the opposite way he had been used to all his forty-one years of life. He who had once had been a duke had to help the cook, carrying wood for the fire and sweeping the kitchen. When he served the food to the priests and brothers, he had to kneel down in front of them all and beg them to forgive him for being so clumsy! Still he never once complained or grumbled. The only time he became angry was when anyone treated him with respect, as if he were still a duke.

Once a doctor who had to take care of a painful wound Francis had gotten said to him: “I am afraid, my lord, that I have to hurt your grace.” The Saint answered that he would not hurt him more than he was right then by calling him “my lord” and “your grace.”

It was not too long before the humble priest accomplished wonderful works for God’s glory as he preached everywhere and advised many important people. He spread the Society of Jesus all over Spain and in Portugal. When he was made Superior General of the Jesuits, he sent missionaries all over the world. Under his guidance, the Jesuits grew to be a very great help to the Church in many lands.

Through all such success, St. Francis Borgia remained completely humble.

How did this Spanish nobleman learn such humility, after so long being honored as a great man in the world? By reflecting often on the humiliations of Our Lord and strongly willing to imitate Him.

The North American Martyrs

The North American Martyrs – September 26th

Over three hundred years ago, six Jesuit priests and their two holy assistants, all from France, died as martyrs here in America. They were a group of the bravest and most daring missionaries in the New World, and they risked everything they had to bring Christ to the Indians. After much hard work, they converted many of the Huron tribe. But the Iroquois Indians, bitter enemies of the Hurons, put them all to death.

St. John de Brebeuf had tuberculosis and was so sickly in France that he could not even teach many classes. Yet he became a marvelous, valiant apostle, whose courage amazed the fierce Iroquois as they tortured him to death. St. Isaac Jogues was tortured by the Mohawks, an Iroquois tribe, too, but was freed by the Dutch. He got back to France and received special permission to say Mass even though his fingers had been badly bitten by his torturers. As soon as he could, he went back to the Indians, and was tomahawked by the Bear Clan of the Mohawks. St. Anthony Daniel had just finished celebrating Mass for his Huron converts when the Iroquois attacked the village. The Christian Indians begged him to try to escape, but he stayed to baptize all those who were crying to him to come to them before they were killed. The Iroquois burned him to death in his little chapel. St. Gabriel Lallemont was tortured to death with St. John de Brebeuf and had to undergo the worst torments anyone could imagine. St. Charles Garnier and St. Noel Chabenel were both tomahawked. St. Charles was first shot by an Iroquois musket during a surprise attack, but he still tried to crawl to help a dying man. Then, a hatchet put an end to him. Father Chabenel, who had found life very hard but had made a vow to stay with the Indians anyway, was killed by a Huron traitor. The two lay helpers, Rene Goupil and John Lalande were both tomahawked. So it was that these heroes of Christ gave their lives for the Indians, and after their death, new missionaries were able to convert almost every tribe that the martyrs had known.

If someone offends me, I will suffer the injury in silence and meekness, as a brave soldier of Jesus Christ.

St. Peter Claver

St. Peter Claver - Patron of Colombia and of Negro Catholic Missions - September 9th

This Spanish priest of the Society of Jesus is known as the Apostle of the Slaves. While he was still studying to become a Jesuit, he felt a burning desire to go to South America as a missionary. He volunteered and was sent to the seaport of Cartagena, where great shiploads of African slaves were brought to be sold.

At the sight of those poor people all crowded together, sick and suffering, Peter felt great pity. He made up his mind to help them and to convert them. “The slave of the Negroes forever” is what he called himself. As soon as a shipload arrived, he would go among the hundreds of the sick slaves giving them medicine and food, baptizing the dying and the little babies, and nursing the ill. It was such hard, sickening work, in that terrible heat, that one man who went once with St. Peter could never face the horrible sight again. Yet Peter did it for forty years!

Although their owners tried to stop him, the Saint patiently taught the Faith to the slaves. He used pictures of Jesus Crucified, to show them how much God loved them. He used a picture of Hell to make them feel sorry for their sins. In this way, he succeeded in baptizing about 300,000 slaves over the years. Yet it was slow, discouraging work and many people criticized him, saying it was all a waste of time. They thought the slaves would never keep the Faith. St. Peter, however, went to visit them after they left Cartagena and never stopped urging the slaveowners to take care of the souls of their slaves and to be better Christians themselves.

When people praised St. Peter for being able to treat disgusting diseases in conditions that no one else could stand, he would simply say: “If being a saint means having no taste and having a strong stomach, I admit that I may be one!” As if all he did were not enough penance, he also treated his body very harshly and practiced great mortifications. During the last four years of his life, he was so sick that he had to stay in his room and could not even celebrate Mass. Most everyone forgot about him, but he never complained. Then suddenly at his death, the whole city realized they had lost a saint and from then on he was never forgotten again.

Today let us pray for Missionaries. Also let us help them with little offerings every time we can.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

St. Ignatius of Loyola - Patron of Retreats and of Soldiers - July 31st

This famous founder of the Jesuits was a son of one of the most noble families of Spain. As a boy he was sent to be a page at the royal court, and there he lived on the desire to become a great soldier and win a fair lady. Later, he did, indeed, win honor for his courage in the battle of Pamplona. However, a wound from a cannon ball forced him to spend months in bed back at Loyola Castle.

Ignatius asked for some stories of knights to pass the time, but the only books on hand were stories of Our Lord and the Saints. Having nothing else to do, he read them, and his life changed from that time on. He said to himself: “These were men like me, so why can’t I do what they have done?” All the glory he had wanted before seemed worthless now, and he began to imitate the Saints in their prayers and penances and good works.

St. Ignatius had to suffer terrible temptations and humiliations before he began his great work of founding the Society of Jesus. Imagine going back to school to study Latin grammar with little boys when you are a man of thirty-three! Yet Ignatius did it because he knew he would need knowledge to help him save souls. With patience and even a laugh now and then, he took the boys’ jeers and taunts. For teaching and encouraging people to pray, he was even suspected of heresy and put in jail for a while! But that did not bother the Saint. “The whole city does not contain as many chains as I desire to wear for love of Jesus,” he said.

Ignatius was forty-three when he graduated from the University of Paris. With six other students, he made the vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity. They also promised to work for God in whatever way the Holy Father thought best. Later they became priests and formed the religious order of the Jesuits. Before Ignatius died, there were one thousand Jesuits and they were doing much good teaching youth and preaching.

It was the Saint’s tremendous love of Jesus which made him want to keep working for the greater glory of God. He often prayed: “Give me only Your love and Your grace. With this I am rich enough, and I have no more to ask.”

The reading of the lives of Jesus and His Saints changed Ignatius’ whole life. Let us, too, read these inspiring books, so that we will find it easier to be virtuous and to put our lives to good use, as the Saints did.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

St. Aloysius Gonzaga - Patron of Youth - June 21st


Aloysius, the Patron of Catholic youth, was the oldest son of an Italian marquis. Since he was so full of life, his father planned to make a great soldier out of him, and when he was only five, he took him to an army camp. There little Aloysius marched in parade and even managed to load and fire a gun one day while the camp was at rest! He learned rough language, too, from the soldiers, but when he found out that this talk was shameful, he felt very bad.


As he grew, Aloysius was sent to the courts of dukes and princes. Many sins of dishonesty, hatred, and impurity were being committed in this high society. But the only effect it all had on the Saint was to make him more careful to protect his purity. He fell sick and that gave him a good excuse to stay in his room to pray and read the lives of the saints.


When Aloysius was sixteen, he resolved to leave the world and become a Jesuit, but his father refused his consent. However, after three years, he finally gave in. Once he had entered, Aloysius begged to serve in the kitchen and to wash dishes, because he wanted to practice humility. He would say, "I am a crooked piece of iron and am come into religion to made straight by the hammer of mortification and penance.”

When a terrible disease broke out in Rome, Aloysius asked to be allowed to care for the sick. He who had always had servants to wait on him gladly washed the sick and made their beds. He served them until he caught the sickness himself.


St. Aloysius was only twenty-four when he died. His last words were, “I am going to Heaven.”


The virtue which is outstanding in St. Aloysius is purity. To keep pure we should do what he did, that is, mortify all our senses, and especially our eyes.

St. John Francis Regis

St. John Francis Regis - June 16th

When he was eighteen, this French Saint entered the Jesuit Order. In the seminary, his love for God and for souls showed in the way he prayed and in his eagerness to teach catechism in the parishes when he could. After he was ordained a priest, St. John Francis began his work as a missionary preacher. He gave very simple talks that came right from his heart. He especially spoke to the poor, ordinary folks, and they came in great crowds to hear him. He spent his mornings praying, hearing confessions, and preaching. In the afternoon, he would visit prisons and hosptials. To someone who said that the prisoners and bad women he converted would not stay good for long, the Saint answered: “If my efforts stop just one sin from being committed, I shall consider them worthwhile.”

Into wild mountain parishes he went in the coldest days of winter to preach his missions. “I have seen him stand all day on a heap of snow at the top of a mountain preaching,” said one priest, “and then spend the whole night hearing confessions.” Sometimes he would start off for a far-away town at three o’clock in the morning with a few apples in his pocket.

Once, on his way to a village, St. John Francis fell and broke his leg. Yet he kept on going, leaning on a stick and on his companion’s shoulder. When he reached the village, he went at once to hear confessions, without letting his leg be treated. At the end of the day, when the doctor looked at it, his leg was found to be completely healed!

St. John Francis died on one of his preaching missions, after falling sick while lost at night in the woods. Just before he died, he exclaimed: “I see Our Lord and His Mother opening Heaven for me!”

God would give us many more blessings and graces if we would forget our own wants and help our parents, family, and friends.

St. Andrew Bobola

St. Andrew Bobola - May 21st

Andrew was born in Poland, and after he became a Jesuit priest, people began to realize what a great preacher he was. For twenty years, he traveled from one village to the next, converting those who had left the Catholic Church. Then he was made Superior of one of the house of his Order. A terrible sickness spread through that land, and St. Andrew risked his own life to help the sick and the dying.

After being Superior, he went back to preaching and was so successful that enemies of the Church tried in every way to stop him. For several years, in every village, they trained groups of children to follow him, calling him names and shouting to drown out his voice when he tried to preach. Still the Saint never lost patience with them or quit.

At last, Father Bobola was captured by those who hated him and the Catholic Church. He was beaten without mercy, but he would not give up the Faith. Then they began to torture him in ways too cruel to describe. Because he kept calling on Jesus and Mary, they tore out his tongue. They wounded him in every part of his body. Finally they ended the Saint’s life by cutting of his head.

Let us bravely and patiently offer up our small sufferings for the love of Jesus, Who died on the cross for love of us.

St. Robert Bellarmine

St. Robert Bellarmine - Patron of Catechists - May 13th

Robert was born in Italy. As a boy, he was not much interested in playing games. He liked to spend his playtime in repeating to his younger brothers and sisters the sermons he had heard and in explaining the lessons in catechism to the little farm children of the neighborhood. Once he had made his first Holy Communion, he used to receive Jesus every Sunday.

Robert’s father hoped to make a famous gentleman out of his son. For this reason, he wanted him to study many subjects and music and art, too. Whenever a song had words that were not nice, Robert would make up holy words of his own. “My voice is no good for singing things that are not pure,” he would say.

It was his great desire to become a Jesuit priest, but his father had quite different plans for him. For a whole year, Robert worked to persuade his father and at last, when he was eighteen, he was permitted to enter the Jesuits. As a young Jesuit, he did very well in his studies and was sent to preach even before he became a priest. When one good women first saw such a young man, not even a priest yet, going up into the pulpit to preach, she knelt down to pray that he would not become frightened and stop in the middle. When he finished his sermon, she stayed kneeling, but now she was thanking God for the magnificent sermon this brilliant preacher had given!

St. Robert Bellarmine became a famous writer, preacher and teacher. He wrote thirty-one important books. Three hours every day he spent in prayer. Because of his great knowledge of sacred matters, he was declared a Doctor of the Church. Yet, even when he had become a Cardinal, he considered the catechism so important, that he himself taught it to his household and to the people.

Let us not miss through our own fault even one religion class, and let us make up our minds to get the best marks in this subject.

St. Peter Canisius

St. Peter Canisius - Patron of Germany - April 27th

Peter was a Dutchman whose father wanted him to be a lawyer. To please him, young Peter began to study law after he had finished all his other studies. Soon enough, however, he realized that he would never be happy in that life. About that time, people all over were talking about the wonderful preaching of Blessed Peter Faber, who was one of the first members of the Jesuit order. When Peter Canisius listened to him, he knew he, too, would be happy serving God as a Jesuit. So he entered, and after more years of study and prayer, he was ordained a priest.

The great St. Ignatius soon realized what an obedient and zealous apostle St. Peter Canisius was. He sent him to Germany where Peter labored for forty years.

It would be hard to name all St. Peter Canisius’ great works, prayers and sacrifices to save many cities of Germany from heresy and to bring back to the Catholic Church those who had accepted false teachings. It is said that he traveled about twenty thousand miles in thirty years, sometimes on foot and sometimes on horseback.

In spite of all this, St. Peter Canisius still found time to write many books on the Faith. He realized how important books are. So he made a campaign to stop bad books from being sold. And he did all he could to spread good books to teach the Faith. The two catechisms St. Peter Canisius wrote were so popular that they were printed over two hundred times and were translated into fifteen languages.

To those who said he worked too hard, St. Peter Canisius would answer, “If you have too much to do, with God’s help, you will find time to do it all.”

Most of the wrong ideas on our Faith are the result of not knowing enough about it. Let us often take out books from our school or parish library so that we will know our holy Faith well and be able to explain it to others.