St. Ambrose

St. Ambrose - Patron of Candle-Makers and Candle-Sellers - December 7th

Ambrose was the son of the Roman governor of Gaul. When his father died, his mother took her family back to Rome. She and her daughter, St. Marcellina, brought Ambrose up well. He became an outstanding lawyer and was then made Governor of Milan and the territory around it.

But by a strange event, Ambrose the Governor became Ambrose the bishop. In those days the people used to suggest to the Pope the name of the one they would like as bishop. To Ambrose’s great surprise, the people of Milan chose him! He tried to escape, but it seemed to be God’s will, so he became a priest and then Bishop of Milan.

St. Ambrose was not only a perfect model and father to his people, but also resisted all evil with amazing courage. He faced an attacking army and convinced the leader to turn back.

When the great Emperor Theodosius came from the East to save Italy from the invaders, he urged all his officers to respect the Bishop of Milan. Yet when this Emperor committed a great sin, Ambrose did not hesitate to scold him and to make him do public penance. The Emperor did not become furious and take revenge. He realized that the Saint was right and very humbly he publicly made penance for his great sin. Another time Ambrose told him that he must not stay in the sanctuary of the church, since this is the right of the sacred ministers only. The Emperor apologized and took his place outside with the other people. Ambrose had shown the world that no mere man, even if he is the ruler of an empire, is higher than the Church.

People were afraid of what would happen to Italy when Ambrose died, and when he fell sick, they begged him to pray for a longer life. The Saint replied, “I have not behaved myself among you in such a way that I should be ashamed to live longer; nor am I afraid to die, for we have a good Master.” He died on Good Friday after praying with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross for several hours.

We should always show respect and reverence for Priests. They are God’s ministers.

St. Andrew Avellino

St. Andrew Avellino – November 10th

This Italian priest was a skillful lawyer before he decided to devote himself only to the care of souls. One day he was defending a friend of his in court and he caught himself telling a lie. That evening, as he was reading the Holy Bible, he came upon these words: “The lying mouth kills the soul.” The more the Saint thought about these words, the more he realized that he had not given enough thought to the things of God.

At the age of thirty-five, he joined a Congregation of priests called Theatines. He worked so hard for souls that he soon became Novice Master and then Superior. St. Charles Borromeo had such a high opinion of him that he asked for him at Milan. In the city of Piacenza he converted many noble ladies and inspired many to become Brides of Christ. It is said that St. Andrew “turned the city upside down.”

The Saint lived until he was eighty-nine, even though he suffered terrible pains for fifty years and always found it hard to walk. Yet he had never taken a carriage or slowed down in his work for God. On the last day of his life, he got up as usual to say Mass. He was so weak that he could hardly reach the altar, but he tried anyway. Just as he started Mass, he fell ill for the last time. That afternoon he died peacefully with his brethren all around him.

This saint told one lie, and after he read the Bible, he was very sorry and did much penance. I too will think over the words of the Bible, “The lying mouth kills the soul,” and will try very hard never to tell any lies.

St. Germanus of Auxerre

St. Germanus of Auxerre - August 3rd

This Saint was born in Gaul, which is now France. He studied in Rome and became such a good lawyer that he was made a governor back in his own country.

Germanus had a great love for hunting. He was a Christian, but he used to become so excited on the hunt that he would use the same superstitious practices the pagans did. Yet when the Bishop of Auxerre, St. Amator, died, it was none other than Germanus who was chosen to take his place after he had become a priest and a bishop. Germanus seemed an entirely different person. He gave away everything he owned and lived in humble poverty. One of his favorite good deeds was to serve poor people, while he himself did much penance.

St. Germanus can be called an apostle of Britain, too, because the Pope sent him to save the Christians there from a heresy. By his teaching and miracles, he won the people back o the true Faith and then he started schools of religion so that they would not be fooled again by false teachings.

A famous event in the life of St. Germanus was what is called the “Alleluia battle.” When enemies of the people of Britain were attacking, the leaders of the small British army asked the Saint to come to their camp to protect them by his prayers. Germanus came and spent his time winning converts and persuading the Christian soldiers to do penance. All the men celebrated Easter very fervently and the new converts received baptism in a little church made of green branches twisted together. After Easter came the amazing battle without bloodshed! St. Germanus led his men into a valley between two high mountains, and told them to shout whatever he shouted at his signal. Then as soon as the enemy drew near, he shouted “Alleluia” three times, and all the men repeated it. The echo from the mountains made such a mighty roar that the enemy thought the British army must be huge, and in great fear, they threw down their weapons and ran away!

To keep our faith free from false teaching, we must study our religion with all our heart and pray for a strong faith. We must live good lives, read only good books and magazines, and go around only with good companions.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori

St. Alphonsus de Liguori - August 2nd

Alphonsus was born in Italy and did so well in his studies that when he was still a teen-ager, he was given his degree in law and became a famous lawyer. He enjoyed going to stage shows for a while, but only for the music. To make sure he would not sin, he used to take off his glasses as soon as the show began. Since he was near-sighted, he could see nothing of the bad shows and just enjoyed the music!

A mistake he made in court convinced Alphonsus of what he had already thought-he should give up his law practice and become a priest. His father tried to persuade him not to do it, but Alphonsus laid his sword on our Lady’s alter to show that he was giving up the world for God. His life as a priest was full of activity. He preached, he wrote many books, he started his congregation of priests called Redemptorists, he guided souls, he wrote hymns and even found time to paint pictures.

St. Alphonsus took a vow never to waste time and he kept it until he died, at the age of ninety-one. That is how he was able to write about sixty books, although he was always busy and often very sick. Sometimes his head ached so badly that he would hold a piece of cold marble against it and keep on writing.

Although he was naturally inclined to act quickly from anger to pride, St. Alphonsus kept strict control over himself and acted only and always for God. He had become so humble that when the Pope made him bishop, he handed the announcement back to the messengers who had brought it, saying, “Please do not come back again to call me ‘Most Illustrious Lord.’ That would kill me!” But the Pope would not take “no” for an answer and made him a bishop. St. Alphonsus sent many preachers all over his diocese, which was in a bad condition, and he told them to give simple sermons. “I never preached a sermon that the simplest old women in the church could not understand,” he said.

When he was very old, crippled, deaf, and almost blind, the Saint had to suffer terrible disappointments and temptations. But he had great devotion to the Blessed Mother, as we know from his famous book called the Glories of Mary, and the trial were followed by great peace, joy and a holy death.

Let us increase our devotion to the Blessed Mother. St. Alphonsus write, “Whoever has devotion to Mary will save his soul; whoever has a great devotion to Mary will become a saint.”

Some good books of and by St. Alphonsus de Liguori:

St. Alphonsus Liguori

By: Rev. D. F.Miller & Rev. L. X. Aubin - https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage_gr/product_id/275/

Uniformity with God's Will

By: St. Alphonsus Liguori

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage_gr/product_id/113/

The Way of the Cross - Liguori

By: St. Alphonsus Liguori

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage_gr/product_id/267/

St. Thomas More

St. Thomas More - Patron of Lawyers - July 9th

Thomas More is a famous English writer and martyr. He was a good scholar and studied to become a lawyer. While he was in school, his father gave him only a small allowance, so that he would not get into mischief. St. Thomas was always grateful to him for bringing him up strictly, and even when he had a much higher position than his father, he would ask his blessing right in public.

St. Thomas married, because he knew that was God’s will for him. His wife was a simple women who could not even read or write, but Thomas patiently tried to teach her. She loved him and her four children very much and did all she could to make her brilliant husband happy. People liked to pay visits to the More family. One of the young children there read from the Bible during meals. Then they would have fun telling jokes and making each other laugh. St. Thomas often had poorer neighbors in to dinner, too, because he always helped the poor as much as he could. This saint loved to delight his guests with surprises-he even kept some playful monkeys as pets! Yet no one knew that such a merry man always wore a painful hair short and practiced other severe mortifications.

St. Thomas held a number of important offices under the King, Henry VIII. He was his favorite and sometimes the King put his arm affectionately around Thomas’ shoulder. Yet, although the Saint was a most loyal subject, he was loyal to God first of all. In fact, when the King tried to make him disobey God’s law, Thomas refused. Henry wanted to obtain a divorce from his wife to marry another women, but the Pope could not give permission, since that is against God’s law. Henry was stubborn and at last he left the Church. He wanted everyone to recognize him as the head of the Church in England, but St. Thomas was one of those who remained faithful to God. He was condemned to death for that, yet he forgave his judges and said he hoped he would see them in Heaven.

At the scaffold, where he was to die, St. Thomas kissed his executioner and then joked, saying that his bread should not be cut off because it had not done anything wrong! And so he died, this holy martyr who had said: “I am the King’s good servant, but God’s servant first.”

Like St. Thomas More, we want to be the best and most affectionate children of our Holy Mother the Church.

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen - April 24th

This Saint’s name was Mark Rey. He was born in Germany and went to a famous University of Freiburg to become a lawyer. Even as a young student, he liked to visit the sick and the poor and to spend many hours praying. His brother became a Capuchin priest, but Mark finished his studies and became a famous lawyer.

Many times he would help poor people who had no money to a pay a lawyer. For this reason, he was given the nickname, “The Poor Man’s Lawyer.”

Because he was very honest and polite, Mark became disgusted with the arguments and dishonesty of those law courts. He decided to become a Capuchin priest. He received the holy robe of the monks and took the name, Fidelis, which means “faithful.”

Father Fidelis knew that his life was in danger, yet he went to go to Switzerland to preach. In Switzerland there were many enemies of the Catholic faith, and he wanted to try to win these people back to Jesus. His preaching brought wonderful results, and many people converted. The bitterest enemies grew wild with anger at his success.

St. Fidelis knew that his life was in danger, yet he went right on preaching. In the middle of one sermon, a shot was fired at him, but the bullet missed. He started back over the road on which he had come to town. A group of men with guns stopped him and ordered him to give up the Catholic religion. The Saint answered meekly but firmly, “I will not renounce the Catholic Faith!” At once, the cruel men struck him down.

St. Fidelis pulled himself up and kneeling, prayed: “Lord, forgive my enemies. They do not know what they are doing. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me! Holy Mary, my Mother, help me!” Another blow hit him and then more and more blows until this hero’s life was taken away.

It is a great honor to be able to help others come back to Jesus, back to Church. Let us try, by prayer, good example and kind words, to be real apostles.

St. John Capistrano

St. John Capistrano - March 28th


St. John Capistrano was born in Italy. He was a lawyer and Governor of Perugia. When enemies of the city threw John into prison, he started to think about what he was doing with his life. In the meantime, his wife died. John began to realize that the only thing that really mattered was to save his soul. So when he was set free by a miracle, he entered the Franciscan monastery. He was thirty years old at the time. He did much penance. For many years he ate not meat at all, except when he was sick. He slept only three or four hours at night and his bed was a hard board.


After he was made a priest, John was sent out to preach. He and St. Bernardine of Siena spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus everywhere. John preached all over Europe for forty years, and all who heard his sermons were moved to love and serve Our Lord better.


The greatest moment in the life of this Saint came at the tremendous battle of Belgrade. The Turks had made up their minds to conquer all Europe and wipe out the Church of Jesus. The Pope sent St. John to all the Christian Kings of Europe to beg them to unite to fight the mighty Turkish army. The Kings obeyed this poor, barefoot monk who stirred up their love of God and their courage with his fiery words. But even though a big army of Christians came to fight Mohammed II and hit Turks, it looked as though they would lose, for the enemy army was much bigger. Then it was that the Saint himself, though he was seventy years old, ran to the front lines and encouraged the men to keep fighting. Holding his crucifix up high, this thin, small old man kept crying, “Victory, Jesus, victory!” And the Christian soldiers felt full of more courage than ever. They fought until the enemy ran away in great fear!


Just one person can do great things, if he is on God’s side. Let us make up our mind always to be on Our Lord’s side and stand up for what is right.