St. Melania

St. Melania – December 31st

This Saint was the daughter of one of the richest men of Rome. She and her family were Christians, but her father was not willing to let Melania follow her vocation to become a religious. He engaged her to Pinian, the son of the ruler of Rome, and when she was only fourteen, they were married. Melania told her young husband that she would be happy if they could give themselves completely to Jesus. Pinian, however, was like Melania’s father-a good man but very much concerned about pleasing important people and being admired.

After a couple of years, Melania became gravely ill, and her husband promised God that if He would spare her life, he would let her live in the holy way she desired. She got better, but her father made her keep on dressing and behaving like the other great ladies of Rome. Then, he too, fell ill, and as he lay dying, he asked her forgiveness. “Fearing the ridicule of evil tongues,” he said, “I have made you sad by opposing your heavenly vocation.”

Melania’s mother and husband joined her in giving up worldly pleasures. They moved to a country village and made it a center of charity to travelers, poor people, slaves, and even whole families. St. Melania had huge estates all over the empire, left her by her father. Now she sold them and gave the money to churches, monasteries, captives, sick people, pilgrims and everyone who needed help. In two years, she set eight thousand slaves free.

Melania’s husband, too, became so holy and good that wherever they visited people recognized the virtues of this blessed couple. After living in Africa and practicing great mortifications, St. Melania went with her dear ones to the Holy Land. There her beloved husband and mother died. The Saint built a cell for herself near their graves and many disciples came to share her holy life. It was there, in the land of Jesus, that she died peacefully, surrounded by her religious, and saying over and over: “As the Lord willed, so it is done.”

We should obey our parents in all things. But should God call us to be His, and should our parents oppose it, first we must obey God.

Blessed Paula Cerioli

Blessed Paula Cerioli – December 24th

Paula’s name before she became a nun was Constance. She was the last of sixteen children born to an Italian countess. When Constance was only nineteen, her parents arranged a marriage for her with a rich man who was sixty years old! He was a good man, but a bit odd and quite unattractive. The poor girl could have been miserable all her life, but instead, she made the best of things, and drew closer and closer to Jesus. She counted on His help always.

Constance’s husband died nineteen years later, and she was left with a great fortune. Something her parish priest happened to say made her decide to devote her time and money to poor children and orphans. At once she took two orphans into her great mansion, and her work had started.

Other ladies joined her and they took the vows of a nun. The new community was called the Sisters of the Holy Family. Constance tool the name, Sister Paula. Some years afterwards, a group of men formed themselves into a community of brothers to help Sister Paula in taking care of orphan boys.

Sister Paula especially wanted to train farm children so that they would know how to farm the land well and not suffer poverty. She knew they would all probably spend their lives on farms and she wanted them to be happy in this way of life.

Sister Paula was always very devoted to the Holy Family, and God gave her the grace of dying peacefully one Christmas Eve.

Since I cannot offer much to help poor children, I will be very kind to them.

St. Olympias

St. Olympias – December 17th

This Saint belonged to a great family of Constantinople and when she was left an orphan, she was given into the care of a wonderful Christian woman. Olympias had inherited a large fortune and was both sweet and attractive. So her uncle found it easy to marry her to Nebridius, a man who had been governor of Constantinople. St. Gregory of Nazianzen apologized for not being able to attend the wedding, and sent a poem full of good advice for Olympias.

Nebridius died very soon afterwards, however, and the Emperor urged Olympias to marry again. She answered: “Had God wished me to remain a wife, He would not have taken Nebridius away.” And she refused to marry again. St. Gregory called her “the glory of the widows in the Eastern Church.”

With a number of other pious ladies, Olympias gave herself to works of charity. She dressed plainly, prayed much, and gave her money away to everyone. Finally St. John Chrysostom had to tell her to be careful in giving away her goods. “You must not encourage laziness of those who live upon you without necessity,” he said. “It is like throwing your money into the sea.”

When St. John Chrysostom became Archbishop of Constantinople, he guided St. Olympias and her disciples in their works. A home for orphans and a chapel were opened, and help given to great numbers of people.

Among St. Olympias’ friends were five other saints, but her own bishop, St. John Chrysostom, was her dearest guide and when he was exiled, she was deeply grieved. She then had to suffer persecution and her community of widows and maiden were forced to stop their charitable works. Besides this, she was in poor health and was being criticized and even exiled. Yet St. John wrote to her: “I cannot stop calling you blessed. The patience and dignity with which you have borne your sorrows, your prudence, wisdom and charity have won you great glory and reward.”

St. Olympias died when she was about forty. Some one described her as “a wonderful woman, like a precious vase filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Let us make sure to have a good guide in our spiritual work, so that we will be certain of spending our lives in the best possible way.

St. Adelaide

St. Adelaide – December 16th

At the age of sixteen, this Burgundian princess was married to King Lothair. Three years later her husband died, and the ruler who is believed to have poisoned him tried to get Adelaide to be his wife. She absolutely refused. In anger, he treated her with great cruelty and locked her up in a castle on a lake.

Adelaide was saved when King Otto the Great of Germany conquered this ruler. Although she was twenty years younger than he, Otto married the lovely Adelaide on Christmas Day. When he took his new Queen back home, the German people loved her at once. She was as gentle and gracious as she was pretty. God sent five children to the royal couple, and they lived happily for twenty-two years.

When Otto died, Adelaide’s oldest son became the ruler. This son, Otto the Second, was good, but too quick to act without thinking. So it happened that he turned against his own mother and she left the palace. In her great sorrow, she appealed to the abbot, St. Majolus, and he made Otto feel sorry for what he had done. Adelaide met her son in Italy and the King begged her forgiveness on his knees. She in turn prayed for her son, sending offerings to the great shrine of St. Martin of Tours.

In her old age, St. Adelaide was called on to rule the country while her grandson was still a child. She founded many monasteries and convents and worked to convert the Slavs.

All her life, this saintly empress had obeyed the advice of holy men and had ever been willing to forgive those who had hurt her. St. Odilo of Cluny called her a “marvel of beauty and grace.”

In His goodness God gives us all some things to suffer here on earth. If we accept them with patience, He will reward us later with a beautiful place in Heaven.

St. Cecilia

St. Cecilia – Patroness of Musicians, Poets, Singers and Organ-Builders – November 22nd

This famous Patroness of music was a Roman noblewoman, who had given her heart to Christ. Beneath the rich clothes worn by women of her class, Cecilia wore a rough shirt that caused her suffering; she wanted to be able to offer this suffering to Jesus, whose bride she intended to be.

But Cecilia’s father gave her in marriage to young pagan nobleman! During the celebration of the wedding, the lovely bride sat apart singing to God in her heart and praying for His help. When she and Valerian, her husband, were alone, she gathered up courage and said to him: “I have a secret to tell you. You must know that I have an angel of God watching over me. If you let me keep my promise to be Christ’s bride only, my angel will love you as he loves me.”

“Show me this angel,” answered Valerian. “If he comes from God, I will do as you wish.”

Cecilia said, “If you believe in the one true God and receive the waters of Baptism, then you shall see the angel.” Valerian went to the Bishop Urban and was received with joy. After he had professed his belief in the Christian religion, he was baptized and returned to St. Cecilia.

There by the Saint’s side, the young man saw the splendid angel! The angel raised his hand and placed a crown of roses and lilies on the heads of the young couple. What joy filled their pure, holy hearts at that moment!

Valerian’s brother, Tiburtius, learned of the Christian faith from Cecilia and she spoke so beautifully of Jesus that before long, he too was baptized. Together the two brothers performed many works of holy charity. When they were arrested for being Christians, they went bravely to death rather than give up their new faith in Jesus.

St. Cecilia lovingly buried their bodies, before she too was arrested. She converted the very officers who tried to make her sacrifice to false gods! When she was put into a fire, it did no harm her. At last, a man was sent to behead her. He struck her at the neck three times, but she did not die right away. She lay on the floor of her own home unable to move. Yet by holding out three fingers of one hand, and one of the other, she still professed her faith in the Blessed Trinity.

Today I will think often that I have a Guardian Angel watching over me.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

St. Elizabeth of Hungary – Patroness of Third Order Members – November 19th


This daughter of the King of Hungary was married to Louis, the ruler of Thuringia, while she was very young. She was a beautiful bride who dearly loved her handsome husband, and Louis returned her affection with all his heart. God sent them three children and they were as happy as can be for six years.


Then St. Elizabeth’s sorrows began. Louis died of the plague, and she was so heart-broken that she cried: “The world is dead to me and all that is joyous in the world!” Louis’ relatives had never liked Elizabeth because she had given so much food away to the poor. While Louis was alive, they had not been able to do anything, but now they could and they did. Within a short time, this beautiful, gentle princess and her three children were sent away from the castle and suffered hunger and cold. Yet Elizabeth did not complain at her terrible sufferings. Instead she blessed God and prayed with great fervor, just as she had done in her years of joy.


Elizabeth’s relatives came to her rescue and she and her children had a home once more. Her uncle wanted her to marry again, for she was still very young and attractive. But the Saint had determined to give herself to God, imitating the poverty of St. Francis. She went to live in a poor cottage and spent the last few years of her life serving the sick and the poor. She would even go fishing to try to gain more money for her beloved poor, and when she was sick herself, she still spun wool for them.


St. Elizabeth was only twenty-four when she died. On her death bed, she was heard to sing softly. She had great confidence that Jesus would take her to Himself.


Today I want to take everything from the hands of God. If He sends me joys, I will thank Him. If He asks me to suffer a little, I will offer it up for His love.

Sts. Varus and Cleopatra

Sts. Varus and Cleopatra – October 19th

Varus was an Egyptian soldier who brought food to seven holy monks who had been put in prison for their Faith. When one of them died, the fearless Christian soldier took his place in prison. St. Varus was cruelly tortured because he would not give up his belief in Christ, and finally he died a martyr.

A saintly Christian woman named Cleopatra secretly obtained the body of the soldier-martyr and hid it in a bundle of wool. In this manner she brought it out of Egypt and back to her home in Palestine. There many people came to visit the Saint’s tomb. Cleopatra had a son named John, and when he was about to go into the army, she decided to have a big church built to honor the relics of St. Varus. At the same time, she asked him to pray for her son.

When the beautiful church was ready, she and John brought the martyr’s remains to the new shrine. But that very night, John became sick and died! Poor mother! She had her dead son carried into the church and laid in front of the altar, sobbing as though her heart would break. She stayed there, begging God to bring her son back to life, until the next night. She even spoke angry words to St. Varus, whom she had honored so much before. At last, she was so tired out by her weeping that she fell fast asleep. And in a dream she saw St. Varus leading John by the hand. They both looked so gloriously happy that St. Cleopatra could not say a word.

“Have I forgotten all the love you showed me?” St. Varus said to her. “You asked for health and success for your son, and look! He is safe forevermore!” The good woman felt contented now. Then she was told to lay John’s body there in the church and to wait awhile until they came for her. She spent seven years in prayer and penance, until at last God called her to share the glory of St. Varus and her son.

Let us pray to these saints to make us brave and patient amid the troubles of life.

St. Bridget of Sweden

St. Bridget of Sweden - Patroness of Sweden - October 8th

From the time she was a child, Bridget was greatly devoted to the Passion of Our Lord. When she was only ten, she seemed to see Jesus on the Cross and to hear Him say, “Look upon Me, My daughter.” “Who had treated you like this?” cried the holy child. “They who despise Me and refuse My love for them,” answered Jesus. From then on, Bridget tried to stop people from offending Our Lord any more.

While she was just a very young teenager, she was married to a young man named Ulf who, like herself, set his whole heart on serving God. They had eight children, of whom one was St. Catherine of Sweden. At the Swedish court of King Magnus and Queen Blanche, Bridget tried to make these rulers lead better lives, but they did not listen to her for the most part. All her life, the Saint had many marvelous visions and received special messages from God. In obedience to them, she visited many rulers and important people in the Church to tell them what God expected of them.

After her good husband died, Bridget put away forever her wealthy clothes and lived as a poor nun. Later, she founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, who are called Bridgettines. She still kept up her own busy life, however, traveling about doing good everywhere. And through all this activity, Our Lord continued to reveal many secrets to her, all of which she received without the least bit of pride.

Shortly before she died, the Saint went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where Jesus had lived. At the shrines there, she had visions of what Our Lord had said and done in each place. All St. Bridget’s revelations on the sufferings of Jesus were published after her death.

I will learn from St. Bridget the devotion to Jesus Crucified. Like this saint, I, too, for love of Jesus Crucified, will keep my soul pure from every fault, and will go to Confession and Holy Communion often.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Jane Frances de Chantal - August 21st

Jane’s father was President of the lawmakers in the section of France. He was a devout man who brought his children up well after the death of his wife. Jane, whom he dearly loved, he married to Christopher, the Baron de Chantal. Jane and Christopher were very happy, for they were very much in love and God blessed them with four children. Jane showed her love for God by loving her husband and children with her whole heart.

Then, suddenly, a great sorrow fell upon that happy home. Baron Christopher was accidentally shot by a friend who had gone hunting with him. When he died, Jane was heart-broken, yet as a good Christian should, she forgave the man who had caused his death and even became his child’s godmother.

Now Jane Frances began to ask Our Lord to send her a holy priest to guide her, so she would know what to do with her life. In the meantime, she prayed and brought up her children in the love of God. She visited the poor and sick and comforted the dying. When she met St. Francis de Sales, she knew this was the holy man God had sent to guide her. Following his plan, she and three other young women started the order of the Sisters of the Visitation. But first Jane Frances had to overcome the objections of her relatives. By now Jane’s oldest daughter was married to St. Francis’ young brother, and she sent her two younger daughters with her to bring up. But her fifteen-year-old son, who was to stay with his grandfather, threw himself to the ground across the doorway, sobbing. Jane knew God wanted her to go and that He Himself would take the best care of her son, so she stepped over the boy and went away with tears spilling down her cheeks.

St. Jane showed this same courage in all the difficulties that faced her as she opened up many convents, and in fighting her own temptations. “Despite all her suffering,” wrote St. Vincent de Paul, “her face never lost its peaceful look. And she was always perfectly faithful to God. So I consider her one of the holiest souls I have ever met.”

Like this Saint, let us always obey the Will of God, even when it costs us great sacrifices. If we do it, we, too, will become saints.

St. Helena

St. Helena - August 18th

This Saint was the mother of the great Roman Emperor Constantine. She was about sixty-three years old when she became a Christian, but she began at once to make up for the time she had lost as a pagan. While her convert son labored to make the Catholic Church glorious with his gifts of buildings and his laws, Helena gave such wonderful examples of piety, humility and charity that she made all who saw her love the Christian Faith more.

When she was eighty years old, St. Helena traveled to Jerusalem to take charge in building a marvelous church on Mt. Calvary and to try to find the true cross on which Jesus had died. On the trip she gave away great sums of money to cities, to prisoners, to soldiers, to widows, to all kinds of people. Although she was Empress of the great Roman Empire, she had such respect for Sisters that she would visit their convents to serve them and wait on them with her own hands.

On Mt. Calvary, while the foundations for the church were being dug, the sacred cross was discovered. What joy this discovery brought to St. Helena, who devoutly venerated it! The Saint spent her last days in Jerusalem praying in the churches and decorating them beautifully to the honor of God. When she died, her holy remains were brought back to Rome.

I will be proud to make the Sign of the Cross in public and to proclaim myself a follower of Jesus Christ.

Related Links:
http://www.rosaryworkshop.com/ROME-Pilgrimage-Crx.html
http://www.stpetersbasilica.org/Statues/StHelen/StHelen.htm

St. Athanasia

St. Athanasia - August 14th

St. Athanasia was born on an island near Greece. She married a young army officer, but only sixteen days after the wedding, her husband was killed in a battle. After this, the young widow realized more than ever how quickly everything on earth passes. She began to want God alone, yet because her parents desired it, Athanasia married again. Together she and her good husband helped the poor and the sick.

On Sundays, the Saint used to gather her neighbors in her house and read them a piece from the Holy Bible. Afterwards she would explain it to them in her own words. She wanted everyone to share her love for God’s word.

When Athanasia’s husband left with her permission to become a monk, she changed her house into a convent and became Abbess of the nuns who joined her. For a while they stayed there in the middle of that noisy town and practiced very great penance. Then a wise Abbot advised them to move to a quieter spot. There, so many women joined them that they had to add on to their buildings. And St. Athanasia became so well known that the Empress Theodora called her to court to be her adviser. Then Saint fell sick very shortly after she went back to her convent, but she kept working and praying as usual, until at last she gave her nuns her blessing and died.

Let us love the virtue of purity and the things of God. These will give us true happiness, not the passing joys of this world….

St. Radegund

St. Radegund - August 13th

This German princess was taken prisoner when she was only twelve years old by the French King Clotaire. She grew up to be such a charming young women that the King married her. As Queen, she loved to take care of the sick and poor captives. She began a hospital for lepers and tenderly waited on them herself. A friend who saw her kiss the lepers’ sores scolded her, saying, “No one will dare kiss you after this!” St. Radegund was not the least worried about that. “If you don’t want to kiss me,” she answered, “I really do not mind a bit!”

King Clotaire caused his good wife much suffering before he finally let her live for God alone. At first he loved her, but all too soon, he began to speak to her in a mean, scornful way, and to give his attentions to other women. Finally, he even murdered St. Radegund’s beloved brother, and it was then that she left the court. The bishop St. Medard was a bit afraid to give her the veil of a nun when she asked for it, because he knew what a violent man the King was. But St. Radegund would not take no for an answer. “If you will not consecrate me, you fear man more than God,” she said, and at that, St. Medard gave in. King Clotaire once asked St. Radegund to forgive him and pray for him, but his repentance did not last long. He took many wives and committed terrible murders before he died. However, he did leave the Saint in peace and even helped support her convent.

St. Radegund and her nuns not only prayed and did penance but they also spent time studying every day and they worked for peace between rulers. When the Saint died, St. Gregory of Tours wrote: “We went to the convent and found her lying in her coffin, her face shinning with a brightness greater than the beauty of lilies and roses.”

Let us learn from the example of this saint to do our Christian duty all the time, without worrying about what people may say.

St. Anne

St. Anne - Patroness of Canada, of Cabinet-Makers and of Housewives - July 26th

St. Anne is the grandmother of Our Lord and the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She and her husband, St. Joachim, had spent their lives in worshipping God and doing good, but they had one great sorrow: God had not sent them any children. For years and years, Anne begged the Lord to give her a child, and she promised to consecrate it to Him if He would. When she was already old, God answered her prayer in a far better way than she could ever have dreamed.

For the child born to St. Anne was the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the holiest of all women, the one who was to become the Mother of God. Anne took tender care of little Mary for a few years and then gave her to the service of God, as she had promised she would.

After Mary had gone to live in the holy Temple at Jerusalem, St. Anne continued her life of prayer until God called her to Heaven. Knowing what a great Saint she is, Christians have always been devoted to St. Anne, and have built beautiful churches in her honor. Perhaps one of the most famous is the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre in Canada, where great crowds go to ask her help in their sufferings.

St. Anne is a great saint because even though it cost her great pain, she gave Mary to God. If you feel the divine call, pray to St. Anne. She will help you to follow it, despite many difficulties.

St. Felicity and Her Seven Sons

St. Felicity and Her Seven Sons - July 10th

Felicity was a noble Christian women of Rome. After her husband’s death, she served God and employed herself in prayer and works of charity. Her good example led others to embrace the faith. This angered the pagan priests, who complained to Antoninus Pius, the Emperor. They said she was an enemy of the state because she was making the gods angry. So the Emperor ordered Felicity arrested along with her seven sons. She came, calm and unafraid. The governor took her aside and tried in vain to make her sacrifice to the gods. He ended with the words, “Unhappy women, if you wish to die, die! But do not destroy your children!”

“My children,” she said, “will live forever if, like me, they scorn the idols and die for their God.”

This holy mother was forced to watch her sons being put to death. One was scourged, two were beaten with clubs, three beheaded and another drowned. Four months later, she, too, was beheaded. Her strength came from knowing that in Heaven she would be with God and her sons forever in perfect happiness.

St. Felicity, we may say, was martyred eight different times, because she had to watch each of her sons die before she too gave up her life for Jesus. What courage and faith!

Let us pray every day that God will bless our family and friends and that we will all meet again in Heaven.

St. Bertha

St. Bertha - July 4th

This French saint was twenty years old when she married a good man named Siegfrid. He came from a noble family like her own.

Together Bertha and her husband loved and served God, and the Lord sent them five children. After Siegfrid died, Bertha entered the convent in Northern France which she and her husband had built. With her went her two oldest daughters, Gertrude and Deotila.

St. Bertha helped to have three great churches built in France. One of these was in honor of the famous St. Martin of Tours. Another great work she did was to increase the fervor with which the Sisters in her Community served God. Then she made her daughter, St. Deotila, Abbess of the convent. After all this, St. Bertha retired alone to a cell near the chapel. There, hidden and content, she lived a life of mortification and continual prayer until she died.

All saints became saints, because they filled their lives with good works and prayer. Selfish or lazy people will never become saints, unless they change.

St. Audrey (or Etheldreda)

St. Audrey (or Etheldreda) - June 23rd

St. Audrey was born in England. Her three sisters are also saints. She wanted to be a bride of Christ, but her parents wanted her to marry. Although she gave in to their wishes, she and her husband lived together as brother and sister. Three years later, he died, and Audrey went to live a quiet life of prayer on the island he had given her.

After five years, the saint’s relatives demanded that she marry again, and once more, Audrey gave in. Her second husband was young, and they, too, lived as brother and sister. Audrey spent all her time doing works of mercy. However, when her husband became older and was a powerful king, he wanted her to live as a wife and a queen. She replied that she belonged only to God. He tired hard to make her change her mind, but in the end, he let her become a nun.

Back on her own island, St. Audrey founded a convent and was a very holy superior. Instead of wearing the linen clothes worn by other noble women, she chose rough wool robes for herself. She slept only a few hours and prayed the rest of the night. St. Audrey died at the exact time she said she would, and her body was put into a plain wooden coffin, as she had wanted.

Let us admire this Saint who could have enjoyed all the pleasures of the world and instead gave them all up to make sure she would gain the pleasures of Heaven.

Sts. Teresa and Sanchia

Sts. Teresa and Sanchia - June 17th

These two sisters were daughters of the King of Portugal. Teresa was the older one. She married King Alfonso IX of Spain and became the mother of several children. But this marriage was not valid and it was wrong for Teresa to stay as his wife. Because she loved the king dearly, it was very hard for her to leave him. Yet, she did not want to disobey God’s law, and finally she went back to Portugal.

On her own land, Teresa built a large convent for Cistercian nuns. She herself shared their life fully, even though she did not stay there all the time, for she had to take care of her other property.

Her sister, St. Sanchia, never married. She, too, founded a convent on her land and devoted herself to good works. When she visited her beloved sister, Teresa, and saw what holy life the Cistercian nuns led, she changed her convent into a convent of the Cistercian Order and joined it herself. After Sanchia’s death, St. Teresa took her body back to her own convent. Then, when she had settled quarrels between her children and the Kind of Alfonso’s second wife, she took the veil of a nun in her convent. For almost twenty years, she lived as a very fervent sister. When she died, she was buried beside St. Sanchia.

If we ever make a promise to do something wrong, let us make sure we do not keep it. We cannot offend God to please someone else.

St. Margaret of Scotland

St. Margaret of Scotland - June 10th

Margaret was an English princess. She and her mother sailed to Scotland to escape from the king who had conquered their land. King Malcolm of Scotland welcomed them and fell in love with the beautiful princess. Margaret and Melcolm were married before too long.

As Queen, Margaret changed her husband and the country for the better. Melcolm was good, but he and his court were very rough. When he saw how wise his beloved wife was, he listened to her good advice. She softened his temper and led him to practice greater virtue. She made the court beautiful and civilized. Soon all the princes had better manners, and the ladies copied her purity and devotion. The King and Queen gave wonderful example to everyone by the way they prayed together and fed crowds of poor people with their own hands. They seemed to have only one desire: to make everyone happy and good.

Margaret was a blessing for all the people of Scotland. Before she came, there was great ignorance and many bad habits among them. Margaret worked hard to obtain good teachers, to correct the evil practices, and to have new churches beautiful for God’s glory, and she embroidered the priest’s vestments herself.

God sent this holy Queen six sons and two daughters. She loved them dearly and raised them well. The youngest boy became St. David. But Margaret had sorrows, too. In her last illness, she learned that both husband and son, Edward, had been killed in battle. Yet she prayed: “I thank You, Almighty God, for sending me so great a sorrow to purify me from my sins.”

Let us take this saintly queen for our example. While we do our duties, let us keep in mind the joys that God will give us in Heaven.

Blessed Anne Mary Taigi

Blessed Anne Mary Taigi - June 7th

Anne Mary came from a poor Italian family. Because her father was not a hard-working man, her good mother worked all day long as a servant. To make sure her daughter would grow up to be good, she placed her with the sisters during the day and took her home each evening. She also taught her how to take care of a house and sent her to learn dressmaking. The family grew poorer all the time, and Anne Mary’s mother decided to let her become maid to the rich women for whom her father was working.

Anne Mary was very pretty and she began to admire her own good looks. When she was twenty, she met and married a handsome young servant named Dominic Taigi. He was proud of his pretty wife and the two of them thought only of dressing up and having as much fun as they could. After some months, however, Anne Mary felt unhappy over the way she was living and she made up her mind to change. She began to wear plain clothes and to pray much more.

The Taigis had seven children in their forty-eight years of married life. Their home was poor but always neat and peaceful. Although the Saint’s husband was a rough, stubborn man who easily flew into a rage, Anne Mary was so loving and so good to him that he became a better Christian. She kept her children busy all the time and taught them to be obedient. The whole family prayed together and all were happy, even though sickness, suffering and death often caused them sorrow. Anne Mary was always busy in the simple duties of the house, but she kept herself very close to God all the time. Our Lord even gave her the gift of working miracles and telling the future. And sometimes, right in her kitchen, the love of God would burn so strong in her heart that she would have to lean against the wall until she came out of ecstasy.

Though poor herself, Anne Mary offered what she could to the poor. She gave good advice to the many people who came to her, especially young persons. Even bishops and public leaders asked her advice, because they knew she was very dear to God.

Let us say our morning and night prayers every day. During the day, let us do well everything we do, and offer it up to Jesus. In this way we, too, will become saints in whatever life God plans for us.

St. Clotilda

St. Clotilda - June 3rd

Clotilda was the daughter of the King of Burgundy. After her father’s death, her uncle became King, and the princess was brought up in his court. Although this court was full of dangers to her soul, she did not let the attractions of pleasures make her sin. When the pagan King of the Franks, Clovis, asked for her as his wife, her uncle gave permission, but said she must be allowed to practice her Christian Faith.

King Clovis of France was a hot-tempered barbarian, but his Queen Clotilda soon won his heart with her beauty, sweetness, and charming ways. Although she spent many hours in prayer and secretly practiced penance, she dressed and acted as a Queen should, to please her husband. The great desire of her heart was to see him become a Christian.

One day, as he was going to battle, she told him to pray to the God of the Christians. During the battle, King Clovis’ soldiers began to go over to the enemy. He saw that he would surely lose, and he vowed that if Clotilda’s God would make him victorious, he would become a Christian. He won the battle, and on Christmas Day, Clovis and over three thousand Franks were baptized. It is easy to see why St. Clotilda is called the Apostle of France.

After her husband’s death, she had to suffer much from the fighting of her sons, and she tried in every way to keep peace among them. When she was dying, she begged them to treat their subjects well, to protect the poor, and to live in peace. Then she turned all her thoughts to God and prepared herself for death by praying with great devotion.

In the midst of many dangers and in the company of very rough people, Clotilda became a saint. We, too, can become saints if we try to imitate her by praying and being kind all the time.