Bernward was of a Saxon family and was raised by his uncle Bishop Volkmar of Utrecht when orphaned as a child. He studied at the cathedral school of Heidelburg and at Mainz, where he was ordained in 987. He became…

Sylvester was born of a noble family in Osimo, Italy, in the year 1177.  He studied law at Bologna and Padua but then switched to the study of theology and Scripture.  He was ordained and became a canon at Osimo…

Rose was born on August 29, 1769, in Grenoble, France, the daughter of a wealthy merchant.  She was educated by the Visitation nuns of Sainte Marie d’en Haut.  When she was seventeen, despite the objections of her parents, who wanted…

St. Elizabeth was born in 1207, the daughter of King Alexander II of Hungary. At the age of four she was sent for education to the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia, to whose infant son she was betrothed. As…

Margaret was probably born in Hungary and raised at Stephen’s Court, where her father, Prince Edward d’Outremer, was in exile. When she was 12 years old she was taken to the court of King Edward the Confessor in England, but…

Albert was born in Swabia, Germany in 1206. His father being the Count of Bollstadt, Albert was born in the family castle at Lauingen.

He studied at the University of Padua and in the year 1223 became a Dominican despite his…

Caius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius was born on November 5, 430, in Lyons, Gaul, to a noble family. He was educated at Ares and was a student of Claudianus Mamertus of Vienne. Later, he married a woman named Papianilla, a daughter…

St. Frances was born in Lombardi, Italy, on July 15, 1850, the youngest of thirteen children. At eighteen, she desired to become a nun, but poor health stood in her way. She helped her parents until their death, and then…

Josaphat, an Eastern Rite bishop, is held up as a martyr to Church unity because he died trying to bring part of the Orthodox Church into union with Rome.

In 1054, a formal split called a schism took place between the…

Martin was born in Hungary around 315 A.D. He was the son of a pagan army officer and at 15 he was inducted into the army against his will. Once, while stationed in Amiens, he saw a poor beggar in…