The Prince in Love with the Virgin Mary

He was born on October 3, 1458, in Wawel, the royal castle of Kraków, into the noble Jagiellonian family. The son of Casimir IV, King of Poland, he received a religious education from his mother, Elizabeth of Austria.

She Renounced Honors to Follow Christ

Cunegonde was born in 978 in Luxembourg to Sigfrid, the first Count of Luxembourg, and Hedwig of Nordgau, a descendant of Charlemagne. In 998 she married Henry IV, Duke of Bavaria, who was later elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as Henry II the Saint. After the death of Otto III, her husband was crowned King of the East Franks on June 6, 1002. Cunegonde was crowned queen on the following August 10 in Paderborn.

The Princess Who Chose Poverty

Agnes of Bohemia was born in Prague in 1211 to King Přemysl Otakar I and Queen Constance of Hungary. Her brother later ascended the throne of Bohemia as Wenceslaus I.

At the age of three, in order to receive an education befitting her rank, she was sent to the Cistercian monastery of Třebnice, where her aunt, Saint Hedwig, lived. It was her aunt who guided her in coming to know Christ and in learning the life of prayer.

Defender of the Bond of Marriage

Albinus belonged to a noble family originally from England that had settled in Brittany. He was born in 469 in Vannes and at an early age decided to follow Christ, entering the monastery of Cincillac or Tincillac.

In the Spirit of Saint Clare

A radiant witness of evangelical poverty, lived hidden and with radical commitment—this is what shines forth from the life of Blessed Antonia of Florence. Born in the Tuscan capital in the early years of the fifteenth century, she married at a very young age. Widowed shortly afterward and mother of a son, she courageously faced her new condition, dedicating herself to raising her child. Yet within her heart a deeper desire was slowly maturing, leading her to refuse remarriage despite social pressures.

Surrendered to the love of Mary

The brief life of Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, marked by contagious joy and an intense love for the Virgin Mary, left a profound imprint: he remains in the history of the Church as the “Saint of the Smile,” capable of transforming fragility and suffering into a hope that touched everyone around him.

Defender of the Faith Against Heresy

Alexander, destined to become leader of the Church of Alexandria, was born in 250 and, in 313, assumed responsibility for the Patriarchate at a decisive moment in history. Christianity was emerging from being a clandestine religion, thanks to imperial measures that guaranteed its freedom.

A contemplative devoted to evangelization

Walpurga (Walburga) was born around the year 710 in Wessex, in southern England. She came from a noble Anglo-Saxon family and received her education in a monastery, possibly at Wimborne.

In the Service of the most Abandoned

Blessed Tommaso Maria Fusco was born in Pagani, southern Italy, on December 1, 1831, into a deeply Christian family. His childhood was marked by sorrow: his mother died of cholera while he was still a child, and a few years later he also lost his father. Left an orphan, his education was entrusted to his paternal uncle, a priest.