An Exemplary Consort

She was an virtuous queen, renowned for her deep piety and charity. She is Saint Matilda of Germany, also known as Matilda of Ringelheim. Born into a family of ancient nobility in Enger, Westphalia, around 895, her father was the Saxon count of Westphalia, Theodoric of Ringelheim, and her mother was Reinhild of Frisia.

Promoter of the Order of Friars Minor

Received personally in 1212 by Saint Francis of Assisi into the Order of Friars Minor, Francis directly entrusted him with the task of opening convents in Paris and in England. He is Blessed Agnellus, born in Pisa in 1194.

In the service of charity toward the poorest

Luigi Orione was born on June 23, 1872, in Pontecurone (Alessandria) to a family of modest economic means. He began attending Don Bosco’s oratory in Valdocco, where he learned love for young people and concern for their future. In Turin, he was deeply moved by the charitable work founded by Saint Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo.

As a tireless opponent of the heresy of Monothelitism and as Patriarch of Jerusalem, he succeeded in preserving the faith of Christians during the Arab conquest. This was Sophronius, born in Damascus, Syria, around the year 550. From a young age he devoted himself to study and later to the teaching of literature and rhetoric.

Killed out of hatred for the priesthood

Matteo Elia Nieves was born in Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico, on September 21, 1882. The son of humble farmers, he soon felt a vocation to the priesthood. Sadly, at the age of 12 his father was killed and he had to abandon his studies in order to support his family.

In 1903, he managed to enter the Augustinian college of Yuriria, despite having no financial resources and suffering from fragile health.

Patron Saint of motorists

Francesca Bussa in Ponziani was known to people as “Ceccolella”. She was born into a noble family and was recognized for her charity and for her lack of shame in begging for alms for the poor.

“Extreme” charity

Saint John of God’s name was Juan Ciudad. He was born in 1495 in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, where he spent his early years, before moving to Oropesa, Spain, when he was eight years old. He took part in two wars, one in Fuenterrabía in the Pyrenees and one in Vienna against the Turks.

Two mothers united in their witness to Christ unto sacrificing their lives

They were two young mothers: a 22 year old woman who was still nursing an infant, and a young woman who was eight months pregnant. Both were catechumens who had been imprisoned in Carthage, by Emperor Septimius Severus in 203 A.D. Perpetua and Felicity were from different social classes. Perpetua was part of a noble family, while Felicity was a servant. They were united by their faith in Christ and, later, by their martyrdom. They were arrested along with their catechist, Saturus, and other catechumens, including Saturninus, Revocatus and Secundulus

Peacemaker in the Name of Christ

Rose was born in Viterbo in 1233, into a humble family. At that time, the city was the scene of clashes between Guelphs and Ghibellines, as Emperor Frederick II sought to remove it from papal influence. Her parents, Catherine and John, raised her in the faith, inspired by the charisma of Saint Francis of Assisi.