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She was a happy girl from a fairly well-off animist family that lived in Olgossa, in Sudan’s Darfur region. In 1878, when she was nine years old, she was abducted by slave traders and her life soon turned into a nightmare. The resulting trauma was so profound that she could no longer remember her name, and her captors mockingly called her “Bakhita”, which means “lucky”.
Elected at the age of 54, Pius IX holds the record for the longest pontificate in history: 32 years, even longer than the one tradition attributes to Saint Peter. He served the Church with great zeal, imitating the Good Shepherd, promoted missions and fostered the formation of the clergy and religious life. He is responsible for furthering devotion to the worship of the Eucharist, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
Saint Paul Miki and his companions are shining witnesses of a faith lived without compromise, in joy and suffering. Paul was born in 1556 near Kyoto, Japan, into a family of the Japanese aristocracy. His father, a member of the Samurai class, had become a Christian along with some Buddhist monks. Paul received baptism at a very young age and, as he grew, discovered his vocation. He therefore decided to join the Jesuits, where he pursued his studies until priestly ordination.
Young Agatha is one of the most well-known and venerated martyrs of early Christianity. She was killed during the persecution of Christians, ordered by Emperor Decius (249-251) in Catania.
Information about her can be found in Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend (1261-1268) and in the Acta Sanctorum (1643-1648), as well as in writings by Methodius I, Patriarch of Constantinople, from the ninth century, and by Symeon Metaphrastes from the 10th century.
Of fragile appearance, with a slight build and a physical malformation, Joan of Valois never managed to receive from her father, Louis XI, King of France, the welcome that her open and generous character would have deserved. Born in Nogent-le-Roi on April 23, 1464, at just twelve years of age she was given in marriage to her cousin Louis, Duke of Orléans. It was a forced union, devoid of affection, which her husband never accepted willingly. Despite this, when Louis rebelled against King Charles VIII and risked a death sentence, it was Joan herself who intervened in his defense, succeeding in saving him.
There is not much reliable information on Saint Blaise of Sebaste. What is known comes from the Acts of Saint Blaise, which were written in Greek. Blaise studied philosophy as a young man and was a respected physician in Sebaste, Armenia, his hometown. Following the death of the city’s Bishop, he was elected as his successor by popular acclaim.
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