Saint of the day

God is welcomed on earth

It is a familiar scene. God proposes and waits for a response. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”. (Luke 1:26-38).

Mary becomes the Mother of God and of the Savior, and later as she stands at the foot of the Cross, the Mother of the Church. This feast is firstly the celebration of the Incarnation when God began his human life in Mary, a life that will carry this tiny embryo up to the Cross, the Resurrection and the glory of God.

In the footsteps of Saint Bridget

Catherine of Sweden was a member of the royal family of Sweden through her mother, Saint Bridget, and her father, Ulf Gudmarson. Born around 1331, she was entrusted to the care of Cistercian nuns in Riseberg from a very young age. She left the monastery against her wishes when  her father arranged for her to marry the knight, Edgar von Kyren, at the age of 16. Her husband, who was also very devout, agreed to live a marriage of chastity. Throughout her marriage, Catherine took care of her disabled husband. Her father, Ulf, died in 1344.

Symbol of fidelity to the truth and to the freedom of the Church

John Nepomucene was born in 1330 (or 1345, depending on the sources) in Nepomuk, currently part of the Czech Republic. He stood out for his intelligence from a young age and graduated in Canon Law from the University of Padua in 1387, but never had any personal ambitions of an ecclesiastical career, preferring instead to humbly dedicate himself to his vocation. He served in different roles, including as parish priest and canon of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, for which he received no financial benefit.

A hermit, worker of peace and reconciliation

Nicholas was a hermit, who mediated and advised his fellow citizens and reconciled opposing hearts. Although he lived far away from the world in the solitude of a cell nourished by the Eucharist alone, he was able to prevent the onset of war between brothers, using the Rosary he always carried with him as his only weapon. Known as Bruder Klaus and Saint Nicholas of Flüe, he was born in 1417 in the small village of Flüeli, Obwalden, which was part of the Confederation of eight Cantons of central Switzerland. His family earned a living from agriculture.

A righteous man and the protector of the Holy Family

Saint Joseph, adoptive father of Jesus and husband of Mary, is a key figure in Christian tradition, both because of his role in the economy of salvation and because he was a model of virtue. Joseph is not mentioned in detail in the Bible. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are the ones which reveal the most about him.