Saint of the day

Saint of the day

March 5: Saint Virgilius of Arles, Bishop

He assisted Saint Augustine of Canterbury in his mission

Saint Virgilius was born in Burgundy in the 6th century. He became abbot of the monastery of Saint Symphorian in Autun, and in 588 he was appointed Bishop of Arles.

He was outstanding in charity, helping the poor and the needy by founding hospitals and facilities for the sick. His pastoral zeal led him to evangelize southern Gaul. Pope Gregory the Great repeatedly invited him to support the efforts of Saint Augustine, prior of the Benedictine monastery of Saint Andrew on the Caelian Hill, and his 40 companions, whom he had sent to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons.

4 March: Saint Casimir

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.

March 3: Saint Cunegonde, Empress

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.

2 March: Saint Agnes of Bohemia

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.

March 1: Saint Albinus, Bishop of Angers

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.

February 28: Blessed Antonia of Florence, Abbess

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.