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He walked through the streets of the city of Cagliari begging for alms and offering the Word of Life to all those he met along his way. He was illiterate and frail in health, yet in the school of Saint Francis of Assisi he learned how to bring peace to troubled souls and convert sinners.
He was called the Apostle of Andalusia, a great preacher, a spiritual Master who guided many people to holiness and who was able to inspire conversions among those who listened to him.
His name was John of Ávila. He was born in Almodóvar del Campo (Ciudad Real), Spain around 1499 or 1500 into a very religious and wealthy family who owned a silver mine.
Founder of cenobitic monasticism and the first to have written a rule for religious community life, Pachomius was born to a pagan family around the year 292 A.D., in the Thebaid region of Upper Egypt. At age twenty, he was enlisted against his will in the imperial armies of the Emperor Constantine to fight the Persian incursions. Locked in the barracks in Thebes with other soldiers and left without food, he was fed by the local Christians. Struck by their charity, Pachomius prayed to the God of the Christians, promising that if he were freed from this bondage he would dedicate his life to the service of his brothers. In fact, as soon as he was free, he converted and was baptized.
It arrived wrapped in a sheet on a cart of manure—hardly a triumphant entrance for the image of Our Lady of the Rosary that Saint Bartolo Longo had brought from Naples on November 13, 1875. Its destination was the Valley of Pompeii, the place chosen for the construction of a Shrine dedicated to the Virgin. As humble as the journey was, so great was the devotion that later arose among the faithful.
She understood the difficulties and marginalization to which women of her time were subjected and spared no energy to educate them and teach them the truths of faith. She was convinced that to welcome the Gospel it was necessary to free people from ignorance and error. Together with education, she believed that offering professional training would promote human development and affirmation in society. There were no doubts for Rosa Venerini, as she dedicated herself entirely to her apostolate and to the vocational education for women in the 17th century, an era in which they were barred from many opportunities.
Wife, mother, widow, and founder of a religious congregation—this is the life journey of Anna Rosa Gattorno, born Rosa Maria Benedetta. She was born in Genoa on October 14, 1831, into a well-off family of shipowners, and received a Christian upbringing. According to the customs of high social classes at the time, she was educated at home. Very intelligent and eager to learn new things, she would entertain guests by playing the piano and singing.
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