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Since medieval times, the Church has preserved a profound veneration for Mary, celebrating her conception without sin as early as the 11th century. This feast, placed at the heart of Advent, illuminates the expectation of the Messiah by recalling the unique bond between the Mother and the Son: Mary, shaped by the Spirit as a new creature, is presented by tradition as the one foretold in the promise made to the first parents, the woman destined to share in the victory over evil and to give birth to Emmanuel.
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”.
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. Following these events, he returned to Spain and embarked on a long spiritual journey that took him to various cities, including Seville, Ceuta, Gibraltar and Granada, where he worked as a book seller. After hearing a sermon by John of Avila, he underwent a profound spiritual transformation that led him to declare his “folly” for God, to the point that he was committed to the Royal Hospital of Granada. When he was discharged, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to serving the Lord.
Elizabeth Catez was born in 1880 at Camp d’Avor, near Bourges. As a child she showed a strong temperament—at times impulsive and even prone to anger—but her character changed profoundly when her mother explained the meaning of First Communion: to receive Jesus, one needed to offer a gentle and willing heart.
The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are united in their celebration of the Nativity of Mary. This feast was born in the East and was introduced to Rome by Sergius 1, in the seventh century. On that day, a procession would leave from the Church of Sant’Andrea al Foro, and head to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. According to the liturgical Calendar, the Feast Day was celebrated on 8 September. In the East, the Nativity of Mary had been celebrated since the 4th century and was linked to the construction of the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, which was built on the site of Anne and Joachim’s house, where Mary was believed to be born. From Jerusalem the recollection of the nativity of Mary spread to Constantinople, where the Eastern Church linked it to the Conception. It should be noted that the Church celebrates the birth on earth and in heaven only of Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist.
As a mediator and peacemaker in disputes between warring towns, Saint Andrew Corsini, a Carmelite religious and Bishop of Fiesole, was imprisoned for his zeal.
Saint Andrew was born into an aristocratic Florentine family in Florence on 30 November 1301, and had a carefree adolescence. He entered the Carmine convent when he was 15 years old, distinguishing himself for his charity towards the poor and those in need. After he was ordained a priest, he was sent to the University of Paris to complete his studies.
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.
Born in Rome in 1384 to Paolo Bussa di Leoni and Giacobella di Roffredeschi, she loved to read the biographies of the saints as a young child, and was attracted to spiritual matters. Her spiritual guide was Fr. Antonio di Monte Savello, an Olivetan Benedictine who served at the Church of Santa Maria Nuova al Foro. She wished to consecrate herself to God, but by the time she was 12, her father had already made plans to marry her off to Lorenzo Ponziani, who hailed from a very wealthy family.
The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour, and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, commonly known as Saint John Lateran, is the Cathedral of Rome. Mater et Caput of all the Churches in the Urbe and Orbe, it is a point of reference for the Universal Church. On 9 November, we celebrate its dedication by Pope Sylvester, which took place in 324, 1,700 years ago.
Jesus, “Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as Thou shinest: so to shine as to be a light to others” (Meditations on Christian Doctrine, VII,3). These celebrated words by Cardinal John Henry Newman sum up his thoughts and his legacy. He was a person who was “inconvenient” for his time, who drew many different reactions including among Catholics. He is known for his openness to lay people and to their participation in the evangelization of England in the 19th century, at a time when the country was still tied to tradition and against change. But Newman was certainly not one to take a step back, and he promoted an intelligent and well instructed laity: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold, and what they do not, who know their creed so well, that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it” (The Present Position of Catholics in England, IX, 390). He involved laypeople in teaching catechesis, and was met with opposition, even among the clergy.
He ascended to the imperial throne of Austria on November 21, 1916, and on December 30 of the same year he was crowned Apostolic King of Hungary, in the midst of the First World War. In his inaugural address, he declared that his goal was peace and brotherhood among peoples. He drew inspiration from the Social Doctrine of the Church to promote more just legislation, respectful of the more vulnerable social classes.
For centuries, the Canossa were an important noble family in northern Italy. In the year 1077 the famous Matilda of Canossa played a leading role as mediator during the serious diplomatic crisis between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, who had excommunicated the emperor.
“Suffering teaches us to love,” wrote Gemma Galgani. Her short life was marked by suffering and poverty. In the Lord’s Passion she found the path to holiness and, united with the Crucified, she offered herself completely as a pleasing sacrifice to God for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of souls.
"Let those who have, give; let those who don’t, take": so read a sign placed on an open hat in a very special doctor’s office. This was the clinic where Saint Giuseppe Moscati practiced medicine. The poor were never charged for their visits—in fact, they often left with gifts of food and medicine.
She was born blind and deformed, yet she became a radiant beacon, spreading the charity of Christ to all who came into contact with her. This is Margaret of Castello who, abandoned by human beings, found complete trust in Divine Providence the strength to endure adversity and glorify the Lord.
She was skating on ice when, after a bad fall, was left permanently paralyzed. Lidwina was 15 years old in 1395 when, because of this accident, she was forced to remain bedridden and immobile for 38 years. She had been born on March 18, 1380, in Schiedam, in the Netherlands, into a modest family. Her father was a night watchman.
Many miracles are attributed to Saint Peter, but one is truly special. It involves another saint, or rather, the Apostle invites a paralytic girl in a vision, who turns to his intercession in prayer, to go and look for a certain Abbondio if she wanted to be healed.
In our era he may have been called a globetrotter because he loved to visit the main Sanctuaries of Europe on foot: from Santiago de Compostela to Loreto, from Rome to Gargano. He is Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, known as the beggar or wanderer of God. In less than fifteen years, it is estimated that he traveled thousands of kilometers until he settled in Rome. At first, he found refuge under an arch of the Colosseum and people brought him alms which he promptly distributed to those he considered poorer than himself. He then found a place near the Basilica of Saints Sylvester and Martin, in Rome’s Monti district.
He is counted among the founders of the Cistercian Order. Deeply devoted to the Virgin Mary, he promoted a return to a simple and austere monastic life. This is Saint Robert of Molesme, born in Troyes, in Champagne, in 1028 or 1029, into a noble family. His parents were Thierry and Ermengarde, counts of Tonnerre from the Maligny branch.
Dedicated to the service of orphans, needy young women, and the poor—for whom she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor of Saint Catherine of Siena.
Emma was the daughter of the noble Saxon count Immed IV and Adela of Hamaland. Born in 982 in Saxony [modern day Germany], she married Liudger, son of the Duke of Saxony, Hermann Billung. In 1001, Emperor Otto III granted the couple the royal palace of Stiepel.
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