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On August 15, the Church celebrates the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the moment when Mary was taken up into Heaven, body and soul, by God. For Christians, Mary is the first human being to enter fully into God’s eternal glory, without experiencing bodily corruption after death.
Founder of the Kingdom of Hungary in the year 1000 and evangelizer of his people, King Stephen I is not only the patron saint of the Hungarian nation but also a central figure in the identity of the Magyar people.
Proclaiming the Word of God “to the most abandoned and spiritually neglected” was the mission and charism of Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori. A man of broad culture in the humanities, law, theology, and philosophy, he was a fervent Christian layman before becoming a priest.
Pierre-Julien Eymard was born in France, on February 4, 1811, in La Mure (Isère), into a modest and devout Christian family. From a young age, he demonstrated a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and aspired to become a priest, though his father initially opposed the idea.
Lydia is a saint whose name does not appear in any official martyrology, yet she is mentioned in a well-known passage from the Acts of the Apostles, written by the evangelist Luke.
A humble parish priest who, relying solely on God, managed to awaken his parishioners from spiritual indifference and tepid belief bringing about a revival of faith. His life as a priest dedicated to the Lord and the salvation of souls, as a dispenser of Christ’s mercy, made him a point of reference for the needy, sinners, and those in search of peace.
According to an ancient tradition, during the pontificate of Pope Liberius (352–366), a Roman nobleman named John and his wife, who were childless, decided to donate their wealth to the Virgin Mary for the construction of a church in her honor.
The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord commemorates the episode in which Jesus, on Mount Tabor, was transfigured before the Apostles Peter, James, and John, revealing his divine glory as the beloved Son of the Father. On that occasion, Moses and Elijah appeared beside him—symbols of the Law and the Prophets—confirming his salvific mission.
He is invoked as the Saint of Divine Providence for his unwavering trust in God. He turned to the Lord in all his endeavors, and even when needs seemed insurmountable, he always managed to find the resources to help the poor and the needy.
A life wholly dedicated to preaching and proclaiming salvation to all people, in truth and in poverty, he united contemplation and action in service to the Church and the Kingdom of God.
A refined intellectual whose tireless search for truth culminated in the discovery of Christ and His Cross. Born Jewish, a renowned philosopher and writer, Edith Stein converted to the Catholic faith and chose to consecrate her life to God among the Discalced Carmelites.
Saint Damasus, born around 305, led the Church as Bishop of Rome from October 1, 366, until his death on December 11, 384. He succeeded Pope Liberius, with whom he had shared a period of exile, and he found a community troubled by the presence of numerous heretical groups—Arians, Novatians, Donatists, and Luciferians—who were very active in the capital.
Queen and Empress, she remains to this day one of the brightest figures of the Christian Middle Ages: a strong, generous woman, capable of governing with a degree of competence rarely found even among the chroniclers of her time.
He was one of the earliest pioneers of the faith in Gaul, a remote foundation of the Christian tradition throughout the region. Gaziano or Graziano—known in ancient sources as Catianus, Gatianus, or Gratianus, and in France as Gatien de Tours—is remembered as the first enduring preacher of the Gospel in the city of Tours and as the founder of its diocese. Information about him is scarce and comes chiefly through the work of Gregory of Tours, the great sixth-century historian, who gathered oral traditions and popular accounts preserved in the Christian memory of Gaul.
One of the earliest documentary traces of the story of Saint Bibiana appears in the Liber Pontificalis, where it is recalled that Pope Simplicius had a basilica erected in honor of the young martyr, located near the Palatium Lucianum and intended to house her relics. This church still stands in Rome today, not far from Termini Station.
Saint Dominic Manso, known as de Silos because of his long residence in the monastery that later took his name, was born around the year 1000 in the small Riojan village of Cañas, in Spain. His childhood was spent among pastures and flocks, yet while tending his family’s sheep he began to develop a deep inner attraction to the sacred life. He was welcomed by the local priest, who took him under his care and gradually shaped his formation. At the age of twenty-six, the Bishop of Nájera ordained him to the priesthood.
Born around 1390 in Kęty, in Poland near Kraków, John showed exceptional intelligence from a young age: at just twenty-seven years of age he was already teaching philosophy. In 1416 he was ordained a priest and almost immediately entrusted with the direction of the school attached to the Monastery of the Holy Sepulchre in Miechów. He remained there for about eight years, until 1429, when he returned to the University of Kraków.
Of Stephen, known as the first martyr of the Church, we know above all the final moments of his life, recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. Information about his origins is uncertain: some believe he was of Greek culture, while others consider him a Jew with strong ties to the Hellenistic world. Among his distinctions are being one of the first Jews to convert to Christianity, his role as the foremost among the seven deacons chosen by the Apostles to assist them in caring for the community and managing its goods, and, finally, the sacrifice of his life for refusing to renounce Christ, earning him the title of “protomartyr.”
The Holy Innocents are the children of Bethlehem who lost their lives because of the fury of King Herod, thus becoming the first innocent victims associated with the birth of Christ. Not with words, but with their blood, they offered an example of faith and sacrifice.
The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is celebrated on the Sunday following Christmas. The reason is simple. Whereas at Christmas we contemplate the birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem, surrounded by Mary and Joseph, on this feast day, the Church celebrates the daily life of the family in Nazareth.
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