Religious Saints

Recueil d'histoires légendaires, pittoresques et savoureuses réunies par les franciscains sur saint François d'Assise et ses premiers compagnons et composé plus de cent ans après la mort du Saint, au début du XIVe siècle, les Fioretti sont à juste titre célèbres pour leur fraîcheur, leur saveur, leur humour. L'intérêt des Fioretti reste inentamé aujourd'hui encore et c'est souvent en les lisant que bien des lecteurs découvrent saint François et s'attachent à lui.

Teresa of Ávila was more than a nun cloistered in 16th-century Spain. She was a mystic, a visionary, a passionate reformer, and a woman who revolutionized our understanding of prayer. This captivating biography delves into the life and profound teachings of this inspiring saint.

St. Teresa stands among the greatest of the mystics. It was her pursuit of Christ, not her pursuit of visions, that set her apart as one of the most notable saints in the history of Christendom. It is her dedication to her Lord, her bridegroom, not her experiences, that render her worthy of imitation.

Although there is so little written about Joseph in the Scripture and in the apocrypha, or perhaps because there is so little written, the life of Saint Joseph can be quite a complicated subject. The theological study of Saint Joseph, known as Josephology, shows us how differently the saint has been perceived throughout history, in different parts of the world, and in different denominations.

In 1384, a poor and illiterate peasant woman named Ermine moved to the city of Reims with her elderly husband. Her era was troubled by war, plague, and schism within the Catholic Church, and Ermine could easily have slipped unobserved through the cracks of history. After the loss of her husband, however, things took a remarkable but frightening turn. For the last 10 months of her life, Ermine was tormented by nightly visions of angels and demons.

The tale of St. Josaphat, a prince who gave up his wealth and kingdom to follow Jesus, was widely told and read in the Middle Ages, translated into a dozen languages, and even cited by Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice. Only in the 19th century did scholars note the parallels between the lives of Buddha and Josaphat. In Search of the Christian Buddha traces the Buddha’s story from India to Persia to Jerusalem and then throughout Europe, as it was rewritten by Muslim, Jewish, and Christian authors, illustrating its unsuspected integration into European culture.

St. Therese of Lisieux, largely unknown when she died in a Carmelite convent at the age of 24, became, through her posthumously published autobiography, one of the world's most influential religious figures. No less a luminary than Andre Gide modeled one of his characters after her in his novel Strait is the Gate.

I Fioretti, opera in lingua volgare della fine del '300, probabilmente di un anonimo autore toscano, sono una raccolta di 53 episodi della vita di san Francesco e dei suoi compagni, nei quali viene tracciata la vita e la leggenda del santo. Si tratta dell'opera più famosa su San Francesco d'Assisi, dove sono riportati episodi celeberrimi, come: la "perfetta letizia" e "Il lupo di Gubbio". Nei Fioretti viene ricostruito lo spirito della predicazione francescana, fondata sui valori universali dell'umiltà, della carità, della povertà.

Saint Alphonsus Ligouri begins a life in the courts of law. His father had him trained to become a lawyer. By the time he was 16 years old, he was so proficient in his studies, he received a degree of Doctor of Laws. And this came about in spite of the fact that the required age to receive such a degree was no younger than 20 years of age. Although his father's focus was to groom him for the world, his mother, who was highly spiritual, was the loving instrument who would prepare him for a future life as Jesus and Mary's troubadour.

St. Maria Goretti was only a child when she died a martyr’s death. Yet today, she inspires millions who find in her a perfect model of purity and holiness. Listen here about her great holiness in the midst of tremendous suffering, how she died at the hands of a vicious murderer who tried to defile her purity, and how she visited this very same murderer years later in his jail cell to forgive him.

Sacerdote español fundador en 1928 del Opus Dei y santo de la Iglesia Católica, es conocido como Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás, y fue beatificado por Juan Pablo II el 17 de mayo de 1992 y canonizado el 6 de octubre de 2002. Su "obra", reverenciada por unos y criticada por otros, cuenta ya con cientos de miles de miembros hombres y mujeres en todo el mundo. ¡Conozca su magna labor junto con nosotros!

While visiting Siena, Italy, Mary Lea Carroll grew fascinated with the remarkable story of St. Catherine of Siena and made a resolution: Whenever she was lucky enough to travel, if a shrine dedicated to a female saint was nearby, she'd visit it and learn about her. What started as a hobby grew into a journey she never expected, one rich with challenges and cappuccinos, doubts and inspiration, glasses of wine with strangers and moments of transcendence.

Quoi qu'en disent les pragmatiques à outrance, les utilitaires, ce que l'Homme cherche tout le long de sa vie, ce qu'il poursuit plus que le pain et tout le bien-être matériel, c'est le savoir. L'essence même de notre vie est de tendre non pas à être mieux, mais à être plus. Or, un instinct plus fort que toutes les remontrances des sceptiques et des faux sages nous en avertit : pour être plus, il faut d'abord que nous sachions plus.

As “Mormon royalty” within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Martha Beck was raised in a home frequented by the Church’s high elders—known as the apostles—and her existence was framed by their strict code of conduct. Wearing her sacred garments, she married in a secret temple ceremony—but only after two Mormon leaders ascertained that her “past contained no flirtation with serious sins, such as committing murder or drinking coffee.” She went to church faithfully with the other brothers and sisters of her ward.

It is difficult in this day and age to imagine Christianity without the beneficent presence of the Blessed Virgin.

Next to Christ, of all those who grace the pages of the New Testament, Mary is perhaps the one who touches us the most.

Johannes Joergensen, scrittore danese convertitosi al cattolicesimo, in seguito ad un suo lungo soggiorno ad Assisi scrisse nel 1907 questa sua biografia del Santo, attenta non solo alle fonti, ma penetrata di fede e di dolcezza nelle sue descrizioni della natura. Il successo di tale lavoro gli valse la nomina di cittadino onorario di Assisi.

La biografía de la enaltecedora y hermosa vida del gran santo peruano de la orden de los dominicos. Con toda una vida dedicada al servicio al prójimo, Martín fue el primer santo negro de América y es considerado Patrón universal de la paz, siendo conocido también como el Santo de la escoba y símbolo de la humildad.

The following is a compilation of lessons from the life of Merlin R. Lybbert.

In Saint Augustine's Confessions, he writes about how much he regrets having led a sinful and immoral life. He discusses his regrets for following the Manichaean religion and believing in astrology. He writes about Nebridius's role in helping to persuade him that astrology was not only incorrect but evil, and Saint Ambrose's role in his conversion to Christianity.

Además de Jesús, no hay otro personaje trazado más vívidamente en los evangelios que Pedro. Es en los momentos decisivos, donde se requiere una acción rápida y categórica, donde el líder de los apóstoles brilla; ahí Pedro no tiene rival en el círculo interno de personas que seguían a Jesús de Nazareth.