Born in 1542, John was raised in Spain by a widowed mother who could barely provide for her sons. At a young age, he worked in a hospital and developed a great love for the poor and the sick. He sometimes felt that he was in the presence of Jesus when he was tending the patients. But John wanted to become even closer to God. He became a Carmelite friar when he was almost 20 years old.
When Mary Frances Schervier was 16, her mother and sisters died from tuberculosis, a highly contagious disease at the time. So when Frances told her father she wanted to visit the poor and the sick in their city of Aachen, Germany, he was worried that his daughter might bring disease into their home or grow ill herself. He told her she could not perform this act of charity.
On Christmas Day, we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The next day we celebrate the birth of Stephen. But Stephen's is a different kind of birth; it is his birth into eternal life. Death brought life for him. He is the first martyr of the Christian Church.
John is sometimes called “the beloved disciple” or “John the Evangelist.” He was the only one of Jesus’ apostles who did not leave him during his crucifixion and death. In the Gospel Jesus even asks John to take care of Mary, the Blessed Mother, after his death.
In the Opening Prayer of the Mass on the feast of St. Thomas, we pray, “Almighty God, you granted the martyr Thomas the grace to give his life for the cause of justice” (Sacramentary). The justice Thomas died for was the right of the Church to be free from control by the government.
Born in Rome toward the end of the third century, Pope Sylvester was the leader of the Catholic Church at a great turning point in the Church’s history. For the first time in nearly 300 years, Christians were freed from the threat of persecution. The powerful emperor, Constantine, had given Christians the right to practice their faith openly. Constantine even made Sunday a weekly holiday.
Vincenzo Romano was born into a poor family in June of 1751. Despite this, he was able to study. He was impacted by the life and teachings of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and he developed a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. In 1775, he was ordained a priest.
Despite his humble beginnings, Fulton J. Sheen would accomplish great things for Christ.