Margaret was an English princess who was born around the year 1045. When her country was invaded, her family escaped by boat. They were headed for Hungary, but a storm crashed their ship on the rocky shore of Scotland. The Scottish king, Malcolm III, invited the family to stay at his castle until their boat could be repaired.
There are several saints who have the words “the great” after their names, but St. Gertrude the Great is the only female to have that honor.
Agnes was born in Assisi, Italy, around 1197 or 1198. She was the younger daughter of a royal family, and she might have been born with the name Caterina. She was very close to her older sister, Clare, and they spent most of their time together. The sisters heard Francis of Assisi preach, and they wanted to imitate his example of living a simple life of service to others. When they told their father that they wanted to live like Francis, he said he would never allow it to happen.
Three missionaries went to Paraguay to share the Good News of Jesus with the native people. These Jesuit priests preached about Jesus and God’s saving plan for all people. Many Paraguay natives listened and believed in their message. They asked to be baptized and began to live new lives as Christians.
Every person faces good times and bad times. We see this truth in the life of Elizabeth of Hungary. Born in 1207, Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary. She grew up a very religious child and married Ludwig, the king of Thuringia (in Germany), when she was only 14. The two worked at their marriage. They respected one another. They loved their three children.
Rose Philippine Duchesne was born in 1769 in Grenoble, France. Against her parents’ wishes, she entered the convent at age 19. During the French Revolution, the convent closed, sho she cared for the poor and sick. After the war, she joined the Society of the Sacred Heart.
Saint Cecilia probably lived in the second or third century, and tradition says she died about 177 AD.
After a happy childhood in a loving and religious family in Guadalupe, Mexico, Jose Ramon Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez entered the seminary in 1911 to study to become a Jesuit priest. The seminary closed when the government began to persecute Catholics. Miguel had to flee his country. He was finally ordained in Belgium in 1925 when he was 34 years old.
Portuguese Jesuit priests first came to Vietnam in 1533 to preach the word of God to the people of the kingdom. These missionaries also brought the sacraments to Japanese Catholics who had been forced to leave their land because of persecutions. However, a law was passed in Vietnam that made it illegal for people to belong to the Christian Church. The Jesuits had to minister in secret until 1615, when they were allowed to build a permanent mission for Catholic worship.
Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi was born in 1880 in Italy. He went to school to become a lawyer. By the time he retired, he was the attorney general of Italy. He was friends with many political leaders. After World War II he worked to rebuild Italy.