ALL POSTS TAGGED: BE MY DISCIPLES

Peter Claver walked to the dock. He saw the ship that came from Africa. Peter saw guards outside the ship. He had to get on that boat. The guards tried to stop him, but Peter went inside anyway.

Hildegard of Bingen is believed to have been born in 1098 in Germany. At a young age Hildegard had a very holy teacher named Jutta. From her teacher, she learned to love God and to pray. In those days, it was very natural for Hildegard to join with her teacher, Jutta, and other holy women and become a nun when she was 15 years old. Together these women prayed and worked together in their Benedictine monastery.

Christianity came to Korea in secret in the 17^th century. People who traveled to foreign lands learned about Jesus and were baptized. When they returned home, they shared their faith with others. The Korean government did not allow Christians to practice their faith. The Church in Korea was led quietly by lay people for many years until priests and a bishop were brought into the country and hidden from the government. When these Church leaders were discovered, they were martyred.

Born in 1581 in France, Vincent de Paul became a priest at the early age of 19. He became famous for his kindness and generosity.

Jerome was born in the country we now call Croatia sometime between 340 and 347. He was tutored at home and developed a love for education. When he was about 12, his parents sent him to Rome to study both Greek and Latin.

In 1873, Thérèse was born in the small French town of Alencon and was raised in a loving family with her four sisters. Like any child, Thérèse enjoyed playing with her cousins and siblings. When Thérèse was four her mother died, and her father moved the family to Lisieux, a town about 50 miles away, so that he and his daughters could live with his brother. Thérese's older sister, Pauline, became like a second mother to her.

On the French seacoast of Brittany, Anne-Thérèse Guérin was born in 1798 to a French naval officer and his wife. When young Anne made her First Communion, she told the priest that she wanted to dedicate her life to God’s work. But her father was murdered when she was only 15, and Anne-Thérèse was left with the responsibility of caring for her mother and sister.

Two events changed Francis Bernardone. First, enemy soldiers captured him and put him in prison. Second, he met a leper.

At the 2010 Mass that proclaimed John Henry Newman “Blessed,” some of the hymns sung were written by that very man. But John was not simply a man who wrote hymns. He was someone who inspired others with his life and his writings.

From her very beginning, the Church has had leaders who have helped us in our search for God. Pope John XXIII was one of those leaders. Pope John XXIII was pope from 1958 until he died in 1963.