Saints

Abbot and monastic pioneer of Palestine. Hilarion was born in 291 in Gaza. He studied at Alexandria, where he became a Christian. After the death of his parents, he gave all he owned to his brothers and the poor and went to live as a hermit at Majuma. He followed the same regime as St Antony - a diet of figs, bread, vegetables and oil. First he built a small shelter of reeds, later a stone cell ... Read More

Nurse and nun. Maria was born in 1888 to a poor Italian family in Brendola in northern Italy. Her father was a violent alcoholic. She was considered not very bright at school, and was called a 'goose' by the local clergy. In 1904, she joined the sisters of St Dorothy and worked in the kitchens and laundry. In 1907, when she took her final vows she became a nurse in the children's diphtheria ward.... Read More

'Do not be afraid' was the most often-used Biblical quote of Pope John Paul II. Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small town 50 kilometres from Krakow, on 18 May, 1920. He was the youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska. Karol was baptized on 20 June, 1920 in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr Franciszek Zak. He made his First Holy ... Read More