Saints

This is a group of 117 people who died for their faith in Vietnam between 1745 and 1862. They included Europeans and Asians. There were eight bishops, 50 priests and 59 laymen. They were beatified at different times during the 20th century and canonised together in 1988. During the first 200 years of Christianity in Vietnam, it is believed more than 100,000 were martyred. Most of their names have... Read More

Parents of Saint John the Baptist. Both were old when the Angel Gabriel came to tell them they were going to have a son. Zachariah was so shocked he lost the power of speech. When Elizabeth went to meet Mary, who was expecting Jesus, the child leapt up in her womb. When the baby was born, Zachariah wrote the name John on a tablet. His speech returned in the Temple, according to the Gospel of Luk... Read More

Missionary archbishop. Born in Northumbria in 658, Willibrord studied at Ripon monastery under Saint Wilfrid, and spent twelve years studying in Ireland at the abbey of Rathmelsigi, under Saints Egbert and Wigbert. After his ordination, he set out in about 690, with a dozen companions for Frisia, or Friesland. These men covered extraordinary distances on foot, by boat and probably horseback in th... Read More