Saints

Martyrs. These early Christian saints were the daughters of Asterius, a Roman senator. He arranged for them to marry Armentarius and Verinus and, because all four were Christian, the matches seemed perfect. However, when the Emperor began persecuting Christians, the two young men renounced their faith. The women refused to do this and ran away. They were captured and scourged at the orders of a ... Read More

These were a group of 19 Dutch religious, including Franciscans, Dominicans Premonstratensian Canons and diocesan priests, who were executed by militant Dutch Calvinists at Briel in 1572, during the war of independence with Spain. After imprisonments and tortures, a mob hauled them before the fanatical pirate Admiral Lumey. William of Orange ordered their release and the local authorities deplor... Read More

Abbot and founder of Subiaco and Monte Cassino; author of the Rule which bears his name; Patriarch of Western Monasticism and Patron of Europe. Benedict was born at Nursia in Umbria, around 480 and was educated in Rome. At about the age of 20, he went to live as a hermit in a cave in the mountains of Subiaco. Many men followed his example and he set up twelve monastic communities, each with 12 m... Read More