Saints

Patron saint of seafarers. Founder of the Franciscan Minim Friars, Born at Paola in Calabria, in 1416, Francis lived at a friary for a year when he was 13. He made a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, and then became a hermit living in a cave overlooking the sea. When he was 20, he was joined by two companions. The neighbours built them a chapel and cells to live in. Later others came. The Friars we... Read More

Bishop and monk. Hugh was born in 1052, at Chateauneuf in France. He was the son of a knight called Odilo and educated at the cathedral school at Valence, where he became a canon. Hugh is said to have been very gifted, and good looking. He was also very shy. The bishop of Die, who was a papal legate made him his secretary. In 1080 he attended the Synod of Avignon which reviewed the deplorable st... Read More

Italian priest and founder of the Sisters of Providence. Luigi was born on 4 August 1804, at Udine in Italy, the youngest of three sons of Domenico Scrosoppi, a jeweller and his wife Antonia Lazzarini. His brother Carlo was ordained when Luigi was six, and his brother Giovanni several years later. When he was 11 or 12 years old, Luigi's home region was struck by drought, famine, typhus, and small... Read More