Saints

Bishop and monastic founder. St Basil the Great was born at Caesarea of Cappadocia in 330. He was one of ten children of St Basil the Elder and St Emmelia. Several of his brothers and sisters are also honoured among the saints. He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he met St Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea a... Read More

Today the Church celebrates the oldest feast dedicated to Our Lady - Theotokos, Mother of God. This title was given to Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431AD The Second Vatican Council stated: "Clearly from earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honoured under the title of Mother of God." At an early stage, the Church in Rome celebrated on January 1st, a feast that it called the anniversary (Natal... Read More

Virgin and patron of Paris. Born at Nanterre in around 420, St Genevieve is said to have met St Germanus of Auxerre on his way to England, when she was about seven years old. She told him then that she wanted to live only for God. He encouraged her to pray, and when she was 15, she took the veil. After her parents' death she moved to Paris and stayed with her godmother, living a life of prayer an... Read More