Saints

St Lawrence Ruiz and Companions Patron Saint of the Philippines. Catholicism reached the Philippines in the 1520s. Today Catholics comprise 85% of the population, making the Philippines the largest Christian nation in Asia. Born in suburban Manila in 1594, to a Chinese father and a Tagala mother, Lawrence, a married man with two sons and a daughter, was a calligrapher. Unjustly accused of murder, ... Read More

Patron of charitable societies. Founder of the Vincentian Congregation and the Sisters of Charity. Vincent was born in 1581 to a Gascon peasant family. He was educated by the Franciscans at Dax and then at Toulouse university. He was ordained priest at the very early age of 19. While sailing from Marseilles to Toulouse in 1605, his ship was captured by pirates, and Vincent, along with the rest of... Read More

The name Michael means 'He who is like unto God'. The archangel engages in a great cosmic battle with the Devil. In the Book of Jude, he contends with the Devil over the body of Moses, rebuking the Evil One in God's name. The imagery reveals that with the triumph of Jesus, evil no longer reigns throughout the cosmos, but remains on earth as the enemy of those who seek to follow God's will. In th... Read More