Saints

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

A 7th century Irish missionary and martyr, Saint Kilian left from Mullagh for Germany with 11 companions. They crossed the North Sea, arriving at Ascaffenburg on the Rhine, then sailed up the Rhine and the Main to Wurzburg, where Kilian converted the local ruler. He then visited Pope Conon who is said to have asked him to form a mission to Thuringia and Eastern Franconia in about 686. St Kilian ... Read More

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