Saint Giovanni of Triora, also known as Francesco Maria Lantrua, was born on 15 March 1760 in Triora, Imperia, Italy. He was the son of Antonio Maria Lantrua and Maria Pasqua Ferraironi. Francesco received his education in Barnabite schools and later joined the Franciscan Friars Minor in Rome on 9 March 1777, just before his 17th birthday. Taking the name Giovanni, he went on to be ordained as...
St. Jesús Méndez-Montoya was a Mexican Catholic priest and martyr during the period of religious persecution known as the Cristero War. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 22, 1992, and canonized on May 21, 2000. He was born into a devout farming family and demonstrated a vocation for the priesthood from an early age. At fourteen, he entered the Tridentine Seminary of Morelia,...
St. Jane of Valois (1464-1505) was born to French King Louis XI and Charlotte of Savoy. Much of her life was marked by neglect and emotional abuse. Her father resented her because she was a sickly and deformed female child. He sent her away to a remote country home where she was carelessly raised before being married off at the age of nine to her cousin, the Duke of Orléans. Her husband...
Saint Marie Rivier, also known by the names Marinette Rivier, Anne-Marie Rivier, and Marie-Anne Rivier, was born on 19 December 1768 in Montpezat-sous-Bauzon, Ardèche, France. At a young age of sixteen months, Marie suffered a fall that resulted in a broken hip, leaving her crippled. Her mother, unwavering in her faith, carried Marie to a local Pieta statue every day to pray. On 8 September...
Saint Catherine de Ricci, also known as Catherine Del Ricci, was born as Alessandra Lucrezia Romola de’ Ricci on April 23, 1522, in Florence, Italy. She was born into the patrician class, but unfortunately, her mother passed away when she was just an infant. Catherine was then raised by her godmother, but she considered the Blessed Virgin Mary to be her true mother and developed a deep...