Bl. Fra Angelico (1387-1455) was born Guido di Pietro in Tuscany, Italy. Little is known of his early life, but he became a famous early Italian Renaissance master painter. Fra Angelico would pray earnestly before he painted, being convinced that in order to paint Christ perfectly, one must also be Christlike. His paintings then became tools for contemplating the theological mysteries hidden...

St. Manettus (d. 1268), also known as St. Benedict dell’Antella, was one of the Seven Founders of the Order of Servites. Between 1225 and 1227 in the city of Florence, Italy, seven cloth merchants from the city's prominent families joined the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They desired to live a penitential life dedicated to her title of Mother of Sorrows. Our Lady...

St. Juliana of Nicomedia (c. 270 A.D.) was the daughter of noble pagan parents, born in Nicomedia, a Greek city in ancient Turkey. While her father was hostile to Christians, Juliana secretly accepted baptism. Her father arranged her marriage to a pagan nobleman and Roman senator. When the time for her wedding came, Juliana refused her consent to be married unless her betrothed converted to...

Sigfrid (Sigfried, Siegfrid, Siegfried, Sigfridus, Sigurd) was a Benedictine monk, bishop in Sweden and saint. After Ansgar, epithetised Apostle of the North, Sigfrid is revered as second Apostle of the North, besides the missionary Rimbert of Turholt. King Olas Scobcong entreated King Edred, who died in 955, to send him missionaries to preach the gospel in this country. Sigefride, an eminent...

St. Valentine of Rome (c. 270) was a priest who lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II. Little is known of his life with certainty, except that he ministered to Christians who were persecuted and imprisoned for their faith, and died a martyr. One account has it that the emperor banned all marriages and engagements in Rome, believing this was the reason Roman men were unwilling...