St. Joseph the Hymnographer (816-883 A.D.) was born in Sicily to a pious Christian family. When Muslims invaded the island, his family moved to Greece to escape persecution. At the age of 15 he entered a monastery and grew in holiness and virtue. St. Gregory the Dekapolite took Joseph with him to Constantinople to defend the traditional reverence of icons in opposition to the iconoclast...

St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a powerful yet pious family. At age 15 he relinquished a life of nobility, wealth, and honor, and chose instead to serve God with the Augustinians. Years later he witnessed the dead bodies of Franciscan friars martyred by Muslims passing through the town where he was stationed. Filled with renewed zeal to follow Christ even more...

Pope St. Leo III (d. 816 A.D.) was a Roman cardinal who was unanimously elected pope on the same day his predecessor was buried. He lived during a time of tension between the popes and emperors and their respective rights, powers, and responsibilities. Unlike his predecessor, Leo recognized Charlemagne as the protector of the See of Rome, which won him many enemies among the Roman nobility. As...

St. Barnabas (1st c.) was a Jew from the island of Cyprus who was given the name Joseph at birth. He is mentioned by name in the New Testament. A convert to the Christian faith in Jerusalem, he sold his property and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles alongside St. Paul the Apostle and St. Mark the Evangelist. He was given the surname Barnabas, meaning 'Son of...

In 1790 the French Revolutionary authorities passed a law requiring priests to swear allegience to the civil constitution, which would effectively remove them from the authority of, and allegience to, Rome. Many refused, and in 1791 the government began deporting them to French Guyana. 827 priests and religious were imprisoned on hulks (old ships no longer sea-worthy and used for storage,...