Saint Ammon The Great, also known as Ammon the Anchorite, Ammon Nitriota, Ammonius, and Amun, was a prominent figure in early Christian monasticism and is considered one of the greatest desert monks of his time. He was born around the year 286 in the region of Mariotis, Egypt, into a wealthy family. Ammon began his adult life as a married layman. He and his wife made the mutual decision to...
Saint Adalgott of Chur, also known as Adalgott of Dissentis, was a significant figure in the early 12th century. He was a monk, abbot, and bishop who dedicated his life to serving God and his fellow human beings. Adalgott joined the Cistercian Order and received a comprehensive education in theology, philosophy, and spiritual discipline under the guidance of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. He...
Blessed Bartolomé Blanco Márquez, born on 25 November 1914 in Pozoblanco, Córdoba, Spain, was a young layman who lived during the tumultuous period of the Spanish Civil War. He was raised by his uncles and local Salesian brothers after losing his mother at the tender age of three, followed by the tragic death of his father when Bartolome was 12. Despite these early hardships, Bartolomé's...
Romanos the Melodist was a Byzantine hymnographer and composer who is a central early figure in the history of Byzantine music. Called "the Pindar of rhythmic poetry", he flourished during the sixth century, though the earliest manuscripts of his works are dated centuries after this. He was the foremost Kontakion composer of his time.
The main biographical source for Romanos is...
St. Jerome (347 - 420) was born to a wealthy pagan family in Dalmatia. He was sent to Rome for his schooling and there converted to Christianity, being baptized by Pope Liberius. He studied theology and traveled widely to the important intellectual and theological centers across the newly-established Christian Empire. He was ordained a priest at Antioch and lived many years as a hermit in a...