Paula Frassinetti led a happy life in Genoa, Italy, until she was 9. That was when her mother died, in 1818, leaving Paula to care for her father and four brothers and their household. At this young age, she made many sacrifices to give attention to her family. Her older brother, Giuseppi, went on to study for the priesthood — as did all of her brothers — and his discussions with...

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,...

Ephrem the Syrian, also known as St. Ephraem, was a Syriac Christian deacon and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is especially beloved in the Syriac Orthodox Church, and counted as a Venerable Father (i.e., a sainted Monk) in Eastern Orthodoxy. His feast day is celebrated on June 9 in the Roman Catholic Church and on January 28 in the Eastern...

St. William of York (d. 1154) was born to a powerful family in England, the nephew of the king. He became a priest and then treasurer of York Minster Cathedral at the time when the English crown was contested by two grandchildren of William the Conqueror. When the Archbishop of York died, William was chosen to take his place. Kind-hearted and generous to the poor, he was well-liked by the...

St. Paul was the Bishop of Constantinople, during the period of bitter controversy in the Church over the Arian heresy. He was elected in 336 to succeed Alexander of Constantinople; the following year he was exiled to Pontus by Emperor Constantius II. Because of his staunch position against Arianism, Paul was replaced by the heretical bishop Macedonius. Allowed to return in 338, Paul was again...