Kaskasia, Michigamea, Cahokia—strange-sounding Indian names peppered the priest’s conversation as he sat in the Duchesnes’ study in France and told of his work in far away North America. Continue »

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231) was a wealthy princess. As was common with royalty in her day, when she was only four years old, she was betrothed to the prince of a neighboring country in what is modern-day Germany. Continue »

Here’s a paradox that is central to Christianity: We lose what we keep, and we gain what we give away! “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it,” Jesus told his disciples (Luke 17:33). Continue »

Eight-year-old Martin de Porres was not what most people today would call a “normal” child. Living in Lima, Peru, in 1587, the boy was already in training to be a barber, which in his world also meant learning to be a surgeon, pharmacist, and physician. Continue »

St. Jude is invoked in desperate or hopeless situations, perhaps because the Letter of Jude in the New Testament encourages the faithful to persevere and protect the faith in an especially difficult situation, in which “certain intruders have stolen in among you” (verse 4). Continue »

Sometimes a friendship with a saint begins in a most unlikely way. For me, it started on a Friday afternoon, as I walked the campus of the large state university where I was a freshman. Continue »