. St Frances Xavier Cabrini Saint of the Day December 22nd Frances was the first naturalised citizen of the US to be canonised. She was born in Lombardy, a sickly child but with evangelical ambitions - she would put little violets in paper boats and
. St Thomas Saint of the Day December 21st Thomas was a twin (that’s what Thomas means) but he wasn’t the brightest bauble on the tree. At the Last Supper when Jesus said the disciples should follow him to his Father’s house - Thoma
. St Katharina von Bora Saint of the Day December 20th Katharina was not always a proto-feminist icon; as a five year old she was sent away to the convent at Brehna to be educated and appeared to progress seamlessly into a life of service and seclusi
. St Adam Saint of the Day December 19th . Adam means ‘earth’ but he became estranged from the earth because of his curiosity. In order to create Adam, God gathered red, white, black and green earth from all over the planet and moulded t
. St Samthann Saint of the Day December 18th Samthann was a stewardess at Urney Convent before bagging the abbess job at Clonbroney Priory, originally founded by St Patrick for two sisters both called Emer. It was there that an event occurred to kee
. St Lazarus of the Four Days Saint of the Day December 17th Mary Magdalene and her sister Martha notified Jesus that their brother Lazarus was really sick. Jesus didn’t hurry over, he hung on where he was for a bit and by the time he arrived
. St Haggai the Prophet Saint of the Day December 16th Somewhat unexpectedly, Haggai means “my holiday”. This makes it surprising that he’s not more popular. Haggai did his prophecies during the reign of Darius of Persia and Zerubb
. St Pardus the Hermit Saint of the Day December 15th Pardus was a camel-driver in Palestine. Life was proceeding smoothly until his camels trampled to death a small boy by mistake. Pardus felt overwhelming guilt and decided on the ultimate penance,
. St Tirso Saint of the Day December 14th Tirso was in Sozopolis advertising his enthusiasm for the 'one true god' when it was very unwise to do so. The Emperor Decius’s thugs arrested him and sentenced him to be sawn in half. Unfortunately
. St Lucy Saint of the Day December 13th Lucy was born into a rich Sicilian family but her beliefs set her at odds with the laws of the pagan Emperor Diocletian and put her at great risk. She spent her youth in the service of the poor, wearing a c
. St Spiridon Saint of the Day December 12th ~ Spiridon was a Cypriot shepherd known for his piety. He converted a pagan philosopher to the mono-god theory with a pottery analogy - one pot being made of a trinity of elements: fire, water and clay.
. St Daniel the Stylite Saint of the Day December 11th Daniel’s parents were keen for his life to be dedicated to God - they chose his name by opening a bible at random and signed him up to the monastic life while he was still a boy. Daniel e
. St Eulalia Saint of the Day December 10th The young Eulalia was not impressed by fripperies, flowers or jewels. She rejected the idea of a terrestrial marriage, Christ was the only one for her. So, when the horrors of Diocletian’s persecuti
. St Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin Saint of the Day December 9th Juan Diego was the first person to see Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was born Cuauhtlatoatzin or Talking Eagle, the son of an Aztec chief, but as an adult was very impressed by the belief sys
. St Clement of Ohrid Saint of the Day December 8th Clement was the great enlightener of the Slavs, but you’ll know him best as the populariser of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets. He was born in Macedonia then part of the Bulgarian King
. St Ambrose Saint of the Day December 7th When Ambrose, or Aurelius Ambrosius if you prefer, was just a baby, a swarm of bees landed on his lips and deposited a drop of honey - this made him a wonderful orator as an adult. When the Bishop of Milan
. St Nicholas of Bari Saint of the Day December 6th Nicholas was a wealthy Turkish orphan, he was very devout and only ate on Wednesdays and Fridays. He was super generous and was always giving people surprise presents. Nicholas performed many mirac
. St Dalmazzo of Pavia Saint of the Day December 5th Like many a convert, Dalmazzo overflowed with evangelising zeal. He persuaded pagans throughout Northern Italy and Southern France to accept the new Jesus-based ideology. Unfortunately Dalmazzo co
. St Barbara of Nicomedia Saint of the Day December 4th Maximinus of Thrace was built like Hercules but was no hero. A former prize-fighter, he drank an amphora of wine a day and punched horses for sport. He took charge of Nicomedia by murdering the
. St Zephaniah Saint of the Day December 3rd Various gods were becoming fashionable in Jerusalem in the 7th century BC like Baal and Astarte. Followers of these new cults adopted pretentious behaviour and over-fussy clothing. Zephaniah was dead agai