Saints

Saint Damien of Molokai Missionary. Born in Tremelo, Belgium, in 1840, Joseph de Veuster, left school at 13 to help on the family farm. He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary six years later, taking the name of a fourth-century physician and martyr. When his brother Pamphile, a priest in the same congregation, fell ill and was unable to go to the Hawaiian Islands as ass... Read More

St Pachomius Founder of Christian monasticism. Pachomius was born in 292, in Thebes (Luxor, Egypt) to pagan parents. According to his hagiography, at 21, he was swept up against his will in a Roman army recruitment drive, a common occurrence during this period of turmoil and civil war. With several other youths, he was put onto a ship that floated down the Nile river and arrived at Thebes in the ... Read More

First abbot of Bangor, Northern Ireland. Comgall known as the 'father of the monks of Ireland'. Born in 516, he was trained by St Fintan at Clonenagh. After his ordination he lived for some years as a hermit in very austere conditions, in Lough Erne. In 558 he founded Bangor which became the largest monastery in Ireland. Together with several smaller houses, the community is said to have reached ... Read More