Saints

Martyr. This third or fourth century saint was one of the most revered martyrs of Roman Gaul. According to tradition, Symphorian was a young nobleman who was converted by Benignus at Autun. When he was accused of showing contempt for the goddess Cybele during a festival in her honour, he was dragged before the governor and flogged but refused to recant. It is said that as he was taken away to be... Read More

Pope. Born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, in 1835, he was the son of a shoemaker and postman who lived near Treviso in Italy. Giuseppe went to the local village school before joining the seminary near Padua. After his ordination he spent the next 17 years in parish work before being appointed chancellor of the diocese in Treviso. Nine years later, he became bishop of Mantua, then patriarch of Venice ... Read More

The first saint of the New World. Saint Rose is patron saint of South America and the Philippines. Rose was born into a moderately wealthy Spanish family in Lima, Peru in 1586. The family lost everything everything when their business failed. Rose worked in the garden all day and sewed at night to help them. Her parents wanted her to marry, but she refused for ten years. They also would not all... Read More